Heinrich-Wilhelm Ahnert

Heinrich-Wilhelm Ahnert (29 April 1915 – 23 August 1942) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II. As a fighter ace, he was credited with 57 aerial victories, 4 over the Western Front and 53 over the Eastern Front, in an unknown number combat missions.

Born in Altenburg, Ahnert served as an aerial reconnaissance pilot during the Invasion of Poland and during the Battle of France. He was then trained as a fighter pilot and was posted to ''Jagdgeschwader'' 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) in early 1941. He claimed his first aerial victory on 15 February 1941 on the Western Front. Following four further aerial victories in the west, his unit was transferred to the Eastern Front in late September 1941. He claimed his first aerial victories in this theater on 6 October during the Battle of Vyazma. Ahnert was killed in action on 23 August 1942 and posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for 57 aerial victories.

Career

Ahnert was born on 29 April 1915 in Ziegelheim near Altenburg in Thuringia of the German Empire. He originally served as an intelligence officer and aerial reconnaissance pilot and flew missions during the Invasion of Poland and during the Battle of France. Ahnert was retrained as a fighter pilot and was posted to 3. '' Staffel'' (3rd squadron) of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 52 (JG 52–52nd Fighter Wing) in early 1941. At the time the ''Staffel'' was commanded by ''Oberleutnant'' Helmut Kühle who was replaced by ''Oberleutnant'' Helmut Bennemann on 27 April. I. '' Gruppe'' (1st group) of JG 52 to which 3. ''Staffel'' was subordinated was headed by ''Hauptmann'' Wolfgang Ewald at the time. Ahnert claimed his first aerial victory on 15 February 1941 when he shot down a Royal Air Force (RAF) Hawker Hurricane fighter near Ostend.

Until 21 February, the entire I. ''Gruppe'' was based at an airfield at Katwijk in the Netherlands where it was tasked with patrolling the Dutch coast area and German Bight, the three ''Staffeln'' were then deployed at various airfields on the Dutch, German and Danish North Sea coast. On 25 May, I. ''Gruppe'' was placed under the command of ''Hauptmann'' Karl-Heinz Leesmann.

Ahnert claimed a Bristol Blenheim bomber shot down on 9 June 1941 and another on 26 August, and two Supermarine Spitfire fighters were claimed on 12 September 1941. The Blenheim bomber shot down 9 June belonged to force of six aircraft from No. 18 Squadron on mission to look for German shipping off the coast of Ameland. On 23 September, I. ''Gruppe'' was withdrawn from the Western Front and was sent to the Eastern Front where it would be based at an airfield at Ponyatovka, located approximately southwest of Roslavl.

War against the Soviet Union

On 22 June 1941, German forces had launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Prior to its deployment on the Eastern Front, I. ''Gruppe'' was fully equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2. The ''Gruppe'' reached Orsha on 27 September before heading to Ponyatovka on 2 October. There, the ''Gruppe'' was initially subordinated to the '' Stab'' (headquarters unit) of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing) and supported German forces fighting in the Battle of Vyazma as part of Operation Typhoon, the code name of the German offensive on Moscow.

Ahnert claimed his first aerial victories on the Eastern Front on 5 October 1941 when he shot down two Polikarpov I-16 fighters northeast of Bely and later that day a Polikarpov I-153 fighter. Ahnert and his wingman ''Leutnant'' Otto Schlauch had shot down three I-16 fighters from 29 IAP (Fighter Aviation Regiment—''Istrebitelny Aviatsionny Polk''), one of which was piloted by ''Leytenant'' Vasily Migunov who was wounded in this combat. On 20 October, the ''Gruppe'' moved to an airfield named Kalinin-Southwest, present-day Tver, and located on the Volga, and to Staritsa on 31 October and then to Ruza located approximately west of Moscow on 3 November. Here Ahnert claimed two I-18 fighters, an early German designation for the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1, on 14 November, an I-16 fighter on 27 November, a DJ-6 aircraft on 30 November. On 2 December, he claimed an aerial victory over a I-61 fighter, a reference to the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3. The failed assault on Moscow forced I. ''Gruppe'' to retreat to an airfield at Dugino, present-day Novodugino, on 15 December where they stayed until 31 January 1942. He filed his last claim of 1941, his 15th in total, on 24 December over an I-16 fighter. Ahnert made his first claim in 1942 on 3 January over a Tupolev SB bomber. On 20 January, he claimed two Petlyakov Pe-2 bombers followed by an I-61 fighter on 26 January.

On 1 February 1942. I ''Gruppe'' was withdrawn from combat operations and was moved to Smolensk and then further west to Orsha. From 8 to 12 February the ''Gruppe'' took a train to Jesau near Königsberg, present-day Kaliningrad in Russia, for a period of recuperation and replenishment where they received new Bf 109 F-4 aircraft. The ''Gruppe'' was ordered to Olmütz, present-day Olomouc in Czech Republic, on 11 April. On 17 May, I. ''Gruppe'' relocated to Artyomovsk, present-day Bakhmut. From Artyomovsk, JG 52 supported the German forces fighting in the Second Battle of Kharkov. Operating from Artyomovsk, Ahnert claimed his 20th aerial victory, an I-61 fighter shot down on 22 May. On 24 May, the ''Gruppe'' was ordered to relocate to Barvinkove located approximately west of Sloviansk. In May, Ahnert claimed eight further aerial victories, taking his total to 28 claims.

On 1 June, the ''Gruppe'' then moved to an airfield at Grakowo, located approximately halfway between Kharkov and Kupiansk. On 14 June, Bennemann replaced Leesmann, who was transferred, as ''Gruppenkommandeur'' (group commander) of I. ''Gruppe'' of JG 52. In consequence, command of 3. ''Staffel'' was passed on to ''Leutnant'' Karl Rüttger. Fyling from Grakowo, Ahnert claimed nine aerial victories. On 26 June, the ''Gruppe'' moved to an airfield at Bilyi Kolodyaz, approximately southeast of Vovchansk. Two days later, German forces had launched Case Blue, the strategic summer offensive in southern Russia. Ahnert claimed a Hurricane fighter shot down on 29 June.

On 1 July, I. ''Gruppe'' flew missions from Shchigry located east-northeast from Kursk. That day, Ahnert claimed a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter shot down. The next day, Rüttger became a prisoner of war and command of 3. ''Staffel'' transferred to ''Oberleutnant'' Rudolf Miethig. On 3 July, the ''Gruppe'' moved to a forward airfield near the village Novy Grinev located approximately south-southwest from Novy Oskol and to Artyomovsk on 9 July. On 9 July, Ahnert claimed his 50th enemy aircraft destroyed when he shot down a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1 fighter. For this, he was awarded the German Cross in Gold () on 27 July.

On 2 August 1942, I. ''Gruppe'' was ordered to Kerch on the Kerch Peninsula. At the time, the ''Gruppe'' was moved around as a kind of fire brigade, deployed in areas where the Soviet Air Forces was particular active. The ''Gruppe'' then moved to Oryol on 15 August. On 23 August, Ahnert engaged Pe-2 twin-engine bombers in combat over Koptevo, approximately northeast of Oryol. His Bf 109 G-2 (''Werknummer'' 13508—factory number) "Yellow 9" was hit by return fire from the bomber gunners and he was killed in action. Ahnert was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () that day.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Ahnert was credited with 57 aerial victories. Obermaier also lists Ahnert with 57 aerial victories claimed in an unknown number combat missions. This figure includes 53 claims on the Eastern Front and four over the Western Allies. Mathews and Foreman, authors of ''Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims'', researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 57 aerial victory claims, 52 of which on the Eastern Front and five on the Western Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = ''Planquadrat''), for example "PQ 7051". The Luftwaffe grid map () 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 . These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size.

Awards

* Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 2 March 1942 as ''Oberfeldwebel'' and pilot
* German Cross in Gold on 27 July 1942 as ''Oberfeldwebel'' in I./''Jagdgeschwader'' 52
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 23 August 1942 (posthumous) as ''Oberfeldwebel'' and pilot in the I./''Jagdgeschwader'' 52

Notes

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahnert, Heinrich-Wilhelm
1915 births
1942 deaths
Luftwaffe pilots
German World War II flying aces
Recipients of the Gold German Cross
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
German military personnel killed in World War II
Aviators killed by being shot down
People from Altenburg
People from Saxe-Altenburg