Eduard Neumann (fighter pilot)

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Eduard "Edu" Neumann (born June 5, 1911 in Molodija , Austria-Hungary ; † August 9, 2004 ) was a German fighter pilot in World War II , most recently with the rank of colonel . He was one of the most famous fighter pilots and squadron commanders of the German Air Force in the German Reich from 1933 to 1945 .

Life

Eduard Neumann was born in Molodija in Bukovina . He lost his parents very early and was raised by his grandmother. After the First World War, his grandmother's family moved to Germany . In 1928 he began studying engineering in Berlin. He was interested in aviation and in 1929 became a member of Akaflieg Berlin . In 1934 he joined the air force of the German armed forces , which at that time was still under construction. As a member of the Condor Legion , an initially secret and covert air force unit of the Wehrmacht, he participated on the side of the putschists under Francisco Franco in the Spanish civil war against the defenders of the Spanish Republic . He returned to Germany as a first lieutenant. When the Second World War broke out, he was squadron captain of the 4th squadron of the 26th fighter squadron. In early 1940, he was transferred to the 27th squadron as a squadron adjutant. On July 21, 1940, he took over the 1st group of the squadron (I / JG 27) as group commander. After a brief deployment in the Balkan campaign in Yugoslavia, the group was deployed on April 18, 1941 in the North Africa campaign .

From September 1941, the Fighter Wing 27, previously equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 109-E fighter aircraft, was converted to the new Bf 109-F ; Both types of fighter were flown by Neumann in Africa. On June 8, 1942, he was promoted to major. Two days later, on June 10, 1942, he took over Jagdgeschwader 27 as commander. He replaced Major Bernhard Woldenga , who was appointed lieutenant colonel and went to Romania as Balkan fighter pilot . On April 22, 1943 Neumann was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Gustav Rödel and transferred to the General of the Fighter Pilot's staff.

Towards the end of the war Neumann took part in the “ mutiny of the fighter pilots ”, in which some fighter pilots wanted to depose the Commander in Chief of the Air Force Hermann Göring . Together with the general of the fighter pilots , Adolf Galland , and other well-known fighter pilots such as Günther Lützow , Johannes Steinhoff and Johannes Trautloft , he wanted to achieve the replacement of Göring by Robert Ritter von Greim . The revolt failed due to a lack of determination and the lack of support in the air force. The background to this was the complete loss of confidence in the leadership of the Third Reich in the fighter pilots who were given all the privileges at the beginning of the war and who - due to the quantitative and qualitative superiority of the Allied air forces - had been unable to do anything against the Allied bombing raids . In addition, the fighter pilots had lost the power struggle within the Air Force for the use of the Me 262 as a fighter or "lightning bomber".

He achieved 13 aerial victories. Two of them were in service with the Condor Legion.

After the war, he founded a company for the construction of hoists in Munich . In 1954 he and Galland took second place with a Piaggio P 149 at the International Flight Week in Italy.

In 1956/57 he worked as a technical advisor for the war film “ The Star of Africa ”.

reception

Eduard Neumann was one of the most famous squadron commanders of the German Air Force in the Wehrmacht's Africa campaign . Both his leadership style and Nazi propaganda contributed to this. The pilots who report to him included the highly decorated fighter pilots Hans-Joachim Marseille and Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt . A reconstruction of Neumann's command post , which consisted of a former circus car and was called "Neumann's Colorful Stage", is now in the Aviation Museum Laatzen-Hanover .

Neumann's fame as a fighter pilot continued into the post-war period . For example , the then Bunte Münchner Frankfurter Illustrierte , published by the German Burda Verlag , reported in 1964 on "six famous fighter pilots from three nations", including Eduard Neumann. Neumann's wartime experiences were included in several books about the Second World War, such as the German writer and non-fiction author Will Berthold in his 1981 " factual novel " The Victory Who Was Going to the Dogs. The air war 1939–1945 .

In addition, as a result of his war activities and his rank, Neumann is also mentioned in several non-fiction books about the Second World War and in particular about the Africa campaign.

Trivia

After an engine failure with the Udet Flamingo of the Berliner Akaflieg in banners in preparation for the Reichstag elections in 1933 , the attempted emergency landing from a height of 300 meters ended in a port crane jib in Berlin's northern port. This earned Neumann the nickname 'Kran-Ede'.

literature

  • John Weal: Jagdgeschwader 27 "Africa". Osprey Publishing, London 2003, ISBN 1-84176-538-4 , pp. 27, 30, 35, 55, 66, 70, 78, 80–81, 87, 92, 127 (English, online in Google Book Search) .
  • Jochen Prien u. a .: The fighter pilot associations of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945. Part 2., The "Sitzkrieg". 1.9.1939 to 9.5.1940. Verlag Struve, Eutin 2000, ISBN 3-923457-59-6 , pp. 189, 203, 211.
  • Jerry Scutts: BF 109 Aces of North Africa and the Mediterranean. Osprey Publishing, London 1995, ISBN 1-85532-448-2 , pp. 4, 8, 38, 70, 75 ff, 89 (English, online at Google Books).
  • Hans Ring, Werner Girbig: Jagdgeschwader 27. The documentation about the use on all fronts 1939-1945. 8th edition. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-87943-215-5 , pp. 50, 80, 249 ff, 334.
  • Author collective under the direction of Wolfgang Schumann u. a .: Germany in World War II. Part 6: The smashing of Hitler's fascism and the liberation of the German people (June 1944 to May 8, 1945). Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag, Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-7609-0574-9 , p. 572 ff.
  • Walter A. Musciano: Messerschmitt aces. Arco Publishing, New York City 1982, ISBN 0-668-04887-5 , pp. 111-112 ff (English, online at Google Books).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Walter A. Musciano: Messerschmitt aces. Arco Publishing, New York City 1982, ISBN 0-668-04887-5 , pp. 111-112 ff. (English, online at Google Books ).
  2. ↑ a b Cf. John Weal: Jagdgeschwader 27 "Africa". Osprey Publishing, London 2003, ISBN 1-84176-538-4 , pp. 27, 30, 35, 55, 66, 70, 78, 80–81, 87, 92, 127 (English, online in Google Book Search) .
  3. ^ Author collective under the direction of Wolfgang Schumann u. a .: Germany in World War II. Part 6: The smashing of Hitler's fascism and the liberation of the German people (June 1944 to May 8, 1945). Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag, Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-7609-0574-9 , p. 572 ff.
  4. ↑ Hans Joachim Wefeld : Those flew in front of us ... Ed .: Academic Fliegergruppe Berlin. Berlin 1999, p. 109 .
  5. ↑ See film leader
  6. ↑ See information about a report ( online ) in the Illustrierte Bunte Münchner Frankfurter Illustrierte in 1964 on Google Books .
  7. ↑ Will Berthold : The victory that went to the dogs. The air war 1939–1945. Hestia-Verlag, Bayreuth 1981, ISBN 3-7770-0216-X , p. 114 ff.
  8. ↑ Eduard Neumann: Crane Landing North Harbor Berlin March 4, 1933 . In: Akademische Fliegergruppe Berlin (Ed.): Annual Report 1989/90 . Berlin 1990, p. 45-48 .
personal data
SURNAME Neumann, Eduard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Neumann, Edu (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German fighter pilot, most recently colonel
DATE OF BIRTH June 5, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Molodija , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH August 9, 2004