Kurt Tanzer

Kurt Tanzer (1 November 1920 – 25 June 1960) was a World War II Luftwaffe military aviator. As a flying ace, he is credited with approximately 128–143 aerial victories.[1] He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. He later joined the German Air Force and was killed in a flying accident on 25 June 1960.

Kurt Tanzer
Born(1920-11-01)1 November 1920
Moscow
Died25 June 1960(1960-06-25) (aged 39)
Near the Balearic Islands
Allegiance Nazi Germany (to 1945)
 West Germany
Service/branchBalkenkreuz (Iron Cross) Luftwaffe (Wehrmacht)
Bundeswehrkreuz (Iron Cross) Luftwaffe (Bundeswehr)
RankOberfeldwebel (Wehrmacht)
Major (Bundeswehr)
UnitJG 51, Jafü 6
Jafü Ostpreußen
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Career

Tanzer was born on 1 November 1920 in Moscow. On 18 March 1942, he was transferred from the Ergänzungsgruppe, a supplementary training group, of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing), named after Werner Mölders, to 12. Staffel (12th squadron) of JG 51, and commanded by Hauptmann Heinrich Bär.[2][3] 12. Staffel was a squadron of IV. Gruppe (4th group) which was based at an airfield in Vyazma on the Eastern Front and largely equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2. In May, the Gruppe was briefly withdrawn from combat for a period of maintenance and equipment overhaul at Smolensk. The Gruppe was then sent to Novodugino where it was tasked with providing fighter cover over the left flank of Army Group Center in vicinity of the 9th Army.[4]

Attack on the Rzhev salient in August 1942

On 30 July 1942, the Soviet Kalinin Front launched the First Rzhev–Sychyovka Offensive Operation with the objective to crush the Rzhev salient held by the 9th Army.[5] Tanzer claimed his first aerial victory on 2 August 1942 over an Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft west of Rzhev.[6][7]

Tanzer achieved his 35th victory on 5 May 1943. On 6 May, Soviet Ilyushin Il-2 attacked the airfield where Tanzer was stationed. He managed to scramble and destroyed two Ilyushin Il-2. Despite being wounded, he continued attacking the raiding Soviet aircraft and shot down two more aircraft. After further intense battle, Tanzer landed his heavily damaged Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-7 (Werknummer 7161—factory number).[8] Tanzer's right hand was seriously injured and he suffered from heavy blood loss.[2][6] For this action, he was mentioned in the Honour Roll of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenblatt der Luftwaffe) and was nominated for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes).[9]

Following a period of convalescence, Tanzer returned to JG 51 and was assigned to the Stabsstaffel (headquarters unit) on 4 November. [6] He received the Knight's Cross on 5 December 1943 for 35 victories.[10] With the Stabsstaffel, he flew a number of ground attack missions and increased the number of his aerial victories. In June 1944, Tanzer accompanied Karl-Gottfried Nordmann to the staff of Jagdfliegerführer 6. He achieved his 100th victory in the same month in 1944 while serving with this formation.[2] He was the 81st Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark.[11] He was then transferred to the staff of Jagdfliegerführer in East Prussia on 1 September 1944. Tanzer was transferred to 13. Staffel of JG 51 on 10 February 1945 and was appointed Staffelkapitän of the unit on 12 April.[6][12]

Later life and death
Bundeswehr Memorial, the Federal Ministry of Defence in the back

Following World War II, Tanzer joined the post-war Bundesluftwaffe. Hauptmann Tanzer and Oberleutnant Hans-Ludwig Seseke, were killed on 25 June 1960 when their Lockheed T-33A "EB+397" crashed in southwestern Mallorca. T-33 "EB+397" and T-33 "BD+843", piloted by United States Air Force Captain Charles S. Melton and Captain Roger P. Miller, both crashed into the cloud-covered mountains during an instrument flight rules (IFR) approach on Son Sant Joan Airport. All four pilots were killed in the incident.[13][14] Tanzer and Seseke are listed on the Ehrenmal der Bundeswehr (Bundeswehr Memorial).[15]

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Spick, Tanzer claimed 143 aerial victories in 723 combat missions, 187 of which were ground attack missions. This figure includes 126 claims on the Eastern Front, and 17 on the Western Front, four of them being four-engined bombers.[1] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and state that he claimed at least 35 aerial victories, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front. The claim that he is attributed with 128 or even 143 aerial victories cannot be verified through the archives.[16]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 47581". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) 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.[17]

Chronicle of aerial victories
  This and the ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike, Bock, Mathews and Foreman.
Claim Date Time Type Location Claim Date Time Type Location
– 12. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 –[6]
Eastern Front — 1 May 1942 – 3 February 1943
1 2 August 1942 09:00 Il-2 PQ 47581[7]
10 km (6.2 mi) west of Rzhev		 13 5 January 1943 09:18 Il-2 PQ 07792[18]
2 5 August 1942 04:50 Pe-2 PQ 46442[7]
20 km (12 mi) east-southeast of Dugino		 14 6 January 1943 08:30 MiG-3 PQ 07554[18]
3 24 August 1942 07:40 Il-2 PQ 47572[19]
10 km (6.2 mi) west of Rzhev		 15 6 January 1943 11:00 Pe-2 PQ 07813[18]
 ?[Note 1] 13 September 1942 17:35 Il-2 25 km (16 mi) northeast of Spas-Demensk[6] 16 6 January 1943 11:58 Il-2 PQ 07761[18]
4 3 December 1942 11:50 Il-2 20 km (12 mi) south-southwest of Tuleblja[21]
20 km (12 mi) south-southwest of Velikiye Luki		 17 6 January 1943 12:20 Il-2 PQ 07732[18]
5 8 December 1942 12:55 Il-2 10 km (6.2 mi) northwest of Velikiye Luki[18] 18 7 January 1943 12:05 Pe-2 PQ 07584[18]
6 8 December 1942 13:03 Il-2 PQ 07521[18] 19 12 January 1943 13:18 MiG-3 PQ 07564[18]
7 9 December 1942 08:15 Il-2 33 km (21 mi) southwest of Velikiye Luki[18] 20 15 January 1943 11:25 Pe-2 PQ 07663[22]
8 16 December 1942 08:03 MiG-3 25 km (16 mi) south of Velikiye Luki[18] 21 16 January 1943 08:10 MiG-3 PQ 07582[22]
9 16 December 1942 08:10 Il-2 35 km (22 mi) northwest of Velikiye Luki[18] 22 16 January 1943 08:14 Pe-2 PQ 07553[22]
10 16 December 1942 08:12 Il-2 35 km (22 mi) northwest of Velikiye Luki[18] 23 16 January 1943 14:45 Il-2 PQ 07363[22]
11 16 December 1942 11:40 Il-2 PQ 07791[18] 24 26 January 1943 11:20 LaGG-3 PQ 07593[22]
12 5 January 1943 09:15 Il-2 PQ 07762[18]
10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of Bely
– 12. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 –[23]
Eastern Front — 4 February – 6 May 1943
25 7 March 1943 14:40 MiG-3 PQ 35 Ost 36142[24] 31 25 April 1943 11:47 Yak-1 PQ 35 Ost 63571[24]
20 km (12 mi) south-southeast of Trosna
26 10 April 1943 12:56 R-Z?[Note 2] PQ 35 Ost 46731[24]
15 km (9.3 mi) east of Vazma		 32 6 May 1943 13:18 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 63143[24]
15 km (9.3 mi) southwest of Oryol
27 10 April 1943 12:58 U-2 PQ 35 Ost 45122[24]
25 km (16 mi) south of Vazma		 33 6 May 1943 13:19 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 53264[24]
10 km (6.2 mi) south of Oryol
28 14 April 1943 09:10 Pe-2 PQ 35 Ost 42184[24]
10 km (6.2 mi) north of Kursk		 34 6 May 1943 13:25 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 53264[24]
15 km (9.3 mi) southwest of Oryol
29?[Note 3] 14 April 1943 09:12 Yak-1 PQ 35 Ost 62182[24] 35 6 May 1943 13:27 Il-2 PQ 35 Ost 63171[24]
15 km (9.3 mi) west of Zmiyekka
30 19 April 1943 08:52 R-5 PQ 35 Ost 45141[24]
30 km (19 mi) south-southwest of Vazma

Awards

Notes
  1. This claim is not listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock.[20]
  2. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed as a Polikarpov R-5.[23]
  3. This claim is not listed by Mathews and Foreman.[23]

References

Citations
  1. Spick 1996, p. 229.
  2. Obermaier 1989, p. 214.
  3. Prien et al. 2006, p. 350.
  4. Prien et al. 2006, p. 340.
  5. Prien et al. 2006, p. 342.
  6. Mathews & Foreman 2015, p. 1304.
  7. Prien et al. 2006, p. 355.
  8. Prien et al. 2012, p. 157.
  9. Aders & Held 1993, p. 135.
  10. Weal 2006, p. 106.
  11. Obermaier 1989, p. 244.
  12. Aders & Held 1993, p. 251.
  13. Accident description for EB+397 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 12 February 2020.
  14. Accident description for BD+843 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 12 February 2020.
  15. Ehrenmal der Bundeswehr.
  16. Mathews & Foreman 2015, pp. 1304–1305.
  17. Planquadrat.
  18. Prien et al. 2006, p. 358.
  19. Prien et al. 2006, p. 356.
  20. Prien et al. 2006, pp. 356–357.
  21. Prien et al. 2006, p. 357.
  22. Prien et al. 2006, p. 359.
  23. Mathews & Foreman 2015, p. 1305.
  24. Prien et al. 2012, p. 147.
  25. Patzwall 2008, p. 203.
  26. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 470.
  27. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 419.
  28. Scherzer 2007, p. 738.

Bibliography
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  • Bergström, Christer. "Bergström Black Cross/Red Star website". Identifying a Luftwaffe Planquadrat. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer [in German] (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
  • Mathews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2015). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 4 S–Z. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-21-9.
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  • Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
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  • Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2006). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 9/II—Vom Sommerfeldzug 1942 bis zur Niederlage von Stalingrad—1.5.1942 bis 3.2.1943 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 9/II—From the 1942 Summer Campaign to the Defeat at Stalingrad—1 May 1942 to 3 February 1943] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-77-9.
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