Günther Scholz (8 December 1911 – 24 October 2014) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator and wing commander during World War II, and was the last surviving member of the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War. He later participated in the Battle of Britain and commanded ''Jagdgeschwader'' 5 (JG 5—5th Fighter Wing) during World War II. He had accumulated at least 33 "kills" during his time of service. His memoirs are documented in the book "In the Skies over Europe."

Career

On 1 September 1943, Scholz was promoted to ''

Geschwaderkommodore {{unreferenced, date=May 2019 ''Geschwaderkommodore'' (short also ''Kommodore'') is a ''Luftwaffe'' position or appointment (not rank), originating during World War II. A ''Geschwaderkommodore'' is usually an OF5-rank of ''Oberst'' (colonel) or K ...

'' (Wing Commander) of JG 5 thus succeeding ''Oberstleutnant'' Gotthard Handrick. Scholz's previous position of ''

Gruppenkommandeur ''Gruppenkommandeur'' is a Luftwaffe position (not rank), that is the equivalent of a commander of a group or wing in other air forces. A ''Gruppenkommandeur'' usually has the rank of Major or ''Oberstleutnant'' (Lieutenant Colonel), and commands ...

'' (Group Commander) of III. ''Gruppe'' of JG 5 was backfilled by '' Hauptmann'' (captain)

Heinrich Ehrler Heinrich Ehrler (14 September 1917 – 4 April 1945) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator and wing commander during World War II. As a fighter ace, he is credited with 208 enemy aircraft shot down in over 400 combat missions. The majority o ...

. On 1 August 1944, Scholz was given the position of '' Jagdfliegerführer Norwegen''. In consequence of this decision, ''Major'' Ehrler again succeeded Scholz in his previous command position of ''Geschwaderkommodore'' of JG 5. At the time of his death, he was the last known surviving Lieutenant Colonel of the Wehrmacht.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

Mathews and Foreman, authors of ''Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims'', researched the

German Federal Archives The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv (BArch) (german: Bundesarchiv) are the National Archives of Germany. They were established at the current location in Koblenz in 1952. They are subordinated to the Federal Commissioner for Culture and t ...

and state that Scholz was credited with 33 aerial victories. This figure includes one claim during the Spanish Civil War, eight claims during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

and Battle of Britain on the Western Front, eighteen claims during Operation Barbarossa and six further claims at the Arctic Sea of the Eastern Front. Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = ''Planquadrat''), for example "PQ 36 Ost 2912". The Luftwaffe grid map () covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15

minutes Minutes, also known as minutes of meeting (abbreviation MoM), protocols or, informally, notes, are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing. They typically describe the events of the meeting and may include a list of attendees, a state ...

of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about . These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size.

Awards

* German Cross in Gold on 8 September 1942

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * Condor Legion personnel Luftwaffe pilots German World War II flying aces Recipients of the Gold German Cross German centenarians Men centenarians 1911 births 2014 deaths {{Germany-mil-bio-stub