Werner Mölders

Werner Mölders
Flying ace Werner Mölders (here as Major): On the Eastern Front, on 15 July 1941, he was the first fighter pilot in the world to achieve his 100th confirmed aerial victory.
Nickname	Vati ("Daddy")
Birth date	18 March 1913(1913-03-18)
Place of birth	Gelsenkirchen, Province of Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	22 November 1941 (aged 28)
Place of death	Breslau-Schöngarten, Province of Lower Silesia, Free State of Prussia, German Reich
Resting place	Invalids' Cemetery (Invalidenfriedhof), Berlin
Allegiance	Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Reichswehr Luftwaffe
Years of service	1931–1941
Rank	Colonel
Unit	Condor Legion, JG 53, JG 51
Commands held	III./JG 53, JG 51
Battles/wars	Spanish Civil War World War II Battle of France Battle of Britain Operation Barbarossa
Awards	Iron Cross Medalla Militar Individual de España Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords and Diamonds Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
Relations	∞ 1941 Luise Baldauf, née Thurner

Werner Franz Mölders (18 March 1913 – 22 November 1941) was a German officer of the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Colonel and fighter ace of the Luftwaffe as well as the first recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. He died tragically in an air crash in which he was a passenger.

Mölders was a World War II German Air Force pilot and the leading German fighter ace of the Condor Legion. Mölders became the first pilot in aviation history to claim 100 aerial victories—that is, 100 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft, and was highly decorated for his achievements. He was instrumental in the development of new fighter tactics which led to the four-finger formation (the Vier-Finger-Schwarm was a formation of four aircraft consisting of two Rotten with two leaders or Rottenführer and two wingmen or Rottenflieger). He had achieved a total of 101 aerial victories (Luftsiege) in this war and, combined with his 14 aerial victories in the Spanish Civil War, a grand total of 115 aerial victories during 642 combat missions (Feindflüge) overall. It is speculated that Mölders unofficially shot down around another 30 Soviet aircraft. At least six of Mölders' unconfirmed victories are recorded in his fellow pilots' private log books.

Mölders did not want to be just a "shooter" and therefore always had his wingmen ("Katschmareks") carry out shootdowns under appropriate instructions. He wanted to be the "Boelcke" of German fighter aviation, that is, he wanted to work on developing new tactics and improving organization, technology, training and, above all, leadership. Despite the heroization of his person, Mölders remained modest, a chivalrous, always helpful soldier. He rejected mere drill and the undignified treatment of subordinates; in his opinion, military order should be based on voluntary discipline. As early as 1941, Mölders had the foresight to call for a strengthening of the German fighter defense and increased fighter aircraft production, when the Air Force Chief of Staff was not yet thinking of doing so due to the requirements of the war in the East.

Life

Mölders with the Jagdgeschwader 51 „Pik As“ (Ace of Spades) by Wolfgang Willrich (artist)

At the beginning of 1940, the III. Group of the 53rd Fighter Wing was based in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim and was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-1 and E-3. In April 1940, this group was also equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4. By the start of the Western campaign, the group had achieved 25 aerial victories. It had suffered one casualty and eight wounded/injured and lost eleven aircraft. From 10 May 1940, the group flew missions over the Saar region. On 13 May, the operational area shifted to the Sedan area, and on 15 May to the Mézières area. On 18 May, the group was then moved to Douzy near Sedan, from where it accompanied fighter pilots on their missions. On 26 May, the group was moved to Lor airfield near La Selve. Low-level attacks on French airfields and troops were also flown from here. From 5 June, the group flew missions on the left wing of the German attack in the Réthel/Aisne area during the ongoing Operation "Red", the second phase of the Western campaign. During the Western campaign, the group was able to achieve 99 kills. Its own losses amounted to three fallen and three pilots taken prisoner, including the group commander, Captain Werner Mölders. All three returned to the group after the fighting ended. The group also lost eight aircraft. Mölders wrote about 5 June 1940:

I'm about eight hundred meters up – when suddenly there's a bang and a spark in my cabin that makes me go black! The throttle is shot to pieces, the control stick slams forwards, and I'm going straight down. – Now get out – or it's over... I grab the release lever, the canopy flies off – then my brave bird rears up again and gives me the last chance to undo the straps and lift myself out of the seat. Free! – pull on the ripcord – I suddenly have it torn off in my hand – an eerie shock runs through me. I reach up – but – the parachute has already opened. Yes, and now everything is completely quiet. Once again I see my plane plummeting without control, the left wing badly torn open; just above the ground it rears up again, as if it didn't want to believe that after 25 victories it had finally been defeated, only to then hit the ground vertically and burn up completely.

