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Siegfried Lemke
Siegfried "Wumm" Lemke
Nickname(s)	"Wumm"
Born	7 April 1921 Schivelbein
Died	18 December 1995(1995-12-18) (aged 74) Worfelden, Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Luftwaffe
Rank	Hauptmann (captain)
Unit	JG 2
Commands	III./JG 2
Battles / wars	World War II Defense of the Reich Operation Bodenplatte
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Siegfried "Wumm" Lemke (7 April 1921 – 18 December 1995) was a Luftwaffe ace 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. During his career he was credited with between 70 and 96 aerial victories.

Biography

Lemke was born on 7 April 1921 in Schivelbein in Farther Pomerania, at the time in the Province of Pomerania within the Weimar Republic, present-day Świdwin, Poland. Following completion of flight and fighter pilot training, Lemke was posted to the 1. Staffel (1st squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2—2nd Fighter Wing) in October 1942. He claimed his first aerial victory on 12 March 1943 when he downed a Royal Air Force (RAF) Supermarine Spitfire fighter near Fécamp. For this, he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz zweiter Klasse).

Squadron leader

On 1 January 1944, Lemke was officially appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 1. Staffel of JG 2. He succeeded Leutnant Hugo Dahmer who had been injured on 11 September 1943. Since then, Lemke had inoffically led the Staffel as Staffelführer.

In late January 1944 following the Allied amphibious landing in Italy known as Operation Shingle, I. Gruppe under the command of Hauptmann Erich Hohagen was moved to Aix-en-Provence Aerodrome in southern France. There the unit fought against the 15th Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). On 9 February, Lemke engaged Spitfires from the 52nd Fighter Wing which were attacking shipping off the coast of France. During this encounter, Lemke claimed four Spitfires shot down. One of the pilots shot down was the American pilot Bob Hoover who was taken prisoner of war. In this engagement, Lemke also shot down Flight Officer James H. Montgomery and Lieutenant John L. Bishop, both pilots killed in action. Lemke's fourth claim did not lead to a loss by the Americans. His squadron were again transferred to Italy to counter the Allied landings at Anzio. In March, 1944 Lemke added sixteen further victories to his tally. The USAAF sent 200 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and 80 Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers to the Rome marshalling yards on 3 March. The bombers were escorted by Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters of which two were shot down by Lemke.

In April, Lemke was awarded the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) after claiming 37 aerial victories. That month, he was also promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant). By the early summer of 1944, Lemke's squadron was again moved, this time to Creil, an airfield north of Paris. From here Lemke flew combat missions over the developing campaign in Normandy following D-Day. On 14 June 1944, Lemke was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) for his then tally of 44 aerial victories.

Group commander

In July 1944, Lemke was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of the III. Gruppe of JG 2, replacing Hauptmann Josef Wurmheller who had been killed in action on 22 June. In consequence, command of 1. Staffel passed on to Leutnant Rudolf Wirtgen. The Gruppe flew its last combat mission from Creil, France on 19 August before they relocated to Königsberg in der Neumark, present-day Chojna, Poland, for a period of rest and replenishment. Their remaining aircraft were left in France and assigned to other units. At Königsberg in der Neumark, the Gruppe received factory new Fw 190 A-8/R6 aircraft. The Gruppe moved to Mohrin, present-day Moryń, on 5 October where training of the newly assigned pilots continued. Reaching operational readiness, Lemke relocated III. Gruppe to Altenstadt Airfield on 15 October.

Lemke led III. Gruppe during Operation Bodenplatte in their attack on Sint-Truiden airfield on 1 January 1945. Prior to the attack, he reported 40 Fw 190s operational, 34 of them Fw 190 Ds. However, only 28 of the 43 pilots in the unit were fit for operations and the formation fielded only 28 fighters. The attack turned out to be a disaster. III. Gruppe lost 19 Fw 190s and three were damaged, a loss rate of 79%. Nine pilots were killed, two were wounded and four were captured. While JG 2 moved to Bohemia in April 1945, III. Gruppe disappeared from German order of battle. It is said that Lemke led his surviving men north, though no record exists of the Gruppe movements. In the final days of the war, Lemke was nominated for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) which were not awarded before the war ended.

Later life

Lemke died on 18 December 1995 at the age of 74 in Worfelden, a municipality of Büttelborn, Germany.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Lemke was credited with 70 aerial victories. Spick lists him with 96 aerial victories claimed in 325 combat missions. This figure includes one claim on the Eastern Front and 95 claims on the Western Front of which 21 are four-engined heavy bombers. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and state that Lemke was credited with more than 54 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Western Front, including at least five four-engined bombers.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 14 West 4846". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) 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 360 square miles (930 km). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 8 May 1944 as Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel and pilot
• German Cross in Gold on 3 April 1944 as Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel in the 1./Jagdgeschwader 2
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 14 June 1944 as Leutnant and Staffelführer of the 1./Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen"

Notes

1. Flight training in the Luftwaffe progressed through the levels A1, A2 and B1, B2, referred to as A/B flight training. A training included theoretical and practical training in aerobatics, navigation, long-distance flights and dead-stick landings. The B courses included high-altitude flights, instrument flights, night landings and training to handle the aircraft in difficult situations.
2. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed at 14:25.
3. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed at 09:45.
4. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed at 09:33.
5. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed at 09:03.
6. According to Obermaier on 31 March 1944.
7. According to Scherzer on 11 June 1944 as Staffelführer in the I./Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen".

