Siegfried Engfer

Siegfried Engfer (27 April 1915 – missing April 1946) was a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. He was credited with 58 victories, in over 348 missions.

Career Engfer was born on 27 April 1915 in Neuhof, present-day Będlino, in the Province of Pomerania within the German Empire. On 4 June 1941, Engfer was injured during a takeoff accident in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 (Werknummer 8247—factory number) at the airfield in Norrent-Fontes.

Eastern Front The Wehrmacht launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, on 22 June 1941. III. Gruppe supported Army Group South in its strategic goal towards the heavily populated and agricultural heartland of Ukraine, taking Kiev before continuing eastward over the steppes of southern USSR to the Volga with the aim of controlling the oil-rich Caucasus.

Both Engfer and Feldwebel Heinz Kemethmüller from 8. Staffel of JG 3 claimed their 50th aerial victories on 18 September 1942. Consequently, both pilots were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 2 October 1942. On 6 November, III. Gruppe was withdrawn from the Eastern Front and sent to Mannheim-Sandhofen Airfield for a period of rest and replenishment. The first elements of the Gruppe arrived by train in Mannheim on 8 December, the transfer was completed a week later. There, the personnel was sent on home leave. Following the death of Generaloberst Ernst Udet, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring ordered JG 3 to be given the honorary name "Udet" on 1 December. The Gruppe received a full complement of 41 Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 aircraft and on 6 January 1942 was ordered to relocated to Sicily. On 13 January, 7. Staffel and elements of 8. and 9. Staffel boarded a train to Bari in southern Italy while the rest of III. Gruppe headed for Sciacca, Sicily. The relocation progressed until 26 January when new orders were received, ordering the Gruppe to return to Germany. At Jesau near Königsberg, present-day Kaliningrad in Russia, III. Gruppe began preparations for redeployment to the Eastern Front. On 28 May 1943, Engfer was posted to Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost (Supplementary Fighter Group, East), a specialized training unit for new fighter pilots destined for the Eastern Front, as an instructor. Shortly after, he fell seriously ill and was infected with Tuberculosis.

Engfer went missing on a train journey from Vienna to Munich in April 1946. Alternatively, according to Mathews and Foreman, he may have been killed in a car accident.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Engfer was credited with 58 aerial victories. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found documentation for 58 aerial victory claims, all of which confirmed and claimed on the Eastern Front.

