Peter Düttmann
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Peter "Bonifazius" Düttmann (23 May 1923 – 9 January 2001) was a German
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
military aviator and fighter ace during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. He is credited with 152 aerial victories achieved in 398 combat missions, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front. Born in
Gießen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...
, Düttmann grew up in the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...
and
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. In 1940, he joined the military service of the Luftwaffe where he was trained as a fighter pilot. Following flight training, he was posted to ''Jagdgeschwader'' 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) in May 1943. Flying with this wing, Düttmann claimed his first aerial victory on 21 May 1943 over a
Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
fighter aircraft. Following his 91st aerial victory he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 June 1944. He claimed his 100th aerial victory on 25 September and was appointed squadron leader of 5. '' Staffel'' (5th squadron) of JG 52 in December. He led this squadron until the end of World War II. Düttmann died on 9 January 2001 in
Echterdingen Leinfelden-Echterdingen (Swabian: ''Laefälda-Ächdordeng'') is a town in the district of Esslingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km south of Stuttgart, near the Stuttgart Airport and directly adjacent to t ...
.


Early life and career

Düttmann was born on 23 May 1923 in
Gießen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...
, at the time in
People's State of Hesse The People's State of Hesse (german: Volksstaat Hessen) was one of the constituent states of Germany from 1918 to 1945, as the successor to the Grand Duchy of Hesse (german: Großherzogtum Hessen) after the defeat of the German Empire in World W ...
in the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...
. His father was surgeon Dr. Erich Düttmann. Following flight training, Düttmann was transferred to the '' Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost'' (Supplementary Fighter Group East) in southern France. In February 1943, Düttmann and other flight students of ''Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost'' under the leadership of ''Oberleutnant'' Walter Krupinski were based at La Leu Airfield near
La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...
, France. There, Düttmann flew the
Arado Ar 96 The Arado Ar 96 was a German single-engine, low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction, produced by Arado Flugzeugwerke. It was the '' Luftwaffe''s standard advanced trainer during World War II. Design and development Designed by Walter B ...
. On some of his flights, he was joined by members of the '' Kriegsmarine''
U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
force who were made aware how easily a surfaced U-boat could be spotted from the air.


World War II

Following completion of flight and fighter pilot training, Düttmann joined 5. '' Staffel'' (5th squadron), ''Jagdgeschwader'' 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) on 7 May 1943. At the time, this squadron led by ''Leutnant'' Helmut Haberda who was killed in action on 8 May. Command of 5. ''Staffel'' was then temporarily given to ''Leutnant'' Josef Zwernemann who passed on command to ''Oberleutnant''
Wilhelm Batz Wilhelm Batz (21 May 1916 – 11 September 1988) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace during World War II. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. Batz fle ...
on 26 May. The squadron was subordinated to II. '' Gruppe'' (2nd group) of JG 52 under the command of ''Hauptmann'' Helmut Kühle. II. ''Gruppe'' was based at
Anapa Anapa (russian: Ана́па, ) is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the northern coast of the Black Sea near the Sea of Azov. Population: History The area around Anapa was settled in antiquity. It was originally a major seaport ( ...
and was fighting in the
Battle of the Caucasus The Battle of the Caucasus is a name given to a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus area on the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, Russia, opening the Caucasus region of t ...
on the Eastern Front. Düttmann served with the same unit until the end of the war and soon became one of their most successful pilots, flying with
Heinz Ewald Heinz "Esau" Ewald (1 September 1922 – 14 March 2002) 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 was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bra ...
and Heinz Sachsenberg. He claimed his first aerial victory on 21 May 1943 over a
Polikarpov Po-2 The Polikarpov Po-2 (also U-2, for its initial ''uchebnyy'', 'training', role as a flight instruction aircraft) served as an all-weather multirole Soviet biplane, nicknamed ''Kukuruznik'' (russian: Кукурузник,Gunston 1995, p. 292. NA ...
, also known as a U-2, in the vicinity of
Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southe ...
. He downed another 24 by the end of the year. On 11 July 1943, Düttmann ditched his Bf 109 G-4 southeast of Anapa in the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
after being hit by return fire form a formation of
Douglas Boston The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American medium bomber, attack aircraft, night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for a bomber, it was or ...
medium bombers. In the early hours of 26 July, 15
Ilyushin Il-2 The Ilyushin Il-2 ( Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (Cyrillic: штурмовик), the generic Russian term ...
ground-attack aircraft, escorted by
Yakovlev Yak-1 The Yakovlev Yak-1 (russian: Яковлев Як-1) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. The Yak-1 was a single-seat monoplane with a composite structure and wooden wings; production began in early 1940.Angelucci and Matricardi 197 ...
fighter aircraft, headed for German shipping off of Anapa. The Soviet flight was intercepted over sea and scattered. During this engagement, German pilots claimed ten aerial victories, five Il-2s and five Yak-1s, including an Il-2 and Yak-1 shot down by Düttmann. One of the aerial victories claimed by Düttmann was also 5. ''Staffel''s 500th aerial victory to date. Following aerial combat on 9 August 1943, he force landed his Bf 109 G-6 (''Werknummer'' 19623—factory number) in no-man's land and was posted missing for 17 hours. On the 23 August 1943, his Bf 109 G-6 was again hit by anti-aircraft artillery resulting in a forced landing west of Nikolajewka. On 23 January 1944, Düttmann's Bf 109 G-6 was damaged three times in combat. At 08:00, during takeoff at Baherove, his aircraft was hit in the engine by a
strafing Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...
Il-2 ground-attack aircraft. Later at 09:03, his Bf 109 G-6 was hit in aerial combat by a
Bell P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by t ...
fighter aircraft resulting in a
forced landing A forced landing is a landing by an aircraft made under factors outside the pilot's control, such as the failure of engines, systems, components, or weather which makes continued flight impossible. For a full description of these, see article on ' ...
. At 14:45, his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft artillery causing engine fire in flight. Nevertheless, he managed to return to his airfield and made a
deadstick landing A deadstick landing, also called a dead-stick landing, is a type of forced landing when an aircraft loses all of its propulsive power and is forced to land. The "stick" does not refer to the flight controls, which in most aircraft are either ful ...
at Baherove. He scored a further 18 kills in March 1944, 22 in April and 14 in May 1944. Düttmann became an "ace-in-a-day" for the first time on 11 April 1944 over the
Kerch Peninsula The Kerch Peninsula is a major and prominent geographic peninsula located at the eastern end of the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine. This peninsula stretches eastward toward the Taman peninsula between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Most of the pe ...
. On 7 May 1944, he claimed nine aerial victories to take his score to 91. Suffering from combat fatigue he was sent on leave at the end of May and returned in September 1944. During this period, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 9 June 1944.


Retreat through Hungary

Düttmann claimed his 100th aerial victory on 25 September 1944. He was the 92nd Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. On 1 November 1944, Düttmann, flying Bf 109 G-6 (''Werknummer'' 167238), was involved in a ground accident at Ferihegy Airfield, killing his wingman ''Unteroffizier'' Heinrich Wester. Low on fuel, Wester had landed his Bf 109 G-14 (''Werknummer'' 782775) first, the engine seized due to lack of fuel, leaving him sitting on the runway. Düttmann, who landed next, did not see Wester and crashed into his aircraft, killing him instantly. On the 13 November 1944, he was shot down by an Il-2 rear gunner and bailed out at 1000 feet, landing behind enemy lines, but managing to reach German lines. The same happened to him on the 3 March 1945 due to AA damage and he returned a day later. On 23 December 1944, Düttmann was appointed ''
Staffelkapitän ''Staffelkapitän'' is a position (not a rank) in flying units ( ''Staffel'') of the German Luftwaffe that is the equivalent of RAF/USAF Squadron Commander. Usually today a ''Staffelkapitän'' is of '' Oberstleutnant'' or ''Major'' rank. In the ...
'' (squadron leader) of 5. ''Staffel'' of JG 52. He replaced ''Hauptmann''
Heinrich Sturm Heinrich Sturm (12 June 1920 – 22 December 1944) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a fighter ace credited with 158 enemy aircraft shot down in an unknown number of combat missions. All of his aerial victories were ...
who was killed in a flying accident the day before. On 1 March 1945, this squadron was renamed 6. ''Staffel'' of JG 52. On 24 April 1945, Düttmann claimed the destruction of a
M4 Sherman } The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. It ...
tank southwest of
Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script *** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script *Cham Albania ...
. Düttmann died on 9 January 2001.


Summary of career


Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Düttmann was credited with 152 aerial victories. Obermaier also lists Düttmann with 152 aerial victories claimed in 398 combat missions, 21 of which were ground support missions. Both Spick and Weal state that his total of aerial victories was 150 claimed in 398 combat missions, plus two tanks destroyed which were counted as additional victories. Mathews and Foreman, authors of ''Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims'', researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 147 aerial victory claims, plus 45 further unconfirmed claims, including one
North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...
. All of his confirmed victories were claimed on the Eastern Front. Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = ''Planquadrat''), for example "PQ 34 Ost 96453". The Luftwaffe grid map () covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of
latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...
by 30 minutes of
longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...
, an area of about . These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size.


Awards

* Pilot's Badge (12 February 1942) *
Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...
(1939) ** 2nd Class (6 August 1943) ** 1st Class (25 August 1943) *
Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe The Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe (german: Frontflugspange) was a World War II German military decoration awarded to aircrew and certain other Luftwaffe personnel in recognition of the number of operational flights flown. It was instituted by ...
for Fighter Pilots in Gold (17 August 1943) *
Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe The ''Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe'' (Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe) was a Luftwaffe award established on 27 February 1940 by Hermann Göring, ''Reichsmarschall'' Hermann Göring, the ''Reich'' Minister of Aviation and Commander-in-Chief of the Luft ...
on 20 March 1944 as ''
Feldwebel ''Feldwebel '' (Fw or F, ) is a non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in several countries. The rank originated in Germany, and is also used in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. The rank has also been used in Russia, Austria-Hungary, occupi ...
'' and pilot *
German Cross The War Order of the German Cross (german: Der Kriegsorden Deutsches Kreuz), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repe ...
in Gold on 15 April 1944 as ''
Fahnenjunker ''Fahnenjunker'' (short Fhj or FJ, en, officer cadet; ) is a military rank of the Bundeswehr and of some former German armed forces. In earlier German armed forces it was also the collective name for many officer aspirant ranks. It was establi ...
''-''Feldwebel'' in the 5./''Jagdgeschwader'' 52 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 June 1944 as ''
Leutnant () is the lowest Junior officer rank in the armed forces the German-speaking of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") from Middle High Ge ...
'' (war officer) and pilot in the 5./''Jagdgeschwader'' 52


Dates of rank


Notes


Works

*


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duttmann, Peter 1923 births 2001 deaths Luftwaffe pilots German World War II flying aces Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross People from Giessen People from the People's State of Hesse Military personnel from Hesse