Erich "Schmidtchen" Schmidt (17 November 1914 – 31 August 1941) was a

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 ...

ace An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

and recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ...

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 opposin ...

Career

After completing his flight training, at the start of the war in September 1939, ''Leutnant'' Schmidt was in the 2nd ''Staffel'' of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 53 (2./JG 53). Transferred to 9th ''Staffel'' (9./JG 53) in the following February, he had no success in the French campaign, and his first victory was on 12 August 1940 when he shot down a Spitfire over the Isle of Wight. He was far more successful in the Battle of Britain however, and he had 17 victories by end of November 1940, when he was transferred briefly to the ''Stab'' (HQ) flight of III./JG 53 as ''Gruppe-Adjutant''. But he was back with 9./JG 53 for the invasion of Russia

Operation Barbarossa 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 after ...

. With his unit covering the advance of Hoth's panzers on the northern side of Army Group Centre, on the opening day of the campaign (22 June 1941) he shot down four Russian aircraft, and his 30th victory was an I-16 fighter on 4 July. For that score he was awarded the Knight's Cross by the newly promoted General of Fighters

Werner Mölders Werner Mölders (18 March 1913 – 22 November 1941) was a World War II German Luftwaffe pilot, wing commander, and the leading German fighter ace in the Spanish Civil War. He became the first pilot in aviation history to shoot down 100 ...

on 23 July. His unit was constantly on the move, leap-frogging forward to airbases often only cleared of enemy a day or two before. Barely staying a few days to a week at a time, their mission was to protect the ground troops from enemy bombers as the ''blitzkrieg'' stormed eastward past Minsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk, toward Moscow. On 26 July he shot down 5

DB-3 The Ilyushin DB-3, where "DB" stands for ''Dalniy Bombardirovschik'' (Russian: Дальний бомбардировщик) meaning "long-range bomber", was a Soviet bomber aircraft of World War II. It was a twin-engined, low-wing monoplane that f ...

bombers, 3 in the morning and 2 more in the afternoon. He shot down his final three victories on 29 August taking his total to 47. But on 31 August 1941, returning from a ''freie Jagd'' (free hunt), he was himself shot down after being hit by Soviet anti-aircraft fire east of

Velikiye Luki Velikiye Luki ( rus, Вели́кие Лу́ки, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪjə ˈlukʲɪ; lit. ''great meanders''. Г. П. Смолицкая. "Топонимический словарь Центральной России". "Армада-П ...

. Baling out behind enemy lines, he was never seen again. At the time he was the top-scoring pilot of III/JG 53, and was posthumously promoted to ''Oberleutnant''.

Victories

Awards

* Flugzeugführerabzeichen *

Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe The Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe (german: Frontflugspange) was a World War II German military decoration awarded to aircrew and certain other Luftwaffe personnel in recognition of the number of operational flights flown. It was instituted by ...

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 est ...

(1939) ** 2nd Class ** 1st Class *

on 23 July 1941 as ''

Leutnant () is the lowest Junior officer rank in the armed forces the German (language), German-speaking of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") fro ...

'' and pilot in the III./Jagdgeschwader 53Fellgiebel 2000, p. 381.

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * Spick, Mike (1996). ''Luftwaffe Fighter Aces''. New York: Ivy Books. . * Weal, John (1996). ''Bf 109D/E Aces 1939-41''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Limited. . * Weal, John (2001). ''Bf 109 Aces of the Russian Front''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Limited. . *

External links

Aces of the Luftwaffe
* Retrieved 29 December 2012 * Retrieved 7 January 2013 * Retrieved 7 January 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Erich 1914 births 1941 deaths People from Neuhaus am Rennweg People from Saxe-Meiningen Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross German World War II flying aces Luftwaffe personnel killed in World War II Aviators killed by being shot down Luftwaffe pilots Military personnel from Thuringia