Leutnant (later Major) Alfred Lindenberger was a World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

credited with twelve aerial victories. He also scored four victories during World War II while serving as commander of a fighter group.The Aerodrome website 98http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/lindenberger.php Retrieved on 15 April 2010.

World War I military service

While Lindenberger was a gunner in FA 234, he shot down a Spad with pilot ''Vizfeldwebel'' Breitenstein on 29 May 1917. Then he was teamed with ace pilot ''Vizfeldwebel'' Karl Jentsch, and they scored two more SPADs in October. After pilot training, in May 1918 Lindenberger was posted to

Jagdstaffel 2 Jasta 2 (Jagdstaffel Zwei in full and also known as ''Jasta Boelcke'') was one of the best-known German Luftstreitkräfte Squadrons in World War I. Its first commanding officer was the great aerial tactician Oswald Boelcke, and it was the incubator ...

. Between 30 May and 1 November 1918, he downed nine more enemy planes, seven flying the

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qu ...

. He also flew

Fokker D.VI The Fokker D.VI was a German fighter aircraft built in limited numbers at the end of World War I. The D.VI served in the German and Austro-Hungarian air services. Design and development In late 1917, Fokker-Flugzeugwerke built two small biplane ...

serial number 4453/18 upon occasion. It was marked with black and yellow stripes around the fuselage.

Aerial victories

Between the Wars

Alfred Lindenberger joined the ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

'' and rose to the rank of major.

World War II military service

In June 1944, Major Lindenberger served with

JG 3 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 3 (JG 3) "Udet" was a ''Luftwaffe'' fighter wing of World War II. The ''Geschwader'' operated on all the German fronts in the European Theatre of World War II. It was named after Ernst Udet, an important figure in the develo ...

and then flew air defense sorties with JG 300 over Germany until February 1945. He was made II./ JG 300 ''Gruppenkommandeur'' in October 1944. Owing to his age and inexperience with modern fighters he flew most sorties as a wingman. On 28 September 1944 he claimed a B-17 over

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...

and a P-51 Mustang near Quedlinburg before he was shot down by P-51s and wounded, bailing out over

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombi ...

. Lindenberger then claimed two US B-24 four-engined bombers on 17 December 1944 during a 15th Air Force raid over Poland, (JG 300 claimed 22 B-24s downed).''Luftwaffe Sturmgruppen (Aviation Elite Units)'', pp. 75, 106—107. He thus scored four World War II victories in total, making his lifetime tally sixteen aerial victories.

Sources of information

References

* * ''479th Fighter Group: ‘Riddle’s Raiders’ (Aviation Elite Units)''. John Stanaway. Osprey Publishing, 2009. , *''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914 - 1918''. Norman L. R. Franks, et al. Grub Street, 1993. , . * ''Aces of Jagdgeschwader Nr. III''. Greg vanWyngarden. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016. , * ''Luftwaffe Sturmgruppen (Aviation Elite Units)''. John Weal. Osprey Publishing, 2005. , * ''Oswald Boelcke: Germany's First Fighter Ace and Father of Air Combat''. R. G. Head. Grub Street, 2016. , . {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindenberger, Alfred German World War I flying aces 1897 births 1973 deaths Military personnel from Stuttgart German World War II fighter pilots