Heinz Schmidt (pilot)

On 9 June 1941, II. Gruppe of JG 52 was recalled from Western Europe in preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. 4. Staffel flew to an airfield at Suwałki, close to the German-Soviet demarcation line. For the invasion, II. Gruppe of JG 52 was subordinated to the Stab (headquarters unit) of Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing). The Geschwader was part of the VIII. Fliegerkorps commanded by Generaloberst Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen which supported the northern wing of Army Group Centre.[5] Schmidt claimed his first victory on 26 June, an Ilyushin DB-3 bomber shot down near Varėna.[6]

On 12 August, Schmidt crash landed his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 near Saklinja, approximately 70 kilometers (43 mi) into enemy territory, and spent six days evading capture until he was able to get back to the friendly territory, and his unit.[7][8] He received the Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold on 22 August.[9] Schmidt claimed his fifth aerial victory on 25 August,[10] on his 116th combat mission of the war.[2] The next day, he claimed a Polikarpov I-17 fighter and on 27 August, he was promoted to Oberfeldwebel (warrant officer second class).[11][9] On 2 September, II. Gruppe moved to Lyuban, staying there until end-September. From there, the Gruppe flew missions against Shlisselburg, Mga and Leningrad. II. Gruppe's subordination to JG 27 ended on 20 October and they came under the command of the Stab of JG 52. On 4 November, the Gruppe was moved to an airfield at Ruza, approximately 100 km (62 mi) west of Moscow and participated in the Battle of Moscow. Schmidt claimed his last two aerial victories of 1941 in late November, a DB-3, followed by a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter, also referred to as a I-301 by the Germans.[12]

On 22 December, JG 52 was withdrawn from combat operations for a period of recuperation and replenishment and was moved to Jesau near Königsberg, arriving on 16 January 1942. Following the relocation, Schmidt was posted to the infantry on 19 January. This assignment ended on 27 February and he was then sent to Germany (28 February – 7 May 1942). During this period, Schmidt was commissioned, attaining the rank of Leutnant (second lieutenant).[9] The infantry Kampfgruppe to which Schmidt had been assigned, consisted predominantly of ground personnel and a few pilots of II./JG 52. The unit was deployed in ground fighting at Dugino, approximately 200 km (120 mi) west of Moscow, where it suffered heavy casualties.[13]

At Jesau, the Gruppe began upgrading their aircraft to the Bf 109 F-4.[14] On 14 April, II. Gruppe was ordered to Pilsen, where they finished the conversion. The unit then moved to Wien-Schwechat on 24 April before flying to Zürichtal, present-day Solote Pole, a village near the urban settlement Kirovske in the Crimea. There II. Gruppe participated in Operation Trappenjagd, a German counterattack during the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula, launched on 8 May.[15]

On the second day of the operation, Schmidt claimed his 16th victory, a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1 fighter. By 4 July his score increased to 45 victories [16] and he was presentated the Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) two days later.[9] On 1 July, he temporarily led 5. Staffel of JG 52 after its commander, Oberleutnant Siegfried Simsch had been wounded in combat on 29 May. Initially, Leutnant Waldemar Semelka had let the Staffel until his transfer on 30 June.[17] By the end of July, his tally of aerial victories had reached 64.[18] Schmidt was promoted to Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) on 1 August. As JG 52 continued to fight in the air battles in the advance toward Stalingrad, Schmidt was awarded the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) on 20 August. Three days later, he was also honored with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes).[9]

The Battle of Stalingrad began on 23 August when German forces began breaking out from the bridgehead across the Don River. The next day, Schmidt became an "ace-in-a-day" when he shot down seven LaGG-3s in combat over the outskirts of Stalingrad, taking his total to 82 aerial victories. On 9 September, Schmidt shot down two Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft, taking his number of aerial victories to 100.[19] He was the 21st Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century-mark[20] and he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) on 16 September in Germany for 102 aerial victories claimed.[21][22] He was the 124th member of the German armed forces to be so honored.[9]

