Walter Wolfrum

Walter Wolfrum (* 23. May 1923 in Schmölz in Kronach / Oberfranken ; † 26. August 2010 in Schwabach ) was in World War II fighter pilot , an officer in the German Air Force and after the war entrepreneur and one of Germany's most famous stunt pilot .

Life

As a 19-year-old lieutenant, Walter Wolfrum was assigned to the 5th Squadron of Jagdgeschwader 52 on the Eastern Front in February 1943 . He achieved his first aerial victory on his 62nd enemy flight on May 25, 1943. On May 11, 1944, he was appointed squadron commander of the 1./JG 52. He achieved his 100th aerial victory on June 1, 1944. On July 16, 1944 Wolfrum defeated ten Soviet fighters again, but was then seriously wounded in his Bf 109 G-6. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to him on July 27th after 126 victories in the air.

In February 1945 he returned to the Eastern Front for Jagdgeschwader 52. At the end of the war, Walter Wolfrum, now in the rank of first lieutenant , and other members of JG 52 were taken prisoner by the US , but were handed over to Soviet troops and placed in a Soviet prisoner-of-war camp in Neu-Bistriz ( Moravia ). As early as July 1945 he was released from captivity as a wounded man.

In 1950 Wolfrum became a member of a British aero club and one of the most famous German aerobatic pilots. He also joined the Schwabach Aviation Association and built a Jodel D11a there with three friends from 1952–1956 . Wolfrum became German master of aerobatics in 1962, and in 1961, 1963, 1964 and 1966 he took second place. After he stopped doing aerobatics himself, he was a referee and German national coach.

Awards

Pilot badge on February 25, 1942

Black Wound Badge (1939) on February 25, 1942

Front flight clasp for hunters in gold on July 22, 1943

Iron Cross (1939) 2nd class on July 28, 1943

Iron Cross (1939) 1st Class on September 22, 1943

Trophy of honor for special achievement in the air war on March 20, 1944

Wound Badge (1939) in silver on April 25, 1944

German cross in gold on May 18, 1944

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on July 27, 1944

statistics

424 enemy flights

137 aerial victories on the Eastern Front
- and 16 attack aircraft of the type Il-2 Shturmowik

1 gunboat sunk

4 × wounded

12 emergency landings after bullet damage

literature

Walter Wolfrum: Unknown duty - My memories as a fighter and stunt pilot 1923–2009 . Ed .: Peter Cronauer. Twenty nine six, Moosburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-9811615-4-0 .

Web links

Walter Wolfrum at the traditional Jagdgeschwader 52 association

Individual evidence

↑ http://www.neunundzwanzigsechs.de/main.php
^ Carson, Annette (1986). Flight fantastic: the illustrated history of aerobatics - A Foulis aviation book. Sparkford , Near Yeovil, Somerset, England: Newbury Park, Calif., USA: Haynes. ISBN 978-0-85429-490-9 . P. 212.
↑ Walter Wolfrum on the page of the twenty-nine six publishing house
↑ ^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. 797.

personal data
SURNAME	Wolfrum, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German air force officer in World War II and stunt pilot
DATE OF BIRTH	May 23, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH	Schmölz near Kronach, Upper Franconia
DATE OF DEATH	August 26, 2010
Place of death	Schwabach

[1] ttp://www.neunundzwanzigsechs.de/main.php

[2] Carson, Annette (1986). Flight fantastic: the illustrated history of aerobatics - A Foulis aviation book. Sparkford , Near Yeovil, Somerset, England: Newbury Park, Calif., USA: Haynes. ISBN 978-0-85429-490-9 . P. 212.

[3] Walter Wolfrum on the page of the twenty-nine six publishing house

[scherzer-4] 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. 797.