Hermann Staiger

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Hermann Staiger
Born 6 April 1915
Tennenbronn
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Freiburg
Allegiance  Nazi Germany
Service/branch Luftwaffe
Years of service 1935–45
Rank Major
Unit JG 51
JG 26
JG 1
JG 7
Commands held I./JG 26
II./JG 1
II./JG 7
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Hermann Staiger (6 April 1915 – 22 June 1964) was a German 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. For the fighter-pilots it was a quantifiable measure of their skill and success. Hermann Staiger was credited with 63 aerial victories during World War II, 49 on the Western Front and 14 on the Eastern Front.

Military career

Joining the Luftwaffe in 1935 to start his flight training, by the start of the war in September 1939 he was a Leutnant flying with 1./JG 20 (the 1st squadron of the 20th Fighter Wing). This was a wing in name only, being just a single Gruppe (Fighter Group) that had been set up just prior to the outbreak of war, in July 1939. His Staffelkapitän (Squadron Leader) was the Legion Condor veteran Walter Oesau.[1] For the Polish campaign his unit was based at Sprottau, to protect the Silesian industrial area from Polish bombers, but after a week of inactivity it returned to Berlin and then onto Bönninghardt on the Dutch border under the command of Jagdgeschwader 51.

The attack on France in May 1940 was very quiet for JG 51 and I./JG 20 as they quickly cleared the skies over the Low Countries. It was only at the end of that month, when the units transferred to Ghent, in Belgium, for the battle for the beaches of Dunkirk that Staiger opened his scoresheet. He shot down an RAF Spitfire northwest of that city on 31 May, among the dozen claims by the Gruppe that day.[2]

Soon after his second victory (a Blenheim bomber on 30 June), the relationship between JG 51 and I./JG 20 was formalized on 4 July when the latter was renamed III./JG 51 (the third Gruppe of JG 51), and Staiger's squadron became 7./JG 51. He was reasonably successful in the ensuing Battle of Britain shooting down a further seven aircraft. Now an experienced pilot and promoted to Oberleutnant, he was appointed Staffelkapitän of his 7./JG 51 on 25 August when Oesau was himself promoted to Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 51.

After the invasion was postponed (indefinitely) JG 51 was withdrawn to winter quarters back in the Reich. It would return to the Channel Front for a time in early 1941 although now nominally on the defensive. Staiger still managed to pick up three further victories before the units were sent to the east for the upcoming invasion of the Soviet Union. On the opening day of the Operation Barbarossa he shot down three SB-2 bombers. JG 51 was leading the charge eastward racking up a huge number of victories. On 30 June, when JG 51 became the first Geschwader to claim 1000 victories[3] Staiger shot down a further four bombers in the first great encirclement battle, over Minsk. However the combat wasn't all one-sided, and on 15 July he was himself seriously injured when his BF 109F2 (Werk Nummer 8083 - factory number) was hit by Soviet anti-aircraft fire.[4][5]

While recovering in hospital he was awarded the Knight's Cross on 16 July in recognition of his 25 victories to date. After an extended period of convalescence he served in a number of pilot-training units for the next two years, and was promoted to Hauptmann (Captain) on 1 February 1943. He briefly returned to his old unit, JG 51, at the end of May 1943[6] before taking up his new combat command as Staffelkapitän of 12./JG 26 on 5 July. Based back on the Channel Front it was fighting a whole new type of war: In the past year the American 8th USAAF had arrived in Britain and started daylight bombing operations against Germany's industry. The heavily armed four-engined B-17 and B-24 bombers ("Viermots") were very hard to shoot down but Staiger quickly learned his combat technique. Over the next month he accounted for five Viermots, becoming one of the first bomber-aces.

He would go on to survive and become one of the leading anti-bomber pilots. In one of the biggest Luftwaffe success over the 8th USAAF, on 17 August 1943, the combined Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission he claimed a B-17 near Mönchengladbach. On 10 October, in heavy raids on Münster, he shot down his seventh B-17, but this time was wounded by the return fire of the defensive 'boxes' of bombers. For his continuing leadership and 34 victories he was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 29 October.

