Klaus Neumann (officer)

Klaus Neumann (5 October 1923 – 10 December 2000) was a Leutnant in the Luftwaffe 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. As a fighter pilot he was credited with 37 aerial victories—that is, 37 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft—achieved in about 200 combat missions.

Career

Neuman was born on 5 October 1923 in Wettin in the Province of Saxony within the Weimar Republic. Following flight and fighter pilot training, Neumann was posted to 2. '' Staffel'' (2nd squadron) ''Jagdgeschwader'' 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing) which was based on the Eastern Front in early 1943. According to Obermaier, he claimed his first victory on 15 July 1943 and was credited with 12 aerial victories while flying on the Eastern Front.

Defense of the Reich

On 25 May 1944, 2. ''Staffel'' of JG 51 under command ''Oberleutnant'' Horst Haase was transferred from Orsha on the Eastern Front to Germany. The ''Staffel'' augmented IV. ''Gruppe'' of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing) based at Salzwedel. The ''Gruppe'' had been converted to a ''Sturmgruppe'' (assault group), the first of such units, as a means to combat the heavy bomber formations of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). To combat the USAAF heavy bomber formations flying in a combat box, the ''Staffel'' received and trained on the heavily armored and less maneuverable variant of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8/R2 series, also known as "'' Sturmböcke''". With the exception of 2. ''Staffel'' which continued its training on the Fw 190, IV. ''Gruppe'' had been briefly deployed to France where it fought in the Invasion of Normandy. On 21 June, the ''Gruppe'', including 2. ''Staffel'', relocated to Ansbach Airfield where it came under control of 7. ''Jagddivision'' (7th Fighter Division) under command of ''Generalmajor'' Joachim-Friedrich Huth. Operationally, IV. ''Gruppe'' was subordinated to the '' Geschwaderstab'' (headquarters unit) of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 300 (JG 300—300th Fighter Wing) led by ''Major'' Walther Dahl.

On 6 July, IV. ''Gruppe'' relocated to Illesheim Airfield located northeast of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The following day, a force of 1,129 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators of the USAAF Eighth Air Force set out from England to bomb aircraft factories in the Leipzig area and the synthetic oil plants at Boehlen, Leuna-Merseburg and Lützkendorf. This formation was intercepted by a German ''Gefechtsverband'' (combat formation) consisting of IV. ''Sturmgruppe'' of JG 3, led by ''Hauptmann'' Wilhelm Moritz, escorted by two ''Gruppen'' of Messerschmitt Bf 109s from JG 300 led by Dahl. Dahl and Moritz drove the attack to point-blank range behind the Liberators of the 492d Bombardment Group before opening fire. 492d Bombardment Group was temporarily without fighter cover. Within about a minute the entire squadron of twelve B-24s had been annihilated. The Germans claimed 28 USAAF 2nd Air Division B-24s that day and were credited with at least 21. The majority to the ''Sturmgruppe'' attack. In this encounter, also known as the ''Luftschlacht bei Oschersleben'' (aerial battle at Oschersleben), Neumann claimed an ''Herausschuss'' (separation shot)—a severely damaged heavy bomber forced to separate from his combat box which was counted as an aerial victory—over a B-24 bomber at 09:42, his 13th in total.

On 20 July, the USAAF sent 1,172 heavy bombers of the Eighth Air Force against railroad infrastructure, airfields and ball bearing factories in central Germany. Simultaneously approximately 400 heavy bombers of the Fifteenth Air Force attacked aircraft manufacturing in Friedrichshafen and the Memmingen Airfield. IV. ''Gruppe'' was scrambled at 09:45. After it joined up with JG 300, the fighters were vectored to a point of intercept with bombers of the 1st Bombardment Division. At 11:00 in the area west of Leipzig, Moritz led an attack on bombers of 91st Bombardment Group which they encountered without escorting fighter protection. In this attack, Neumann claimed two Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers shot down.

On 3 August, IV. ''Gruppe'' flew its first combat mission of the month when the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force again attacked Friedrichshafen and Immenstaad am Bodensee, the of the ''Dornier Flugzeugwerke''. The ''Gruppe'' was scrambled at 10:35 and intercepted a formation of approximately 30 B-24 bombers of the 465th Bombardment Group in the area of Sonthofen. Led by Moritz, the ''Sturmgruppe'' attacked the bombers from the rear and claimed 19 aerial victories and ''Herausschüsse'', including a B-24 by Neumann at 11:41. Later that day at 15:51, Neumann claimed a B-17 of the 1st Bombardment Division attacking railroad infrastructure and fuel factories southwest Germany. On 10 August, 2. ''Staffel'' of JG 51 was formally integrated into IV. ''Gruppe'' of JG 3 and became the 16. ''Sturmstaffel'' of JG 3 (16. ''Sturm''/JG 3). Five days later, the Eighth Air Force sent 219 B-17 bombers of the 1st Bombardment Division to bomb the Luftwaffe airfields at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, Frankfurt-Eschborn and Köln-Ostheim. Scrambled at 10:00, IV. ''Gruppe'' joined up with JG 300 and headed for Frankfurt. The Luftwaffe fighters encountered B-17 bombers north of Trier with IV. ''Gruppe'' attacking the bombers from the rear. In this aerial battle, IV. ''Gruppe'' pilots claimed ten aerial victories and ''Herausschüsse'', including one B-17 bomber by Neumann.

