Max-Hellmuth Ostermann

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Max-Hellmuth Ostermann (born December 11, 1917 in Hamburg , Germany , † August 9, 1942 west of Amossowo , Russia ) was a German Air Force officer and fighter pilot in World War II .

Life

Ostermann joined the Air Force as a flag junior in 1937 , where he was promoted to lieutenant before the war began . He flew his first combat missions with a Messerschmitt Bf 110 of Destroyer Squadron 1 during the attack on Poland .

In March 1940 he was transferred to the 1st squadron of Jagdgeschwader 21 and scored his first aerial victory against a French Morane-Saulnier MS.406 on May 20, 1940 . Six days later his second victory against a French Curtiss P-40 followed . The I. Group of the squadron, to which Ostermann's squadron belonged, was on June 15, 1940 in III. Group of Jagdgeschwader 54 renamed. During the Battle of Britain he succeeded in shooting down five British Supermarine Spitfires and one Hawker Hurricane . On the first day of the Balkan campaign he achieved his last aerial victory for the time being with the shooting down of a Yugoslav Messerschmitt Bf 109E over Belgrade .

With the beginning of Operation Barbarossa , he was deployed with his fighter squadron in the area of Army Group North , where his shooting figures increased rapidly. During this time, Ostermann also developed the idea of hunting far away in the enemy hinterland , for which he later became known and became an expert in cornering combat. On September 4, 1941 he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his 29th confirmed aerial victory and was promoted to first lieutenant . On February 1, 1942, Ostermann scored his 60th kill and was awarded the Knight's Cross with the Oak Leaves . At the same time he was appointed squadron captain of the 8th squadron of Jagdgeschwader 54 . On May 12, 1942, he achieved his 100th victory in the air, but was shot down with his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 himself and got out of the parachute seriously wounded. After an emergency operation in a field hospital, he was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and the Wound Badge in black five days later for his achievements . At the beginning of August 1942, Ostermann returned to his unit as a squadron captain and shot down the 101st enemy aircraft on August 8 with his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2.

Just one day later, Ostermann attacked a superior force of Soviet fighters north of Velikiye Luki , scored his 102nd aerial victory, was then shot down west of Amossowo (near Lake Ilmen ) and was killed in the process.

Awards

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 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. 579.
personal data
SURNAME Ostermann, Max-Hellmuth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Air Force officer and pilot in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH December 11, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH August 9, 1942
Place of death west of Amossowo