References

Citations

1. ^ Obermaier 1989, p. 156.
2. Bergström, Antipov & Sundin 2003, p. 17.
3. ^ Dixon 2023, p. 125.
4. ^ Prien, Stemmer & Bock 2018, p. 176.
5. Prien et al. 2010, p. 438.
6. Mathews & Foreman 2015, p. 737.
7. Weal 2000, p. 105.
8. Hoover 1997, pp. 65–67.
9. Shores et al. 2018, pp. 527–528.
10. Page 2020, p. 101.
11. Page 2020, p. 100.
12. Weal 2000, p. 118.
13. Prien, Stemmer & Bock 2018, p. 226.
14. Prien, Stemmer & Bock 2018, pp. 223–224.
15. Manrho & Pütz 2010, pp. 59, 61.
16. Manrho & Pütz 2010, p. 72.
17. Manrho & Pütz 2010, p. 95.
18. Weal 2000, p. 117.
19. ^ Dixon 2023, p. 126.
20. Zabecki 2014, p. 1616.
21. Spick 1996, p. 234.
22. ^ Mathews & Foreman 2015, pp. 737–738.
23. Planquadrat.
24. ^ Prien et al. 2010, p. 443.
25. ^ Prien et al. 2010, p. 445.
26. ^ Prien et al. 2010, p. 444.
27. ^ Mathews & Foreman 2015, p. 738.
28. ^ Prien, Stemmer & Bock 2018, p. 180.
29. ^ Prien et al. 2021, p. 46.
30. ^ Prien et al. 2021, p. 47.
31. ^ Prien, Stemmer & Bock 2018, p. 181.
32. ^ Prien, Stemmer & Bock 2018, p. 232.
33. ^ Prien, Stemmer & Bock 2018, p. 233.
34. Patzwall 2008, p. 134.
35. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 275.
36. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 236.
37. Scherzer 2007, p. 501.

Bibliography

• Bergström, Christer ; Antipov, Vlad; Sundin, Claes (2003). Graf & Grislawski – A Pair of Aces. Hamilton MT: Eagle Editions. ISBN 978-0-9721060-4-7.
• Bergström, Christer . "Bergström Black Cross/Red Star website". Identifying a Luftwaffe Planquadrat. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
• Dixon, Jeremy (2023). Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe: Knight's Cross Holders 1943–1945. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-39903-073-1.
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) . Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Hoover, Robert A. (1997). Forever Flying: Fifty Years of High-Flying Adventures, From Barnstorming in Prop Planes to Dogfighting Germans to Testing Supersonic Jets: An Autobiography. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-67153-761-6.
• Mathews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2015). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 2 G–L. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-19-6.
• Manrho, John; Pütz, Ron (2010) . Bodenplatte: The Luftwaffe's Last Hope-The Attack on Allied Airfields, New Year's Day 1945. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-0686-5.
• Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1939 – 1945] (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7.
• Page, Neil (2020). Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe 1943–45. Philadelphia, PA: Casemate Publishers. ISBN 978-1-61200-879-0.
• Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
• Patzwall, Klaus D. (2008). Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg [The Honor Goblet for Outstanding Achievement in the Air War] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-08-3.
• Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2010). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 10/IV—Einsatz im Westen—1.1. bis 31.12.1943 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 10/IV—Action in the West—1 January to 31 December 1943] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-92-2.
• Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Bock, Winfried (2018). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 13/IV—Einsatz im Reichsverteidigung und im Westen—1.1. bis 31.12.1944 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 13/IV—Action in the Defense of the Reich and in the West—1 January to 31 December 1944] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-942943-19-2.
• Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Bock, Winfried; Balke, Ulf (2021). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 14—Einsatz im Mittelmeerraum—1.1. bis 15.9.1944 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 14—Action in the Mediterranean Theater—1 January to 15 September 1944] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-942943-24-6.
• Shores, Christopher; Massimello, Giovanni; Guest, Russell; Olynyk, Frank; Bock, Winfried; Thomas, Andy (2018). A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940–1945: Sicily and Italy to the Fall of Rome: 14 May, 1943 – 5 June 1944. Vol. 4. London: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-911621-10-2.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Spick, Mike (1996). Luftwaffe Fighter Aces. New York: Ivy Books. ISBN 978-0-8041-1696-1.
• Weal, John (2000). Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen". Aviation Elite Units. Vol. 1. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-046-9.
• Zabecki, David T., ed. (2014). Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio. ISBN 978-1-59884-981-3.

v t e Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen"
Wilhelm Balthasar (Oak Leaves) Otto Bertram Kurt Bühligen (Oak Leaves & Swords) Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp Kurt Goltzsch Hans Hahn (Oak Leaves) Horst Hannig (Oak Leaves) Herbert Huppertz (Oak Leaves) Fritz Karch Karl-Heinz Krahl Erich Leie Siegfried Lemke Frank Liesendahl Werner Machold Walter Matoni Egon Mayer (Oak Leaves & Swords) Rudolf Pflanz Erich Rudorffer (Oak Leaves & Swords) Wolfgang Schellmann Siegfried Schnell (Oak Leaves) Fritz Schröter Heinz Schumann Bruno Stolle Helmut Wick (Oak Leaves) Josef Wurmheller (Oak Leaves & Swords)
Knight's Cross with JG 1. Knight's Cross with JG 54. Knight's Cross with JG 51. Oak Leaves and Swords with JG 54.

• Aviation
• Biography

• 1921 births
• 1995 deaths
• People from Świdwin
• Military personnel from the Province of Pomerania
• Luftwaffe pilots
• German World War II flying aces
• Recipients of the Gold German Cross
• Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross