Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 Nitsijärvi Finland
5./II./ JG 5 WNr.6776 Schwarz 21 11.09 1942
Fw.Erich Froböse bailed out of his aircraft, but his parachute failed to open
and he crashed through the ice on lake Hammasjärvi.
An "Alarmrotte"(two bf 109) took off from Nautsi airbase to attack Russian Pe-3 bombers. Fw.Erich Froböse was shot down in the air battle, but he managed to shoot down one bomber before he got killed. Both men onboard the Pe-2 managed to parachute, but their fate is not known. Fw.Froböse was recovered the next year. He is buried at Parkkina Cemetery.
The Messerschmitt crashed into the shallow lake Nitsijärvi. Parts of this aircraft is stored at the Finnish Airforce Museum Tikkakoski.
The Russians lost four bombers in this air battle. Two of them crashed in Norway. One at Suonjirgaisa and the other one at Gallotjohka. The other two at Vadtjohka and Kauhalahti (Partakko) in Finland.