Willi Nemitz

Willi Nemitz (1 November 1910 – 11 April 1943) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator and fighter ace during World War II. He was one of the oldest operational fighter pilots and was credited with 81 aerial victories, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front, achieved in approximately 500 combat missions.

Born in Greifenhagen, Nemitz joined the military service in the Luftwaffe. Following flight training, he was posted to ''Jagdgeschwader'' 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) in 1940. During Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, he claimed his first aerial victory on 3 July 1941. In November 1942, he was made ''Staffelführer'', temporary command position, of 5. '' Staffel'' (5th squadron) of JG 52. He then commanded 6. ''Staffel'' of JG 52 and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 24 March 1943. He was shot down and killed in action on 11 April 1943 near Anapa during the Battle of the Caucasus.

Career

Nemitz was born on 1 November 1910 in Greifenhagen, at the time in the Province of Pomerania, a province of the Kingdom of Prussia within the German Empire, present-day Gryfino in northwestern Poland. He was the son of a farmer. Following flight training, he was posted to 5. '' Staffel'' (5th squadron) of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) in 1940. The ''Staffel'' was commanded by ''Oberleutnant'' August-Wilhelm Schumann and subordinated to II. ''Gruppe'' of JG 52 which was headed by ''Hauptmann'' Wilhelm Ensslen and fought in the Battle of Britain. On 2 November, Ensslen was killed in action and replaced by ''Hauptmann'' Erich Woitke.

Operation Barbarossa

In preparation of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, II. ''Gruppe'' of JG 52, without a period of replenishment in Germany, was ordered to airfields close to the German-Soviet demarcation line. While the '' Gruppenstab'' (group headquarters unit) and 4. ''Staffel'' were based at Suwałki in northeastern Poland, 5. and 6. ''Staffel'' were transferred to a forward airfield at Sobolewo. For the invasion, II. ''Gruppe'' of JG 52 was subordinated to the ''Geschwaderstab'' (headquarters unit) of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing). The ''Geschwader'' was part of the VIII. ''Fliegerkorps'' commanded by ''Generaloberst'' Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen which supported the northern wing of Army Group Centre.

On 22 June, the German forces launched the attack on the Soviet Union which opened the Eastern Front. On 25 June, the ''Gruppe'' moved to an airfield at Varėna in Lithuania which had previously been occupied by the Soviet Air Forces (VVS—''Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily''). Two days later, the ''Gruppe'' moved to Maladzyechna, supporting the advance ''Panzergruppe'' 3 near Barysaw. Flying from this airfield, Nemitz claimed his first aerial victories, two Ilyushin DB-3 bombers shot down on 3 July. The next day, II. ''Gruppe'' moved to Sloboda, east of Minsk, before moving to an airfield named Lepel-West at Lyepyel on 5 July. From this airfield, II. ''Gruppe'' flew combat air patrols and fighter escort missions to combat areas near Vitebsk and Haradok, supporting ''Panzergruppe'' 2 and 3 in their advance to Vitebsk and Polotsk. On 12 July, the ''Gruppe'' moved to Kamary, an airfield in the western parts of Vitebsk. Ten day later on 22 July, II. ''Gruppe'' advanced to the airfield Andrejewka near Smolensk where it stayed until 5 August. Operating from Andrejewka, Nemitz shot down a Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber on 23 July, a DB-3 and Tupolev SB bomber on 26 July and another DB-3 bomber on 27 July.

II. ''Gruppe'' was ordered to relocate to Soltsy, west of Lake Ilmen, on 5 August in support of the 16th Army and Army Group North. Here, the ''Gruppe'' supported the fighting south of Lake Ilmen, and the German attacks on Shlisselburg, Leningrad and the Soviet fleet at Kronstadt. Operating from Soltsy, Nemitz claimed an I-18 fighter, referring to the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1 fighter, shot down on 18 August near Chudovo. On 24 August, II. ''Gruppe'' was ordered to an airfield at Spasskaya Polist on the river Polist, south of Chudovo and north of Novgorod on Lake Ilmen, supporting the 18th Army in its advance towards the Neva and Lake Ladoga. Here on 30 August, Nemitz shot down another I-18 fighter. Since German forces had reached the proximity of Leningrad, II. ''Gruppe'' was ordered to Lyuban on 1 September, approximately to Leningrad and located on the road to Moscow. The ''Gruppe'' stayed at Lyuban until 30 September, flying missions to Shlisselburg, Leningrad and Mga. Fighting in this combat area, Nemitz claimed two aerial victories in September 1941. On 13 September, he was credited with the destruction of an DB-3 bomber, followed by an Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft on 23 September.

On 2 October, German forces launched Operation Typhoon, the failed strategic offensive to capture Moscow. In support of this offensive, II. ''Gruppe'' was moved to Stabna, located just north of Smolensk. On 5 October, Nemitz claimed a Pe-2 bomber shot down. On 4 November, II. ''Gruppe'' had moved to Ruza. Here, Nemitz claimed his last aerial victories of 1941 when on 14 November he was credited with the destruction of two I-18 fighters, taking his total to 13 aerial victories.

Eastern Front

In late January 1942, II. ''Gruppe'' was withdrawn from the Eastern Front and sent to Jesau near Königsberg for a period of recuperation and replenishment, arriving on 24 January 1942. In Jesau, the ''Gruppe'' received many factory new Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 aircraft. On 14 April, II. ''Gruppe'' received orders to move to Pilsen, present-day Plzeň in the Czech Republic, for relocation to the Eastern Front. The ''Gruppe'' had also received a new commander, Woitke had been transferred and was replaced by ''Hauptmann'' Johannes Steinhoff. The ''Gruppe'' then moved to Wien-Schwechat on 24 April before flying to Zürichtal, present-day Solote Pole, a village near the urban settlement Kirovske in the Crimea. There, II. ''Gruppe'' participated in Operation ''Trappenjagd'', a German counterattack during the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula, launched on 8 May. On 11 May, Nemitz claimed his first aerial victory of 1942 when he shot down a Polikarpov R-5 reconnaissance bomber aircraft.

On 16 May, II. ''Gruppe'' relocated to Artyomovsk, present-day Bakhmut where JG 52 supported the German forces fighting in the Second Battle of Kharkov. Operating from Artyomovsk, the ''Gruppe'' flew combat missions in the combat area of Izium, flying fighter escort for bombers from ''Kampfgeschwader'' 27 (KG 27—27th Bomber Wing) and ''Sturzkampfgeschwader'' 77 (StG 77—77th Dive Bomber Wing). On 19 May, Nemitz claimed a MiG-1 fighter shot down. Four days later, the ''Gruppe'' was ordered to relocate to Barvinkove where they stayed until 1 June. Flying from Barvinkove, Nemitz claimed an Il-2 ground-attack aircraft on 26 May and a MiG-1 fighter the next day.

On 1 June, II. ''Gruppe'' moved to an airfield at Grakowo, located approximately halfway between Kharkov and Kupiansk. The main German objectives in that combat area were, breakthrough to the upper Don and capture of Voronezh. Here, Nemitz claimed four aerial victories in June, including a MiG-1 fighter on 4 June, a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter 22 June, and a Yak-1 fighter on both 23 and 24 June. On 28 June, the ''Wehrmacht'' initiated ''Fall Blau'' (Case Blue), the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia. The objective was to secure the oil fields of Baku as well as an advance in the direction of Stalingrad along the Volga River, to cover the flanks of the advance towards Baku. Tasked with aerial support of this offensive was ''Luftflotte'' 4 (Air Fleet 4) to which JG 52 was subordinated. On 22 July, II. ''Gruppe'' moved to an airfield named Nowy Cholan, approximately northeast of Rostov-on-Don. On 20 August, II. ''Gruppe'' reached the airfield at Tusov, approximately southwest of Kalach-na-Donu on the western bank of the Don, from where the ''Gruppe'' operated in the combat area of Stalingrad. Flying from this airfield, Nemitz's number of aerial victories increased to 33 by end of August. On 27 October, he received the German Cross in Gold ().

Squadron leader and death

On 4 November 1942, ''Oberleutnant'' Siegfried Simsch, the ''Staffelkapitän'' (squadron leader) of 5. ''Staffel'' of JG 52, was severely injured in a flight accident. In consequence, Nemitz then briefly led the ''Staffel'' before ''Oberleutnant'' Gustav Denk officially took command in January 1943. On 22 January 1943, II. ''Gruppe'' had to retreat further and moved to an airfield at Rostov-on-Don. Here, Nemitz reached his 56th aerial victory by end of January. On 10 February 1943, ''Hauptmann'' Rudolf Resch, the commander of 6. ''Staffel'' of JG 52, was transferred. In consequence, Denk was also transferred to take command of 6. ''Staffel''. When Denk was killed in action on 13 February, Nemitz led 6. ''Staffel'' as well as 5. ''Staffel'' until ''Leutnant'' Helmut Haberda was given command. On 13 March, the ''Gruppe'' moved to an airfield at Anapa. Here on 20 March, Nemitz was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (). At the end of March 1943, his number of aerial victories had reached 80.

On 9 April, Nemetz claimed his 81st and last aerial victory when he shot down a Pe-2 bomber. Two days later on 11 April, Nemitz was killed in action in the area of Anapa. His Bf 109 G-4 (''Werknummer'' 14898—factory number) crashed near the village Nishne Bakanskaja located approximately east-northeast of Anapa. According to Helmut Lipfert, who occasionally flew as his wingman, Nemitz Bf 109 crashed into a German infantry position. Command of 6. ''Staffel'' was then transferred to ''Oberleutnant'' Karl Ritzenberger. Posthumously, Nemitz was promoted to ''Leutnant'' (second lieutenant).

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Nemitz was credited with 81 aerial victories. Spick also lists him with 81 aerial victories claimed in over 500 combat missions. Mathews and Foreman, authors of ''Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims'', researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 82 aerial victory claims, plus one further unconfirmed claim. All of his confirmed aerial victories were claimed on the Eastern Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = ''Planquadrat''), for example "PQ 7152". 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 7 September 1942 as ''Feldwebel'' and pilot
* German Cross in Gold on 27 October 1942 as ''Feldwebel'' in the 5./''Jagdgeschwader'' 52
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 24 March 1943 as ''Oberfeldwebel'' and pilot in the 4./''Jagdgeschwader'' 52

Notes

References

Citations

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nemitz, Willi
1910 births
1943 deaths
Luftwaffe pilots
German World War II flying aces
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Recipients of the Gold German Cross
Luftwaffe personnel killed in World War II
Aviators killed by being shot down
People from Gryfino