Erwin Fischer

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Erwin Fischer
Erwin Fischer.jpg
Birth date 14 August 1912
Place of birth Bühlau near Dresden[1], Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire
Death date 10 December 1996 (aged 84)
Place of death Hamburg, Germany
Allegiance  National Socialist Germany
Service/branch Polizei in der Weimarer Republik.jpg Police
Luftwaffe eagle.jpg Luftwaffe
Years of service 1934–45
Rank Major
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Erwin Fischer (14 August 1912 – 10 December 1996) was a German officer of the Wehrmacht as reconnaissance pilot of the Luftwaffe in WWII. As such, he flew over 300 combat missions (Feindflüge) with the Dornier Do 17, He 111 as well as the Ju 88 and was the first recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of the flying reconnaissance units.

Life

Verleihung des Eichenlaubes an Hptm. Erwin Fischer.jpg

Erwin Fischer achived his Abitur in March 1933 at the Dresden Gymnasium "Zum Heiligen Kreuz". There are several sources stating, he was a member of the SA and NSDAP even before 1933, albeit without exact details or dates. Fischer joined the police on 1 January 1934. From there he was accepted into the Luftwaffe as an officer candidate on 1 March 1935 and was trained to be a reconnaissance pilot.

WWII

At the beginning of the war, he was a technical officer and pilot in the 1st (F)/Reconnaissance Group 121. The "F" for Fern meant it was a long-range reconnaissance squadron. The three squadrons of the Aufklärungsgruppe 121 flew the Do 17 and were used for reconnaissance for Air Fleet 1 over northern Poland.

In May 1940, the 1.(F)/121 flew at the Western Front subordinated to the Air Fleet 2 for the IV. Flieger-Corps over Belgium and northern France. The squadron was transferred to Norway for the “Battle of Britain”, supplying reconnaissance over the sea and England with Junkers Ju 88. From 1941, the mission for the 1. (F)/121 was reconnaissance over the Mediterranean and Africa for the X. Flieger-Korps and Air Fleet 2. Due to Fischer's excellent reconnaissance results, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 21 April 1941. In April or July 1942 (depending on the source), he was appointed commander (Staffelkapitän) of the 1. (F) Staffel/Aufklärungsgruppe 121 and served as such until 25 February 1943, giving the command to Captain Hans Amm (b. 22 December 1913), who was ⚔ on 29 March 1943[2] near Tunis and posthumously promoted to major. In the meantime, Fischer had been promoted to captain and had received the Oak Leaves to the Knight Cross of the Iron Cross. For the award ceremony (Ritterkreuzverleihungszeremonie), he flew, together with Hermann Hogeback, to the Führerhauptquartier "Wolfsschanze" and received the high decoration from Adolf Hitler personally, afterwards the two officers had tea with Hitler and adjutant Nicolaus von Below.

After c. four weeks leave, he was commanded to the Luftattaché Budapest for temporary duty on 1 April 1943. On 30 April 1943, he was appointed commander (Gruppenkommandeur) of the I. Gruppe/Nahaufklärungsgeschwader 102 (NAG 102). The "N" for Nah meant it was a short-range reconnaissance wing. He served as such until 15 June 1943. Subsequently, he was appointed wing commander (Geschwaderkommodore) of the Nahaufklärungsgeschwader 102, serving as such until 4 February 1945 (at times also commandant of the airfield command A 36/III). The wing at the Jüterbog-Damm Air Base served to train reconnaissance crews with varoius airplane typs: Arado Ar 96, Bücker Bü 131, Bücker Bü 181, Dornier Do 217, Focke-Wulf Fw 58, Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Messerschmitt Bf 110. Subsequently, he was appointed wing commander of the Aufklärungsgeschwader 103 at Jüterbog-Damm Air Base which emerged from the Nahaufklärungsgeschwader 102. In May 1945, he became a POW of the British.

Oak Leaves to the Knight Cross

Fischer had flown 273 combat sorties by the time he was awarded the Oakleaves. The following newspaper article (dated 11 February 1943) describes why Fischer was awarded the oak leaves:

“First Reconnaissance Pilot with the Oakleaves – The Distinguished Staffelkapitän Hauptmann Fischer
The Führer has awarded the Oakleaves to the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross to Hauptmann Erwin Fischer, Staffelkapitän in a Fernaufklärergruppe. He is the 191st soldier of the German Wehrmacht to be so honoured. Hauptmann Fischer is the very first reconnaissance flyer to receive the Oakleaves. During the Polish Campaign, he flew operational reconnaissance flights as far as the Romanian and Soviet border. In the Western Campaign, he managed to endure an intense engagement with three Hurricanes of the Royal Air Force while flying a He 111. He conducted additional reconnaissance missions that included flights to the Firth of Forth and Belfast as well as over the industrial areas in Northern Ireland and England. He sunk several patrol boats while conducting armed reconnaissance sorties over the ocean. In the Mediterranean Sea, he flew hours-long sorties as far as the Suez Canal, and over the course of numerous sorties he obtained valuable information about enemy movements in Cyrenaica and Malta. His Staffel has just recently reported flying its 3,000 th combat sortie.”[3]

Promotions

  • 1 March 1935 Offizieranwärter (Officer Candidate)
  • 1 December 1938 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
  • February 1941 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant) with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 August 1940
  • 1 April 1942 Hauptmann (Captain) with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 March 1942
  • 1 May 1944 Major

Awards and decorations

Pre-war

WWII

Further reading

German sources

  • Franz Thomas: Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945, Band 1: A–K, Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1998, ISBN 978-3-7648-2299-6
  • Walther-Peer Fellgiebel: Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile (in German), Podzun-Pallas, Wölfersheim 2000, ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6
    • English: 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, expanded edition, 2000
  • Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit. Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 — 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II. Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.

Gallery

  • Erwin Fischer (Ritterkreuz).jpg
  • Erwin Fischer (Ritterkreuz) II.jpg
  • Eichenlaubverleihung für Erwin Fischer (links) und Hermann Hogeback (Mitte).jpg
  • Erwin Fischer III.jpg

References

  1. ↑ Bühlau became a part of Dresden in 1921.
  2. ↑ Official death date for Hans-Laurenz Amm according to Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, other sources state 29 April 1943.
  3. ↑ Fischer, Erwin (Aufklärungsgruppe 121)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Thomas 1998, p. 166.
  5. ↑ Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 114.
  6. ↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 151.
  7. ↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 58.
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