Knights of the Battle of Britain: Luftwaffe Aircrew Awarded the Knight's Cross in 1940

Chapter 1

APRIL–MAY 1940

The distinctive badge of KG 26.

KG 26 was very active over the North Sea in the early months of the war. On 29 January 1940, Hurricanes of 43 Squadron intercepted this He 111 H-3 of 2/ KG 26 off Hartlepool and after a brief combat, broke away but filed no claims. However, it would appear that the German bomber had been damaged and limped back on one engine, and eventually crash-landed on the German coast.

Oberst Robert Fuchs, Kommodore KG 26, 6 April 1940

(*11.05.1895 +15.01.1977)

A First World War Infantry officer, Robert Fuchs remained in the military after 1918, and after studying aeronautical engineering he transferred to the Luftwaffe with the rank of Hauptmann. He served briefly with the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) and Aviation Technical School before becoming a Staffelkapitän in Fliegergruppe Finsterwalde in 1935. Promoted to Major the following year, he took command of III./ KG 153. He was promoted to Oberstleutnant in 1937 and in 1938 joined the Legion Condor before returning to the RLM in early 1939. Following the outbreak of war, he was given command of KG 26 at the end of September 1939. His Geschwader was then very active in the seas around the United Kingdom and over the North Sea and was credited with attacking 200 ships, sinking forty-six totalling 70,000 BRT, and damaging a further seventy-six ships totalling 300,000 BRT. For this and especially the attack on Scapa Flow by KG 26 and I./KG 30 on 16 March 1940, he was the first operational Luftwaffe officer to receive the Ritterkreuz. Because of his age, in mid-October 1940 he handed over the Geschwader to Oberstleutnant Karl Freiherr von Wechmar but resumed command after von Wechmar was killed on 19 November 1940, then handing over to Oberst Alexander Holle the following month. Fuchs was then placed on temporary retirement but was recalled in 1942 to command a series of ground units, ending the war with the rank of Generalmajor.

Robert Fuchs, after his award of the Ritterkreuz.

Fuchs was still in command of KG 26 in the summer of 1940. Here he greets Reichsmarschall Göring, who is visiting the Geschwader at Courtrai, early September 1940.

Major Martin Harlinghausen, Führungskette X Fliegerkorps, 4 May 1940

(*17.01.1902 +23.03.1986)

Regarded as the driving force behind Luftwaffe offensive maritime operations, Martin Harlinghausen joined the Reichsmarine in 1923 and in 1931, trained as a pilot and observer, then joining the Luftwaffe, after which he was given command of 1 Seefliegerstaffel. A series of staff appointments followed, after which he commanded the Heinkel He 59-equipped AS/88 in Spain in 1937–38 and for which he was awarded the Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords and Diamonds. At the start of the war, Major Harlinghausen was Chief-of-Staff of 10 Fliegerdivision, which had been specially created for maritime operations; this would soon become X Fliegerkorps. Unusually for a staff officer, he flew operations with the Führungskette X Fliegerkorps and sank a number of Allied ships. He is credited with sinking the 1,388 ton Norwegian freighter Vestfoss on 1 March 1940, the 5,439 ton Barn Hill on 20 March 1940 and a 1,500 ton freighter believed to be the 988 GRT Sirius on 18 May 1940, by which time he had been awarded the Ritterkreuz. On 3 November 1940, he was credited with sinking a 6,000 BRT ship off Kinnaird Head (probably the 3,877 GRT Kildale), bringing his total of twenty ships sunk with a gross tonnage of 100,000 BRT.

Martin Harlinghausen, seen here after the award of the Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, 30 January 1941.

During the Battle of Britain, the Kette was credited with sinking nine ships and damaging another eleven, the last of which being on 13 November 1940. X Fliegerkorps then moved to the Mediterranean but during an attack on the night of 17/18 January 1941 (by which time he was acting Fliegerführer Afrika) he was flying in a He 111 H-5, Werk Nummer 3784, flown by Hauptmann Robert Kowalewski, Staffelkapitän of 6./KG 26 (who had flown with him in the Führungskette), and was forced to land in the desert, but all the crew returned safely. Promoted to Oberstleutnant at the end of January 1941, by which time he had also been awarded the Eichenlaub, he became Fliegerführer Atlantik at the end of March 1941. On 13 October 1941, his He 111 H-3, Werk Nummer 5661 from the Fliegerführer Atlantik Führungskette was damaged by flak attacking a ship and ditched in Vannes Bay, Brittany; Harlinghausen, Oberfeldwebel Friedrich Doucha (F) and Oberfeldwebel August Sichelschmitt (BM) were all injured. After three months in hospital, Harlinghausen was posted to the RLM with responsibility for aerial torpedoes. Promoted to Oberst in July 1942, he became Fliegerführer Tunisien in November 1942 and then took command of II Fliegerkorps with the rank of Generalmajor at the end of February 1943. However, due to a disagreement, he was relieved of his command in June 1943, and from then on undertook a number of ground postings, ending the war with the rank of Generalleutnant.