Hermann Göring and Werner Mölders

Mölders' Bf 109 F-2

Mölders' nephews Axel and Viktor Mölders (front from left) and the chairman of the Mölders Association (Möldersvereinigung), Colonel (ret.) Helmut Ruppert, commemorate Mölders on the occasion of his 100th birthday at his grave in Berlin in 2013:

The family [...], together with the Mölders Association, invited people to a prayer at his grave in the Berlin Invalids Cemetery, followed by a memorial service. 34 members of the Mölders Association traveled from Neuburg and the surrounding area, along with many participants from all over Germany. At the memorial service, Klaus Schmider, military historian at the British Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, presented the current state of knowledge about the life and honorable work of Werner Mölders.

From 1919 to 1922 he attended primary school and then the Saldria-Realgymnasium, which enjoyed a good reputation across the region. Here he developed a preference for water sports, especially rowing. He was initially a member of the Saldria-Brandenburg Rowing Club and later of the Brandenburg Rowing Club. He was successful in several regattas. From October 1925, he was involved in the Catholic youth group "Bund Neudeutschland" in the Catholic youth movement.

After passing his Gymnasium exams (Abitur) in March 1931, Mölders, who had just turned 18, volunteered for the Reichswehr on 1 April 1931. Of the 60 officer candidates of his year, three were accepted, including Mölders. He initially received training as an officer candidate in the 2nd Battalion/2nd Infantry Regiment in Allenstein. On 1 June 1933, he successfully completed his training in Dresden and became an Officer Cadet. He was then transferred to the first Prussian pioneer battalion (in the 2nd Infantry Regiment) at the Pionier School in Munich.

When he learned that Germany is secretly building up an air force, Mölders, who has been promoted to the rank of first ensign, enlists. He wants to become a pilot, but is rejected as unfit during his fitness test. Mölders does not give up, enlists again and is approved as "conditionally fit" on the second attempt. From February 1934 to June 1935 he completes pilot training at various flight schools in Cottbus, Tutow and Oberschleissheim. One of his comrades at the German Commercial Pilot School (DVS) Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule Cottbus (6 February to 31 December 1934) was Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Franz Ulrich Richard Udo Hermann Graf zu Castell-Castell (1911–1941).

"You are unsuitable for pilot training!" These words struck the pioneer 2nd lieutenant Werner Mölders like a bolt of lightning. After he had failed the so-called swivel chair test, his request for transfer to the Luftwaffe was rejected. The chief flight doctor advised the young officer to "stay on the ground". But less than seven years later, this same officer would become the first fighter pilot in the world to surpass the magical mark of the famous Red Baron Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen and become the most highly decorated German soldier to date. Even today, most of the world's air forces still use the tactics that Werner Mölders developed. Even if the Luftwaffe's later top aces ultimately exceeded his kill count by three times, Werner Mölders remains the German fighter pilot par excellence. Mölders joined the Wehrmacht in 1931 and served for the first two years in the 2nd Infantry Regiment in Allenstein. In 1934, as a Oberfähnrich, he made his first attempt to be transferred to the new air force. However, a congenital condition prevented him from doing so for the time being. Plagued by cramps, nausea and sweating, he was rightly rejected by the medical commission. But Mölders was determined to become a fighter pilot. With an iron will and a firm goal in mind, he managed to suppress these physical reactions on the second attempt, deceive the commission and be declared "conditionally fit". But in the years that followed at the flying school, he was repeatedly plagued by airsickness. During his training, Mölders became friends with the future flying aces Balthasar, Oesau and Bertram. When volunteers were sought for the "Condor Legion" in 1936, First Lieutenant Mölders was one of the first to apply. However, his request was only approved by the High Command of the Luftwaffe after a long back and forth. As successor to First Lieutenant Adolf Galland, he took over a squadron of the 88th Fighter Group, equipped with the new Messerschmitt Bf 109. Deployed on the side of General Franco in the Spanish Civil War from May to November 1938, Mölders gained extensive combat and leadership experience. He developed the revolutionary "Four-Finger Swarm" system, which was so successful that it became standard in all leading air forces during the course of the war. When his term of service was up, First Lieutenant Mölders had shot down no fewer than 14 Republican aircraft and had become the Legion's most successful fighter. For his services, he received not only high Spanish awards, but also the Spanish Cross with Swords in Gold with Diamonds, which was only awarded 27 times.

