Wilhelm Dipberger

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Wilhelm Dipberger
Wilhelm Dipberger.jpg
Leutnant Hartmann
Nickname Willi
Birth date 30 May 1918(1918-05-30)
Place of birth Ziegelhausen near Heidelberg, Grand Duchy of Baden, German Empire
Death date 10 September 2005 (aged 87)
Place of death Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Allegiance  National Socialist Germany
 West Germany
Service/branch  Kriegsmarine
Luftwaffe eagle.jpg Luftwaffe
Bundeswehr cross.png Bundeswehr (Luftwaffe)
Years of service 1936–1945
1956
Rank Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel
Oberfeldwebel
Unit Kampfgeschwader 6
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Wilhelm "Willi" Dipberger (30 May 1918 – 10 September 2005) was a German NCO of the Wehrmacht and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of the Luftwaffe during World War II with almost 400 combat missions (Feindflüge) as well as NCO of the German Air Force of the Bundeswehr in the post-war era.

Life

From left to right: Observer Willi Dipberger, commandant and pilot Hermann Hogeback, gunner Günter Glasner and radio operator Willy Lehnert.
From left to right: Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel Günter Glasner, who would later be commissioned as Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant), Major Hermann Hogeback, later Lieutenant Colonel, and Oberfeldwebel Wilhelm Dipberger.

Military

Dipberger first joined the German Navy on 1 April 1936, but transferred to the Air Force three months later. After several applications, he was admitted as an observer student; training began on 1 April 1939 at the Great Fighter Pilot School (KFS) in Lechfeld. Together with Günter Glasner (Knight's Cross on 31 December 1943) and Willy Lehnert (Knight's Cross on 5 April 1944), he was part of Hermann Hogeback's famous Junkers Ju 88 crew, the only ones who all wore the Knight's Cross. At this time he was a Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel, senior NCO and officer candidate). At the end of the war, Dipberger was part of the rest of the wing Kampfgeschwader (Jagd) 6, which had received fighter planes in November 1944, that made it to Salzburg, where the men were taken prisoner by the Americans in May 1945, from which Dipberger was released in August 1946. On 1 May 1956, he joined the Bundeswehr as a senior sergeant, but for unknown reasons he left on 15 June 1956 and was transferred to the reserve in which he served until the 1970s.

Knight's Cross

Dipberger’s Knight’s Cross recommendation reads as follows:

“Oberfeldwebel Dipberger, combat observer in the crew of Kommodore and Oakleaves Holder Oberstleutnant Hogeback, has so far outstandingly distinguished himself over the course of 337 combat sorties. These are broken down into:
32 against England
7 against Norway
11 against France
30 in the Mediterranean
196 against Russia
27 along the Invasion Front
34 in Africa
Here follows a summary of his achievements prior to the award of the German Cross in Gold:
Oberfeldwebel Dipberger flew in 264 operations, during which he
1. Scored a hit on a cruiser in the harbour of Malta,
2. Scored a direct hit against a 3-4000 GRT freighter in the Mediterranean on the 30 April 1941,
3. Scored multiple directs hits during a deep strike against a tank assembly area near Tobruk on the 15 May 1941,
4. Scored direct hits against an ammunition dump in Tobruk, which caused 16 major explosions,
5. Scored a direct hit against a British tank assembly before Sollum on the 17 June 1941,
6. Scored hits against field positions, artillery positions and armoured fortifications during rolling attacks against Fortress Sevastopol. Particularly noteworthy was the high number of missions he flew on a daily basis (as many as 8 to 10 per day).
Here follows a summary of his achievements after his award of the German Cross in Gold:
Oberfeldwebel Dipberger flew in 107 operations, during which he
1. Flew 34 missions against the Soviet Union during the Battle for Fortress Stalingrad.
2. Flew 6 missions in the Mediterranean area against North African ports and the Invasion fleet before Sicily (Invasion auf Sizilien).
3. Flew 6 missions against the English motherland.
4. Flew 27 missions against both the Invasion fleet as well as English/American troop assembly areas and troop movements.
During all of these operations the crew was consistently employed as the flight leader, target finder or marker. Oberfeldwebel Dipberger’s achievements are therefore all the more compelling when this is taken into account. His skill and bravery contributed massively to the success of this crew, whose commander is an Oakleaves Holder and whose gunner (Leutnant Günter Glasner) and radio operator (Oberfeldwebel Willy Lehnert) are both Knight’s Cross Holders. Oberfeldwebel Dipberger is worthy of being awarded the Knight’s Cross to the Iron Cross.”

Among the appendices in this recommendation includes a summary of Dipberger’s achievements up to date, which reads as follows:

“Successes prior to being awarded the German Cross in Gold:
- Struck a hit against a cruiser in the Malta port
- Set afire a 4000 GRT ship in the Tobruk harbour
- Damaged a 12000 GRT ship off the coast of Sidibarani through a direct hit
- Destruction of an ammunition dump near Tobruk
- Direct hit against an armoured battery before Sevastopol
- 1 coasting vessel heavily damaged in the Black Sea via a direct hit
- 3 direct hits against materiel dumps, which caused great fires and explosions
Successes after being awarded the German Cross in Gold:
- 34 missions against the Soviet Union during the battle for Fortress Stalingrad
- 6 sorties in the Mediterranean area against North African ports and the Invasion fleet before Sicily. Sunk a 10000 GRT ship before Augusta.
- 27 missions against both the Invasion fleet as well as English/American troop assembly areas and troop movements.”

Awards and decorations

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