Photographed in the early hours of 18 January 1941 was this He 111 H-5, Werk Nummer 3784 of 6/KG 26, flown by Staffelkapitän Hauptmann Robert Kowalewski (left). Feldwebel Herbert Kienke (BF) was injured. Kowalewski was flying with Oberstleutnant Martin Harlinghausen (right), Chief of Generalstabes X Fliegerkorps. The crewman missing from this photo is believed to be Feldwebel Paul Henze (BM). All four survived four days in the desert.

Oberst Martin Fiebig, Kommodore KG 4, 8 May 1940

(*07.05.1891 +23.10.1947)

DKiG 4.05.1942

Initially an infantry officer, in 1916 Martin Fiebig transferred to the Fliegertruppe with the rank of Oberleutnant. Promoted to Hauptmann in June 1918, he ended the war commanding Bogohl 9. After the war he joined Deutsche Lufthansa but in 1934 joined the Luftwaffe. He commanded Greifswald airfield, then on promotion to Oberstleutnant in February 1936, commanded the Fassberg bomber school, and on promotion to Oberst in July 1938, became Kommodore of KG 253, which would become KG 4 ‘General Wever’ in May 1939.

His Geschwader fought with distinction in Poland, over the North Sea and then Norway, for which Fiebig would be awarded the Ritterkreuz two days before the start of the invasion of France and the Low Countries. However, his part in this next campaign did not last a day as at 1615 hours on 10 May 1940, his Heinkel He 111 P, Werk Nummer, 2909 coded 5J+DA was shot down by Fokker G1s of 3-II-1 while attacking Rotterdam and crash-landed in St Annapolder, south of Zwartdijk in the Netherlands. Fiebig, Oberfeldwebel Oswald Hlubek (F), Oberleutnant Klaus Born (B) and Oberfeldwebel Otto Blank were all captured, but Oberfeldwebel Ewald Frotcher (BS) was killed. Fiebig was released thirteen days later but command of KG 4 had gone to Oberst Hans-Joachim Rath.

Martin Fiebig (centre) at a briefing.

On 10 May 1940, Fiebig’s He 111 P, Werk Nummer 2909, coded 5J+DA was shot down by Fokker G1s while attacking Rotterdam, and crash-landed in St Annapolder, south of Zwartdijk. Fiebig (second from left), Oberfeldwebel Oswald Hlubek (F), Oberleutnant Klaus Born (B) (far right) and Oberfeldwebel Otto Blank were all captured but Oberfeldwebel Ewald Frotcher (BS) was killed. Fiebig and the rest of his crew were released after thirteen days, which is when this photo was taken. (via de Meester)

Oberst Martin Fiebig’s Heinkel He 111 of KG 4 after its demise on 10 May 1940.

A series of staff appointments followed, with Fiebig being promoted to General der Flieger in March 1943, after which he took command of X Fliegerkorps and Luftwaffen Kommandos Südost. He retired in September 1944 but was recalled in February 1945 to command II Fliegerkorps and then Luftwaffenkommando Nordost. Although he survived the war, he was executed for war crimes in Belgrade, Yugoslavia on 23 October 1947.

Hauptmann Paul-Werner Hozzel, Kommandeur I./StG 1, 8 May 1940

(*16.10.1910 +07.01.1997)

Paul-Werner Hozzel joined the Heer as an artillery officer in 1931 but transferred to the Luftwaffe in 1934. His first flying tour was with III./ StG 162, which he joined in September 1938. During that month he was recorded as being Staffelkapitän of 2./Schlachtfliegergruppe 20 at Breslau but in November 1938, elements of this Gruppe became I./StG 160 and he was reported as being Staffelkapitän of 1 Staffel. In May 1939, StG 160 became StG 1. At the start of the Poland Campaign, he was in temporary command of I./StG 1 as the Gruppen Kommandeur, Hauptmann Werner Rentsch, had been injured in an accident.

In mid-October 1939, Hozzel was made permanent Kommandeur. His Gruppe enjoyed great success in the Norwegian Campaign, for which he and three other pilots were awarded the Ritterkreuz. His award was for the sinking of a submarine in the Skaggerak and for his Gruppe while in Norway sinking a battleship or heavy cruiser, one light cruiser and 60,000 tons of transport shipping as well as damaging countless other ships. He remained in command until the end of May 1941, having been promoted to Major and seen action in the latter stages of the Battle of France, Battle of Britain, Mediterranean and Balkans. On 10 January 1941, he was credited with leading the successful attack that damaged the carrier HMS Illustrious. He then commanded Stukaschule 1 until 30 September 1941, after which he took command of StG 2 until mid-February 1943. Awarded the Eichenlaub on 14 April 1943 and promoted to Oberstleutnant in August 1943, he then commanded a number of operational airfields before undertaking a staff course and then a number of staff postings. He survived the war but was not released from Soviet captivity until January 1956.