Further heavy losses caused a pause and re-evaluation of strategy by the Allies, who desperately needed long-range fighter escorts to cover the bomber missions into the Reich. Finally, in December 1943, the balance started to change with the introduction of the P-51B Mustang. As the winter weather cleared, operations picked up again and the Americans launched Operation Argument (Big Week) on 20 February. Over the week Staiger shot down a further three aircraft. March's bombing target was mostly focused on Berlin, and he scored another five Viermots. After his Gruppenkommandeur, Klaus Mietusch, was injured on 8 March, he took up temporary command of III./JG 26 for three weeks in his absence, while still remaining as squadron leader of 12./JG 26 at the same time.

April was to be Staiger's most successful month, claiming 8 aircraft. Five of these were on the 24th. III./JG 26 had been temporarily transferred to Munich, with very little to do except play cards. That morning however, the alarms sounded and the pilots (including Staiger) with only a few hours' sleep, took to the air nursing fearsome hangovers, sucking in the pure oxygen (a well-known hangover cure!).[7] Flying a heavily armed Me 109 with a 30mm MK108 cannon firing through the spinner, he managed to down 2 bombers in as many minutes, then another plus two Herausschüsse (formation separations) within minutes of each other a half-hour later.[8] In May, a series of devastating raids crippled Germany's oil production, severely limiting flight operations.

On 15 May he was promoted to command of the Fw 190-equipped I./JG 26, while Maj Karl Borris was away. In June all the Allied attention turned to France, and the Normandy invasion (Operation Overlord). Immediately fifteen Gruppen, including Staiger's I./JG 26, were rushed to the west. But, now fighting low-level combats and often up against 20:1 odds, they stood no chance. On 1 August, with Major Borris' return, Staiger transferred to take up command of II/JG 1 which had also been struggling through the French campaign. With the Allied breakout at the start of August, II./JG 1 soon retreated east of the Seine, then a week later back to the Reich to rebuild and re-equip. Indicative of the devastation, in its 10-weeks over Normandy, II./JG 1 had lost 106 aircraft (out of a nominal complement of 68) and 27 pilots killed, for 32 confirmed victories. It would not be fit for action for three months, not re-engaging in combat until 26 November 1944. Staiger led by example, shooting down a B-17.

Although promoted to Major on 1 January 1945, Staiger was not involved in the ill-fated New Year's Day attack (Operation Bodenplatte). He was seconded to III./EJG 2 to get training on the Me262 jet. Staiger was tasked with setting up a new jet Gruppe, and on 12 January 1945 was assigned as Kommandeur of II./JG 7, authorized by renaming IV/JG 54 on 7 February. But with very limited aircraft (and, more particularly, engines) available for the other Gruppen, let alone his, it struggled to get operational. Its first ten aircraft, along with a pair of two-seater trainers, were delivered a week later to allow training to commence.[9] By then Staiger had passed command of II./JG 7 over to Hptm Lutz-Wilhelm Burckhardt. It is uncertain what he did for the remainder of the war, although Forsyth comments that he was a senior pilot still with II./JG 7 in April,[10] although he did not score any victories in the Me 262 jet.

Hermann Staiger survived the war and was one of the very few 'start-to-finishers' to do so. He is credited with 63 combat victories, of which only 14 were over the Eastern Front. His total of 26 Viermot victories ranks him 5th equal in success against this formidable aircraft type - and the most successful Me 109-pilot over the Reich (Werner Schroer's 26 were split over the Mediterranean and Reich theaters).[11] He died, at Freiburg, on 22 June 1964

Awards

Victories

No Date Time Unit & Airfield Gruppe Kommandeur[15] Location / Planquad Claimed Aircraft Source / Comments[16]
1 31 May 1940 18.27 1./JG 20 - Ghent (109E) Hptm Hannes Trautloft NW of Dunkirk Spitfire OKL; Prien & Bock
2 30 Jun'40 12.55 1./JG 20 - St Omer (109E) Hptm Hannes Trautloft 10 km E of St. Omer Blenheim OKL; Prien & Bock
3 8 Jul'40 16.35 7./JG 51 - St Omer (109E) Hptm Hannes Trautloft NW of Cap Gris Nez Spitfire OKL; Prien & Bock
4 11 Jul'40 19.45 7./JG 51 - St Omer (109E) Hptm Hannes Trautloft 15 km NE of Deal Blenheim OKL; Prien & Bock
5 5 Aug'40 9.55 7./JG 51 - St Omer (109E) Hptm Hannes Trautloft 10 km SW of Dover Spitfire OKL; Prien & Bock
6 7 Sep'40  ? 7./JG 51 - St Omer (109E) Hptm Walter Oesau London Spitfire OKL; Prien & Bock
7 7 Sep'40  ? 7./JG 51 - St Omer (109E) Hptm Walter Oesau London Spitfire OKL; Prien & Bock
8 14 Sep'40  ? 7./JG 51 - St Omer (109E) Hptm Walter Oesau Dungeness Hurricane OKL; Prien & Bock
9 15 Sep'40  ? 7./JG 51 - St Omer (109E) Hptm Walter Oesau Tonbridge Hurricane OKL; Prien & Bock
10 13 Mar 1941 15.23 7./JG 51 - St Omer (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla 20 km W of Cap Gris Nez Spitfire OKL; Prien & Bock
11 11 Apr'41 13.40 7./JG 51 - St Omer (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla Dungeness Spitfire Prien & Bock
12 29 Apr'41 10.12 7./JG 51 - St Omer (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla 5 km N of Dunkirk Spitfire Prien & Bock
13 22 Jun'41 12.37 7./JG 51 - Halaszi (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla  ? SB-2 Prien & Bock
14 22 Jun'41  ? 7./JG 51 - Halaszi (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla  ? SB-2 Prien & Bock
15 22 Jun'41  ? 7./JG 51 - Halaszi (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla  ? SB-2 Prien & Bock
16 24 Jun'41 11.30 7./JG 51 - Halaszi (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla  ? SB-2 Prien & Bock
17 30 Jun'41 11.50 7./JG 51 - Halaszi (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla  ? SB-2 Prien & Bock
18 30 Jun'41 19.00 7./JG 51 - Halaszi (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla  ? DB-3 Prien & Bock
19 30 Jun'41  ? 7./JG 51 - Halaszi (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla  ? DB-3 Prien & Bock
20 30 Jun'41  ? 7./JG 51 - Halaszi (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla  ? DB-3 Prien & Bock
21 3 Jul'41  ? 7./JG 51 - Stara Bychov (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla  ? Douglas Prien & Bock
22 5 Jul'41  ? 7./JG 51 - Stara Bychov (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla  ? V-11 (Il-2) Prien & Bock
23 8 Jul'41  ? 7./JG 51 - Stara Bychov (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla  ? DB-3 Prien & Bock
24 11 Jul'41  ? 7./JG 51 - Stara Bychov (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla  ?  ? Prien & Bock
25 11 Jul'41  ? 7./JG 51 - Stara Bychov (109F) Hptm Richard Leppla  ?  ? Prien & Bock
26 2 Jun 1943 10.58 9./JG 51 - Orel (109G) Hptm Karl Heinz Schnell 63 613: 800m LaGG-3 C.2032/II ANr.353
27 17 Jul'43 9.28 12./JG 26 - Nordholz (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch 80 km W of Amrun Is [SP 1]: 6000m B-17 C.2027/I; of USAAF 351 BG
28 25 Jul'43 16.50 12./JG 26 - Nordholz (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch N of Weser estuary [BB 42]: 9000m B-17 C.2027/I ANr.26
29 26 Jul'43 11.54 12./JG 26 - Nordholz (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch N of Scharmbeck [CS-9.2]: 400m B-17 C.2027/I ANr.27
30 29 Jul'43 9.40 12./JG 26 - Nordholz (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch Kiel [05Ost S/TQ1]: 7500m B-17 C.2027/I ANr.28; of USAAF 306 BG
31 29 Jul'43 9.42 12./JG 26 - Nordholz (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch Kiel [05Ost S/TQ1]: 6200m B-17 Caldwell: JG 26 List & MSS; of USAAF 306 BG
32 17 Aug'43 15.20 12./JG 26 - Nordholz (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch NNE of Jülich: 300m B-17 C.2031/II
33 3 Oct'43  ? 12./JG 26 - Valenciennes (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch Beauvais Spitfire Caldwell: JG 26 List & MSS; of RAF 222 Sqn
34 10 Oct'43 15.15 12./JG 26 - Valenciennes (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch Tilbeck, W of Münster: 5500m B-17 C.2031/II; of USAAF 385 BG
35 5 Nov'43 13.46 12./JG 26 - Valenciennes (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch Schelde estuary [KJ6]: 2000m B-17 C.2031/II
? 5 Nov'43  ? 12./JG 26 - Valenciennes (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch Dortmund [KP9] B-17 Caldwell: JG 26 List & MSS; of USAAF 388 BG
36 21 Jan 1944  ? 12./JG 26 - Dinant (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch E of St. Pol Spitfire Caldwell: JG 26 List & MSS
37 21 Jan'44  ? 12./JG 26 - Dinant (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch E of Amiens Spitfire Caldwell: JG 26 List & MSS
38 24 Jan'44 11.00 12./JG 26 - Dinant (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch SW of Brussels P-47 Caldwell: JG 26 List & MSS; of USAAF 78 FG
39 30 Jan'44 13.30 12./JG 26 - Dinant (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch Raalte [05Ost S/GN..] P-47 C.2025/II
40 22 Feb'44 15.23 12./JG 26 - Dinant (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch Kassel-Fritzlar [NT-LT]: 4000m P-47 C.2025/I ANr.6; of USAAF 353 FG
41 24 Feb'44 12.20 12./JG 26 - Dinant (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch S of Quakenbrück: 8000m B-17 C.2025/I ANr.8
42 25 Feb'44 13.00 12./JG 26 - Dinant (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch Landau: 7500m B-17 C.2025/I ANr.4
43 2 Mar'44 11.50 12./JG 26 - Dinant (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch Koblenz [PQ-QQ]: 7500m B-17 C.2025/I ANr.41
44 8 Mar'44  ? 12./JG 26 - Dinant (109G) [Hptm Klaus Mietusch] N of Hannover B-17 Caldwell: JG 26 List & MSS; of USAAF 388 BG
45 8 Mar'44  ? 12./JG 26 - Dinant (109G) [Hptm Klaus Mietusch] Berlin-Potsdam B-17 Caldwell: JG 26 List & MSS
46 18 Mar'44  ? 12./JG 26 - Etain (109G) [Hptm Klaus Mietusch] Colmar B-17 Caldwell: JG 26 List f.234
47 27 Mar'44 14.35 12./JG 26 - Etain (109G) [Hptm Klaus Mietusch] NE of Chartres [BD..]: 2500m P-47 C.2025/I; of USAAF 359 FG
48 13 Apr'44 13.34 12./JG 26 - Etain (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch S of Idar-Oberstein [SP..]: 7000m B-17 C.2027/I ANr.26
49 13 Apr'44 16.20 12./JG 26 - Etain (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch NW of Luxembourg [RN9]: 7500m P-38 C.2027/I ANr.17; of USAAF 364 FG
50 23 Apr'44 14.26 12./JG 26 - Neubiberg (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch SE of Wiener-Neustadt [EO9/FO3]: 7000m B-17 C.2027/I ANr.11
51 24 Apr'44 13.30 12./JG 26 - Neubiberg (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch Meitingen, N of Augsburg [BB78] B-17 C.2027/I ANr.13
52 24 Apr'44 13.30 12./JG 26 - Neubiberg (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch S of Meitingen [BB78]: 7000m B-17 C.2027/I ANr.18
53 24 Apr'44 13.55-14.05 12./JG 26 - Neubiberg (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch SW of Memmingen [EA..]: 6500m B-17 HSS C.2027/I ANr.22
54 24 Apr'44 13.53-14.05 12./JG 26 - Neubiberg (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch SW of Memmingen[EA..]: 6500m B-17 HSS C.2027/I ANr.23
55 24 Apr'44 13.55-14.05 12./JG 26 - Neubiberg (109G) Hptm Klaus Mietusch SW of Memmingen [EA56]: 6500m B-17 C.2027/I ANr.20
56 7 Jun'44 15.58 I./JG 26 - Chaumont-en-Vexin (190A) Obstlt Josef Priller N of Lisieux: 600m P-47 C.2027/II; of USAAF 362 FG
57 7 Jun'44 16.00 I./JG 26 - Chaumont-en-Vexin (190A) Obstlt Josef Priller N of Lisieux: 800m P-47 C.2027/II ANr.43; of USAAF 362 FG
58 15 Jun'44  ? I./JG 26 - Chaumont-en-Vexin (190A) Obstlt Josef Priller 80 km S of Chartres B-17 HSS Caldwell: JG 26 List
59 23 Jun'44 12.20-25 I./JG 26 - Chaumont-en-Vexin (190A) Obstlt Josef Priller near Honfleur [TA12]: 3000m Spitfire C.2027/II
60 25 Jun'44 15.30-35 I./JG 26 - Chaumont-en-Vexin (190A) Obstlt Josef Priller SW of Rouen [04Ost N/TB..]: 3000m P-38 C.2027/II ANr.69; of USAAF 370 FG
61 10 Aug'44 14.10 II./JG 1 - Oysonville (190A8) Obstlt Herbert Ihlefeld 5 km NW of Vire [AT3]: 8500m Spitfire C.2025/I
62 26 Nov'44  ? II./JG 1 - Tutow (190A8) Obstlt Herbert Ihlefeld  ? B-17 Prien: JG 1/11 Lists f.1652
63 5 Dec'44 11.15 II./JG 1 - Tutow (190A8) Obstlt Herbert Ihlefeld Müritz See [15Ost S/CF..]: 4000m P-51 C.2027/II
? 24 Dec'44  ? II./JG 1 - Lingen (190A8) Obstlt Herbert Ihlefeld  ? B-17

