Herbert Wehnelt

Herbert Wehnelt
Herbert Wehnelt (left) and Hannes Trautloft
Birth date	20 September 1918(1918-09-20)
Place of birth	Guhrau, Kreis Guhrau, Regierungsbezirk Breslau, Province of Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	17 February 2007 (aged 88)
Place of death	Murnau near Seehausen am Staffelsee, Bavaria, Germany
Allegiance	National Socialist Germany West Germany
Service/branch	Luftwaffe Amt „Blank“ Bundeswehr (Luftwaffe)
Years of service	1936–1945 1954–1955 1955–1976
Rank	Major Lieutenant General
Unit	JG 20 JG 51
Commands held	Jagdgruppe West IV./Erg.JG 1 JG 106
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Iron Cross Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe Wound Badge German Cross in Gold Grand Cross of Merit with Star (FRG)
Other work	Businessman

Herbert Adolf Hermann Wehnelt (20 September 1918 – 17 February 2007) was a German officer of the Wehrmacht and the Bundeswehr. The flying ace was credited with 36 confirmed air victories (Luftsiege) in over 500 combat missions (Feindflüge) during World War II. A Herbert Wehnelt was founder of the Lions Club Murnau-Staffelsee in 1983, it cannot be confirmed with certainty that this founder was retired General Wehnelt, however, it is likely.

Life

Hauptmann Herbert Wehnelt (2nd from right) in 1942 in front of the command post of the III. Group/JG 51

Wehnelt with his (first) wife Theresa and son Wolf-Dieter Wehnelt in front of their villa, Fliegerhorst Oldenburg

Wehnelt was born in Guhrau and attended the local reform Gymnasium, which he left in 1936 with Abitur. He began his military career in the same year when he joined the Luftwaffe as an officer candidate. After attending the Wildpark and Gatow air warfare schools, he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in the "Richthofen" fighter squadron in 1938. Deployed as a fighter pilot in the west and east during the war, he was successively a communications officer, adjutant, squadron captain, group commander and, at the end of the war, commodore of a fighter school wing.

Military career until 1945 (chronology)

• 4 December 1936 Joined the Luftwaffe as an officer candidate
• December 1936 to April 1937 Attended the air warfare schools in Wildpark-Werder and Berlin-Gatow
• May 1937 to June 1938 Pilot training
• July 1938 to August 1939 Pilot with the 2nd Squadron/Jagdgeschwader 132 "Richthofen" under Gerhard-Albrecht „Gerd“ von Massow, then Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp
• August 1939 Signals officer and pilot in the staff of the I. Group/Jagdgeschwader 20
• 4 July 1940 The I. Group was converted into the III. Group of the Jagdgeschwader 51
  • Wehnelt served as fighter pilot and adjutant
  • 15 July 1941 Commander of the 7th Squadron
    • 27 October 1941 Badly wounded when his Bf 109 F-2 crashed in woods near Walojaroslavl due to return fire from an Iljuschin Il-2
  • 25 April 1942 Return to his squadron
  • 3 August to 24 September 1942 At the same time acting commander of the III. Group/JG 51 "Mölders" flying the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-3 "White 11"
• 4 January 1944 Appointed commander of the Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe West (Supplementary Fighter Group West) replacing Major Georg Michalek
• 5 November to 31 December 1944 Commander of the IV. Group/Ergänzungs-Jagdgeschwader 1 (Supplementary Fighter Wing 1)
• January 1945 Fighter pilot advisor with the Kampfgeschwader (J) 54/IX. Air Corps during the conversion to Messerschmitt Me 262
• February/March to 16 April 1945 Commander of the Jagdgeschwader 106 (4th Aviation School Division/Air Fleet 10), training fighter wing in in Lachen-Speyerdorf
  • The wing was dissolved on 16 April 1945, three weeks before the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht on 8 May 1945
• May to September 1945 American POW

Post-WWII

• November 1945 to March 1946 Purchasing manager for the Bavarian Red Cross in Munich
• March 1946 to October 1955 Owner of the Shoe and Sports Store Wehnelt in Lenggries, Bavaria
• January 1952 to May 1954 Agent of the CIA-supplied anti-communist intelligence agency "Gehlen Organization" under Reinhard Gehlen
• May 1954 to October 1955 Employee of the Blank Office (Amt Blank), predecessor institution of the Federal Ministry of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1 November 1955 Officially transferred to the Bundeswehr
  • November 1955 to January 1956 Advisor for training with the Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg)
• January 1956 to March 1957 Refresher courses in England and the USA
  • Major Gerhard "Gerd" Friedrich Barkhorn from Trier, Major Herbert Adolf Hermann Wehnelt from Lenggries and Major Walter Gustav Krupinski from Bonn belonged to the second batch of pilots which were sent to England and were trained by the Royal Air Force. The three pilots were welcomed by the German ambassador in the UK, Hans-Heinrich Herwarth von Bittenfeld (1904–1999). Training began at RAF Feltwell on 19 January 1956 on the Percival Provost, a propeller driven trainer aircraft. The pilots completed their refresher training on 23 March 1956. They then advanced to the de Havilland Vampire jet aircraft. Barkhorn, Krupinski and Wehnelt completed this training in May 1956. In June, the pilots trained on the Hawker Hunter for ten weeks. On 18 June 1956, Barkhorn, Krupinski and Wehnelt received the RAF aircrew flying badge from Air Vice-Marshal George Philip Chamberlain in Stanford Park.
• 10 April 1957 to 15 February 1962 (other sources state 1963) As commander responsible for setting up the Weapons School 10 in Oldenburg and Nörvenich; there, the aircraft types F-86 and F-104 were introduced into the German Air Force.
  • At the air base in Oldenburg a large house was built, the Villa Wehnelt (Alexanderstraße), which served as the residence of the commanders, beginning with Wehnelt.
• February 1963 Appointed first commander of the Fliegerdivision Nord in Münster, renamed 7. Luftwaffendivision on 1 April 1963
  • At this time, the division had all fighter-bomber, reconnaissance and transport units in the northern area under its control.
• 15 April to 15 December 1965 Commander of the 4. Luftwaffendivision in Aurich
  • Predecessor: Johannes Steinhoff; Successor: Dietrich Adolf Hrabak
• January 1966 Chief of Staff/Second Allied Tactical Air Force in Mönchengladbach-Rheindahlen
• July 1969 Head of the committee for the expansion of air defense (NADGE), NATO Headquarters in Brussels
• 1 April 1971 to 30 September 1974 Commanding General of the Air Fleet Command in Köln-Wahn
• October 1974 Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Allied Air Forces Central Europe (AAFCE) in Ramstein, Germany
• 30 June 1976 Retired

Association of Fighter Pilots

From 2 Dezember 1974 to 18. Oktober 1975 and again from 8. Oktober 1977 bis 18. Oktober 1980, he was 3rd and 5th chairman of the renowned "Gemeinschaft der Jagdflieger e. V." (Association of Fighter Pilots). On 6. Oktober 1996, he was named honorary chairman.

Family

Wehnelt, son of a Reich postal worker, was married and had three children with his wife Therese, one daughter and two sons:

• Dr. med. dent. Hans-Joachim Wehnelt (b. 11 February 1950)
• Dipl.-Ing. Wolf-Dieter Wehnelt (b. 3. Mai 1958 at Fliegerhorst Oldenburg)

Some sources state, he married again after the death of his first wife.

Promotions

• 4 December 1936 Offizieranwärter (Officer Candidate)
• 9 November 1938 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 1 February 1943 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 1 November 1944 Major

Bundeswehr

• 1 November 1955 Major
• 10 April 1963 Brigadegeneral (Brigadier General; one-star General)
• 15 April 1965 Generalmajor (Major General; two-star General)
• 1 April 1971 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General; three-star General)

Gallery

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Awards and decorations

• Wehrmacht Pilot's Badge (Flugzeugführerabzeichen)
• Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
• Honorary Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg) on 24 November 1941
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Fighters (Jagdflieger) in Bronze, Silver and Gold
  • Pennant to the Golden Front Flying Clasp (star pennant) on 20 March 1943
• Wound Badge (1939) in Black on 5 January 1942
• German Cross in Gold on 17 May 1943 as Hauptmann and Commander of the 7th Squadron/III. Group/Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders"
• RAF Aircrew Flying Badge on 18 June 1956
• Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Commander's Cross (Great Cross of Merit; Großes Verdienstkreuz) on 6 November 1973