On 2 November, JG 3 defended against another attack flown by the Eighth Air Force when 1,174 heavy bombers, escorted by 968 escort fighters, attacked traffic infrastructure and fuel production in western and central Germany. Luftwaffe defenses responded with 490 fighters from I. ''Jagdkorps'' (1st Fighter Corps), predominately elements from JG 3, ''Jagdgeschwader'' 4 (JG 4—4th Fighter Wing) and ''Jagdgeschwader'' 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing) of which 305 had enemy contact. IV. ''Gruppe'' of JG 3 was scrambled at 11:35 and joined up with the ''Geschwaderstab'', I. ''Gruppe'' and II. ''Gruppe'' to intercept the bombers of the 1st and 3rd Bombardment Division heading for the synthetic fuel fuel factories at Merseburg and Leuna. Shortly before noon, JG 3 intercepted a large heavy bomber formation, along with their escorting fighters, in the area of Halle, Dessau, northwest of Leipzig. In this encounter, JG 3 lost 49 aircraft shot, including 26 pilots killed in action with further eleven pilots wounded in combat, for 25 aerial victories claimed. The IV. ''Gruppe'' claimed 21 of the 25 aerial victories, with Neuman accounting for two B-17 bombers shot down, taking his total to 32. During this battle, Neumann was one of the Luftwaffe pilots shot down and wounded by the escorting fighters. Forced to bail out, his Fw 190 A-8/R2 (''Werknummer'' 682200—factory number) crashed near Halle and Wettin. For this, Neumann was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 9 December 1944 for 32 aerial victories claimed.

Flying the Messerschmitt Me 262

In January 1945, Neumann transferred to ''Jagdgeschwader'' 7 "Nowotny" (JG 7—7th Fighter Wing) "Nowotny", the first operational jet fighter wing in the world which was named after Walter Nowotny, who was killed in action on 8 November 1944, in a staff position. Here he clashed with the unit's recently appointed ''Geschwaderkommodore'', ''Major'' Theodor Weissenberger, over personal issues. Shortly afterwards Oberst Johannes Steinhoff and Generalleutnant Adolf Galland approached him with an invitation to join ''Jagdverband'' 44 (JV 44—44th Fighter Detachment). On 31 March, JV 44 relocated from Brandenburg- Briest to Munich-Riem. The first group of Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighters was led by Steinhoff. Shortly after 16:00, communications equipment was flown to Munich-Riem in a Siebel Si 204 transport aircraft. Neumann later led a second group of Me 262s to Munich-Riem.

On 5 April, JV 44 flew its first full combat mission. Five Me 262 fighters took off from Munich-Riem for an intercept mission of USAAF heavy bombers. On tis mission, Neumann claimed his first aerial victories flying the Me 262. US records show that the 379th Bombardment Group lost three bombers, and the 388th and 453rd Bombardment Group lost one bomber each to Me 262 jet fighters that day. JV 44 pilots claimed five aerial victories that day, one by ''Oberst'' Günther Lützow, another by Steinhoff and three by Neumann.For a list of Luftwaffe jet aces see ''List of German World War II jet aces''

At 3:00 PM on 24 April 1945 Neumann was one of four pilots to take off from Munich-Riem airport to intercept B-26 Marauder. Lützow, who failed to return from this mission, led the flight of four. Lützow's fate remains unknown to this date.

Later life

Following World War II, Neumann reentered military service in the West German Air Force, at the time referred to as the ''Bundesluftwaffe''. In January 1956, he belonged to a small group of pilots trained at Landsberg-Lech Air Base, first on the Piper PA-18 Super Cub, progressing to the North American T-6 Texan before completing training on the Lockheed T-33 on 24 September 1956. In September 1960, Neumann was among the first ''Bundesluftwaffe'' pilots to learn to fly the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. Neumann retired in September 1974 holding the rank of ''Oberst'' (colonel) and died on 10 December 2000 at the age of in Altenkirchen, Germany.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Obermaier, Neumann was credited with 37 aerial victories claimed in approximately 200 combat missions, twelve of which over the Eastern Front. On the Western Front, he claimed 19 four-engined heavy bombers and five enemy aircraft flying the Me 262 jet fighter. Mathews and Foreman, authors of ''Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims'', researched the German Federal Archives and found records for at least 19 aerial victory claims, plus four further unconfirmed claims, all of which over the Western Allies. This figure includes at least 17 four-engined heavy bombers and three flying the Me 262 jet fighter. The authors Morgan and Weal list him with five aerial victories flying the Me 262 jet fighter.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = ''Planquadrat''), for example "PQ 15 Ost S/HC". 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
* German Cross in Gold on 25 October 1944 as ''Leutnant'' in the 16/''Jagdgeschwader'' 3
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 December 1944 as ''Feldwebel'' and pilot in the 16./''Jagdgeschwader'' 3 "Udet"

Notes

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Klaus
1923 births
2000 deaths
Luftwaffe pilots
German World War II flying aces
People from the Province of Saxony
Recipients of the Gold German Cross
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
German Air Force pilots