Franz Schwaiger

Franz Schwaiger (1 February 1918 – 24 April 1944) was a Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. 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 - for the fighter pilots, it was a quantifiable measure of skill and success.

Military career Schwaiger was born on 1 February 1918 in Ulm in the Kingdom of Württemberg within the German Empire. Following flight training as a fighter pilot in the summer of 1941, he was posted, as an Unteroffizier, to 6. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing). This squadron was part of II./JG 3 under the command of Gordon Gollob and fighting with Army Group South. Schwaiger quickly earned his first air victory, on 16.08.1941, but by the end of the year had reached a total of eight victories at which time his unit was rotated back to the Reich for rest and re-equipping.

A short secondment for his Gruppe to the Mediterranean Theatre, from January to April 1942, yielded no further success for Franz, but upon their return to the Eastern Front in May he started scoring steadily. Again covering Army Group South and the advance across Ukraine toward Stalingrad, he scored his 20th victory on 31 July. The next week he was transferred to 2./JG 3, in the same sector. He scored his 30th victory on 17 August, and his 40th on 29 September, between which he had been transferred again, this time to 3./JG 3. Promoted to Feldwebel in early October, he scored his 50th victory on the 9th. On 29 October, Schwaiger was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for 52 aerial victories claimed.

At the start of 1943 as the disaster at Stalingrad unfolded, and with 56 victories, Franz was sent for officer-training. Commissioned as a Leutnant, he returned to I./JG 3 as their highest-scoring pilot.

Defense of the Reich and death In March 1943, I. Gruppe had assembled at Döberitz, located approximately west of Staaken, for a period of rest, replenishment and preparation for defense of the Reich missions. In early April, the Gruppe was ordered to Mönchengladbach after it had received 37 factory new Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-4 fighter aircraft equipped with a pair of 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons installed in conformal gun pods under the wings. There, the pilots trained formation flying, operating in Staffel and Gruppen strength, required to combat the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) heavy bomber formations. A few of the more experienced fighter pilots were sent to Brandenburg-Briest for additional training on Y-Control for fighters, a system to control groups of fighters intercepting USAAF bomber formations. In early May, the Gruppe had completed its training period and was subordinated to Stab of JG 3 which was under control of 3. Jagd-Division (3rd Fighter Division).

On 28 February 1944, I. Gruppe moved to Burg bei Magdeburg where the 1. Jagd-Division (1st Fighter Division) was concentrating fighter forces. In March, Schwaiger was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 1. Staffel of JG 3 following the death of its former commander Leutnant Hans Frese on 8 March. On 24 April, the USAAF Eighth Air Force sent 745 heavy bombers, escorted by 867 fighter aircraft, against the German aircraft industry. At 12:15, I. Gruppe took off and joined up with other elements of JG 3. At approximately 13:15, the Luftwaffe fighters intercepted a bomber formation north of Augsburg. The Luftwaffe fighters flew several attacks against the bomber formation. Following this engagement, Schwaiger made a successful forced landing in his Bf 109 G-5 (Werknummer 110186—factory number) near Neuburg an der Donau but was then killed by strafing North American P-51 Mustang fighters after he had left his aircraft. Command of 1. Staffel remained vacant until 10 May when Hauptmann Ernst Laube was appointed its Staffelkapitän.

Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Schwaiger was credited with 67 aerial victories. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 56 aerial victory claims, plus one further unconfirmed claim. This figure of confirmed claims includes 55 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and one on the Western Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 4931". 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 – 6. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 1 November 1941 1 16 August 1941 06:55 DB-3 5 26 August 1941 16:15 Pe-2 east of Dnipropetrovsk 2 19 August 1941 13:55? I-153 6 3 September 1941 07:55 Pe-2 3 21 August 1941 07:55 DB-3 7 8 September 1941 13:47 SB-2 4 21 August 1941 07:58 DB-3 8 6 October 1941 09:20 Pe-2 – 6. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –Eastern Front — 26 April – 31 July 1942 9 27 May 1942 12:50 Il-2 15 24 July 1942 13:20 Yak-1 PQ 4931 southwest of Bassargino 10 29 May 1942 18:35 V-11 (Il-2) 16 26 July 1942 08:15 Il-2 11 29 May 1942 18:40 V-11 (Il-2) 17 26 July 1942 08:20 Il-2 12 4 June 1942 17:27 Il-2 18 27 July 1942 11:40 Yak-1 PQ 39251 northwest of Pitomnik 13 11 June 1942 12:27 Il-2 19 31 July 1942 13:55 Il-2 PQ 39192, Kalach west of Kalach 14 22 July 1942 05:00 I-16 20 31 July 1942 14:00 LaGG-3 PQ 39184 west of Kalach – 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –Eastern Front — August – September 1942 21 4 August 1942 16:30 MiG-1 PQ 35 Ost 38285 south of Shutow 31 20 August 1942 10:32 LaGG-3 PQ 35 Ost 49451Leninsk airfield 22 5 August 1942 17:37 LaGG-3 PQ 35 Ost 49739 32 21 August 1942 17:42 LaGG-3 PQ 35 Ost 49124 north of Gumrak 23 9 August 1942 11:50? Yak-1 PQ 35 Ost 39417 southeast of Kalach 33 28 August 1942 05:18 MiG-1 PQ 35 Ost 40894 24 9 August 1942 12:00 Yak-1 southeast of Nadeshdavicinity of Bassargino 34 29 August 1942 13:50 P-40 PQ 35 Ost 49261 south of Stalingrad 25 12 August 1942 04:22 LaGG-3 PQ 35 Ost 3946 35 31 August 1942 16:07 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 49333vicinity of Stalingrad 26 13 August 1942 17:54 MiG-1 PQ 35 Ost 39432 south of Pitomnik 36 3 September 1942 04:55 LaGG-3 PQ 35 Ost 40813 27 17 August 1942 16:51 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 30894 north of Pitomnik 37 4 September 1942 17:10? Yak-1 PQ 35 Ost 49241 northeast of Stalingrad 28 17 August 1942 16:52 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 40773, Katschalinskaja 38 6 September 1942 17:05 LaGG-3 PQ 35 Ost 49134 north of Grebenka 29 17 August 1942 16:59? Il-2 PQ 40793vicinity of Spartak 39 29 September 1942 10:05 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 49251, northeast of Stalingrad east-northeast of Stalingrad 30 20 August 1942 10:21? Pe-2 PQ 35 Ost 49631 40 29 September 1942 10:08 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 49222 northeast of Stalingrad – 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –Eastern Front — September 1942 41 29 September 1942 15:50 MiG-3? PQ 35 Ost 59161 – 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –Eastern Front — September 1942 42 30 September 1942 14:45 LaGG-3 north of Kotluban railway station – 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –Eastern Front — October – November 1942 43 4 October 1942 16:07 La-5 east of Tschagarniki 50 9 October 1942 14:43 LaGG-3 PQ 35 Ost 49124 north of Gumrak 44 5 October 1942 07:12 MiG-1 PQ 35 Ost 40424 51 15 October 1942 07:58 R-5 PQ 35 Ost 59314 45 6 October 1942 14:02 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 40442 52 29 October 1942 14:15 LaGG-3 PQ 35 Ost 59321 46 6 October 1942 14:14 MiG-1 PQ 35 Ost 40432 53 31 October 1942 13:20 LaGG-3 PQ 35 Ost 50171 47 7 October 1942 08:58 Yak-1 east of Kolobowka 54 2 November 1942 06:20 LaGG-3 PQ 35 Ost 49491 east of Stalingrad 48 8 October 1942 08:40 LaGG-3 PQ 35 Ost 50672 55 2 November 1942 06:58 R-5 PQ 35 Ost 49434 east of Stalingrad 49 9 October 1942 14:38 LaGG-3 PQ 35 Ost 49931 north of Grebenka – 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –Defense of the Reich — 1 May – 22 October 1943 ? 30 July 1943 B-17& 56? 19 August 1943 19:00 B-17* PQ 05 Ost S/KL ? 12 August 1943 09:30 B-17 – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –Defense of the Reich — 9 January – 24 April 1944 57 19 April 1944 10:55 P-51 PQ 05 Ost S/LU-6south of Hannoversch Münden, east of Kassel

Awards Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class German Cross in Gold on 29 October 1942 as Unteroffizier in the 3./Jagdgeschwader 3 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 October 1942 as Unteroffizier and pilot in the 6./Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet"