Erbo Count von Kageneck

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Erbo Graf von Kageneck, 1941

Erbo Graf von Kageneck (born April 2, 1918 in Bonn , † January 12, 1942 in Naples , Italy) was a German fighter pilot in World War II .

family

Erbo came from the noble Kageneck family . He was the fourth of six children (siblings: Clemens-Heinrich (1913–2005), Franz-Joseph (1915–1941), Fritz-Leo (1916–1992), August (1922–2004), Elisabeth (* 1925)) of the later Prussian major general and wing adjutant Karl Graf von Kageneck and his wife Maria, née Freiin von Schorlemer. She was a daughter of the former Minister of Agriculture Clemens Freiherr von Schorlemer-Lieser . His eldest brother Clemens-Heinrich was a captain of an armored force during World War II and, like Erbo, was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (1943) and the Oak Leaves Knight's Cross (1944). His brother Franz Joseph was married to the former Bavarian Princess Elisabeth Maria (daughter of Alfonso of Bavaria ). He was killed at the age of 26 on December 29, 1941 near Schitinkowo, two weeks before Erbo. His younger brother August became a journalist after the war.

Life

After attending primary school for four years in Lieser on the Middle Moselle , switching to the Aloisius College in Bonn and passing his Abitur there , Kageneck joined the Air Force as a flag junior in 1936 . There he was promoted to lieutenant on November 8, 1939 . As a pilot he was transferred to the 1st group of Jagdgeschwader 1, with which he took part in the attack on Poland . On May 12, 1940, he won his first aerial victory over a Blenheim bomber in the attack on the Netherlands . He won a total of four aerial victories over France and a further 13 over England . On July 18, 1940, he became the squadron captain of the 9th squadron of the 27th Fighter Wing . From July to mid-October 1941 he was deployed on the Eastern Front, where he won another 48 victories. On October 1, 1941, he was promoted to lieutenant . In December 1941 he was transferred to North Africa with his squadron . Here he achieved two more aerial victories before he was shot in the stomach over Agedabia on December 24, 1941 . His opponent in this aerial combat was Clive Caldwell, the most successful Australian fighter pilot of World War II with 28 kills .

First, Kageneck was treated in an Athens hospital. On January 12, 1942, at the age of 23, he died of serious wounds on the flight in Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's personal Ju 52 from Athens to Naples .

He achieved a total of 67 aerial victories. Posthumously he was promoted to captain .

Awards

See also

literature

  • Walter A. Musciano: Messerschmitt Aces. Arco, New York 1982, ISBN 0-668-04887-5 .
  • Mike Spick: Air Force Fighter Aces. The Jagdflieger and their Combat Tactics and Techniques. Greenhill Books, London 1996, ISBN 1-85367-255-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Franz Schmitt: Chronicle Weindorf Lieser. Paulinus Druckerei, Trier 1988, p. 540.
  2. ↑ Musciano, Aces p. 34
  3. ↑ Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 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. 282.
personal data
SURNAME Kageneck, Erbo Count of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German air force officer
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Bonn
DATE OF DEATH January 12, 1942
Place of death over the Mediterranean