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Weal 2006, pg.15.
  2. ↑ Weal 2006, pg.21.
  3. ↑ Weal 2006, pg.61.
  4. ↑ Aces of the Luftwaffe website.
  5. ↑ Luftwaffe 39-45 Historia website.
  6. ↑ Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries website.
  7. ↑ Caldwell 1993, pp. 222-223.
  8. ↑ Forsyth 2011, pg. 21.
  9. ↑ Forsyth 2008, pp. 36, 61.
  10. ↑ Forsyth 2008, pg. 105.
  11. ↑ Weal 1999, pg. 59.
  12. ↑ Scherzer 2007, p. 717.
  13. ↑ Fellgiebel 2000, pp. 407, 505.
  14. ↑ Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 453.
  15. ↑ Luftwaffe Air Units: Single–Engined Fighters website.
  16. ↑ Aces of the Luftwaffe website.

Bibliography

  • Caldwell, Donald L (1993). JG26 – Top Guns of the Luftwaffe. Ballantine ISBN 0-87938-845-5
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  • Forsyth, Robert (2008). Aviation Elite Units #29: Jagdgeschwader 7 'Nowotny’. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84603-320-9
  • Forsyth, Robert (2011). Luftwaffe Viermot Aces 1942-45. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84908-438-6.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Smith, J.Richard & Creek, Eddie J (2005). Jagdwaffe Vol 5, Sec4: Jet Fighters and Rocket Interceptors 1944 - 1945 Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing ISBN 1-903223-52-0
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Weal, John (1995). Focke-Wulf Fw190 Aces of the Russian Front. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85532-518-7.
  • Weal, John (1996). Focke-Wulf Fw190 Aces of the Western Front. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85532-595-0.
  • Weal, John (1999). Bf109F/G/K Aces of the Western Front. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85532-905-0.
  • Weal, John (2006). Bf109 Defence of the Reich Aces. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84176-879-0.
  • Weal, John (2006). Aviation Elite Units #22: Jagdgeschwader 51 'Mölders’. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84603-045-5.

External links

Military offices
Preceded by Squadron Leader of 7./JG 51
25 August 1940 – 13 July 1941		 Succeeded by
Oblt Herbert Wehnelt
Preceded by
unknown
 Squadron Leader of 5./JFS 5
27 April 1942 – 1 September 1942		 Succeeded by
none: unit renamed Jagdlehrer-Überprüfungsstelle
Preceded by
unknown
 Squadron Leader of 2./JFS 7
29 October 1942 – 25 January 1943		 Succeeded by
none: unit renamed 2./JG 107
Preceded by
none: new unit
 Squadron Leader of 2./JG 107
26 January 1943 – 26 October 1944		 Succeeded by
unknown
Preceded by
Oblt Erwin Leykauf
 Squadron Leader of 12./JG 26
5 July 1943 – 14 May 1944		 Succeeded by
Oblt Karl-Hermann Schrader
Preceded by Group Commander of I./JG 26
15 May 1944 – 31 July 1944		 Succeeded by
Hptm Karl Borris
Preceded by
Oblt Rüdiger von Kirchmayr
 Group Commander of II./JG 1
1 August 1944 – January, 1945		 Succeeded by
Oblt Fritz Wegner
Preceded by
none: new unit
 Group Commander of II./JG 7
12 January 1945 – 5 February 1945		 Succeeded by
Hptm Lutz-William Burckhardt
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