Helmut Bennemann

Helmut Bennemann (16 March 1915 – 17 November 2007) was an ''Oberstleutnant'' of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe in World War II. Bennemann claimed 93 aerial victories in over 400 combat missions. The majority of his victories were claimed over the Eastern Front. His commands included ''Geschwaderkommodore'' (wing commander) of the ''Jagdgeschwader'' 53. Following World War II, Bennemann became a dentist He died on 17 November 2007 at the age of 92 in Bad Sassendorf.

Career

Bennemann was born on 16 March 1915 in Wanne-Eickel in the ''Ruhrgebiet'' of Province of Westphalia within the German Empire. He joined the military service of the Luftwaffe in 1936 and was trained as an aerial reconnaissance pilot. When Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 starting World War II, Bennemann flew reconnaissance missions.

In June 1940, Bennemann was posted to I. '' Gruppe'' (1st group) of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) where he served as an adjutant. At the time, I. ''Gruppe'' was based at Zerbst and subordinated to ''Jagdgeschwader'' 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) and tasked with protecting Dessau and the Leuna works from aerial attacks. On 18 July, I. ''Gruppe'' was ordered to Neuruppin, augmenting the aerial defenses of Berlin during the session of the '' Reichstag'' following the Battle of France. The ''Gruppe'' then relocated to Bayreuth-Bindlach Airfield where it was tasked with protecting the Bayreuth Festival before returning to Zerbst on 24 July. Five days later, I. ''Gruppe'' moved to Bönninghardt located west of Wesel.

Battle of Britain

In preparation for Operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of the United Kingdom, and the Battle of Britain, I. ''Gruppe'' was ordered to Coquelles located approximately southwest of Calais. Here Bennemann claimed his first aerial victory on 26 August, when he shot down a Royal Air Force (RAF) Supermarine Spitfire fighter near Dover on a mission escorting bombers to RAF Lympne. On 31 August, Bennemann claimed his second aerial victory, a Hawker Hurricane fighter shot down near London on a mission escorting Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters from ''Erprobungsgruppe'' 210 (ErpGr. 210—210th Testing Group) attacking RAF Kenley. The following day, I. ''Gruppe'' escorted Heinkel He 111 bombers attacking the Port of Tilbury on the River Thames. On this mission, Bennemann claimed a Spitfire shot down near Sittingbourne.

On 2 September, I. ''Gruppe'' again escorted Bf 110 heavy fighters from ErpGr. 210, this time attacking RAF Eastchurch. That day, Bennemann claimed a Spitfire fighter shot down near Canterbury. Five days later, the Luftwaffe targeted the Beckton Gas Works in London. Escorting He 111 bombers to the target area, Bennemann claimed a Hurricane fighter shot down. On 15 September, Bennemann claimed three Hurricane fighters shot down over the Thames Estuary, recording aerial victories six to eight. That day, I. ''Gruppe'' had escorted Junkers Ju 88 bombers to London. On 24 September, I. ''Gruppe'' flew a combat air patrol over the English Channel, claiming seven aerial victories, two of which by Bennemann against two Spitfire fighters off of Dover. Bennemann was awarded the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe () on 5 October 1940. The ''Gruppe'' was withdrawn from the English Channel on 31 October and relocated to Krefeld Airfield for a period of rest and replenishment. With eleven aerial victories to his credit, at the time Bennemann was the second most successful fighter pilot of the ''Gruppe''.

On 27 December, the ''Gruppe'' moved to Katwijk aan Zee in the Netherlands. In early 1941, the ''Gruppe'' received new orders and began preparations for relocation to Sicily which were later revoked. Consequently, the entire I. ''Gruppe'' remained at Katwijk aan Zee where it was tasked with patrolling the Dutch coast area and German Bight, the three ''Staffeln'' were then deployed at various airfields on the Dutch, German and Danish North Sea coast. On 27 April, Bennemann was appointed ''Staffelkapitän'' (Squadron Leader) of 3. ''Staffel'' of JG 52. He replaced ''Oberleutnant'' Helmut Kühle who was transferred.

War against the Soviet Union

On 22 June, German forces had launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. On 21 September 1941, I. ''Gruppe'' of JG 52 was ordered to relocate to the Eastern Front. With stopovers at Dortmund, Magdeburg, and Warsaw, the ''Gruppe'' arrived in Orsha on 29 September. In support for Operation Typhoon, also known as the Battle of Moscow, the ''Gruppe'' moved to an airfield named Ponyatovka, located approximately southwest of Roslavl, on 2 October. The following day, Bennemann claimed his first aerial victory on the Eastern Front when he shot down a Polikarpov I-16 fighter.

On 1 February 1942, I. ''Gruppe'' was withdrawn from combat operations and was moved to Smolensk and then further west to Orsha. From 8 to 12 February the ''Gruppe'' took a train to Jesau near Königsberg, present-day Kaliningrad in Russia, for a period of recuperation and replenishment where they received new Bf 109 F-4 aircraft. The ''Gruppe'' was ordered to Olmütz, present-day Olomouc in Czech Republic, on 11 April. On 17 May, I. ''Gruppe'' relocated to Artyomovsk, present-day Bakhmut. On 14 June, Bennemann was appointed ''Gruppenkommandeur'' (group commander) of I. ''Gruppe'' of JG 52. He succeeded ''Hauptmann'' Karl-Heinz Leesmann who was transferred. On 26 June, the ''Gruppe'' moved to Bilyi Kolodyaz, approximately southeast of Vovchansk, and was fighting in support of Case Blue, the strategic summer offensive in southern Russia with the objective to capture the oil fields of Baku, Grozny and Maykop.

To support German forces fighting in the Battle of the Caucasus, I. ''Gruppe'' relocated to an airfield at Kerch, in the east of Crimea, on 2 August. At the time, the ''Gruppe'' was moved around as a kind of fire brigade, deployed in areas where the Soviet Air Forces was particular active. The ''Gruppe'' then moved to Oryol on 15 August. A Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber shot down by Bennemann on 23 August was I. ''Gruppe''s 600 aerial victory to date. Bennemann was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 2 October 1942. His 62nd aerial victory claimed over a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 fighter on 2 November was the 800th aerial victory of I. ''Gruppe''. By the End of 1942, Bennemann had claimed 72 aerial victories, making him the leading active fighter pilot of I. ''Gruppe'' at the time.

On 10 May 1943, Benemann was severely wounded by the explosion of an incendiary bomb at Charkow-Woitschenko Airfield. During his convalescence, he was replaced by ''Hauptmann'' Johannes Wiese and ''Hauptmann'' Gerhard Barkhorn as commander of I. ''Gruppe''. Command of the ''Gruppe'' officially passed to Wiese on 5 October.

Wing commander

Bennemann was appointed ''Geschwaderkommodore'' (wing commander) of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 53 (JG 53—53rd Fighter Wing) on 9 November 1943. He took over command from ''Oberst'' Günther Freiherr von Maltzahn who had been transferred on 4 October. Intermittently, the ''Geschwader'' had been led by both ''Major'' Friedrich-Karl Müller and ''Major'' Kurt Ubben. On 25 April 1944, he shot down a USAAF B-24 over Bologna to claim his 90th victory. However, his Bf 109G-6 (''Werknummer'' 163 314—factory number) "Black < 3" was hit by defensive fire and Bennemann was again wounded, baling out successfully.

On 22 June 1944, Soviet forces launched Operation Bagration which led to the annihilation of Army Group Centre during the following weeks. In support of the 3rd Panzer Army, the ''Geschwaderstab'' of JG 53 relocated to Vilna. Here, Bennemann was tasked with organizing the supply missions for Vilna. On 8 July, the encirclement of Vilna by Soviet forces was imminent, and the ''Geschwaderstab'' was ordered to relocate to Germany. On 18 July, Bennnemann was promoted to ''Oberstleutnant'' (lieutenant colonel). Following the brief interlude on the Eastern Front, the ''Geschwaderstab'' was based at Wunstorf near Hannover in Germany. On 20 August, Bennemann led the ''Stabsschwarm'' to Attichy in France That evening, Bennenmann flew to Reims where he met with ''Major'' Heinrich Bär, the ''Geschwaderkommodore'' of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing), to discuss operational conditions in France. On 29 October, Bennemann claimed his 93rd and last aerial victory. That day, he led the ''Geschwaderstab'', II., III. and IV. ''Gruppe'' on a Defense of the Reich mission against the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). At 11:45, the Luftwaffe fighters encountered a formation of approximately 35 North American P-51 Mustang fighters of the 354th Fighter Group in the area between Bruchsal and Böckingen. Shortly after, the USAAF fighters were joined by Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. In this encounter, Luftwaffe pilots claimed five P-51s shot down, including one by Bennemann. USAAF records show that four P-51s were lost in this engagement. The 354th Fighter Group claimed 24 aerial victories, and damaging ten further Bf 109s while JG 53 reported the loss of 15 aircraft shot down, including ten pilots killed in action.

In early 1945, Bennemann joined other high-ranking pilots in the " Fighter Pilots' Revolt incident" which escalated in a meeting with Hermann Göring on 22 January 1945. This was an attempt to reinstate Adolf Galland who had been dismissed for outspokenness regarding the ''Oberkommando der Luftwaffe'' (Luftwaffe high command), and had been replaced by Gordon Gollob as ''General der Jagdflieger''. The meeting was held at the ''Haus der Flieger'' in Berlin and was attended by a number of high-ranking fighter pilot leaders which included Bennemann, Lützow, Hermann Graf, Gerhard Michalski, Hannes Trautloft, Kurt Bühligen, Erich Leie and Herbert Ihlefeld, and their antagonist Göring supported by his staff Bernd von Brauchitsch and Karl Koller. The fighter pilots, with Lützow taking the lead as spokesman, criticized Göring and made him personally responsible for the decisions taken which contributed to the lost air war over Europe.

Later life

Following World War II, Bennemann attended university attaining a Doctor of Medical Dentistry, abbreviated as Dr. med. dent. (''Doctor medicinae dentariae''). He then worked as a dentist in his own practice. Bennemann died on 17 November 2007 at the age of in Bad Sassendorf.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Bennemann was credited with 93 aerial victories. Obermaier also list Bennemann with 93 aerial victories claimed in over 400 combat missions. This figure includes 77 claims on the Eastern Front and 16 over the Western Allies, including one four-engine bomber. Spick lists him with 92 aerial victories with 70 on the Eastern Front and 22 on the Western Front. Mathews and Foreman, authors of ''Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims'', researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 89 aerial victory claims, plus four further unconfirmed claims. This figure of confirmed claims includes 76 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and 14 on the Western Front, including one four-engined bomber.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = ''Planquadrat''), for example "PQ 6083". 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 (5 October 1940)
* German Cross in Gold on 27 July 1942 as ''Hauptmann'' in the I./''Jagdgeschwader'' 52
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 2 October 1942 as ''Hauptmann'' and ''Gruppenkommandeur'' of the I./''Jagdgeschwader'' 52

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennemann, Helmut
1915 births
2007 deaths
Military personnel from the Province of Westphalia
Luftwaffe pilots
German World War II flying aces
People from Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Recipients of the Gold German Cross
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Military personnel from North Rhine-Westphalia