Alfred Heckmann

Alfred Heckmann (25 June 1914 – 27 July 1993) was a Luftwaffe flying ace of World War II. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.

Career Heckmann was born 25 June 1914 at Bochum-Langendreer in the Province of Westphalia, a province of the Kingdom of Prussia within the German Empire. In early 1939 he joined the military service in the Luftwaffe and following fighter pilot training, Heckmann was posted to 5. Staffel (5th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing) with the rank of Unteroffizier (a junior non-commissioned officer) in February 1940.

He claimed his first victory in June 1940, when he shot down a French Morane MS 406 fighter over Abbeville. He added two Supermarine Spitfires during the Battle of Britain.

War against the Soviet Union In preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, II. Gruppe headed further east on 18 June. Following a stopover at Kraków, the unit was moved to Hostynne. At the start of the campaign, JG 3 under the command of Major (Major) Günther Lützow was subordinated to the 5th Air Corps, under the command of General der Flieger (General of the Aviators) Robert Ritter von Greim, itself part of Luftflotte 4 (4th Air Fleet), under the command of Generaloberst (Colonel General) Alexander Löhr. These air elements supported Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) Gerd von Rundstedt's Army Group South, with the objective of capturing Ukraine and its capital Kiev. At 17:00 on 21 June 1941, the 5th Air Corps, based at Lipsko, briefed the various unit commanders of the upcoming attack. That evening, Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of II. Gruppe Lothar Keller informed his subordinates of the attack.

The II. Gruppe of JG 3 (II./JG 3—2nd group of the 3rd fighter wing) was relocated to Sicily in January 1942, and Heckmann flew over Malta without claiming any aerial victories. II./JG 3 returned to the Eastern Front in June 1942. In July Oberfeldwebel Heckmann claimed 17 Soviet aircraft, including four Douglas Boston bombers shot down on 10 July. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in September 1942.

With Jagdgeschwader 26 In October 1942, Heckmann was transferred to 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" (1./JG 26—1st squadron of the 26th fighter wing) on the Channel front.

In January 1943, the Luftwaffe planned to move JG 26 to the Eastern Front. The idea was to exchange JG 26 with Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing) which supported Army Group North. The style of combat between the two fronts was quite different and overall the experiment was not a success; I. Gruppe of JG 26 was the only Gruppe of JG 26 to serve in Russia. On 21 January, I. Gruppe left France and arrived in Heiligenbeil, present-day Mamonovo, on 27 January. There, the Gruppe received factory-new Fw 190 A-5 and A-4 aircraft. On 31 January, I. Gruppe moved to Riga and two days later to an airfield named Rielbitzi at Lake Ilmen.

In the 14 weeks the Gruppe was based in Russia Oberfeldwebel Heckmann claimed four victories; all Il-2 Stormovik's.

On 28 February 1943, Heckmann was transferred to Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost (Supplementary Fighter Group, East), a specialized training unit for new fighter pilots destined for the Eastern Front. He returned to JG 26 on 31 July. Heck claimed his first aerial victory in defense of the Reich over the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) VIII Bomber Command, later renamed to Eighth Air Force, on 14 October, during the second Schweinfurt raid also called "Black Thursday". That day, Heckmann was credited with the destruction of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber.

Squadron leader He returned to 1./JG 26 in July. On 23 January 1944, Heckamm was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 3. Staffel of JG 26. He succeeded Leutnant Herfried Kloimüller who had briefly led the Staffel after its former commander, Oberleutnant Heinrich Jessen, had been killed in a flying accident on 10 January. On 21 September, I./JG 26 attacked a formation of RAF C-47 Douglas Dakota transports over 's-Hertogenbosch en route to supply the Allied aerial landings at Arnhem. Heckmann claimed four shot down.

On 1 January 1945, Heckmann led 23 Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-9s of 3./JG 26 in Operation Bodenplatte, the attack on the Allied airfields in the Netherlands and Belgium.

On 26 March 1945, Oberleutnant Karl-Wilhelm Hofmann, the Staffelkapitän of 5. Staffel of JG 26 was killed in action. In consequence, Heckmann was transferred, taking command of 5. Staffel on 29 March. Command of his former 3. Staffel was passed on to Oberleutnant Hans Dortenmann. On 14 April, Heckmann received orders from Generalleutnant Adolf Galland and transferred to Jagdverband 44 at Munich-Riem. Command of 5. Staffel of JG 26 was passed on to Leutnant Peter Crump.

Later life Heckmann died on 27 July 1993 at the age of in Brakel, Germany.

Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Heckmann was credited with 71 aerial victories. Spick also lists him 71 aerial victories, 54 on the Eastern Front and 17 over the Western Allies, including three four-engined heavy bombers, claimed in approximately 600 combat missions. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found documentation for 69 aerial victory claims, plus one further unconfirmed claims This number includes fifteen on the Western Front, including three four-engined heavy bombers, and 54 on the Eastern Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 08453". The Luftwaffe grid map covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about . These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area in size.

Chronicle of aerial victories – 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 –Battle of France — 19 May – 25 June 1940 1 6 June 1940 11:10 M.S.406 Abbeville – 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 –Action at the Channel and over England — 26 June 1940 – 8 June 1941 2 16 August 1940 13:20 Spitfire Ashford 3 20 September 1940 12:20 Spitfire south of London – 5. Steffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 –Operation Barbarossa – 22 June – 1 November 1941 3? 22 June 1941 07:45 I-153 16 26 July 1941 17:23 SB-3 5 23 June 1941 04:50 I-16 17 26 July 1941 17:28 SB-3 6 26 June 1941 08:10 DB-3 18 3 September 1941 07:00 I-26 (Yak-1) 7 26 June 1941 08:30 DB-3 19 12 September 1941 10:00 I-26 (Yak-1) 8 27 June 1941 08:05? I-15? 20 12 September 1941 14:50 I-26 (Yak-1) 9 30 June 1941 14:30 I-16 21 13 September 1941 06:55 V-11 (Il-2) 10 2 July 1941 16:25 R-5 22 13 September 1941 06:57 V-11 (Il-2) 11 2 July 1941 16:30 R-5 23 13 September 1941 07:03 R-5 12 5 July 1941 13:10 SB-2 24 24 September 1941 08:30 I-153 13 5 July 1941 16:20 DB-3 25 5 3 October 1941 09:55 Pe-2 14 10 July 1941 17:20 one-engine aircraft west of Kolontschina 26 17 October 1941 09:12 I-17 (MiG-1) 15 10 July 1941 17:30 one-engine aircraft? west of Kolontschina 27 18 October 1941 14:50 I-61 (MiG-3) – 5. Steffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –Eastern Front – 26 April – October 1942 28 10 June 1942 13:10 Il-2 41 20 July 1942 11:58 MiG-1 PQ 08453 29 1 July 1942 13:11 Il-2 42 22 July 1942 16:15 LaGG-3 PQ 29362 30 4 July 1942 03:40 MiG-1 Ustia 43 26 July 1942 11:25 Yak-1 south of Kalach 31 4 July 1942 03:41 MiG-1 Malyschewo 44 26 July 1942 11:26 Yak-1 south of Kalach 32 4 July 1942 03:43 MiG-1 Malyschewo 45 26 July 1942 11:29 Yak-1 south of Kalach 33 9 July 1942 13:15 Yak-1 46 6 August 1942 06:50 LaGG-3 PQ 39682 east-southeast of Kletskaya 34 9 July 1942 13:16 Yak-1 47 7 August 1942 17:46 Pe-2 PQ 49556 35 10 July 1942 04:30 Boston north of Voronezh 48 16 August 1942 04:30 LaGG-3 PQ 4034 36 10 July 1942 04:31 Boston north of Voronezh 49 18 August 1942 06:45 I-16 PQ 30132 37 10 July 1942 04:33 Boston north of Voronezh 50 18 August 1942 06:50 I-16 PQ 30251 38 10 July 1942 04:34 Boston north of Voronezh 51 23 September 1942 07:25 LaGG-3 PQ 47331northeast of Agaimon 39 13 July 1942 08:25 Yak-1 52 4 October 1942 13:50 LaGG-3 PQ 38574 40 13 July 1942 08:28 Yak-1 53 4 October 1942 13:55 LaGG-3 PQ 38721 – 1. Steffel of Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" –Eastern Front – February 1943 54 16 February 1943 14:53 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 18423 56 18 February 1943 11:02 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 28311 55 16 February 1943 15:25 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 28142 57 18 February 1943 11:04 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 28351 – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" –On the Western Front — October – 31 December 1943 58 14 October 1943 13:40? B-17 PQ 05 Ost S/EN-7Waldenrath – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" –On the Western Front — 1–21 January 1944 59 11 January 1944 13:25 B-17 Nordhorn-Zuiderzee – 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" –On the Western Front — 22 January 1944 – 28 March 1945 60 4 February 1944 14:30 B-17 east-southeast of Rotterdam 66 21 September 1944 17:17 DC-3 PQ 05 Ost JL/JMNijmegen 61 8 February 1944 12:45 P-51 PQ 05 Ost QJ-8/1south of Maubeuge 67 21 September 1944 17:18 DC-3 PQ 05 Ost JL/JMNijmegen 62 6 March 1944 14:47 P-47 PQ 05 Ost GO-5/3Almelo 68 21 September 1944 17:19 DC-3 's-Hertogenboschwest of Arnhem 63 15 August 1944 12:28 P-51 PQ 04 Ost N/BC-3southeast of Dreux 69 21 September 1944 17:20 DC-3 's-Hertogenboschwest of Arnhem 64 22 August 1944 12:35 Auster PQ 04 Ost N/DU-8northwest of Paris 70 23 September 1944 16:50 P-51 Goch 65 17 September 1944 17:51 Spitfire PQ 05 Ost JN-7Nijmegen 71 25 February 1945 08:25 P-47 southeast of Cologne

Awards Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (11 August 1941) German Cross in Gold on 9 April 1942 as Oberfeldwebel in the 5./Jagdgeschwader 3 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 September 1942 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot in the 4./Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet"