Fritz Lüddecke

Fritz Paul Lüddecke (23 February 1920 – 10 August 1944) was a Luftwaffe fighter ace from Brakel, Germany. He was the recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Fritz Lüddecke was credited with 50 kills all in the Eastern Front. In 1944 he was killed in action over Wilkowischken, Lithuania.

Early life and career Lüddecke was born on 23 February 1920 in Brakel, then in the Province of Westphalia within the Weimar Republic. He joined the military service of Luftwaffe and following flight training, he was posted to Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost, a supplementary training unit for fighter pilots destined for the Eastern Front, on 18 November 1941. Lüddecke was then transferred to 6. Staffel (6th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing) on the Eastern Front on 20 May 1942. At the time, the Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant Walter Stengel and subordinated to II. Gruppe (2nd group) which was headed by Hauptmann Hartmann Grasser.

World War II World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. On 17 July 1942, II. Gruppe had moved from Bryansk to an airfield named Orel-North. Here on 24 August, Lüddecke claimed his first aerial victory when he shot down a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 fighter, his only claim while flying with 6. Staffel.

With the Stabsstaffel In early October 1942, II. Gruppe of JG 51 was withdrawn from the Eastern Front and sent to Jesau, near present-day Bagrationovsk, to Heiligenbeil, present-day Mamonovo, to be reequipped with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A. While undergoing training on this aircraft, the Gruppe received orders on 4 November to transfer to the Mediterranean theatre flying the Bf 109 again. 6. Staffel was exempt from this order, was detached from II. Gruppe, and continued its training on the Fw 190. In late November, 6. Staffel was renamed to Stabsstaffel (headquarters squadron) of JG 51 and placed under the command of Diethelm von Eichel-Streiber on 30 November. Alternatively, the Stabsstaffel was also referred to as Geschwaderstabsstaffel z.b.V., roughly translating to fighter wing squadron for special deployment. The abbreviation z. b. V. is German and stands for zur besonderen Verwendung (for special deployment).

The Stabsstaffel transferred to the Eastern Front again on 5 February 1943 where it was based at an airfield at Smolensk. There, the fought in support of the 9th Army during the Battles of Rzhev. On 9 March, the Stabsstaffel was scrambled multiple times in defense of the airfield. At noon, a Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber was shot down southwest of Dugino, located approximately north of Vyazma, which was credited to Lüddecke. The Stabsstaffel was tasked with providing fighter protection of the Smolensk airfield on 15 March. In the morning, the Stabsstaffel was scrambled to intercept a flight of Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft north of Smolensk and claimed four aerial victories including an Il-2 aircraft by Lüddecke.

On the first day of the Battle of Kursk, 5 July 1943, the Stabsstaffel relocated from Smolensk to Oryol where it fought over the northern face of the salient. On 13 July, the Stabsstaffel was deployed over the combat area near Novosil where they engaged in combat with Soviet fighters. During this engagement, the Staffel claimed five aerial victories, including a Lavochkin La-5 fighter by Lüddecke, for the loss of one of their own. By end August, Lüddecke had increased his number of aerial victories to 13 and had been awarded both classes of the Iron Cross .

Operation Bagration and death On 1 August 1944 during Operation Bagration, the Stabstaffel moved to Jürgenfelde, present-day Judino in Kaliningrad Oblast, flying its first combat missions the following day. Here, Lüddecke claimed ten aerial victories, including two on 9 August, taking his total to 50, his last claims.