Returning in late November, he was assigned to 6. Staffel, near Stalingrad, after the Soviets had launched Operation Uranus that encircled Axis forces fighting in and near the city. As the Germans were retreating back to Taganrog and Rostov, he scored his 125th victory on 7 January 1943. Eight days later, his Bf 109 G-2 (Werknummer 14556—factory number) fighter crashed after suffering engine problems.[23] He was shot down again behind Russian lines in mid-February, returning to friendly territory after a two-day trek across the frozen Sea of Azov minus one fur-lined flying boot and with a smashed shoulder and dislocated right arm.[24] Schmidt then spent five days at the field hospital before he was transferred to the Luftwaffen-Lazarett (military hospital) in Berlin, and was then sent to his hometown Reserve-Lazarett (reserve military hospital) in Bad Homburg.[25]

Bf 109s of II./JG 52 at Anapa

Following his convalescence, Schmidt returned to the Eastern Front and was briefly assigned to 4. Staffel before he was transferred to 6. Staffel on 23 July.[25] At the time of his return, II. Gruppe was based at Mariupol, and fighting in the Kuban bridgehead as part of the Battle of the Caucasus. On 27 July, Schmidt was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 6. Staffel, replacing Oberleutnant Helmut Lipfert who had temporarily held this position following the death of Oberleutnant Karl Ritzenberger on 24 May. The next day, he claimed his 131st victory, a Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter. The military situation of Army Group South resulted in splitting the forces of II. Gruppe. All of 6. Staffel and parts of 5. Staffel were relocated to Kutejnykowe, approximately 14 km (8.7 mi) west of Amvrosiivka, on 1 August. This task force was put under the command of Oberleutnant Gerhard Barkhorn. Two days later, Soviet forced launched the Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive Operation resulting in another redeployment of JG 52. Now based at the Kharkov-Rogan airfield, southeast of Kharkov, Schmidt became an "ace-in-a-day" again. That day, he was credited with five aerial victories, an Il-2, three Yakovlev Yak-1 fighters and a Lavochkin La-5 fighter. On 11 August, the task force was ordered from Charkow-Rogan to Lebedyn. Here it provided fighter protection over the areas of operation between the 8th Army and 4th Panzer Army. This transfer detached the task force from the command of I. Gruppe, to which it had been assigned. Barkhorn, who at the time also served as acting Gruppenkommandeur (group commander), stayed with I. Gruppe. Command of the task force subsequently went to Schmidt. He achieved his 150th aerial victory the next day after claiming a pair of Yak-1s.[26]

On 1 September, II. Gruppe was made complete again, reuniting with all three Staffeln at a makeshift airfield named Karlowka located located approximately 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of Poltava.[27] On 5 September, Schmidt claimed his 172nd and 173rd victories, a La-5 and an Il-2.[28] These were his final claims before he was posted as missing in action after aerial combat near Markor, near Kotelva, that day. His Bf 109 G-6 aircraft 'Yellow 7' (Werknummer 15903—factory number) was possibly shot down in error by Hungarian fighters operating in the same area.[24][29] At the time of his death, he was the highest-scoring fighter pilot of II. Gruppe. Authors Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock state that the circumstances about his death remain unanswered. They further speculate that the story about him having been shot down by friendly fighters could be a myth, created to uphold the illusion that he was killed undefeated by the enemy.[30] Schmidt was posthumously promoted to Hauptmann.[25] Command of 6. Staffel again went to Lipfert.[31]

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Schmidt was credited with 173 aerial victories.[32] Obermaier also lists Schmidt with 173 aerial victories claimed in over 700 combat missions.[1] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 173 aerial victories, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.[33]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 49241". The Luftwaffe grid map covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km²). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.

• Flugzeugführerabzeichen (Pilots Badge)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (22 October 1940)[38]
  • 1st Class (9 November 1940)[38]
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe
  • in Gold (22 August 1941)[9]
  • in Gold with pennant (12 December 1942)[9]
• Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 6 July 1942 as Leutnant and pilot[39]
• German Cross in Gold on 13 August 1942 as Leutnant in the 4./Jagdgeschwader 52[40][Note 6]
• Medaille "Winterschlacht Im Osten 1941/42" (30 August 1942)[25]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 23 August 1942 as Leutnant and pilot in the 6./Jagdgeschwader 52[41][42]
  • 124th Oak Leaves on 16 September 1942 as Leutnant and pilot in the 6./Jagdgeschwader 52[43][Note 7]