Kurt Ebener

Kurt Ebener (4 May 1920 – 7 May 1975) was a Luftwaffe fighter 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. Ebener was credited with 57 victories in 150 missions, 52 over the Eastern Front.

Career Ebener was born on 4 May 1920 in Könitz, present-day a municipality of Unterwellenborn, at the time in Thuringia of the Weimar Republic. He volunteered for military service in the Luftwaffe on 17 November 1939. Following completion of flight and fighter pilot training, was posted to 4. Staffel (4th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing) on 1 December 1941. The Staffel was subordinated to II. Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 3 and based at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim Airfield and preparing for deployment to Mediterranean theater. At the time, 4. Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant Walther Dahl while II. Gruppe was headed by Hauptmann Karl-Heinz Krahl.

In early January 1942, II. Gruppe received orders to relocate to Sicily where the II. Fliegerkorps (2nd Air Corps) concentrated forces during the Siege of Malta. On 18 January, the first aircraft from 4. Staffel arrived at Comiso Airfield. On 25 April, the Gruppe flew its last mission to Malta, escorting bombers.

War against the Soviet Union On 27 April 1942, II. Gruppe arrived at Pilsen, present-day Plzeň, following their deployment to the Mediterranean theater. The Gruppe was then placed under the command of Hauptmann Kurt Brändle after its formed commander Krahl had been killed in action. During the next three weeks, the Gruppe underwent a period of maintenance and overhaul before on 18 May began deploying to the southern sector of the Eastern Front. Too late to participate in the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula, it was located on the left wing of Army Group South, assigned to an airfield at Chuguyev in the Kharkov area where they arrived on 19 May. On 23 May, Ebener claimed his first two victories when he shot down two I-61 fighters, an early German designation for a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 fighter.

In December 1942, Ebener volunteered for the Platzschutzstaffel (airfield defence squadron) of the Pitomnik Airfield. Ebener, whose oldest brother Walter had been killed in action on the Eastern Front, was motivated to volunteer since his older brother Helmut served with a Panzer-Jäger (tank-destroyer) regiment in Stalingrad. The Staffel, largely made up from volunteers from I. and II. Gruppe of JG 3, was responsible for providing fighter escort to Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft and Heinkel He 111 bombers shuttling supplies for the encircled German forces fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad. II. Gruppe pilots claimed 39 aerial victories between 16 and 26 December, including 13 by Ebener. In total, Ebener claimed 33 aerial victories with the Platzschutzstaffel which made him the most successful Luftwaffe fighter pilot over Stalingrad. On 17 December, Ebener claimed his 20th aerial victory when he shot down an Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft. Two days later, the Luftwaffe managed to fly in 289 tons of supplies. That day, Ebener became an "ace-in-a-day" when he claimed four Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighters and two Petlyakov Pe-2 bombers shot down.

On 1 March 1943, Ebener was transferred to Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost, a fighter pilot training unit for pilots destined for the Eastern Front, as an instructor. On 18 March, Ebener was awarded the German Cross in Gold , and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 7 April for 52 aerial victories claimed. Simultaneously, he was promoted to the rank of Leutnant (second lieutenant).

Squadron leader On 31 March 1944, he was transferred to 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 11 (JG 11—11th Fighter Wing) and on 15 July, he was appointed the Staffelkapitän of 5. Staffel of JG 11. At the time II. Gruppe of JG 11 was based at Wunstorf Air Base for a period of rest and replenishment. On 12 August, the Gruppe began its relocation to the invasion front where they supported the retreat of the 5th Panzer Army and 7th Army west of Falaise. The Gruppe arrived at a makeshift airfield near Ballancourt-sur-Essonne the following day. The Gruppe had lost many aircraft during its relocation. Of the 72 Bf 109s which had left Wunstorf, only 18 were operational on 14 August. That day, the Gruppe flew its first mission in France, a training exercise to familiarize the pilots with the area of operation. During the landing approach at Ballancourt, the Gruppe came under attack by Supermarine Spitfire fighters. In this encounter, Ebener claimed a Spitfire shot down, his first claim on the Western Front. The next day, ground forces were fighting north and south of Falaise. In support, Ebener claimed a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter shot down.

On the evening of 16 August, II. Gruppe moved to Juvincourt Airfield and then to an airfield near Beaurieux, approximately southeast of Laon, the next day. On 19 August, during the fighting in the Falaise pocket, Ebener claimed his last aerial victory when he shot down a P-47. He was shot down himself in a dogfight with USAAF fighters southeast of Paris while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-14 (Werknummer 780667—factory number) on 23 August 1944. Although saved by his parachute near Troyes, he was badly burned and become a prisoner of war. Initially posted as missing in action, he was replaced by Leutnant Paul Schalk as commander of 5. Staffel. Due to his serious injuries he was repatriated to Germany in January 1945.

