Bernhard Woldenga (4 December 1901 – 19 January 1999) was a German pilot during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He served in 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 ...

, commanding the

JG 27 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 27 (JG 27) "''Afrika''" was a fighter wing of the Luftwaffe during World War II. The wing was given the name "Africa" for serving in the North African Campaign predominantly alone in the period from April 1941 to Septemb ...

and

JG 77 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 77 (JG 77) ''Herz As'' ("Ace of Hearts") was a Luftwaffe fighter wing during World War II. It served in all the German theaters of war, from Western Europe to the Eastern Front, and from the high north in Norway to the Mediter ...

fighter wings. Woldenga was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Career

Woldenga's career started as a captain in the merchant marine. He started his flight training in 1928 and worked as chief pilot for the FVK Warnemünde. He transferred to the newly emerging Luftwaffe, taking command as '' Gruppenkommandeur'' of the I. ''Gruppe'' of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 131 (JG 131—131st Fighter Wing) on 15 March 1937. This unit was then renamed on 1 November 1938 to I. ''Gruppe'' of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 130 (JG 130—130th Fighter Wing) which then became the I. ''Gruppe'' of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 1 (JG 1—1st Fighter Wing) on 1 May 1939. With this unit he participated in the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

in 1939. He surrender command of the ''Gruppe'' on 1 February 1940 and was transferred to the '' Reichsluftfahrtministerium''. He briefly led ''Jagdgeschwader'' 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing) on the Channel Front from 11 October to 22 October 1940, replacing ''Oberst''

Max Ibel Max Ibel (1 January 1896 – 19 March 1981) is credited as one of the creators of the Luftwaffe. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Career Max Ibel was born in 1896 in Munich and joined the Army as a cadet in July ...

before handing over command to ''Major'' Wolfgang Schellmann. He was then made '' Geschwaderkommodore'' of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) on 2 January 1941. Under this command, JG 77 participated in the Balkans Campaign and

invasion of Crete The Battle of Crete (german: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, el, Μάχη της Κρήτης), codenamed Operation Mercury (german: Unternehmen Merkur), was a major Axis airborne and amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island o ...

. JG 77 claimed 50 aerial victories.

Awards and recognition

Woldenga received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He commanded of JG 27 on 21 June 1941 during the

invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

and claimed 4 aerial victories. He relocated the Geschwaderstab to North Africa in December 1941. He was appointed ''Fliegerführer Balkan'' on 10 June 1942. His last service position of the war was commander of the ''Luftkriegschule'' 10 in

Fürstenwalde Fürstenwalde/Spree (; Lower Sorbian: ''Pśibor pśi Sprjewje'') is the most populous town in the Oder-Spree District of Brandenburg, Germany. Geography The town is situated in the glacial valley (''Urstromtal'') of the Spree river north of the ...

near

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. He is credited with three aerial victories of which two were claimed on the Eastern Front.

Awards

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...

(1939) 2nd and 1st class * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 5 July 1941 as ''Major'' and '' Geschwaderkommodore'' of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 77

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Woldenga, Bernhard 1901 births 1999 deaths Military personnel from Hamburg Luftwaffe pilots German World War II pilots Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross