Werner Lucas

Werner Georg Emil Lucas (27 December 1917 – 24 October 1943) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a fighter ace credited with 106 enemy aircraft shot down. The majority of his victories were claimed over the Eastern Front, with one claim over the Western Front.

Born in Berlin, Lucas volunteered for military service in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany in 1938. Following flight training, he was posted to ''Jagdgeschwader'' 3 (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing) in 1941. He claimed his first aerial victories in July 1941 during Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Following his 57th aerial victory, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 September 1942. He was then appointed ''Staffelkapitän'' (squadron leader) of the 4. '' Staffel'' (4th squadron) of JG 3 which he continued to lead on the Eastern Front. He claimed his 100th aerial victory on 21 July 1943.

In October 1943, Lucas and his unit were transferred to the Western Front fighting in Defense of the Reich. In this theatre, Lucas claimed his 106th and last aerial victory before he was killed in action in aerial combat with Supermarine Spitfires on 24 October 1943.

Military career

Lucas was born on 27 December 1917 in Berlin of the German Empire. Following flight training, he was posted to the 4. '' Staffel'' (4th squadron) of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 3 (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing) on 8 February 1941. World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. At the time of his posting, II. '' Gruppe'' of JG 3 was based in Arques in northern France and fighting against the Royal Air Force. On 10 February 1941, II. ''Gruppe'' was ordered to return to Germany for a period of rest and reequipment. The unit arrived at Darmstadt-Griesheim on 16 February where they received a complement of the new Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 fighter aircraft.

On 25 April 1941, II. ''Gruppe'' began relocating back to the English Channel Front at Monchy-Breton. The ''Gruppe'' completed relocation on 4 May and flew its first mission on 7 May 1941. On 1 June 1941, II. ''Gruppe'' began its relocation to the Eastern Front. The ground elements moved immediately while the air elements followed on 8 June. On that day, they flew to Saint-Dizier and then to Böblingen. On the following day, they continued to Breslau-Gandau, now the Wrocław–Copernicus Airport in Poland, via Straubing.

Operation Barbarossa

In preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, II. ''Gruppe'' headed further east on 18 June. Following a stopover at Kraków, the unit was moved to Hostynne. At the start of the campaign, JG 3 under the command of ''Major'' (Major) Günther Lützow was subordinated to the V. ''Fliegerkorps'' (5th Air Corps), under the command of ''General der Flieger'' (General of the Aviators) Robert Ritter von Greim, itself part of ''Luftflotte'' 4 (4th Air Fleet), under the command of ''Generaloberst'' (Colonel General) Alexander Löhr. These air elements supported ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) Gerd von Rundstedt's Army Group South, with the objective of capturing Ukraine and its capital Kiev. At 17:00 on 21 June 1941, the 5th Air Corps, based at Lipsko, briefed the various unit commanders of the upcoming attack.All times used in this section are Central European Time unless otherwise noted. That evening, ''Gruppenkommandeur'' (group commander) of II. ''Gruppe'' Lothar Keller informed his subordinates of the attack.

The invasion of the Soviet Union began on 22 June 1941. II. ''Gruppe'' flew its first missions on the Eastern Front shortly before 04:00, flying low attacks against Soviet airfields in the vicinity of Lvov in Ukraine. At 06:30 the ''Gruppe'' fought its first aerial battles. 4. ''Staffel'' claimed three victories and the ''Gruppenstab'' four. In the beginning of July 1941, the front in the vicinity of the northern sector of Army Group South became increasingly fluid. This necessitated the relocation of II. ''Gruppe'' to Volodymyr-Volynskyi. On 2 July, II. ''Gruppe'' claimed 23 aerial victories in the combat area west of Berdichev and Zhitomir, including the first aerial victory by Lucas. The rapid advance of German ground forces required II. ''Gruppe'' to move to Lutsk on 5 July, then to Dubno that evening and to Miropol on 10 July. That day, Lucas claimed three Tupolev TB-3 bombers shot down. He and his wingman, ''Oberleutnant'' (First Lieutenant) Franz Beyer, had encountered twelve TB-3s from 14 ''Tyazhyolyy Bombardirovochnyy Aviatsionnyy'' (14 TBAP—14th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment). The two pilots claimed five of the bombers destroyed while Soviet records indicate that seven were lost.

On 8 August 1941, Lucas became an " ace-in-a-day" for the first time, shooting down five Soviet bombers in combat near the Dnieper river. On 31 October 1941, II. ''Gruppe'' flew its last combat mission over the northern Crimean combat zone and was ordered to retreat to Germany for a period of rest and refurbishment. On 1 December 1941, JG 3 was given the honorary name "Udet" following the suicide of World War I fighter pilot and Luftwaffe ''Generalleutnant'' Ernst Udet.