Next came the training to become a military pilot. First he went to the fighter pilot school in Tutow and then the fighter pilot training in Schleißheim. From July 1935, he was a member of the I. Group/Dive Wing 162 “Immelmann” in Lippstadt, which took part in the liberation of the Rhineland in March 1936. In 1936, Mölders was promoted to first lieutenant and volunteered for the Condor Legion. He was tasked with setting up a dive bomber squadron in Werl. He was appointed commander of the 1st Squadron in the II. Group of Jagdgeschwader 134 "Horst Wessel", whose group commander Theo Osterkamp became one of his mentors. On 15 March 1937, he became commander of the 1st Squadron/334th Fighter Wing (later JG 53) in Wiesbaden.

Werner Mölders left Germany on 13 April and arrived in Cadiz, Spain by ship on 14 April 1938. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron of Jagdgruppe 88 under First Lieutenant Adolf Galland. The unit was on the Valencia-Ebro front and was equipped with He 51s. However, they switched to Messerschmitt Bf 109Bs a short time later. When Galland left the unit for home on 28 May 1938, Werner Mölders took over the squadron command. Mölders achieved his first aerial victory on 15 July 1938, over an I-15 Chato near Algar. In the months that followed, Mölders became the leading expert in the Condor Legion and achieved a total of 14 confirmed kills and one unconfirmed. Twelve of these were I-16 Mosca/Rata, two Chatos and a Tupolev SB.

In recognition of his achievements, Mölders was promoted to Captain on 18 October 1938 (effective on the first of the month). He achieved his last aerial victory on 3 November 1938 near Mola over an I-16. On 5 December 1938, he handed the squadron over to Hubertus von Bonin and flew back to Germany from La Cenia on 5 December 1938 in a Ju 52.

In Spain, the development of air combat took a huge leap forward. At the beginning, the fighters flew in closed formations of 20, 30 or more aircraft. However, the German Air Force quickly developed a new system that made air combat much more successful: the four-finger swarm. The fighters flew with large gaps between them and at different altitudes. Werner Mölders played a key role in the development of this combat formation. The four-finger swarm is therefore often referred to as the "Mölders formation".

From 6 December 1938 to March 1939, Mölders was formally a member of the 1st Group/JG 133, but held a position with the Inspector of Day Fighters in the Reich Air Ministry in Berlin, where he recorded his experiences of modern air combat in paper form. Together with Johannes Trautloft and Günther Lützow, Mölders was the founder of the Luftwaffe's air combat tactics at the beginning of the Second World War. He is credited with moving away from the chain (3 aircraft) and towards the four-finger swarm consisting of two Rotten of two aircraft each. On 15 March 1939, he took over the 1st Squadron/JG 133 (formerly 334, later 53) again.

