Rudolf Miethig

Rudolf Miethig (17 October 1921 – 10 June 1943) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a fighter ace credited with 101 aerial victories—that is, 101 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft. All of his victories were claimed over the Soviet Air Forces in an unknown number of combat missions.

Born in Zwickau, Miethig was trained as a fighter pilot and posted to ''Jagdgeschwader'' 52 (JG 52–52nd Fighter Wing) in early 1941. Fighting on the Eastern Front, he claimed his first aerial victory on 14 November 1941 during Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. In July 1942, Miethig was appointed ''Staffelkapitän'' (squadron leader) of 3. '' Staffel'' (3rd squadron) of JG 52. Three months later, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 October 1942. On 8 June 1943, Miethig was credited with his 100th aerial victory. Two days later, he was killed in action following a mid-air collision with an enemy aircraft over the Kuban bridgehead.

Career

Miethig, who was born on 17 October 1921 in Zwickau, volunteered for service in the Luftwaffe in 1939. Following flight training, he was transferred to the 3. '' Staffel'' (3rd squadron) of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) in the spring of 1941. At the time the ''Staffel'' was commanded by ''Oberleutnant'' Helmut Kühle who was replaced by ''Oberleutnant'' Helmut Bennemann on 27 April. I. '' Gruppe'' (1st group) of JG 52 to which 3. ''Staffel'' was subordinated was headed by ''Hauptmann'' Wolfgang Ewald at the time. Until 21 February, the entire I. ''Gruppe'' was based at an airfield at Katwijk aan Zee in the Netherlands 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 25 May, I. ''Gruppe'' was placed under the command of ''Hauptmann'' Karl-Heinz Leesmann. On 23 September, I. ''Gruppe'' was withdrawn from the Western Front and was sent to the Eastern Front where it would be based at an airfield at Ponyatovka, located approximately southwest of Roslavl.

War against the Soviet Union

On 22 June, German forces had launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Prior to its deployment on the Eastern Front, I. ''Gruppe'' was fully equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2. The ''Gruppe'' reached Orsha on 27 September before heading to Ponyatovka on 2 October. There, the ''Gruppe'' was initially subordinated to the ''Stab'' (headquarters unit) of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing) and supported German forces fighting in the Battle of Vyazma as part of Operation Typhoon, the code name of the German offensive on Moscow. On 20 October, the ''Gruppe'' moved to an airfield named Kalinin-Southwest, present-day Tver, and located on the Volga, and to Staritsa on 31 October and then to Ruza located approximately west of Moscow, on 3 November. Here, Miethig claimed his first aerial victory, a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1, on 14 November 1941 and his second victory, an I-61 fighter, an early German designation for the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3, on 27 November. The failed assault on Moscow forced I. ''Gruppe'' to retreat to an airfield at Dugino, present-day Novodugino, on 15 December where they stayed until 31 January 1942. Here, Miethig claimed a Polikarpov R-5 reconnaissance bomber on 28 January.

On 1 February. 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. From Artyomovsk, JG 52 supported the German forces fighting in the Second Battle of Kharkov. On 24 May, the ''Gruppe'' was ordered to relocate to Barvinkove located approximately west of Sloviansk. Here, Miethig claimed four further aerial victories by the end of May, including a Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber on 26 May, a MiG-1 fighter and an Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft on 29 May, and another Il-2 ground-attack aircraft on 31 May.

On 1 June, the ''Gruppe'' then moved to an airfield at Grakowo, located approximately halfway between Kharkov and Kupiansk. On 13 June, Miethig claimed two Yakovlev Yak-1 fighters shot down. The next day, Bennemann replaced Leesmann, who was transferred, as ''Gruppenkommandeur'' (group commander) of I. ''Gruppe'' of JG 52. In consequence, command of 3. ''Staffel'' was passed on to ''Leutnant'' Karl Rüttger. Miethig claimed a Soviet flown Hawker Hurricane fighter on 23 June followed by a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter the next day. Two days later, the ''Gruppe'' moved to an airfield at Bilyi Kolodyaz, approximately southeast of Vovchansk. On 28 June, German forces had launched Case Blue, the strategic summer offensive in southern Russia. The next day, he claimed another Hurricane fighter followed by a LaGG-3 fighter on 30 June. On 1 July, I. ''Gruppe'' flew missions from Shchigry located east-northeast from Kursk.

Squadron leader

On 2 July, Miethig was appointed ''Staffelkapitän'' (squadron leader) of the 3. ''Staffel'' of JG 52. He replaced Rüttger who had become a prisoner of war after he made a forced landing behind enemy lines near Kruty the day before. On 3 July, the ''Gruppe'' moved to a forward airfield near the village Novy Grinev located approximately south-southwest from Novy Oskol and to Artyomovsk on 9 July. During this period, Miethig had claimed a Hurricane fighter on 4 July and a R-5 reconnaissance bomber on 8 July. On 10 July, Miethig claimed a MiG-1 fighter. According to Obermaier, Miethig had been awarded the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe () on 6 July. Patzwall however dates the presentation of Honor Goblet on 19 October. On 2 August, I. ''Gruppe'' was ordered to Kerch on the Kerch Peninsula. 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. There, Miethig claimed an I-180 fighter, a designation for the Yakovlev Yak-7, on 18 August and two Pe-2 bombers on 23 August.

The following day, I. ''Gruppe'' moved to Dedjurewo near Rzhev in the central sector of the Eastern Front where the ''Gruppe'' was subordinated to ''Jagdgeschwader'' 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing), fighting in the Battle of Rzhev. On 29 October 1942, Miethig and ''Leutnant'' Walter Krupinski from 6. ''Staffel'' were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (). On 8 June 1943, Miethig was credited with his 100th aerial victory. He was the 41st Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark.

Miethig was killed in a crash following combat with Yak-1 fighters on 10 June 1943 roughly north-east of Krymskaya, over the Kuban bridgehead. Miethig, flying Bf 109 G-2 (''Werknummer'' 14 602—factory number), had shot down one of the Yak-1 fighters and collided with his crashing opponent. Miethig was posthumously awarded the German Cross in Gold () as well as posthumously promoted to ''Hauptmann'' (captain). ''Leutnant'' Johann-Hermann Meier temporarily was given command of 3. ''Staffel'' until ''Hauptmann'' Erich Schreiber was officially appointed ''Staffelkapitän'' on 15 July.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Miethig was credited with 101 aerial victories. Schreier and Spick also list Miethig with 101 aerial victories claimed in an unknown number of combat missions. Mathews and Foreman, authors of ''Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims'', researched the German Federal Archives and state that Miethig was credited with 100 aerial victories, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = ''Planquadrat''), for example "PQ 47852". 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 19 October 1942 as ''Leutnant'' and pilot
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 October 1942 as Staffelführer and ''Leutnant'' of the 3./''Jagdgeschwader'' 52
* German Cross in Gold on 19 January 1944 (posthumously) as ''Hauptmann'' in the 3./''Jagdgeschwader'' 52

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miethig, Rudolf
1921 births
1943 deaths
People from Zwickau
Luftwaffe pilots
German World War II flying aces
Luftwaffe personnel killed in World War II
Recipients of the Gold German Cross
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Military personnel from Saxony