Franz Eisenach

Franz Eisenach (11 August 1918 – 21 August 1998) was a German fighter ace during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. He was credited with 129 aerial victories claimed in 319 combat missions, all on the Eastern front of the Second World War.

Career

In March 1942, IV. ''Gruppe'' of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 1 (JG 1–1st Fighter Wing) was re-designated and became the III. ''Gruppe'' of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 5 (JG 5—5th Fighter Wing). In consequence, ''Hauptmann'' Fritz Losigkeit was charged with the creation of a new IV. ''Gruppe'' which was initially based at Werneuchen near Berlin. ''Oberleutnant'' Friedrich Eberle headed 10. ''Staffel'' which had already served as 3. ''Staffel'' of ''Jagdgruppe Losigkeit''. The ''Einsatzstaffel'' of ''Jagdfliegerschule'' 4 under ''Oberleutnant'' Wilhelm Moritz formed 11. ''Staffel'' on 3 April. Eisenach initially led 12. ''Staffel'' created from some pilots of the former IV. ''Gruppe''. Command of 12. ''Staffel'' then passed on to ''Oberleutnant'' Heinz Stöcker in October.

Eisenach was appointed ''Staffelkapitän'' (squadron leader) of ''3. Staffel'' (3rd squadron) of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing) on 17 April 1943. He replaced ''Hauptmann'' Gerhard Koall in this function who was transferred. On 8 July 1943, Eisenach was wounded in his Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-5 (''Werknummer'' 1503—factory number) during combat with Douglas A-20 Havoc bombers northeast of Panino. During his convalescence, he was temporarily replaced by ''Oberleutnant'' Robert Weiß as ''Staffelkapitän''. On 18 December, he was again injured and shot down. On this occurrence, his Fw 190 A-6 (''Werknummer'' 530391) was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery northwest of Gorodok, south of Nevel.

In July 1944, Eisenach was given command of 4. ''Staffel'' of JG 54, succeeding ''Hauptmann'' Herbert Aloé who had been killed in action on 21 June. At the time, II. ''Gruppe'' of JG 54, to which his ''Staffel'' was subordinated, was based at Immola Airfield. On 10 June, Soviet forces had launched the Karelian offensive against Finland on the Karelian Isthmus as part of the Continuation War. In response to the Finnish ask for assistance, the Luftwaffe had formed ''Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey'' (Detachment Kuhlmey) on 12 June, named after ''Oberstleutnant'' Kurt Kuhlmey, the commander of ''Schlachtgeschwader'' 3 (SG 3—3rd Combat Wing). ''Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey'' was made up of the ''Stab'' and I. ''Gruppe'' of SG 3, I. ''Gruppe'' of ''Schlachtgeschwader'' 5 (SG 5—5th Combat Wing), elements of ''Nahaufklärungsgruppe'' 5, a reconnaissance unit, and II. ''Gruppe'' of JG 54.

On 8 August 1944, Eisennach was appointed ''Gruppenkommandeur'' (group commander) on I. '' Gruppe'' of JG 54. He succeeded ''Hauptmann'' Horst Ademeit who was killed in action the day before. Command of 4. ''Staffel'' was then temporarily given to ''Leutnant'' Hermann Schleinhege before the ''Staffel'' was renamed 7. ''Staffel'' and command was given to ''Leutnant'' Gerhard Thyben in September.

Soviet forces launched the Baltic Offensive on 14 September 1944. Thad day, Eisenach claimed his 100th victory on 14 September 1944 by shooting down an IL-2 Sturmovik. That day, he became an " ace-in-a-day" claiming nine aerial victories, include five Ilyushin Il-2 ground attach aircraft and four Petlyakov Pe-2 twin-engined dive bombers. He was the 90th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. Eisenach was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 10 October for 107 aerial victories.

Later life

Eisenach re-joined the military service of the ''Bundeswehr'' in 1956. He left the service in 1974 with the rank of ''Oberstleutnant'' (lieutenant colonel). He died on 21 August 1998 at the age of in Ottobrunn, Germany.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Eisenach was credited with 129 aerial victories. Spick also lists Eisenach with 129 aerial victories claimed in 319 combat missions, all of which on the Eastern Front. Mathews and Foreman, authors of ''Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims'', researched the German Federal Archives and also found confirmed records for 129 aerial victories for 154 claims filed.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = ''Planquadrat''), for example "PQ 00253". 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.

Awards

* Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
* Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 13 September 1943 as ''Oberleutnant'' and pilot
* German Cross in Gold on 16 January 1944 as ''Oberleutnant'' in the I./''Jagdgeschwader'' 54
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 10 October 1944 as ''Hauptmann'' and ''Staffelkapitän'' of the 3./''Jagdgeschwader'' 54

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eisenach, Franz
1918 births
1998 deaths
Luftwaffe pilots
People from Choszczno County
German World War II flying aces
Military personnel from the Province of Brandenburg
Recipients of the Gold German Cross
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross