Erich Schmidt (pilot)

Nickname"Schmidtchen"

Born17 November 1914

Died31 August 1941 (aged 26)

Allegiance

Erich Schmidt
Nickname	"Schmidtchen"
Born	17 November 1914 Neuhaus am Rennweg
Died	31 August 1941(1941-08-31) (aged 26) Dubno, Ukraine
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Branch	Luftwaffe
Service years	?-1941
Rank	Oberleutnant
Unit	JG 53
Conflicts	World War II Battle of Britain Operation Barbarossa
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Erich "Schmidtchen" Schmidt (17 November 1914 – 31 August 1941) was a Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II.

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).^[1] 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,^[2] when he was transferred briefly to the Stab (HQ) flight of III./JG 53 as Gruppe-Adjutant.^[3]

But he was back with 9./JG 53 for the invasion of Russia Operation Barbarossa. 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 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 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. On 31 August 1941, returning from a freie Jagd (free hunt), Schmidt was shot down east of Velikiye Luki.^[4] His Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 (Werknummer 12633—factory number) had been hit by Soviet anti-aircraft artillery. Schmidt bailed near Dubno and was seen to have safely landed, he was never seen again and remains missing in action.^[5]^[6] At the time he was the top-scoring pilot of III/JG 53, and was posthumously promoted to Oberleutnant.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 47 aerial victory claims, including 30 aerial victories claimed on the Eastern Front and 17 on the Western Front.^[7]

Chronicle of aerial victories
This and the ♠ (Ace of spades) indicates those aerial victories which made Schmidt an "ace-in-a-day", a term which designates a fighter pilot who has shot down five or more airplanes in a single day.
Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location
– 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 53 –^[7] At the Channel and over England — 26 June 1940 – 7 June 1941
1	12 August 1940	12:37	Spitfire^[8]	Isle of Wight	10	30 September 1940	14:33	Spitfire^[9]
2	31 August 1940	20:42	Spitfire^[10]	vicinity of Dover	11	2 October 1940	11:06	Spitfire	Thames Estuary^[9]
3	5 September 1940	16:35	Spitfire^[10]		12	2 October 1940	11:10	Spitfire	Thames Estuary^[9]
4	9 September 1940	18:55	Spitfire^[10]		13	5 October 1940	12:33	Hurricane	Thames Estuary^[9]
5	15 September 1940	12:44	Spitfire^[9]		14	7 October 1940	14:20	Spitfire	Mayfield^[9]
6	15 September 1940	13:08	Spitfire	10 km (6.2 mi) south of London^[9]	15	10 October 1940	11:30	Spitfire	Thames Estuary^[9]
7	15 September 1940	15:36	Spitfire^[9]		16	1 November 1940	12:45	Spitfire	Tunbridge Wells^[9]
8	17 September 1940	16:41	Spitfire^[9]		17	30 November 1940	11:30	Spitfire	north of Dover^[9]
9	27 September 1940	13:33	Spitfire^[9]
– 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 53 – Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 31 August 1941
18	22 June 1941	07:15	I-16^[11]		33♠	26 July 1941	10:10	DB-3^[12]
19	22 June 1941	11:35	DJ-6^[11]		34♠	26 July 1941	10:12	DB-3^[12]
20	22 June 1941	18:25	I-16^[11]		35♠	26 July 1941	18:28	DB-3^[12]
21	22 June 1941	20:45	DJ-6^[11]		36♠	26 July 1941	18:32	DB-3^[12]
22	25 June 1941	08:33	SB-3^[11]		37	2 August 1941	13:45	I-18^[13]
23	25 June 1941	11:30	SB-3^[11]		38	5 August 1941	10:41	I-18^[13]
24	26 June 1941	07:28	DB-3^[11]		39	5 August 1941	10:46	I-18^[13]
25	26 June 1941	07:41	DB-3^[11]		40	7 August 1941	10:22	I-16^[13]
26	27 June 1941	05:08	DB-3^[14]		41	19 August 1941	13:05	I-16^[15]
27	27 June 1941	14:57	DB-3^[14]		42	23 August 1941	17:00	I-18^[15]
28	27 June 1941	18:34	DB-3^[14]		43	25 August 1941	14:55	V-11 (Il-2)^[15]
29	2 July 1941	20:09	I-153^[14]		44	27 August 1941	16:25	I-153^[15]
30	4 July 1941	12:21	I-16^[14]		45	29 August 1941	15:35	I-16^[15]
31	14 July 1941	18:05	I-15^[16]		46	29 August 1941	15:44	I-18^[15]
32♠	26 July 1941	09:35	DB-3^[12]		47	29 August 1941	15:46	I-18^[15]

Awards

Flugzeugführerabzeichen
Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe
Iron Cross (1939)
- 2nd Class^[17]
- 1st Class (12 September 1940)^[17]
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 23 July 1941 as Leutnant and pilot in the III./Jagdgeschwader 53^[18]^{[Note 1]}

Notes

References

Citations

↑ Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries website.
↑ Aces of the Luftwaffe website.
↑ Weal 2007, p. 38.
↑ Weal 2007, p. 48.
↑ Prien et al. 2003, pp. 152, 170.
↑ Spick 2006, pp. 121, 123.
1 2 Mathews & Foreman 2015, p. 1138.
↑ Prien et al. 2002, p. 266.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Prien et al. 2002, p. 260.
1 2 3 Prien et al. 2002, p. 267.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Prien et al. 2003, p. 159.
1 2 3 4 5 Prien et al. 2003, p. 163.
1 2 3 4 Prien et al. 2003, p. 164.
1 2 3 4 5 Prien et al. 2003, p. 160.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Prien et al. 2003, p. 165.
↑ Prien et al. 2003, p. 161.
1 2 Dixon 2023, p. 83.
↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 381.
↑ Scherzer 2007, p. 669.

Bibliography

Dixon, Jeremy (2023). Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe: Knight's Cross Holders 1939–1942. Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-52677-864-2.
Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer [in German] (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
Mathews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2015). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 4 S–Z. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-21-9.
Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1939 – 1945] (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7.
Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2002). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 4/II—Einsatz am Kanal und über England—26.6.1940 bis 21.6.1941 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 4/II—Action at the Channel and over England—26 June 1940 to 21 June 1941] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-64-9.
Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2003). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 6/II—Unternehmen "BARBAROSSA"—Einsatz im Osten—22.6. bis 5.12.1941 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 6/II—Operation "BARBAROSSA"—Action in the East—22 June to 5 December 1941] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-70-0.
Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
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Weal, John (2001). Bf 109 Aces of the Russian Front. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-84176-084-6.
Weal, John (2007). Jagdgeschwader 53 "Pik-As". Aviation Elite Units. Vol. 25. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-204-2.