Bernhard Jope

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Bernhard Jope (center), 1941

Bernhard Jope (born May 10, 1914 in Leipzig , † July 31, 1995 in Königstein im Taunus ) was a German air force officer and fighter pilot in World War II .

Life

Jope studied at the Technical University in Gdańsk before he began training as a pilot at the German Air Sports Association .

On April 1, 1934, he joined the Navy as an officer candidate and was trained at the Navy School in Flensburg-Mürwik. In 1935 he switched to the newly formed Air Force and continued his training as an officer at the Air War School in Berlin-Gatow. On April 1, 1937, he was promoted to lieutenant and at the same time transferred to the II. Group of Kampfgeschwader 253 (later Kampfgeschwader 4 ). After he became first lieutenant on June 1, 1938, he fought with the Condor Legion in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the right-wing putschists under General Francisco Franco from January 1939 . On July 1, 1939, he took over the position of technical officer with Kampfgeschwader 76 , and later with Kampfgeschwader 28 .

In June 1940 he switched to the I. Group of Kampfgeschwader 40 as a technical officer . From October 24th he flew a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 in the 2nd season. On October 26, 1940, he and his crew managed to damage the large troop transport Empress of Britain with bombs so badly that it was sunk by U 32 on the same day . For this successful mission he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on December 30, 1940. After he was appointed captain on February 1, 1941, he took over the leadership of the 2nd squadron of Kampfgeschwader 40 as squadron captain. On November 30, 1942, he moved to the Rechlin test site to take part in tests of the Heinkel He 177 . After that, from January 20, 1943, he worked in the Reich Aviation Ministry before joining Kampfgeschwader 100 on May 24, 1943 . There he took over as group commander first the IV., But later from July the III. Group. There he received his promotion to major on August 1, before becoming a squadron commodore of Kampfgeschwader 100 on September 10. After further enemy flights, he was awarded the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on March 24, 1944. On October 17, 1944, he again took over the combat squadron 30 as a squad commodore . This was followed by a position on the staff of IX from November 1, 1944. Air Corps. After his promotion to lieutenant colonel on January 1, 1945, he took over duties in the staff of the Reich Air Fleet from March 1945 until the end of the war.

After the war and subsequent imprisonment, Jope worked as a pilot for Lufthansa until his retirement. Jope passed away on July 31, 1995 in Königstein im Taunus.

Awards

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey: Air Force Officer Career Summaries, Section G – K. (PDF) (No longer available online.) 2016, pp. 460–461 , archived from the original on December 22, 2016 ; accessed on February 7, 2017 (English).
  2. ↑ 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. 423.
personal data
SURNAME Jope, Bernhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German air force officer and fighter pilot
DATE OF BIRTH May 10, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH July 31, 1995
Place of death Königstein im Taunus