Fritz Losigkeit

Fritz Losigkeit (17 November 1913 – 14 January 1994) was a German World War II Luftwaffe Flying ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. He held the position of Geschwaderkommodore of fighter wing Jagdgeschwader 51 and Jagdgeschwader 77.

Fritz Losigkeit
Fritz Losigkeit
Born(1913-11-17)17 November 1913
Berlin-Tegel
Died14 January 1994(1994-01-14) (aged 80)
Hünxe
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service/branch Luftwaffe
RankMajor
Commands heldI./JG 1, JG 51, JG 77
Battles/warsSpanish Civil War

World War II

AwardsSpanish Cross in silver with swords
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Other workPolitician

Early life and career

Losigkeit was porn on 17 November 1913 in Berlin-Tegel and joined the Prussian State Police (preußischen Landespolizei) in 1934. a year later, he transferred to the Reichswehr as a Fahnenjunker (officer candidate) and was eventually selected for flight training.[Note 1] After graduation, he was assigned to Jagdgeschwader 132 "Richthofen" (JG 132—132nd Fighter Wing) on 1 October 1936.[2] In late January 1938, Losigkeit was invited to an international winter sports event in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The event was hosted by the Reichssportführer Hans von Tschammer und Osten and bobsledder Werner Zahn who was also a pilot. Other Luftwaffe officers attending this event included Günther Lützow, Walter Oesau, Karl-Heinz Greisert, Günter Schultze-Blank and Urban Schlaffer.[3]

During the Spanish Civil War, Losigkeit volunteered for service in the Condor Legion. On 25 March 1938, he was assigned to 3. Staffel (3rd squadron) of Jagdgruppe 88, at the time headed by Oberleutnant Horst Lehrmann and based at Zaragoza Airfield.[4] On 31 May 1938, during the second mission of the day, Oberleutnant Werner Mölders led a Schwarm on a ground attack mission. Attacking a truck, Losigkeit was shot down by 20 mm anti-aircraft artillery and taken prisoner of war. He spent eight months in captivity in Valencia and Barcelona before returning to Germany in February 1939.[5] For his actions in Spain, he was awarded the Spanish Cross in Silver with Swords (Spanienkreuz in Silber mit Schwertern) on 14 April 1939.[6] Lossigkeit was assigned to 2. Staffel, a squadron of I. Gruppe (1st group), of Jagdgeschwader 26 (JG 26—26th Fighter Wing) on 1 April.[2] At the time, 2. Staffel was commanded by Hauptmann Walter Kienitz while I. Gruppe was headed by Major Gotthard Handrick.[7]

World War II

World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. On 23 September 1939, Losigkeit was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 2. Staffel of JG 26, replacing Kienitz who was transferred.[8] He scored his first victory on 28 May 1940 during the Battle of France, a Spitfire over Calais. As the air war turned to England, he achieved four more victories to become an Flying ace by 15 September 1940. For the next 8 months Losigkeit commanded 2. Staffel of JG 26 and flew more than 100 combat missions.

In May 1941 he was reassigned as a diplomatic courier to Japan. Until January 1942 he advised on German air combat tactics with Imperial Japanese Army Air Force pilots flying the Nakajima Ki-44 against several examples of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter shipped to Japan for evaluation. Wanting to rejoin the European war, he made the 23,300 nautical miles (43,200 km; 26,800 mi) voyage back to Germany via the German blockade-runner MSS Elsa Essberger.

Jagdgruppe Losigkeit

Following his return from Japan, Losigkeit joined the staff with the General der Jagdflieger (Inspector of Fighters), an office held by Oberst Adolf Galland. Fearing a British invasion of Norway, Adolf Hitler had ordered the Oberkommando der Marine (OKM German Navy high-command) to return the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen from their current location in Brest in Brittany to German bases.[9] The Kriegsmarine successfully transferred the ships on 11–13 February in Operation Cerberus. Further Kriegsmarine vessels were ordered to Norway to combat the convoys heading to the Soviet Union. To protect these naval units from aerial attacks, Galland instructed Losigkeit with the creation of a fighter unit on 14 February.[10] This unit, dubbed Jagdgruppe Losigkeit (Fighter Group Losigkeit), was made up of three Staffeln. 1. Staffel was created from 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1–1st Fighter Wing) and commanded by Hauptmann Rolf Strössner. 2. Staffel was based on 2. Staffel of JG 1 and headed by Hauptmann Werner Dolenga. The Einsatzstaffel of Jagdfliegerschule 1 under Oberleutnant Friedrich Eberle formed 3. Staffel of Jagdgruppe Losigkeit. Losigkeit chose Leutnant Heinz Knoke from 2. Staffel of JG 1 as his personal adjutant.[11]

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-4, I./JG 1, flown by Hauptmann Fritz Losigkeit

Losigkeit conducted fighter operations over Norway in support of the Navy and the battleship Scharnhorst. After completing this special operation, he took command of IV./JG 1 at Berlin-Werneuchen, which later became I./JG 1. Deployed to bases in the West, his unit flew missions against de Havilland Mosquito reconnaissance aircraft and USAAF heavy bomber formations attacking targets in Germany.

Eastern Front

On 20 May, Losigkeit was transferred upon his own request. He was given command of I. Gruppe of JG 26 which at the time was fighting on the Eastern Front. The former commander of I. Gruppe of JG 26, Major Johannes Seifert, had been taken off combat duty after his brother was killed in action. Losigkeit however had made his request for transfer because of substantial differences with the Jafü (Jagdfliegerführer—the commander of the fighter forces) of the 1. Jagd-Division.[12][13] On 4 June, he flew his first mission on the Eastern Front, flying a fighter sweep 60 kilometres (37 miles) into Soviet airspace from Shatalovka. On 6 June, I. Gruppe began its return to Germany while Losigkeit remained on the Eastern Front.[14] On 26 June, he took over command of III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing) from Hauptmann Herbert Wehnelt who had briefly led the Gruppe after Hauptmann Karl-Heinz Schnell was transferred.[15]

Fighting during the Battle of Kursk in July 1943, his unit then covered the retreat of the German Army.

Wing commander

On 1 April 1944 he became Geschwaderkommodore of JG 51 and continued to fight against ever increasing odds as the Russians advanced. Losigkeit was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing} on 1 April 1945. He succeeded Major Siegfried Freytag in this capacity who had temporarilly assumed this office after Oberstleutnant Erich Leie was killed in action on 7 March. That day, he took command of JG 77 at Beneschau, present-day Benešov in the Czech Republic. With the arrival of Losigkeit, Freytag resumed command of II. Gruppe of JG 77.[16] Awarded the Knight's Cross in April 1945, he ended the war as Geschwaderkommodore of JG 77 in Czechoslovakia. Losigkeit was credited with around 750 combat missions, claiming some 68 air victories.

After the war Losigkeit returned to civilian life, turning his attention to politics and business. He was a secretary in the administration of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) in 1946. From 1946 until 1978, he served as a business representative and a marketing manager in a utilities company.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 51 aerial victory claims. This figure includes 44 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and seven over the Western Allies, including one four-engined bombers.[17]

Awards

Notes
  1. Flight training in the Luftwaffe progressed through the levels A1, A2 and B1, B2, referred to as A/B flight training. A training included theoretical and practical training in aerobatics, navigation, long-distance flights and dead-stick landings. The B courses included high-altitude flights, instrument flights, night landings and training to handle the aircraft in difficult situations.[1]

References

Citations
  1. Bergström, Antipov & Sundin 2003, p. 17.
  2. Obermaier 1989, p. 161.
  3. Braatz 2005, p. 174.
  4. Forsyth 2011, p. 93.
  5. Forsyth 2011, pp. 93–94.
  6. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 772.
  7. Prien et al. 2000a, p. 180.
  8. Prien et al. 2001, p. 173.
  9. Prien & Rodeike 1994, pp. 83, 85.
  10. Prien & Rodeike 1994, p. 85.
  11. Prien & Rodeike 1994, p. 86.
  12. Prien & Rodeike 1994, p. 313.
  13. Caldwell 1998, pp. 82–83.
  14. Caldwell 1998, p. 85.
  15. Prien et al. 2012, p. 56.
  16. Prien 1995, pp. 2328–2329, 2370.
  17. Matthews & Foreman 2015, pp. 772–773.
  18. Prien et al. 2000b, p. 208.
  19. Caldwell 1996, p. 31.
  20. Caldwell 1996, p. 35.
  21. Prien et al. 2002, p. 290.
  22. Caldwell 1996, p. 64.
  23. Prien et al. 2002, p. 291.
  24. Caldwell 1996, p. 75.
  25. Caldwell 1996, p. 65.
  26. Prien & Rodeike 1994, p. 633.
  27. Patzwall 2008, p. 138.
  28. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 285.
  29. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 296.
  30. Scherzer 2007, p. 515.

Bibliography
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  • Braatz, Kurt (2005). Gott oder ein Flugzeug – Leben und Sterben des Jagdfliegers Günther Lützow [God or an Airplane – Life and Death of Fighter Pilot Günther Lützow] (in German). Moosburg, Germany: NeunundzwanzigSechs Verlag. ISBN 978-3-9807935-6-8.
  • Caldwell, Donald L. (1996). The JG 26 War Diary: Volume One 1939–1942. London, UK: Grubstreet. ISBN 978-1-898697-52-7.
  • Caldwell, Donald L. (1998). The JG 26 War Diary: Volume Two 1943–1945. London: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-898697-86-2.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (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.
  • Forsyth, Robert (2011). Aces of the Legion Condor. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-347-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Forsyth, Robert (2017). Jagdgeschwader 1 'Oesau' Aces 1939-45. Aircraft of the Aces 134. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-595-1.
  • Matthews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2015). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 2 G–L. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-19-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • 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.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
  • Patzwall, Klaus D. (2008). Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg [The Honor Goblet for Outstanding Achievement in the Air War] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-08-3.
  • Prien, Jochen; Rodeike, Peter (1994). Jagdgeschwader 1 und 11: Einsatz in der Reichsverteidigung von 1939 bis 1945: Teil 1, 1939–1943 [Jagdgeschwader 1 and 11: Operations in the Defense of the Reich from 1939 to 1945] (in German). I 1939–1943. Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-21-2.
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Military offices
Preceded by
Oberstleutnant Karl-Gottfried Nordmann		 Commander of Jagdgeschwader 51 Mölders
1 April 1944 – 31 March 1945		 Succeeded by
Major Heinz Lange
Preceded by
Major Siegfried Freytag		 Commander of Jagdgeschwader 77 Herz AS
1 April 1945 – May, 1945		 Succeeded by
none
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