Hermann Buchner (Luftwaffe)
| Hermann Buchner | |
|---|---|
 Flying ace OFW Hermann Buchner | |
| Birth date | 30 October 1919 |
| Place of birth | Salzburg, First Austrian Republic |
| Death date | 1 December 2005 (aged 86) |
| Place of death | Hörsching, Republic of Austria |
| Allegiance |  National Socialist Germany Austria
|
| Service/branch |  Austrian Air Force (de) Luftwaffe Austrian Air Force
|
| Years of service | 1937–1938 1938–1945 1955–1979 |
| Rank | 2nd Lieutenant (Wehrmacht) Colonel (Bundesheer) |
| Unit | SG 1, SG 2, JG 7 |
| Battles/wars | World War II
|
| Awards | Iron Cross German Cross in Gold Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
| Relations | On 18 January 1945, Buchner married the German Red Cross (DRK) nurse Käthe. |
Hermann Buchner (30 October 1919 – 1 December 2005) was a German officer of the Wehrmacht and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of the Luftwaffe during World War II with over 600 combat missions as well as Colonel of the Austrian Air Force of the Bundesheer in the post-war era. He must not be confused with Knight's Cross recipient SS-Sturmbannführer Hermann Buchner (1917–1944).
Contents
Life
Military
Buchner was born in Salzburg in October 1919 and almost exactly 18 years later joined the Austrian Air Force as a volunteer. On 13 April 1938, after the Anschluss, the unit became part of the Luftwaffe. In July 1939, Buchner began his flying training in Fighter Group No. 76 at Vienna and on 2 June 1940, he became an instructor at the Flug-Ausbildungs-Regiment 22 (22nd Aviators Training Regiment) in Güstrow (Hanna Reitsch was one of his fighter plane pupils)and later the Flugzeugführerschule (FFS) "See 2" (2nd Sea Pilot School) in Pütnitz.
WWII
In November 1940, he was transferred to the Fighter Pilots’ Preparatory School at Kamenz, in Saxony, where he received the promotion to Feldwebel. In July 1941, he was transferred to Fighter Pilots’ School No. 1 (JFS 1) at Werneuchen and, at the end of the course, his 1st Squadron became the Training Replacement Squadron of II. (Schlacht-)Gruppe/Lehrgeschwader 2 (Ground Attack) at Lippstadt.
In February 1942, his former training unit was redesignated and became 8. Staffel (8th squadron) of Schlachtgeschwader 1 (SG 1—1st Ground Attack Wing), a front line ground attack unit which was sent to the Eastern Front. Buchner's 8. Staffel was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 E (with fuselage shackles for either a 300 liter fuel tank or one 250 kg bomb or attachments for four 50 kg bombs). The Bf 109 E was not an ideal aircraft for deep penetration ground attack missions due to its vulnerability to ground fire. A bullet in the cooling system would give the engine only 3 to 5 minutes before it seized. On 7 May 1942, Buchner flew his first combat mission in the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula. With this unit, which was redesigned in late 1943 and became part of II. Gruppe (2nd group) of Schlachtgeschwader 2 "Immelmann" (SG 2—2nd Ground Attack Wing), Buchner fought in the Crimean Peninsula, during the Battle of Stalingrad, and in Romania.
Buchner logged his 300 combat mission on 27 August 1943, his 500th on 4 March 1944. On 29 October 1943, he was wounded in aerial combat and did not return to my squadron for six weeks. Following his 500th combat mission, at the time credited with 13 aerial victories, he was nominated for Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). From 1 June 1944 to 1 August 1944, Buchner was appointed as Staffelführer (acting squadron leader) of 4. Staffel (4th squadron) of SG 2. As a ground attack pilot with 6. Staffel (6th squadron) of SG 2, Buchner was credited with 46 tanks destroyed. On 20 July 1944, Buchner was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. At the time, he had been credited with 46 aerial victories, including a Boeing B-17 bomber over Romania, and 46 tank destroyed, claimed in over 600 combat missions. The presentation was made by Colonel Alfred Druschel (de).