• 1.5.1939 to 30.9.1939 Commander (Staffelkapitän) of the 1st Squadron/Jagdgeschwader 53 (former Jagdgeschwader 334)
  • At the same time, due to his invaluable combat experience, he taught as a flight and tactics instructor at a fighter pilot school.
  • 1.9.1939 Beginn of the Phoney War in the west; Mölders and his squadron belonged to the units responsible for border surveillance in the Moselle-Saar-Palatinate region.
  • 8.9.1939 He was injured during an emergency landing at Birkenfeld airfield. The landing was due to engine failure. The plane overturned and Mölders suffered a painful back sprain that prevented him from flying any more missions for several days.
  • 20.9.1939 First aerial victory against a Curtiss P-36 Hawk
    • eight further kills between 30 October 1939 and 23 April 1940 including a Bristol Blenheim and three Hawker Hurricane
• 3.10.1939 to 5.6.1940 Commander of the III. Group/Jagdgeschwader 53; Battle of France
  • 5.6.1940 to 30.6.1940 French POW
    • Mölders, on his 133rd combat mission of the war, engaging in aerial combat for the 32nd time, and a squadron encountered some French fighters with French Air Force Dewoitine D.520s near Compiègne at about 18:40. The opposing squadron leader had a trump card up his sleeve, however, he had sent a swarm of fighters flying at high altitude for cover. This then attacked from a high altitude and Mölders lost two machines in an instant. While Mölders was trying to help his squadron pilot to his first aerial victory, a French pilot shot him down in his Bf 109 E-4. Mölders got out with a parachute. According to a variety of sources, which include Edward R. Hooton and Alex Kershaw, his victor was Sous lieutenant René Pomier Layrargues from Groupe de Chasse II/7, who was shot down and killed just after downing Mölders. Layrargues may have been shot down by Oberleutnant Gerhard Homuth from 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27).
      • The landing went smoothly, but Mölders was surrounded and aggressively attacked by French civilians. The French civilian Edmond Maurice Caron brutally beat him over the head, then Mölders was robbed. The Knight's Cross, his watch, his wallet and so on. As it later turned out, Mölders was lucky in his misfortune: some of the German pilots who had been shot down had been murdered by angry Frenchmen. He received fair treatment after he was taken to a prisoner of war camp. German and French authorities investigated the case, as evidenced by documents in the Brauvais Provincial Archives. French people who appeared as witnesses gave the names of those who were on site that day. French records held at Oise reveal that initially eight civilians had been arrested for the Mölders beating, but only one, the main perpetrator Caron, was brought before a Luftwaffe court. Caron was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment which was later, after Mölders had repeatedly (and successfully) advocated for this man, commuted to six years. Caron, who should have been released on 19 November 1946, was released from the Rheinbach prison on 9 February 1942. Caron's release records in Oise state: "Pardoned by Reich Marshal Göring at the request of Colonel Mölders, who had requested this before his death."
• 1.7.1940 to 19.7.1940 Supplementary group (Ergänzungsgruppe; ErgGr) Merseburg
• 26/27.7.1940 to 19.7.1941 Commodore of the Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51)
  • He flew from Brandenburg-Briest to the French coast on the English Channel. At the time, JG 51 were based at the Saint-Inglevert Airfield, Pas-de-Calais, France.
  • 28.7.1940 Injured in a dogfight by a shot in the leg and had to make an emergency landing in St.-Inglevert.
  • 26.2.1941 69th aerial victory (60th confirmed victory)
  • 30 June 1941 On that day alone, JG 51 shot down 110 Russian aircraft, five of which were the responsibility of the Commodore Mölders (ace in a day).

On 12 July 1941, JG 51 under the leadership of Mölders reported that it had destroyed 500 Soviet aircraft since the beginning of hostilities against the Soviets on 22 June, and had suffered three casualties. That day, JG 51 also reported its 1,200th aerial victory of the war, the credit going to Hauptmann Leppla. Three days later, on 15 July 1941, Mölders surpassed the C mark, claiming victories Nos. 100 and 101, and celebrated with a victory roll over the airfield. He was the first fighter pilot to amass 100 aerial victories in World War II. The following day he received news that he had been awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. Mölders was the first of 27 German servicemen to receive this award. The diamonds added to the Knight's Cross were introduced officially on 28 September 1941, more than two months after Mölders earned the award. Mölders was promoted to Colonel on 20 July 1941, effective immediately, and banned from further combat flying.

Surrendering command of JG 51 to Major Friedrich Beckh, he was transferred to the Ministry of Aviation, a temporary position he held until 6 August 1941. Mölders was summoned to Führerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze again, where he received the Diamonds from Adolf Hitler on 26 July 1941. On 7 August 1941, he was appointed Inspector of Fighters (Inspekteur der Jagd-, Zerstörer- und Schlachtflieger). This position was renamed General der Jagdflieger on 7 August 1941.

An Oberst (colonel) at 28, Mölders' appointment meant he was responsible for deciding the ongoing tactical and operational doctrine of the Luftwaffe's fighter arm. Returning to the Soviet Union in September 1941, he set up a command post at Chaplinka airfield, from where he flew in his personal Fieseler Fi 156 Storch on tours of the Jagdwaffe (fighter arm) and personally directed German fighter operations. Mölders also flew unofficially on missions, and actively commanded his old unit, JG 51, for several more months. On 9 August 1941, he took Herbert Kaiser on a "teaching" mission against a formation of Il-2 Sturmoviks. Mölders showed Kaiser how to shoot them down. He recalled later:

"He positioned himself off to one side of-and some distance away from-the last Il-2 in a formation of six. He then turned in quickly and opened fire at the enemy's cockpit from an angle of some 30 degrees. The Il-2 immediately burst into flames and crashed. 'Do you see how it's done?', Oberst Mölders' voice came over the R/T. 'Right, now you take the next one.' I carried out the same manoeuvre and, sure enough, the next Il-2 went down on fire. 'And again!' It was like being on a training flight. Another short burst and the third Il-2 was ablaze. The whole lesson had lasted no more than 12 minutes!"

In this way, Kaiser scored his 23rd and 24th kills. But because Mölders was officially banned from operational flying, the first Soviet aircraft was never officially credited to him. Within the next two months, it is speculated that Mölders unofficially shot down around another 30 Soviet aircraft. At least six of Mölders' unofficial victories are recorded in his fellow pilots' private log books. Mölders rarely saw his desk; he usually flew from unit to unit on the Eastern Front to solve problems on site. In the autumn of 1941, he was given the task of leading the fighter protection of the units preparing to attack the Crimean peninsula from the ground.

Death

During an inspection trip to the Eastern Front, Mölders was ordered to go to Berlin for the state funeral of his superior Generalluftzeugmeister Ernst Udet. From mid-November 1941, however, the Crimea, where Mölders was located, was covered in thick fog, so there was no way of getting to Berlin by air. This only became possible on 21 November 1941, because a Heinkel He 111 from the 9th Squadron/III. Group/Kampfgeschwader 27, stationed in Cherson, was to be transferred to the industry in Rostock (presumably for overhaul), and this was the aircraft that later crashed. The aircraft, filled with courier goods, flew from Cherson to the Crimea on the morning of 21 November 1941 to pick up Mölders, while the state ceremony in Berlin was already in full swing. It can be assumed that he simply wanted to use the opportunity to see his pregnant wife Luise and report to Hermann Göring. Again, bad weather led to the fact that the flight could not continue until 22 November 1941.

Despite the bad weather again, although it was a little better than the day before, the He 111 H-6 took off for Lemberg. After a stopover, the flight was to continue on to Berlin. On the way there, the He 111 encountered a thunderstorm and one engine failed near Breslau. During an attempt to make an emergency landing at Breslau-Schöngarten airfield, the second engine also failed and the bomber touched ground on the third landing attempt. Mölders, who was sitting next to the pilot, died as a result of a broken spine and a crushed ribcage. The pilot (and Condor Legion veteran), Oberleutnant Georg Kolbe (b. 6 December 1911 in Goldberg), and the flight engineer, Oberfeldwebel Hobble (possibly Feldwebel Hobie), were killed (or died on the same day in the Reserve-Lazarett IV Breslau). Mölder’s adjutant, Major Dr. jur. Paul Wenzel (1887–1964), and the radio operator, Oberfeldwebel Arthur Tenz, survived the crash landing. Dr. Wenzel sustained a broken arm and leg as well as a concussion, and Tenz a broken ankle.

The three dead were laid out in the chapel of the reserve military hospital. Luftwaffe officers stood guard of honor. Wreaths from Hermann Göring were laid. On 24 November 1941 at 4 p.m. the ceremonial transfer of Werner Mölder's body to Berlin took place. After a state ceremony in the Hall of Honor of the Reich Air Ministry on 28 November 1941, Mölders' coffin was taken in a funeral procession through the city of Berlin to the Invalids' Cemetery. The 8.8 cm Flak in Berlin Tiergarten fired a salute. The guard of honour consisted of Johann Schalk, Günther Lützow, Walter Oesau, Joachim Müncheberg, Adolf Galland, Wolfgang Falck, Herbert Kaminski and Karl-Gottfried Nordmann. The mourners included the Führer, Martin Bormann, Julius Schaub, Dr. Karl Brandt and Erhard Milch; Hermann Göring, who gave the eulogy, concluded with the words:

“And now, by your side, I may say: Enter Valhalla!”

He was buried next to Ernst Udet and Manfred von Richthofen, the two most successful fighter pilots of the First World War, as well as Wolff von Stutterheim. Adolf Galland was entrusted with Mölders' function as General of the Fighter Pilots.

Grave

His grave in the Berlin Invalids Cemetery was leveled by the GDR in 1975 and, after reunification in 1991, was blessed again by his school friend Heribert Rosal, the canon at St. Hedwig's Cathedral at the time. Delegations from the air forces of former wartime opponents as well as from Spain, Austria and Hungary honored Mölders with their presence. In his memorial speech, Air Force General Busch quoted Federal President Weizsäcker:

"Mölders convinced people by personal example... and became a role model for soldiers through his personality and performance. There is nothing to add to that today."

Family

Werner was the son of study councilor and senior teacher (Studienrat und Oberlehrer) Viktor Mölders (1881–1915) and his wife Anna-Maria "Annemarie", née Riedel (b. 1888). His father fell during the First World War on 2 March 1915 in the Battle of the Argonne Forest (Vauquois, France) as a 2nd lieutenant of the reserves in the Königs-Infanterie-Regiment (6. Lothringische) Nr. 145. Werner had three siblings:

• Johannes "Hans" (1909–1979)
  • At the age of 17, Hans Mölders left school and began an apprenticeship as a metalworker at the Mitteldeutsche Stahlwerke. After his apprenticeship, Hans Mölders went to Saxony to study engineering. In 1946, Hans Mölders opened the first building materials store in Bad Bevensen. In 1986, the Mölders Group joined the hagebau cooperation and opened several hagebau stores in the following years.
• Annemarie (b. 1912)
• Victor (1914–2010), Pionier officer, like his brother, later Captain in the Luftwaffe, shot down over England in October 1940, POW until November 1946

His mother, who came from a well-known Brandenburg merchant family, moved with the children to her hometown Brandenburg an der Havel. They lived at Katharinenkirchplatz 10, which belonged to the Riedel family. In the chaplain Erich Klawitter, Mölders found a father figure in Brandenburg, through whom he was given a firm religious attitude. Since his childhood, Werner – who often heard stories about his father’s heroism – was determined to become a soldier.

Marriage

On 13 September 1941, Mölders married Luise, née Thurner (1913–2011), either the widow or the ex-wife of Ernst Baldauf, depending on the source. Among the witnesses to the Catholic ceremony in Falkenstein, Taunus were Second Lieutenant Erwin Fleig and First Lieutenant Hartmann Grasser. One source states, she was already pregnant at marriage. Daughter Verena (later married Buchanan) was born 1942 and would never meet her father.

On 21 April 2011, Luise Petzold-Mölders, who had married a third time, died in Starnberg at the age of 98. Among those attending the memorial service in Gauting were the Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Defense Christian Schmidt (CDU) and Colonel Andreas Pfeiffer, Commander of the 74th Fighter Wing in Neuburg an der Donau.

Promotions

• 1 April 1931 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
• 1 October 1931: Fahnenjunker-Gefreiter (Officer Candidate with Lance Corporal rank)
• 1 April 1932: Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier (Officer Candidate with Corporal/NCO/Junior Sergeant rank)
• 1 June 1933: Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 1 February 1934: Oberfähnrich (Senior Officer Cadet)
• 1 March 1934: Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 20 April 1936: Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant) with effect from 1 April 1936
• 18 October 1938: Hauptmann (Captain) with effect from 1 October 1938
• 19 Juli 1940: Major
• 25 October 1940: Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 20 Juli 1941: Oberst (youngest Colonel in German history)