Chronicle of aerial victories Claim! Claim# Date Time Type Location Claim! Claim# Date Time Type Location – 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 –Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941 1 1 6 July 1941 19:40 V-11 (Il-2) – 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –Eastern Front – 10 February 1942 – 14 April 1942 2 2 12 March 1942 17:50 R-5 – 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –Eastern Front – 19 May 1942 – March 1943 3 3 20 May 1942 04:50 Il-2 west of Wesseloje 33 7 September 1942 16:55 La-5 southwest of Vladimirovka 4 27 May 1942 16:02 unknown 34 7 September 1942 16:57 Il-2 west of Orchisodschi 4 5 29 May 1942 18:41 R-10 (Seversky) 35 30 8 September 1942 06:33 La-5? Kotluban railway station 5 30 June 1942 10:06 MiG-1 southeast of Kshen 31 8 September 1942 10:20 unknown 6 6 10 July 1942 04:05 MiG-1 Voronezh 32 8 September 1942 10:30 unknown 7 7 16 July 1942 13:10 R-5 36 8 September 1942 16:48 P-40 northeast of Kotluban train station 8 8 17 July 1942 05:50 MiG-1 33 8 September 1942 16:55 unknown 9 9 22 July 1942 14:58 Il-2 34 9 September 1942 16:45 unknown 10 10 24 July 1942 08:50 Il-2 37 35 9 September 1942 16:56 Il-2? north-northeast of Stalingrad 11 11 26 July 1942 12:27 Il-2 Kalach 38 9 September 1942 16:58 Il-2 northeast of Stalingrad 12 12 26 July 1942 12:34 Il-2 Kalach 36 10 September 1942 06:18 unknown 13 13 26 July 1942 18:13 MiG-1 Kalach 37 10 September 1942 06:21 unknown 14 14 28 July 1942 09:55 Il-2 northwest of Kalach 39 10 September 1942 11:18 MiG-1 Stalingrad 15 9 August 1942 06:01 Su-2 (Seversky) southeast of Kalach 40 38 10 September 1942 17:10 MiG-1? northeast of Stalingrad 16 9 August 1942 06:03 LaGG-3 northwest of Stalingrad 41 39 11 September 1942 05:55 Pe-2? northeast of Katschalino 17 9 August 1942 18:05 LaGG-3 southeast of Kalach 42 11 September 1942 13:56 Il-2 western edge of Stalingrad 18 11 August 1942 17:05 LaGG-3 southwest of Stalingrad 43 12 September 1942 09:22 Il-2 north of Stalingrad 19 17 August 1942 09:35 LaGG-3 north of Pasow 40 12 September 1942 14:10 unknown 20 18 August 1942 17:20 LaGG-3 east of Akatow 44 12 September 1942 15:56 Il-2 east of Stalingrad 21 19 August 1942 11:35 LaGG-3? south of Prudkij 45 13 September 1942 13:11 Il-2 Olchowatka train station 22 19 August 1942 11:44 LaGG-3? north of Kaschinka 46 41 13 September 1942 16:07 Il-2? northeast of Stalingrad 15 19 August 1942 17:55 unknown 47 42 13 September 1942 16:14 Il-2? Stalingrad 16 19 August 1942 17:56 unknown 43 14 September 1942 16:25 unknown 23 17 21 August 1942 05:48 Pe-2? northeast of Ssoldatskaja 48 14 September 1942 16:27 Il-2 southeast of Stalingrad 24 23 August 1942 12:55 I-180 (Yak-7) Akhtuba 44 14 September 1942 16:28 unknown 25 18 24 August 1942 11:55 LaGG-3? Stalingrad 49 14 September 1942 16:29 Il-2 central Stalingrad 19 24 August 1942 11:56 unknown 45 15 September 1942 07:10 unknown 20 27 August 1942 05:25 unknown 46 16 September 1942 08:10 Il-2 26 27 August 1942 07:40 LaGG-3 northwest of Leninsk 47 16 September 1942 08:11 Il-2 27 28 August 1942 11:00 LaGG-3 north-northwest of Stalingrad 48 16 September 1942 16:20 Il-2 21 29 August 1942 06:05 unknown 50 15 September 1942 16:12? Il-2 west of Stalingrad 28 31 August 1942 08:58 Yak-1 Finzuta 51 49 18 September 1942 05:45 Il-2 northeast of Opotschka 29 31 August 1942 09:05 Yak-1 southeast of Sarepta 50 18 September 1942 05:55 Il-2 22 31 August 1942 10:45 unknown 51 18 September 1942 06:03 Il-2 23 2 September 1942 06:38 unknown 52 18 September 1942 17:00 Il-2 western edge of Stalingrad 30 2 September 1942 09:45 Pe-2 north of Karpatsch 52 18 September 1942 05:55 MiG-1 24 2 September 1942 17:10 unknown 53 20 September 1942 09:15 unknown 31 3 September 1942 05:25 Il-2 east of Stalingrad 54 23 September 1942 10:40 unknown 25 3 September 1942 05:26 unknown 53 24 September 1942 12:49 Il-2 north of Chalshuta 26 5 September 1942 06:07 unknown 55 27 September 1942 16:05 unknown 32 27 6 September 1942 17:03 LaGG-3? north-northwest of Stalingrad 56 12 February 1943 unknown 28 7 September 1942 16:41 unknown 57 28 February 1943 11:30 unknown 29 7 September 1942 16:42 unknown 58 2 March 1943 10:37 unknown

Awards Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 21 September 1942 as Feldwebel and pilot Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 2 October 1942 as Feldwebel and pilot in the III./Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet"