Eduard Isken

Eduard Isken (15 April 1918 – 7 January 1997) was a Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. During his career Eduard Isken was credited with 56 aerial victories.

Career Isken was born on 15 April 1918 in Hagendingen, at the time in the district of Metz in the Bezirk Lothringen (German Lorraine) of the German Empire. Today Hagendingen is Hagondange in north-eastern France. Isken was posted to the III. Gruppe (3rd group) of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) in mid-1940 where he was assigned to the 7. Staffel (7th squadron). The Staffel had been newly formed on 9 August 1940 and was placed under the command of Oberleutnant Wolfdieter Huy. On 7 September, III. Gruppe moved to an airfield at Neuruppin. Initially, the Gruppe was equipped with both Messerschmitt Bf 109 E aircraft as well as captured French Curtiss P-36 Hawk fighters. The Gruppe flew the P-36 until 29 October.

On 6 November 1941, Isken's Bf 109 F-4 was hit in oil cooler by anti-aircraft artillery resulting in a forced landing near Belobek. On 15 January 1942, he made an emergency landing in his Bf 109 F-4 (Werknummer 7138—factory number) at Grammatikowo located near Sovietskyi and was injured in the process.

Mediterranean Theater On 23 October 1942, the British Eighth Army launched the Second Battle of El Alamein. Preceding this attack, the Luftwaffe had already planned to replace Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing), which had been fighting in North African theater, with JG 77. In preparation for this rotation, III. Gruppe of JG 77 was moved to Munich on 19 October where it was equipped with the Bf 109 G-2/trop. On 23 and 24 October, the Gruppe moved to Bari in southern Italy. The Gruppe then relocated to Tobruk Airfield on 26 October. The following day, the Gruppe moved to an airfield at Tanyet-Harun.

On 11 December, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) 66th Fighter Squadron attacked an Axis forces encampment and intercepted by Luftwaffe Bf 109 fighters and Italian Macchi fighters. In the afternoon, III. Gruppe engaged in combat with Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk fighters from the Royal Air Force (RAF) No. 112 Squadron. That day, the RAF and USAAF lost or had damaged four P-40 fighters, one of which may have been credited to Isken.

On 12 August 1944, the USAAF XII Tactical Air Command, supported by elements of the RAF, attacked German radar installations in the area of the French Riviera. Defending against this attack, Isken and Obergefreiter Horst Rippert may have shot down the Supermarine Spitfire fighter MJ442 from the No. 232 Squadron piloted by Lieutenant Geoffrey W. Dibb.

On 14 January 1945, Isken was presented the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross at the airfield in Nellingen for 50 aerial victories claimed.

Later life Isken died on 7 January 1997 at the age of in Wolfsburg, Germany.

Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Isken was credited with 56 aerial victories. Obermaier also lists him with 56 aerial victories, 16 on the Eastern Front and 40 on Western Front, including 17 four-engined heavy bombers, claimed in 946 combat missions. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found documentation for more than 44 aerial victory claims, plus two further unconfirmed claims. This number includes more than 19 on the Western Front, including two four-engined heavy bombers, and 25 on the Eastern Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 9876". 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 Claim Date Time Type Location Claim Date Time Type Location – 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941 1 25 July 1941 19:40 I-153 8? 26 September 1941 MiG-3 2 25 July 1941 19:44 I-153 PQ 9876 9? 26 September 1941 MiG-3 3 29 August 1941 07:03 DB-3 PQ 3756 10 30 September 1941 10:25 MiG-3 PQ 4619 4 4 September 1941 05:55 DB-3 11 30 September 1941 10:35 R-Z? 5 4 September 1941 16:55 DB-3 12 5 October 1941 08:10 I-61 (MiG-3) 6 20 September 1941 07:45 DB-3 13 15 October 1941 09:35 I-61 (MiG-3) 7 23 September 1941 17:35 MiG-3 14 6 November 1941 07:20 LaGG-3 PQ 3541 – 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –Eastern Front — 6 December 1941 – 15 January 1942 15 4 January 1942 10:35 I-153 17 6 January 1942 12:35 DB-3 16? 5 January 1942 11:35 I-153 PQ 5678 – 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –Eastern Front — 1 May – June 1942 18 12 May 1942 17:03 I-16 PQ 6025 21 5 June 1942 04:15 MiG-1 19 18 May 1942 05:20 I-180 (Yak-7) 22 6 June 1942 12:58 Il-2 PQ 3544 20 19 May 1942 15:25 U-2 23 18 June 1942 15:17 LaGG-3 – 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –Eastern Front — July 1942 24 5 July 1942 17:20 Yak-1 PQ 66873 ? 23 July 1942 13:45 Yak-1 ? 5 July 1942 17:22 Yak-1 ? 24 July 1942 14:40 R-Z – 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –Mediterranean Theater, North Africa — 26 October – 31 December 1942 25 4 November 1942 06:00 Hurricane Sanyet Quotaifiya airfield 27? 11 December 1942 P-40 26 4 November 1942 06:01 Hurricane north of Sanyet Quotaifiya – 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –Mediterranean Theater, North Africa — 1 January – May 1943 30 31 January 1943 12:44 P-38 PQ 03 Ost 94164, west of El Hama 19 April 1943 Spitfire 31 3 February 1943 16:47 P-40 PQ 03 Ost 86874, Thelepte 25 April 1943 P-40 32 4 April 1943 13:55 Spitfire PQ 13 Ost 06752, Bou Thadi – 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –Mediterranean Theater, Italy — June – 25 October 1943 33 24 June 1943 09:55 P-38 PQ 04 Ost 81731, west of Tresnuraghes southeast of Lecce 34 24 June 1943 10:02 P-38 PQ 04 Ost 8175, northwest of Oristanovicinity of Lecce – 2. Staffel of Jagdgruppe 200 –Defense against the Invasion in Southern France — 6 June – 31 August 1944 35 15 June 1944 12:00 P-38 PQ 04 Ost S/DK-5/4, Orange 41 11 August 1944 18:12 P-47 PQ 04 Ost S/DL-5 southwest of Cassis 36 12 July 1944 10:48 B-24 PQ 04 Ost S/CM-3 south of Toulon 42 12 August 1944 10:30 Spitfire PQ 04 Ost S/DN-1/2northeast of Hyères 37 14 July 1944 09:17 B-17 PQ 04 Ost S/5678Valence 43 12 August 1944 18:28 P-47 PQ 04 Ost S/BM-7north of Saint-Maximin 38? 7 August 1944 B-25 PQ 04 Ost S/AK 44 14 August 1944 10:23 P-51 PQ 04 Ost S/CM-6/8north of Saint-Maximin 39? 8 August 1944 P-47 PQ 04 Ost S/BJ-2 45? 15 August 1944 07:31 P-38 PQ 04 Ost S/BN-4, north of Toulon 40? 8 August 1944 P-47 PQ 04 Ost S/BJ/CJ – 13. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 53 –Defense of the Reich and on the Western Front — 21 July – 31 December 1944 46 29 October 1944 11:45 P-51 PQ 05 Ost US-7northeast of Karlsruhe According to Prien, Balke, Stemmer and Bock, pilots of IV. Gruppe of JG 53 claimed three Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters shot down near Donaueschingen on 22 December 1944. Two of these P-47 fighters may be the two missing aerial victories claimed by Isken. These claims are not documented by Mathews and Foreman. 49 24 December 1944 13:00 B-26 – 13. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 53 –Operation Bodenplatte — 1 January 1945 50 1 January 1945 Auster – 13. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 53 –Claims without a location and date in 1945 According to Prien, Isken claimed five aerial victories in March 1945, among them two Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters on one day. In April 1945, Isken claimed his 56th aerial victory over a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. These claims are not documented by Mathews and Foreman.

Awards Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 26 July 1943 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot German Cross in Gold on 28 April 1943 as Oberfeldwebel in the 8./Jagdgeschwader 77 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 14 January 1945 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot in the 13./Jagdgeschwader 53