Since August 1944, Buchner then briefly served with Schlachtflieger-Ergänzungsgruppe 154 in Proßnitz as an instructor, but, after his machine exploded during an exercise, he was hospitalised. On 15 October 1944, he was transferred to Lechfeld Air Base for conversion training to the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter with the Trials Unit “Nowotny” (2./Kommando "Nowotny"). From November 1944 to 8 May 1945, he served with the Jagdgeschwader 7 which was named after Walter Nowotny. He flew his second combat mission on the Me 262 (after a single victory over Stuttgart with the Kommando "Nowotny") on 26 November 1944 and claimed a USAAF P-38 Lightning shot down. In 1945, he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant (Leutnant),[1] although a few sources dispute this.[2]
- He flew his first combat mission on the Me 262 on 26 November 1944 and claimed a P-38 Lightning shot down. The P-38 F-5 (work-number 43-28619) belonged to the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron and was piloted by Second Lieutenant Irvin J. Rickey who bailed out and became a prisoner of war. He flew a further 19 missions with III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7—7th Fighter Wing) on the Me 262 and claimed eleven more aircraft shot down. On 22 February 1945, Buchner, accompanied by his wingman Oberfähnrich Heinz Russel, on a bomber intercept mission, came under attack by P-51 Mustangs of the 352nd, 363rd and 364th Fighter Group. In this encounter, Buchner shot down and killed Lieutenant Francis Radley of the 364th Fighter Group. On 20 March and 22 March 1945 each, Buchner claimed one B-17 bomber of the USAAF Eighth Air Force. On 31 March 1945, he claimed an Avro Lancaster bomber shot down. On 31 March, 428 Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax bombers of the Royal Air Force (RAF) No. 1 Group and the Royal Canadian Air Force No. 6 Group attacked the U-boat pens and the Blohm+Voss aircraft factory in Hamburg. The bombers were supposed to be escorted by RAF P-51 fighters but had failed to meet up in the Netherlands. The attack force was intercepted by 30 Me 262 fighters from I. and III. Gruppe of JG 7 dispatched by the 2. Jagd-Division (2nd Fighter Division).
During his time in III./JG 7, it is believed that JG 7’s jets accounted for at least 480 enemy aircraft before the war ended. he Me 262 was 200 km/h faster than any Allied fighter, well armed (later with 2 R4M rockets), and suitable for instrument flying. It was technically outstanding and years before it's time, but the engines had to be changed after only 25 flying hours. On 21 April 1945, his aircraft was shot down in flames shortly before landing. Sources state, his Me 262 A-1a "Yellow 3" was shot down by AA of 559 AA-Battery and force-landed by a rail line in the vicinity of Klötze, near Gardelegen/Stendal. It is not known, if he made it back to his wing or, as some sources state, was captured by the invading Americans who already controlled this area since 11 April 1945.
Fighter ace
During World War II, Buchner logged 631 combat missions (Feindflüge), of which 215 on the Messerschmitt Bf 109 E, 396 on the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, and only 20 on the Messerschmitt Me 262. The Fw 190 was more compact than the Bf 109 E and, with its air-cooled engine, more resistant to ground fire. Its wide undercarriage made it better suited to operating from makeshift airfield and it was well armed and powerful. However, it had poor visibility on the ground and required an engine change after only 40 to 50 flying hours – a 6 hour job.
He was shot down five times, including two bail outs with a parachute, and was wounded twice. Buchner was credited with 58 aerial victories (Luftsiege): 46 on the Eastern Front and 13 Western Front, 12 of these flying the Me 262 in the Defence of the Reich. As a ground attack pilot (500 ground attack missions) against infantry, armored units and supply lines, he was credited with the destruction of 46 enemy tanks and one armoured train.
Post-WWII
In the first two years after the war, only a POW for a short while, he was an observer in the weather service of the American occupation troops and co-founder of the Salzburg Aero Club. He later worked as a flight instructor at the Zell am See gliding school.
Bundesheer
On 25 May 1955, Austria regained its air sovereignty after the occupation, and for the first time since the end of the war, an Austrian aircraft flew from Zurich to Vienna-Schwechat with a stopover in Salzburg. The co-pilot was Hermann Buchner, the first holder of a commercial pilot's license in Austria. When a new Austrian air force was subsequently established in the same year, Hermann Buchner joined it and taught young recruts how to fly.
As one of the first jet fighter pilots, first flying the British DH115 “Vampire” and later the Swedish Saab J29, Captain Buchner was subsequently technical officer of the fighter-bomber school squadron in Graz under the command of Major “Charly” Bleckl. As a lieutenant colonel, he later served as a staff officer in Fighter Bomber Squadron 1 and was at the same time deputy to the commander Colonel Bleckl. After a high staff position in the air division (Fliegerdivision), he was appointed commandant of the airbase at Linz-Hörsching and retired 1980 as a Colonel.
Awards and decorations
- Anschluss Medal on 15 August 1939
- Pilot's Badge (Flugzeugführerabzeichen) on 24 May 1940
- Iron Cross, 2nd and 1st Class
- 2nd Class on 24 June 1942
- 1st Class on 18 July 1942
- Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal in August 1942
- Crimea Shield (Krimschild)
- Honorary Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg on 2 or 5 October 1942
- Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Bronze, Silver and Gold with Pennant "600"
- Pennant on 11 January 1944[3]
- Wound Badge (1939) in Black on 31 October 1943
- German Cross in Gold on 17 October 1943 as Feldwebel in the 6. Staffel/II. Gruppe/Schlachtgeschwader 1 (SG1)
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 20 July 1944 as Oberfeldwebel in the 6. Staffel/II. Gruppe/Schlachtgeschwader 2 "Immelmann" (SG 2)
- Submitted to Oak Leaves in 1945. Due to the end of the war, this award was no longer processed.
- Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria in Silver and Gold[4]