Awards, decorations and honours

Awards and decorations

• Pilot's Badge (Flugzeugführerabzeichen) on 21 May 1935
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th Class on 2 October 1936
• Spanish combined Pilot/Observer Badge of the Condor Legion
• Spanish Medal for the Campaign of 1936−1939 with Swords (Medalla de la Campaña Española 1936−1939) on 4 May 1939
• Spanish Individual Military Medal (Medalla Militar Individual de España) on 4/5 May 1939
• Spanish Cross (Spanienkreuz) in Gold with Swords and Diamonds on 6 June 1939
• Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 17/20 September 1939
  • 1st Class on 2 April 1940
• Picture of the Reichsmarschall in a silver frame (Bild des Herrn Reichsmarschall im Silberrahmen) on 30 January 1940
• Wound Badge (1939) in Black
• Combined Pilot/Observer Badge in Gold with Diamonds of the Luftwaffe (Gemeinsames Flugzeugführer- und Beobachterabzeichen in Gold mit Brillanten) in August 1940
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Fighters (Jagdflieger) in Bronze, Silver and Gold with Diamonds
• 11 References in the Wehrmachtbericht (Namentliche Nennung im Wehrmachtbericht)
  • 29 May 1940, 6 September 1940, 25 September 1940, 23 October 1940, 26 October 1940, 11 February 1941, 27 February 1941, 18 April 1941, 24 June 1941, 1 July 1941 and 16 July 1941
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
  • Knight's Cross on 29 May 1940 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of III./Jagdgeschwader 53
  • 2nd Oak Leaves on 21 September 1940 as Major and Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 51
  • 2nd Swords on 22 June 1941 as Oberstleutnant and Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 51
  • 1st Diamonds on 15 July 1941 as Oberst and Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 51
    • Luftwaffe Honour Dagger for the award of Diamonds to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ehrendolch zur Verleihung der Brillanten zum Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern)

Honours

• Werner Mölders' old unit, Jagdgeschwader 51, was given the honorary name "Mölders" in his honour on 24 December 1941 (other sources state directly on 22 November 1941).
  • In recognition of Mölders' unique achievements, the Führer and Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht has decreed that the fighter squadron that Mölders has led to such tremendous victories will in future bear his name. At the same time, the Führer has ordered a state funeral for Colonel Mölders.
• There was and often is still a Möldersstraße in many German cities, among them Cloppenburg, Cochem, Diepholz, Geilenkirchen, Ingolstadt, Leipheim, Mainz, Sankt Augustin and Wesendorf.
  • From 1941 to 1945, the city of Brandenburg (Havel) renamed Steinstraße, the most important east-west axis of Neustadt Brandenburg, to Werner-Mölders-Straße.
  • Werner-Mölders-Straße in Wiesbaden
  • Left-wing indoctrinated woke attempts in 2005 to rename streets in Geilenkirchen and Ingolstadt failed due to the city council majority.
• Werner-Mölders-School in Wiesbaden
• On 13 April 1968, Mölders' mother christened a guided missile destroyer of the German Navy of the Bundeswehr in Bath, Maine (USA) with the honorary name "Mölders" (Lenkwaffenzerstörer „Mölders“).
  • The naming had been ordered by the then Minister of Defense Schröder. The ship was in service from 1969 to 2003 and has been open to the public since 24 June 2005 as a central exhibit in the German Naval Museum in Wilhelmshaven.
• On 9 November 1972, under the responsibility of Minister of Defense Georg Leber, the barracks of the II. Battalion/Signal Regiment 34 (Fernmelderegiment 34 in Visselhövede) of the Bundeswehr in Visselhövede were given the name "Mölders".
• From 1973 to 2005, the Luftwaffe's Fighter Wing 74 (JG 74), stationed in Neuburg an der Donau, bore the traditional name Werner Mölders. As with the Wehrmacht's JG 51, this designation entailed the right to wear a cuff with the honorary name on the uniform.
  • The magazine of Jagdgeschwader 74 (JG 74) is still called “Der Mölderianer”.

Gallery

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Further reading

• Kurt Braatz: Werner Mölders. Die Biographie. Neunundzwanzigsechs Verlag, Moosburg 2008
• Heiko Hesse: Werner Mölders – Pilot, Kampfflieger. In: Marcus Alert, Wolfgang Kusior: 45 namhafte Brandenburger. Neddermeyer, Berlin 2002, pp. 57 f.
• Hermann Hagena: Jagdflieger Werner Mölders. Die Würde des Menschen reicht über den Tod hinaus. Ein Beitrag über militärische Vorbilder und Traditionen. Helios Verlag, Aachen 2008