Alfred Wehmeyer

Alfred Wehmeyer (born May 21, 1919 in Vienna , † June 1, 1942 southwest of Darna ) was a German Air Force officer , most recently a lieutenant and squadron captain of the 7th squadron of the III. Group of destroyer squadron 26 "Horst Wessel" .

Life

Wehmeyer joined the Wehrmacht in autumn 1938 at the age of nineteen and began his training as an officer candidate in the Mountain Infantry Regiment 100 ( Bad Reichenhall ), which at the time was subordinate to the 1st Mountain Division . However, he switched to the Air Force a little later and received his pilot training there. After that he came as a pilot for III. Group of Destroyer Squadron 26. During the Battle of Britain , Wehmeyer, now in the rank of lieutenant , scored his first five confirmed aerial victories, three Spitfire MK1s and two Hurricane fighters of the Royal Air Force . For this achievement he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross. Then, in December 1940, he was transferred to Italy with the Africa / Mediterranean area of operations , where his squadron was set up from February 1941. Here Wehmeyer himself and his radio operator Willi Wüst were shot down by a British fighter over the open Mediterranean on February 19, 1941, but were still able to make an emergency landing safely with their Messerschmitt Bf 110. After twenty-four hours, both were rescued with gunshot wounds by an Italian distress machine. As a result, both received the wound badge in black. After his recovery, Wehmeyer returned to his squadron. On April 1, 1942, he was promoted to lieutenant . On June 1, 1942, Wehmeyer prevented with his 7th squadron by several daring low-flying attacks a British bypass attempt near Tobruk . During one of these low-flying attacks, Wehmeyer crashed his plane, which was destroyed by an impact fire . Regarding the cause of the crash, there are no more precise indications. In total, Wehmeyer achieved 18 victories on over 200 enemy flights, the last two through night hunting.

Awards

Medal in memory of March 13, 1938 on November 8, 1938
Pilot badge on February 1, 1940
Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st class on August 26, 1940 and September 30, 1940
Black Wound Badge (1939) on February 23, 1941

Trophy of honor for special achievement in the aerial warfare on March 21, 1941

Front flight clasp for hunters in gold on December 18, 1941

Italian Silver Medal of Valor on November 5, 1941

German cross in gold on February 25, 1942

German-Italian war memorial medal on May 20, 1942

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on September 4, 1942 (posthumous)

literature

Ernst Obermaier: The Luftwaffe Knight's Cross Carriers 1939–1945, Volume I, Fighter Pilot, Dieter Hoffmann Verlag 1966, p. 224.
Internationales Militaria-Magazin No. 105 from September / October 2002, pp. 31–45.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 772.

personal data
SURNAME	Wehmeyer, Alfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German air force officer, most recently first lieutenant in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH	May 21, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH	Vienna
DATE OF DEATH	June 1, 1942
Place of death	southwest near Darna , near Tobruk

[Scherzer-1] Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 772.