(via Hickey)

Oberleutnant Elmar Schaefer, 1./StG 1, 8 May 1940

(*25.05.1913 +16.04.1983)

Elmar Schaefer transferred to the Luftwaffe from the Heer in 1935 and in March 1939 was reported as being a Leutnant and pilot with 2./StG 160. For the Norwegian Campaign he flew with 1./StG 1, during which he was credited with damaging HMS Bittern. For this and other actions he was awarded the Ritterkreuz. It is believed that he was attached to a Panzergruppe in the Soviet Union in 1941 before becoming an instructor at the Stukaschule. Promoted to Hauptmann in February 1942, he is believed to have converted to the Junkers Ju 88 and flew with LG 1 before returning to fly Stukas in early 1943. In July 1944, he was recorded as being Kommandeur of I./SG 101 and in 1945 was Director of Training at FFS A2, where he was injured in a crash of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and saw out the remainder of the war from a hospital bed.

Oberleutnant Martin Möbus, 1./StG 1, 8 May 1940

(*09.05.1917 +02.06.1944)

EP 24.08.1942

DKiG 24.09.1942

A glider pilot while at university, Martin Möbus joined the Luftwaffe by early 1936. Promoted to Leutnant in February 1938, he was first recorded as in 1./StG 1 in September 1939. He flew in Poland, came to prominence in Norway and must have flown in the Battle of Britain, by which time he had been promoted to Oberleutnant, as he was next recorded as flying in the Mediterranean and Malta. He was then Staffelkapitän of 2./Stukaschule 2 before becoming Staffelkapitän of 3./StG 2. He was wounded in combat with Soviet fighters 15km south of Kletschkaja on 25 July 1942 and force-landed his Junkers Ju 87 D-3, Werk Nummer 2280 coded T6+HM. He was awarded the Ehrenpokal in August 1942 and the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold in September 1942, by which time he was Staffelkapitän of 4./StG 2. He was again wounded by flak on 10 October 1942 in Ju 87D-3, Werk Nummer 2750, by which time he was a Hauptmann. By January 1943, he had flown 400 missions and the following month was given command of II./StG 2. In July 1943, he was given command of I./StG 5, which became I./SG 5. He was promoted to Major in April 1944 and shortly after received the Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub. He was killed in a car accident near Pori in Finland on 2 June 1944 and was buried at Rovaniemi-Norvajärvi. During his operational career he flew around 800 missions, destroyed in the region of sixty tanks, five armoured trains, a number of bridges, eighteen flak batteries and 14,000 BRT of shipping, which included a cruiser and a tanker.

Hitler awarding decorations at the Berghof, his home at Obersalzberg in the Bavarian Alps, 5 May 1944; Martin Möbus is fifth from left.

Unteroffizier Gerhard Grenzel, 2./StG 1, 8 May 1940

(*13.05.1915 +10.01.1941)

Gerhard Grenzel joined the Luftwaffe in 1935 and took part in the Poland Campaign and then flew in Norway, for which he and three other pilots from I./StG 1 were awarded the Ritterkreuz – Grenzel was the first Luftwaffe non-commissioned officer to receive this award. He was now promoted to Feldwebel and flew over France in the latter stages of the campaign. He took part in an attack on Channel convoys and was commissioned as a Leutnant on 1 August 1940, and became Staffelkapitän of 2./StG 1 the following month. I./StG 1 played a minimal part in the Battle of Britain and in December 1940, moved to Trapani in Sicily. On 10 January 1941, Grenzel was flying together with Feldwebel Otto Zupp (BF) in Junkers Ju 87 R-1, Werk Nummer 5854, coded A5+DK when he and another crew from 3./StG 1 were shot down attacking a convoy and crashed into the sea between Malta and Pantellaria.

A brand new Ju 87 R-1 of I./StG 1, showing the long-range tanks that allowed it to operate over Norway.

At the start of Operation Weserübung, I./StG 1 was based at Kiel-Holtenau and on 9 April 1940 took part in attacks against Oscarsborg Fortress, Norway. The Gruppe then moved to Stavanger-Sola and Oslo-Fornebu, and after this the Gruppe’s main targets were the shipping. The Gruppe’s unit’s first loss occurred on 19 April. Operating from Jonsvatnet on a reconnaissance flight, Leutnant Karl Pfeil and Obergefrieter Gerhard Winkels of 1./StG 1 suffered engine problems and force-landed on the frozen Lake Nedre Fiplingvatn, near Namos. The pilot was mortally wounded by gunfire from the shore but the gunner was captured. On 30 April 1940, the Gruppe did manage to sink anti-submarine trawlers Siretoko, Jardine and Warwickshire, whilst HMS Bittern was badly damaged, apparently by Oberleutnant Elmar Schaefer of 1 Staffel, and was later sunk by HMS Janus. Feldwebel Kurt Zube and Feldwebel Albert Rüdiger were credited with sinking a flak cruiser off Namsos on this date. They also badly damaged HMTs Aston Villa and Gaul, both of which were scuttled on 3 May 1940, and HMT St Goran, which sank on 1 May 1940. On 1 May, the Gruppe failed to hit HMS Ark Royal, but Staffelkapitän of 2./StG 1, Oberleutnant Heinz Böhme, claimed to have hit HMS Glorious (and which was in fact a near miss). The Stuka flown by Oberfeldwebel Erich Stahl and Unteroffizier Friedrich Gott was shot down by