Siegfried Lemke

Siegfried "Wumm" Lemke (7 April 1921 – 18 December 1995) 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. During his career he was credited with between 70 and 96 aerial victories.

Biography Lemke was born on 7 April 1921 in Schivelbein in Farther Pomerania, at the time in the Province of Pomerania within the Weimar Republic, present-day Świdwin, Poland. Following completion of flight and fighter pilot training, Lemke was posted to the 1. Staffel (1st squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2—2nd Fighter Wing) in October 1942. He claimed his first aerial victory on 12 March 1943 when he downed a Royal Air Force (RAF) Supermarine Spitfire fighter near Fécamp. For this, he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class .

Squadron leader On 1 January 1944, Lemke was officially appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 1. Staffel of JG 2. He succeeded Leutnant Hugo Dahmer who had been injured on 11 September 1943. Since then, Lemke had inoffically led the Staffel as Staffelführer.

In late January 1944 following the Allied amphibious landing in Italy known as Operation Shingle, I. Gruppe under the command of Hauptmann Erich Hohagen was moved to Aix-en-Provence Aerodrome in southern France. There the unit fought against the 15th Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). On 9 February, Lemke engaged Spitfires from the 52nd Fighter Wing which were attacking shipping off the coast of France. During this encounter, Lemke claimed four Spitfires shot down. One of the pilots shot down was the American pilot Bob Hoover who was taken prisoner of war. In this engagement, Lemke also shot down Flight Officer James H. Montgomery and Lieutenant John L. Bishop, both pilots killed in action. Lemke's fourth claim did not lead to a loss by the Americans. His squadron were again transferred to Italy to counter the Allied landings at Anzio. In March, 1944 Lemke added sixteen further victories to his tally. The USAAF sent 200 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and 80 Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers to the Rome marshalling yards on 3 March. The bombers were escorted by Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters of which two were shot down by Lemke.

In April, Lemke was awarded the German Cross in Gold after claiming 37 aerial victories. That month, he was also promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant). By the early summer of 1944, Lemke's squadron was again moved, this time to Creil, an airfield north of Paris. From here Lemke flew combat missions over the developing campaign in Normandy following D-Day. On 14 June 1944, Lemke was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his then tally of 44 aerial victories.

Group commander In July 1944, Lemke was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of the III. Gruppe of JG 2, replacing Hauptmann Josef Wurmheller who had been killed in action on 22 June. In consequence, command of 1. Staffel passed on to Leutnant Rudolf Wirtgen. The Gruppe flew its last combat mission from Creil, France on 19 August before they relocated to Königsberg in der Neumark, present-day Chojna, Poland, for a period of rest and replenishment. Their remaining aircraft were left in France and assigned to other units. At Königsberg in der Neumark, the Gruppe received factory new Fw 190 A-8/R6 aircraft. The Gruppe moved to Mohrin, present-day Moryń, on 5 October where training of the newly assigned pilots continued. Reaching operational readiness, Lemke relocated III. Gruppe to Altenstadt Airfield on 15 October.

Lemke led III. Gruppe during Operation Bodenplatte in their attack on Sint-Truiden airfield on 1 January 1945. Prior to the attack, he reported 40 Fw 190s operational, 34 of them Fw 190 Ds. However, only 28 of the 43 pilots in the unit were fit for operations and the formation fielded only 28 fighters. The attack turned out to be a disaster. III. Gruppe lost 19 Fw 190s and three were damaged, a loss rate of 79%. Nine pilots were killed, two were wounded and four were captured. While JG 2 moved to Bohemia in April 1945, III. Gruppe disappeared from German order of battle. It is said that Lemke led his surviving men north, though no record exists of the Gruppe movements. In the final days of the war, Lemke was nominated for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves which were not awarded before the war ended.

Later life Lemke died on 18 December 1995 at the age of in Worfelden, a municipality of Büttelborn, Germany.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Lemke was credited with 70 aerial victories. Spick lists him with 96 aerial victories claimed in 325 combat missions. This figure includes one claim on the Eastern Front and 95 claims on the Western Front of which 21 are four-engined heavy bombers. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and state that Lemke was credited with more than 54 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Western Front, including at least five four-engined bombers.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 14 West 4846". 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 – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" –On the Western Front — 1 January – 31 December 1943 1 12 March 1943 13:10 Spitfire north of Fécamp 7 24 September 1943 17:08 Spitfire GisorsCrillon 2 17 May 1943 12:15 B-17 PQ 14 West 4846 southeast of Île de Groix 8 26 September 1943 12:48 P-51 PQ 05 Ost TC-7, east of Elbeuf 3 29 May 1943 16:23 B-17 north of Saint-Malo southwest of Saint-Nazaire 9 4 October 1943 17:33 Typhoon southeast of Champenard 4 4 July 1943 13:24 B-17 west-southwest of Saint-NazairePQ 14 West 4722 10 5 October 1943 14:21 P-51 PQ 05 Ost RC, north of Bolbec 5 6 September 1943 19:03 Spitfire northwest of Montdidier 11 19 October 1943 11:22 Typhoon PQ 15 West UT-1, southwest of Bayeux 6 24 September 1943 12:05 Typhoon northwest of Honfleur – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" –On the Western Front — 1 January – 20 February 1944 12 27 January 1944 11:01 Spitfire PQ 04 Ost S/DN-1Hyères, Marseille 16 9 February 1944 14:50 Spitfire PQ 04 Ost S/CP-2/2southeast of Cannes 13 27 January 1944 11:13 Spitfire Hyères 17 9 February 1944 14:54 Spitfire PQ 04 Ost S/CP-3southeast of Cannes 14 27 January 1944 11:17 Spitfire Hyères 18 9 February 1944 15:00 Spitfire PQ 04 Ost S/CP-9southeast of Cannes 15 4 February 1944 14:27? B-17 PQ 04 Ost S/EM-8 south of Nice 19 9 February 1944 16:35 Spitfire PQ 04 Ost S/CQ-5/8southeast of Cannes – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" –In Italy — 20 February – 8 April 1944 20 29 February 1944 17:10 Spitfire northeast of Nettuno 29 14 March 1944 11:37 B-26 northwest of Rome 21 29 February 1944 17:22 Spitfire southwest of the Tiber estuary south-southwest of Cisterna di Latina 30 17 March 1944 06:57 Spitfire west of Cape Anzio 22 3 March 1944 11:51 P-47 Valentano 31 17 March 1944 07:23 Spitfire south of Marsciano 23 3 March 1944 11:53 P-47 north of Farnese 32 18 March 1944 09:11 Spitfire northwest of Mignano Monte Lungo 24 7 March 1944 09:47? Spitfire northeast of Nettuno 33 18 March 1944 17:36 Spitfire west of Frosinone 25 7 March 1944 09:57 Spitfire west of Nettuno 34 19 March 1944 07:50 Spitfire west of Montalto di Castro 26 7 March 1944 12:22 B-24 southwest of Tarquinia 35 19 March 1944 09:53 Spitfire west of Tarquinia 27 10 March 1944 10:15 P-51 north of Rome 36 19 March 1944 10:02 Spitfire west of Montalto di Castro 28 11 March 1944 07:20 Spitfire northeast of Nettuno 37 2 April 1944 13:37 P-39 southwest of Montalto di Castro – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" –On the Western Front — 8 April – July 1944 38 9 May 1944 09:35? P-38 northwest of Nancy 44 12 June 1944 10:47 Typhoon PQ 05 Ost UA-7vicinity of Lisieux 39 30 May 1944 11:35 P-51 PQ 04 Ost N/CK-4/5Doulevant-le-Château 45 14 June 1944 06:45 Typhoon PQ 05 Ost UC-2/1vicinity of Évreux 40 7 June 1944 06:12 Spitfire southeast of Tilly 46 15 June 1944 06:42 Spitfire PQ 05 Ost UC-8vicinity of Évreux 41 7 June 1944 06:18 P-47 northeast of Bayeux 47 15 June 1944 06:44 Spitfire PQ 05 Ost UC-8/PQ 04 Ost N/AC-2vicinity of Évreux/Dreux 42 7 June 1944 19:13 P-47 PQ 15 West UT-3, Caen east of Caen 48 16 June 1944 19:50 P-51 PQ 05 Ost UA-3vicinity of Lisieux 43 8 June 1944 06:17 P-51 PQ 04 Ost N/AD-7/BD-1southeast of Dreux – Stab III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" –On the Western Front — July – 31 December 1944 49 19 August 1944 09:09? Typhoon PQ 04 Ost N/AC-4/5vicinity of Dreux 52 17 December 1944 11:37 Tempest PQ 05 Ost POEifel 50 20 October 1944 09:11 P-38 PQ 05 Ost S/NG-5/8east of Cologne-Bonn 53 23 December 1944 14:49 P-47 PQ 05 Ost NOsouthwest of Cologne 51 20 October 1944 15:08 P-47 PQ 05 Ost S/QP-1east of Cologne-Bonn 54 23 December 1944 14:51 P-47 PQ 05 Ost NOsouthwest of Cologne

Awards Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 8 May 1944 as Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel and pilot German Cross in Gold on 3 April 1944 as Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel in the 1./Jagdgeschwader 2 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 14 June 1944 as Leutnant and Staffelführer of the 1./Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen"