Franz Woidich


Franz-Walter Woidich was a Luftwaffe flying ace of World War II. Wernitz was credited with 110 aerial victories claimed in roughly 1000 combat missions. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.

Career

Woidich was born on 2 January 1921 in Znaim, present-day Znojmo in the Czech Republic, at the time in the German-speaking region of southern Moravia of the First Czechoslovak Republic. Oberfähnrich Woidich joined the 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 27 on 11 July 1941, then stationed in North Africa. He was credited with two aerial victories out of four claims filed in the North African theater of operations. The first claim was made on 22 November 1941 over a Royal Australian Air Force Curtiss P-40 during the Siege of Tobruk. On 12 February 1942, Woidich engaged in combat with Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk fighters from No. 73 and No. 274 Squadron from the Royal Air Force in the vicinity of Tobruk on a Junkers Ju 87 dive-bomber escort mission. In this aerial encounter, he claimed a P-40 shot down southwest of Fort Acroma. On 15 March 1942, Woidich claimed a Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk shot down in combat with No. 450 Squadron RAAF, No. 260 Squadron RAF and 2 Squadron SAAF. The combat occurred southeast of Ain el Gazala.

Eastern Front

He was transferred to the 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 which fought on the Eastern Front on 1 April 1942. Here he claimed seven aerial victories by the end of 1942. When he took command of the 3./JG 52 on 11 June 1943 his score had increased to 16 aerial victories. On 13 July 1943 during the Battle of Kursk, Woidich, accompanied by his wingman Leutnant Franz Schall, claimed two Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft shot down. His score of enemy aircraft shot down had increased to 56 by the end of 1943. He had claimed four aircraft shot down on both 7 and 13 July 1943. He was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 11 June 1944 following his 80th aerial victory. A noteworthy achievement was made on 11 January 1944 when he claimed his 57th to 60th aerial victory. He became an "ace-in-a-day" on 17 January 1944 when he shot down his 62nd to 66th enemy aircraft. He again claimed four aircraft shot down on 16 April 1944 for victories 72 to 75. His most successful month was July 1944 with 29 aircraft shot down. In July 1944, Woidich was credited with his 100th aerial victory. He was the 84th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark.
in Berlin-Gatow
Woidich was transferred to Ergänzungsstaffel of Jagdgeschwader 400 for conversion training to the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket powered aircraft on 11 August 1944. As a Staffelkapitän of the 6./JG 400 he claimed one of the very rare aerial victories while flying the Me 163 rocket fighter on 22 April 1945.
After World War II in 1953, Ing.-grad. Woidich together with Dipl.-Ing. Karl Thress opened the Ingenieurbüro Woidich'', an automotive technical engineering bureau, in Mainz-Kastel. Woidich's son, Dipl.-Bw. Gerd Woidich, joined the firm in 1981.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Spick, Woidich was credited with 110 aerial victories claimed in approximately 1,000 combat missions. Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 82 aerial victory claims, plus thirty further unconfirmed claims. This figure of confirmed claims includes 78 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and three on the Western Front, including one four-engined bomber flying the Me 163 rocket fighter.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference, for example "PQ 82191". 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