Josef Zwernemann


Josef Zwernemann was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II and a fighter ace credited with 126 enemy aircraft shot down in over 600 combat missions. The majority of his victories were claimed on the Eastern Front, but he also claimed nine victories over the Western Front during the Battle of Britain and in Defense of the Reich.

Early life and career

Zwernemann was born on 26 March 1916 in Kirchworbis in the Province of Thuringia. He was the son of a cordwainer who later worked as a miner. Following graduation from school, Zwernemann worked as a clerk in the metal industry. Zwernemann joined the military service of the Kriegsmarine on 1 October 1935 with the 2nd department of the standing ship division of the Baltic Sea in Stralsund. On 2 January 1936, he transferred to the Luftwaffe where he was assigned to the Fliegerhorstkompanie in Holtenau.

World War II

World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. Zwernemanns' service with 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 began on 1 March 1940 and participated in the Battle of France. He claimed his first aerial victory over a Supermarine Spitfire in July 1940. In May 1941 he fought in the Battle of Crete.
With the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, his tally increased, and he became one of the most successful pilots of his Jagdgruppe. By the end of 1941 his score stood at twenty and he was awarded Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe on 12 December 1941. In May 1942 the number of victories had increased to thirty and he was honored with the German Cross in Gold on 25 May 1942. The Oberfeldwebel received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for 57 victories on 23 June 1942. In the month of September 1942 he claimed over thirty victories. On 1 October 1942 claimed four victories increasing his score to 103, for which he received the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross. He was the 26th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. He was promoted to Leutnant in the spring of 1943. One of Zwernemanns' wingmen and students was history's top-scoring ace Erich Hartmann.
While serving with 9./JG 52, Zwernemann claimed his 113th victory on 15 April 1943 and victory 117 on 7 May 1943.
One of his victories on 15 April 1943 was Starshiy Leytenant Dmitriy Glinka, who had already been recommended to be appointed a Hero of the Soviet Union. At the end of May 1943 he was posted to the fighter pilot training school, Ergänzungsgruppe Ost. He returned to combat service in the fall of 1943, this time serving with 3./Jagdgeschwader 77 in Italy.

Defense of the Reich and death

In November 1943, Zwernemann was transferred to Defense of the Reich duties in Germany. On 15 December 1943, he was posted to 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 11 which at the time was based at Husum airfield. There, he initially served as acting Staffelführer, representing Hauptmann Siegfried Simsch, before officially being appointed Staffelkapitän of 1. Staffel on 8 February 1944.
Zwernemann claimed his first aerial victory in this theater of operations on 10 February 1944. That day, the United States Army Air Forces targeted Braunschweig with 169 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers from the 3rd Bombardment Division. The primary objective were the :de:Luther-Werke|Luther-Werke, a mechanical engineering company, and the repair facilities at Waggum. The bombers were escorted by 466 fighter aircraft. Zwernemann claimed the destruction of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter that day. In total, the Luftwaffe claimed 51 aerial victories, including 32 four-engine bombers while the USAAF reported the loss of 30 four-engine bombers and eleven escort fighters.
On 8 April 1944, the Eighth Air Force again targeted Braunschweig as well as various Luftwaffe airfields in northwestern Germany and the Netherlands. In total the USAAF 664 four-engine bombers, escorted by 780 fighters, including 206 North American P-51 Mustangs, were intercepted by 20 Luftwaffe fighter groups. In this encounter, the Luftwaffe claimed 87 aerial victories, including 65 four-engine bombers. This figure includes a B-24 bomber and a P-51 fighter claimed shot down by Zwernemann taking his total to 126 aerial victories. Following this encounter, the USAAF reported the loss of 36 four-engine bombers and 25 escort fighters and claimed at least 158 Luftwaffe aircraft shot down plus further 55 destroyed on the ground. In total the Luftwaffe lost 78 aircraft destroyed, 42 pilots killed in action plus further 13 wounded. Among those pilots killed in action was Zwernemann who was shot down in his Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-7/R6 near Gardelegen, Altmark. His comrades, including Oberleutnant Fritz Engau from 2. Staffel, reported that Zwernemann had bailed out but was shot in his parachute by a P-51 pilot.
Zwernemann was given a military funeral and buried at the cemetery in Kirchworbis on 11 April 1944. His grave was ordered leveled by the authorities of East Germany in 1988. Posthumously, Zwernemann had been promoted to Hauptmann, his rank age backdated to 1 April 1944.

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 123 aerial victory claims. This figure includes 116 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and seven over the Western Allies, including five four-engined bombers.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference, for example "PQ 49214". 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

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Citations