missing. JG 5 claimed some 72 victories in August, but Soviet records indicate 24 Soviet aircraft lost with another 7 damaged and 13 aircraft missing, and another 4 were shot down by ground fire. For the rest of 1942, elements of the unit were stationed in Trondheim and Kirkenes, from where they undertook attacks on the Arctic convoys. 1943 By January 1943, the units of the wing were stationed in southern Norway and Finland and were equipped with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 aircraft. Mid-1943 saw JG 5 at its maximum strength, consisting of 14 Staffeln; 12 regular single-engined fighter Staffeln equipped with the Bf 109 and Fw 190, one Bf 110-equipped Zerstörerstaffel, and the Jabo unit, 14.(J)/JG 5 with the Fw 190A. 1943 was also the last year in which JG 5's four Gruppen operated as a single unit. I and II. Gruppe left Norway and Finland in late 1943 to fight the rest of the war away from their parent Geschwader. In mid-1943, half of the 70 to 80 fighters of JG 5, contained in I Gruppe were based above the Arctic Circle, protecting supply-shipping. On 1 September 1943, Major Günther Scholz succeeded Oberstleutnant Gotthard Handrick as Geschwaderkommodore (Wing Commander) of JG 5. In November 1943, I./JG 5 was moved to Romania as protection for the Ploieşti oil refineries. It was placed under the command of Luftflotte 1 and then redesignated as III./JG 6; it was not replaced. IV./JG 5 was stationed on the Arctic Front and then in Southern Norway. Up to the end of the war, this unit formed the air defence against the Allied raids on the submarine bases at Trondheim and Bergen in Norway. 1944 On 1 August 1944, Heinrich Ehrler was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of JG 5, replacing Oberstleutnant Scholz who was given the position of Jagdfliegerführer Norwegen. On 12 November 1944 Avro Lancaster bombers of RAF Squadrons 9 and 617 attacked the Tirpitz in Tromsø fjord. Ehrler, commanding officer of JG 5, scrambled a formation to intercept, but the German fighters were too late. The Tirpitz was sunk with the loss of a thousand sailors. Ehrler was court-martialed; he sentenced to three years and stripped of his command. Ehrler was later reinstated; he was killed flying with JG 7 on 4 April 1945. Karl Dönitz was the driving force behind the conviction. Only Ehrler's record as a fighter pilot saved him from execution. 1945