Hermann Schleinhege

Hermann Schleinhege (21 February 1916 – 11 March 2014) was a former 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 was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership; for the fighter pilots it was a quantifiable measure of skill and combat success. Schleinhege was credited with 97 aerial victories, all on the Eastern Front.

Hermann Schleinhege
Born(1916-02-21)21 February 1916
Essen, Kingdom of Prussia
Died11 March 2014(2014-03-11) (aged 98)
Soest, Germany
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service/branch Luftwaffe
Years of service1936–45
RankLeutnant (second lieutenant)
UnitJG 54
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Spouse(s)Margret née Höber

Career

Schleinhege joined the Luftwaffe before the war and upon completing his training, in February 1941, served as a flight instructor. In April 1942, he was transferred as an Unteroffizier to 6. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 Grünherz (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing), at the time stationed near Leningrad. On 15 May, Schleinhege damaged his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 (Werknummer 8618) during takeoff at Lyuban.[1]

However, it was four months until he scored his first victory (9 August 1942) and ten months for his 6th victory (27 February 1943) south of Lake Ilmen.

With the Geschwaderstab of JG 54

It was only upon his transfer to the Geschwaderstab (headquarters flight) of JG 54 that his combat claims picked up. Flying as wingman to the unit commanders, men like the long-serving Hannes Trautloft, Hubertus von Bonin (78 victories) and Anton Mader (86 victories), gave him invaluable experience for the difficult months ahead. Flying with the Geschwaderstab, he crashed Focke-Wulf Fw 58 Weihe B-1 (Werknummer 3576) near Oryol on 9 July.[2] By the end of the year when they were based in Orsha with Army Group Centre, his score stood at 32 aerial victories.

He was awarded the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) on 20 March 1944, and scored his 37th victory on 4 April. After an extended period away from the front with officer training, the newly commissioned Leutnant Schleinhege was transferred to 4./JG 54 in Estonia, and resumed scoring on 16 August, and claiming his 50th on 17 September. On 9 October, now based out of Riga, he shot down two Bell P-39 Airacobras and two Il-2 bombers (58-61v.) Finally, at the end of November 1944, he was promoted to Staffelkapitän of 8./JG 54 and by the end of the year, with his squadron based in Libau supporting the troops in the isolated Kurland pocket, his score had climbed to 81.

Schleinhege was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 28 January 1945, for 84 victories.[3] He and his pilots continued to fly as best they could with the limited fuel supply, covering the naval evacuation of the pocket. Based firstly from Libau until March, then from Heiligenbeil, near Königsberg, until the end of the war. His last flight was on 8 May 1945 when he squeezed his two mechanics into his (nominally) single-seater Fw 190 and flew to Kiel to surrender to the British troops.[4]

Schleinhege survived the war, and in three years flew 484 combat missions, all on the Eastern Front and all with JG 54. He ended with 97 confirmed victories and a number more unconfirmed, including 54 Il-2 and Pe-2 bombers.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Spick, Schleinhege was credited with 96 aerial victories claimed in an unknown number combat missions, all of which on the Eastern Front.[5] Obermaier lists him with 97 aerial victories.[6] Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found documentation for 94 aerial victory claims, plus five further unconfirmed claims.[7]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 35 Ost 28734". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) 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 360 square miles (930 km2). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size.[8]

Awards

Notes
  1. This claim is not listed by Matthews and Foreman.[11]
  2. This claim is not listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock.[14]
  3. According to Obermaier on 2 October 1943.[6]
  4. According to Scherzer as Leutnant of the Reserves.[23]

References

Citations
  1. Prien et al. 2006, p. 159.
  2. Prien et al. 2012, p. 79.
  3. Weal 1995, p. 82.
  4. Weal 2001, p. 118.
  5. Spick 1996, p. 234.
  6. Obermaier 1989, p. 196.
  7. Matthews & Foreman 2015, pp. 1127–1129.
  8. Planquadrat.
  9. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 1127.
  10. Prien et al. 2006, p. 147.
  11. Matthews & Foreman 2015, pp. 1127–1128.
  12. Prien et al. 2006, p. 151.
  13. Prien et al. 2006, p. 148.
  14. Prien et al. 2006, p. 157.
  15. Prien et al. 2012, p. 268.
  16. Prien et al. 2012, p. 270.
  17. Prien et al. 2012, p. 269.
  18. Prien et al. 2012, p. 78.
  19. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 1128.
  20. Patzwall 2008, p. 180.
  21. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 408.
  22. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 378.
  23. Scherzer 2007, p. 664.

Bibliography
  • Bergström, Christer. "Bergström Black Cross/Red Star website". Identifying a Luftwaffe Planquadrat. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
  • Matthews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2015). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 4 S–Z. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-21-9.
  • Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1939 – 1945] (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7.
  • Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
  • Patzwall, Klaus D. (2008). Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg [The Honor Goblet for Outstanding Achievement in the Air War] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-08-3.
  • Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2006). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 9/III—Vom Sommerfeldzug 1942 bis zur Niederlage von Stalingrad—1.5.1942 bis 3.2.1943 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 9/III—From the 1942 Summer Campaign to the Defeat at Stalingrad—1 May 1942 to 3 February 1943] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-78-6.
  • Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2012). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 12/III—Einsatz im Osten—4.2. bis 31.12.1943 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 12/III—Action in the East—4 February to 31 December 1943] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Buchverlag Rogge. ISBN 978-3-942943-07-9.
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
  • Scutts, Jerry. JG 54 Jagdgeschwader 54 Grünherz - Aces of the Eastern Front. Shrewsbury, EN: Airlife Publishing Ltd. 1992.ISBN 0-87938-718-1
  • Spick, Mike (1996). Luftwaffe Fighter Aces. New York: Ivy Books. ISBN 978-0-8041-1696-1.
  • Weal, John (1995). Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Aces of the Russian Front. London, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-518-0.
  • Weal, John (2001). Jagdgeschwader 54 'Grünherz'. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-286-9.
  • Weal, John (2007). More Bf109 Aces of the Russian Front. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-84603-177-X.
Military offices
Preceded by
unknown: unit reformed October 1944		 Squadron Leader of 8./JG 54
late November, 1944 – 9 May 1945		 Succeeded by
none: end of war
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