Mediterranean Theatre

At Wiesbaden-Erbenheim airfield, II. ''Gruppe'' was equipped with Bf 109 F-4 trop as the unit was to be deployed in the Mediterranean Theatre. After almost two months of rest, II. ''Gruppe'' was ordered to transfer to Sicily in early January 1942. Lucas was awarded the German Cross in Gold () on 27 March 1942. II. ''Gruppe'' flew its last combat mission over Malta on 25 April 1942. On 27 April, II. ''Gruppe'' arrived at Plzeň where it was placed under the command of ''Hauptmann'' (Captain) Kurt Brändle.

Eastern Front

After three weeks of rest, II. ''Gruppe'' was moved to the southern sector of the Eastern Front and placed under control of VIII. ''Fliegerkorps'' (8th Air Corps) on the left wing of Army Group South. On 15 July, II. ''Gruppe'' was moved to an airfield at Millerovo. Flying from this airfield, Lucas claimed his 33rd and 34th aerial victory. On 27 July 1942, Lucas flew on a fighter escort mission for nine Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers and claimed his 39th and 40th aerial victory. The flight was intercepted by Yakovlev Yak-7 fighters from 434 ''Istrebitelny Aviatsionny Polk'' (434 IAP—434rd Fighter Aviation Regiment). In this encounter, Lucas claimed two Yakovlev fighters shot down. It is possible that his opponents were '' Mládshiy Leytenánt'' Kukushin and ''Serzhánt'' Smirnov, who both were shot down that day.

On 20 August 1942, for the second time in his combat career, Lucas became an "ace-in-a-day". On his first combat mission of the day, he claimed an Ilyushin Il-2 dive bomber destroyed, followed by four Petlyakov Pe-2 bombers within six minutes, taking his total to 52 aerial victories. On 19 September 1942, Lucas received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () for 57 air victories. In November 1942, Lucas was appointed ''Staffelkapitän'' of the 4. ''Staffel'' of JG 3. He thus succeeded ''Hauptmann'' Gerhard Wendt who was posted to a staff position with ''Luftflotte'' 4. In December, Lucas volunteered for the ''Platzschutzstaffel'' (airfield defence squadron) of the Pitomnik Airfield. The ''Staffel'', largely made up from volunteers from I. and II. ''Gruppe'' of JG 3, was responsible for providing fighter escort to Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft and Heinkel He 111 bombers shuttling supplies for the encircled German forces fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad. On 21 July 1943, Lucas was credited with his 100th aerial victory. He was the 47th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. During the Donbass Strategic Offensive, II. ''Gruppe'' supported the 6th Army on the Mius-Front. On 31 July 1943, II. ''Gruppe'' claimed 17 aerial victories in this sector, including two by Lucas, his last two claims on the Eastern Front. On 2 August, the ''Gruppe'' was ordered to return to Germany.

Defense of the Reich and death

The increasing daytime attacks of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force against targets in western Europe forced the Luftwaffe to transfer more and more fighter units from the Eastern Front back to Germany in Defense of the Reich. On 3 August 1943, II. ''Gruppe''s air elements arrived at Uetersen Airfield in northern Germany. On 20 October, the USAAF targeted Düren. II. ''Gruppe'' intercepted the bombers near Venlo but were fended off by the escorting Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. Elements of II. ''Gruppe'' managed to reach the bombers on their return. Two Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers were shot down, including one by Lucas.

Whilst with JG 3 flying from Schiphol, he was killed in combat with Supermarine Spitfires, possibly escorting USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, on 24 October 1943. His Bf 109 G-6 (''Werknummer'' 27080 —factory number) crashed in the city centre of Leiden, Netherlands. He on purpose, crashed his aircraft in the courtyard of a hospital on the Hooigracht, thus taking no other people with him than his 106 kills.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Lucas was credited with 106 aerial victories. Mathews and Foreman, authors of ''Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims'', researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 105 aerial victory claims, plus one further unconfirmed claim. This figure includes 104 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and a four-engined bomber over the Western Allies.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = ''Planquadrat''), for example "PQ 47844". 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

* Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 2 October 1941 as ''Unteroffizier'' and pilot
* German Cross in Gold on 27 March 1942 ''Feldwebel'' in the 4./''Jagdgeschwader'' 3
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 September 1942 as ''Feldwebel'' and pilot in the 4./''Jagdgeschwader'' 3 "Udet"

Notes

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Werner
1917 births
Luftwaffe pilots
Military personnel from Berlin
German World War II flying aces
German military personnel killed in World War II
Aviators killed by being shot down
1943 deaths
Recipients of the Gold German Cross
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Burials at Ysselsteyn German war cemetery