On 10 August, Lüddecke was killed in action in his Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8 (Werknummer 172958—factory number) south-southwest of Wilkowischken, present-day Vilkaviškis. Following hits by anti-aircraft artillery, he attempted an emergency landing when his aircraft exploded in mid-air. He was posthumously awarded the German Cross in Gold on 1 October 1944, and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 18 November 1944.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims According to Jacobs and Obermaier, Lüddecke was credited with 50 aerial victories all of which claimed on the Eastern Front. He flew more than 600 combat missions, including 150 fighter-bomber missions. Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 51 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 54284". 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 51 "Mölders" – 1 24 August 1942 13:40? MiG-3 PQ 54284 south of Kozelsk – Stabsstaffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" –Eastern Front — 1 January – 31 December 1943 2 9 March 1943 12:00 Pe-2 PQ 35 Ost 36643, west-northwest of Mjabau 11 20 August 1943 13:35 Il-2 m.H. southwest of Spas-Demensk 3 15 March 1943 10:19 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 26554 north of Moschna 12 20 August 1943 13:36? Il-2 m.H. PQ 35 Ost 35837, Spas-Demensk 4 13 July 1943 15:20 La-5 PQ 35 Ost 63263, southwest of Novosil east-southeast of Zalegoshch 13 29 August 1943 13:09 Il-2 m.H. PQ 35 Ost 42139, northeast of Glukhov south of Sevsk 5 16 July 1943 09:45 La-5 PQ 35 Ost 54319 east of Zhizdra 14 7 September 1943 08:36 Yak-9 northeast of Dukhovshchina 6 12 August 1943 08:43? LaGG-3 PQ 35 Ost 35453, northwest of Yelnya northwest of Spas-Demensk 15 12 November 1943 09:11 La-5 PQ 35 Ost 06817, east of Vitebsk 7 16 August 1943 13:50? LaGG-3 PQ 35 Ost 35696 southwest of Utrikowo 16 5 December 1943 11:00 Il-2 m.H. PQ 25 Ost 93247 northeast of Parichi 8 18 August 1943 18:43 Il-2 m.H. PQ 35 Ost 35664, Spas-Demensk west of Spas-Demensk 17 12 December 1943 12:08 Yak-9 PQ 25 Ost 93286 east of Parichi 9 20 August 1943 13:28 Il-2 m.H. PQ 35 Ost 358, southwest of Spas-Demensk 18 23 December 1943 13:08 Il-2 m.H. PQ 25 Ost 93411 southeast of Parichi 10 20 August 1943 13:32? Il-2 m.H. southwest of Spas-Demensk southwest of Utrikowo – Stabsstaffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" –Eastern Front — 1 January – 10 August 1944 19 10 January 1944 13:23 Pe-2 PQ 25 Ost 93648 north-northeast of Mazyr 34 2 July 1944 08:41 Yak-9 PQ 25 Ost 85774vicinity of Lowica 20 5 February 1944 07:20 La-5 PQ 25 Ost 93152 northwest of Parichi 35 11 July 1944 11:45 P-39 PQ 25 Ost 54713 northeast of Karachev 21 22 February 1944 13:00 Yak-7 PQ 25 Ost 94895 west-southwest of Rahachow 36 18 July 1944 16:21 P-39 PQ 25 Ost 42581 northwest of Liuboml 22 22 February 1944 13:01 Il-2 PQ 25 Ost 94894 west-southwest of Rahachow 37 19 July 1944 17:29 Yak-9 PQ 25 Ost 32762vicinity of Chełm 23 18 June 1944 14:28? La-5 PQ 35 Ost 04866 38 20 July 1944 07:30 Il-2 PQ 25 Ost 32866 east of Chełm 24 22 June 1944 18:20? LaGG-3 PQ 25 Ost 96536 north-northeast of Ulla 39 20 July 1944 11:35 Il-2 PQ 25 Ost 32399 east-southeast of Chełm 23 June 1944 09:40 LaGG-3 PQ 25 Ost 968, north-northeast of Orsha 40 20 July 1944 11:36 Il-2 PQ 25 Ost 31233 north of Hostynne 25 23 June 1944 13:19 Yak-9 PQ 25 Ost 96689vicinity of Ulla 41 2 August 1944 11:11 La-5 PQ 25 Ost 35374, south of Vilkaviškis west of Marijampolė 26 23 June 1944 14:15? Il-2 PQ 25 Ost 96726vicinity of Ulla 42 2 August 1944 11:29 Yak-9 PQ 25 Ost 25469, south-southwest of Vilkaviškis west-northwest of Marijampolė 27 23 June 1944 14:29? Il-2 PQ 25 Ost 96562 north of Ulla 43 4 August 1944 08:04 Il-2 PQ 25 Ost 35371, south of Vilkaviškis west of Marijampolė ? 24 June 1944 12:15 La-5 north-northeast of Orsha 44 4 August 1944 08:30 La-5 PQ 25 Ost 25498, south-southwest of Vilkaviškis east of Trakehnen 28 24 June 1944 16:26 Yak-9 PQ 35 Ost 05329 northwest of Orsha 45 5 August 1944 12:16? La-5 PQ 25 Ost 35344 west-northwest of Marijampolė 29 25 June 1944 12:05 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 05351 northwest of Orsha 46 7 August 1944 07:42 Yak-9 PQ 25 Ost 25431, northeast of Eydtkau east-southeast of Blumenfeld 30 26 June 1944 14:53? Yak-9 PQ 25 Ost 95647 southwest of Talachyn 47 7 August 1944 07:46 Yak-9 PQ 25 Ost 25433, northeast of Eydtkau east-southeast of Blumenfeld 31 26 June 1944 14:59 Yak-9 PQ 25 Ost 95535 west-northwest of Talachyn 48 8 August 1944 17:42 La-5 PQ 25 Ost 35312 northwest of Marijampolė 32 28 June 1944 16:47 La-5 PQ 25 Ost 95586 southwest of Talachyn 49 9 August 1944 16:10 Yak-9 PQ 25 Ost 35348 west-northwest of Marijampolė 33 29 June 1944 17:13 P-39 PQ 25 Ost 94157 northeast of Byerazino 50 9 August 1944 19:19 La-5 PQ 25 Ost 35329 north-northwest of Marijampolė

Awards Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 13 December 1943 as Feldwebel and pilot German Cross in Gold on 1 October 1944 as Feldwebel in the Stabsstaffel/Jagdgeschwader 51 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 18 November 1944 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot in the Stabsstaffel/Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders"