Horst Ademeit


Horst Ademeit was a German former Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat.

Early life

Ademeit, the son of a Regierungsbaurat, was born on 8 February 1912 in Breslau in the Kingdom of Prussia of the German Empire, present-day Wrocław in western Poland. He studied at the Königsberg Albertina University, a member of the Corps Masovia Königsberg. He then studied chemistry at the Technical University of Berlin and the Technical University of Braunschweig graduating as Diplom Ingenieur. He joined the military service of the Luftwaffe on 1 August 1936.
On 9 December 1938, Ademeit was made an officer cadet of the reserves and received flight training.

World War II

In the spring of 1940, Unteroffizier Ademeit was transferred to 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 and participated in the Battle of Britain. He claimed his first victory on 18 September 1940 shortly afterwards he was shot down over the Channel. He bailed out and was rescued by the Seenotdienst unharmed.
In June 1941, after the attack on the Soviet Union, he accompanied I./JG 54 to the Eastern Front. In quick succession he achieved aerial victories, promotions and awards. On 7 March 1943, Ademeit was appointed Staffelkapitän of 6. Staffel of JG 54, replacing Oberleutnant Hans Beißwenger who was killed in action the day before.
In October 1943, Ademeit was credited with his 100th aerial victory. He was the 61st Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. In the beginning of August 1944, Ademeit was appointed acting Geschwaderkommodore of JG 54.
On 7 August 1944, Ademeit, flying a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-5 pursued a Russian Il-2 Sturmovik ground-attack aircraft eastwards over Russian lines near Dünaburg, however he failed to return from this mission and is considered Missing in action since. Berlin radio announced his loss on 29 September 1944.
Horst Ademeit was credited with 166 victories in over 600 missions over the Eastern Front. He was posthumously promoted to Major.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found documentation for 160 aerial victory claims, all of which confirmed and claimed on the Eastern Front. The authors Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock list six further victories, aerial victories numbered 99–104, which were not documented by Matthews and Foreman, in the timeframe 18 September to 3 October 1943.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference, for example "PQ 2525". 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