Later life Ebener died on 7 May 1975 at the age of in Fischbach, West Germany from complications of his war-time wounds.

Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Ebener was credited with 57 aerial victories. Obermaier and Spick also list Ebener with 57 aerial victories, 52 on the Eastern Front and five over the Western Allies, claimed in approximately 150 combat missions. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 51 aerial victories, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 4911". 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 – 4. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –Eastern Front — 26 April 1942 – 3 February 1943 1 23 May 1942 09:05? I-61 (MiG-3) 27♠ 19 December 1942 14:09 Pe-2 PQ 4911 2 23 May 1942 14:05 I-61 (MiG-3) 28 20 December 1942 12:37? LaGG-3 southwest of Beketovka 3 27 May 1942 15:56? MiG-1 ? 21 December 1942 Yak-1 4 1 July 1942 09:08 Il-2 29 22 December 1942 13:35 Yak-1 southwest of Rakutino 5 24 July 1942 18:12 Il-2 30 25 December 1942 13:05 Il-2 PQ 4921 6 25 July 1942 12:32 R-5 31 25 December 1942 13:06 LaGG-3 PQ 4921 7 26 July 1942 03:56 LaGG-3 32 28 December 1942 09:05 LaGG-3 PQ 4937 8 27 July 1942 07:15 MiG-1 PQ 3942, south of Dubinskij 33 30 December 1942 09:45? MiG-1 north of Gorodishche 9 30 July 1942 13:04? Yak-1 PQ 39181 west of Kalach 34 30 December 1942 09:48 MiG-1 north of Stalingrad 10 30 July 1942 13:05 Yak-1 PQ 39191 west of Kalach 35 30 December 1942 12:25 Il-2 PQ 49114 northwest of Gumrak 11 1 August 1942 15:37 LaGG-3 PQ 3941, west of Kalach southeast of Kalach 36 30 December 1942 12:27 LaGG-3 PQ 49412 12 5 August 1942 04:40 Pe-2 PQ 49354, Beketovka south of Bassargino 37 4 January 1943 15:57? LaGG-3 PQ 3941 13? 5 August 1942 04:42 Pe-2 west of Beketovka 38 7 January 1943 07:47 LaGG-3 PQ 4915 14 21 August 1942 13:37 I-180 (Yak-7) PQ 39492 south of Pitomnik 39 7 January 1943 08:26 La-5 PQ 4937 15 15 September 1942 14:47 Pe-2 PQ 57711 40 10 January 1943 07:30? Il-2 north of Pitomnik Airfieldvicinity of Bassargino 16 6 October 1942 07:20 LaGG-3 west of Neprije 41 10 January 1943 07:35 Il-2 PQ 49132 17 15 October 1942 09:01 LaGG-3 PQ 38613 42 10 January 1943 07:46 LaGG-3 PQ 49316 southwest of Bassargino 18 3 December 1942 12:40 Il-2 PQ 26192 43 10 January 1943 09:03 Il-2 north of Babukin northeast of Pitomnik 19 3 December 1942 12:42 Il-2 PQ 26161 44 12 January 1943 10:40 Il-2 PQ 49143 northeast of Pitomnik 20 17 December 1942 13:24 Il-2 PQ 49121 north of Gumrak 45 12 January 1943 10:42 Il-2 PQ 49143 northeast of Pitomnik 21 17 December 1942 13:26 Yak-1 PQ 4078 46 12 January 1943 14:25 LaGG-3 PQ 49312 southwest of Bassargino 22 18 December 1942 12:47 Il-2 PQ 3945 47 13 January 1943 10:15 Il-2 PQ 4934 23♠ 19 December 1942 12:45 LaGG-3 PQ 3946 48 15 January 1943 08:28 DB-3 PQ 4912 24♠ 19 December 1942 13:52 LaGG-3 PQ 3942 49 15 January 1943 08:32 DB-3 PQ 4911 25♠ 19 December 1942 13:55 LaGG-3 PQ 3942 50 15 January 1943 10:21 LaGG-3 PQ 4934 26♠ 19 December 1942 14:08 Pe-2 PQ 4911 51 15 January 1943 10:39 LaGG-3 PQ 4918 – 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 11 –nvasion of Normandy — August 1944 52? 14 August 1944 Spitfire 55? 18 August 1944 P-51 53? 15 August 1944 P-47 56? 19 August 1944 P-47 54? 16 August 1944 P-47

Awards Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 15 March 1943 as Feldwebel and pilot German Cross in Gold on 18 March 1943 as Feldwebel in the 4./Jagdgeschwader 3 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 7 April 1943 as Feldwebel and pilot in the 4./Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet"