Wilhelm Moritz (Luftwaffe officer)

Wilhelm Moritz (29 June 1913 – 2010) was a Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. During his career Wilhelm Moritz was credited with 44 victories in 500+ missions.

Wilhelm Moritz
Born	29 June 1913 Altona
Died	2010 (aged 96 or 97) Ontario, Canada
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Army (1933–35) Luftwaffe (1935–45)
Years of service	1933–45
Rank	Major (major)
Unit	ZG 1, JG 77, JG 1, JG 51, JG 3, JG 4
Commands held	11./JG 1, 12./JG 51, IV./JG 3 II./JG 4
Battles/wars	See battles World War II Invasion of Poland Eastern Front Defense of the Reich
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Career

Moritz was born on 29 June 1913 in Altona, a borough of Hamburg in the German Empire.[1]

In mid-1940, Moritz was posted to the II. Gruppe (2nd group) of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) which at the time was based in Norway and commanded by Hauptmann Karl Hentschel.[1][2] There, he was assigned to the 4. Staffel (4th squadron) headed by Hauptmann Helmut Henz which was based at Trondheim-Værnes. Moritz claimed his first aerial victory on 6 July 1940 when he shot down a Royal Air Force (RAF) Bristol Blenheim bomber west of Stavanger[3] He shot down another RAF Blenheim bomber on 19 August followed by a Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber on 26 October.[4] In November 1940, Moritz succeeded Hauptmann Theodor Cammann as Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 6. Staffel of JG 77.[2] On 10 November, II. Gruppe was withdrawn from Norway and began relocation to France.[5] In France, the Gruppe was based at Brest-Süd Airfield, also known as Brest Guipavas Airfield, where they patrolled the French Atlantic coast.[6] In January 1941, Moritz was posted to the Jagdfliegerschule 4, the fighter pilot school at Fürth Airfield.[7]

In March 1942, IV. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1–1st Fighter Wing) was re-designated and became the III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 5 (JG 5—5th Fighter Wing). In consequence, Hauptmann Fritz Losigkeit was charged with the creation of a new IV. Gruppe which was initially based at Werneuchen near Berlin.[8] Oberleutnant Friedrich Eberle headed 10. Staffel which had already served as 3. Staffel of Jagdgruppe Losigkeit. The Einsatzstaffel of Jagdfliegerschule 4 under Moritz formed 11. Staffel on 3 April. Oberleutnant Franz Eisenach initially led 12. Staffel created from some pilots of the former IV. Gruppe. Command of 12. Staffel then passed on to Oberleutnant Heinz Stöcker.[9] On 10 Sptember, Moritz was transferred to the Gruppenstab (headquarters unit) of IV. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing). He was replaced by Oberleutnant Rainer Framm as commander of 11. Staffel of JG 1.[10]

Eastern Front

At the time of his posting to JG 51, IV. Gruppe was based at Novodugino, north of Vyazma on the Eastern Front, and fighting in the Battle of Rzhev.[11] The commander of the Gruppe was Hauptmann Johann Knauth.[12] In October, Moritz was given command of 12. Staffel of JG 51. He succeeded Oberleutnant Egon Falkensamer who was transferred.[13]

Defense of the Reich

On 15 April 1944, Generalmajor Adolf Galland, at the time the General der Jagdflieger (General of Fighters), visited IV. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing) at the airfield in Salzwedel. At the time, Moritz served with Gruppenstab of IV. Gruppe. Galland announced that the IV. Gruppe would be converted to a Sturmgruppe (assault group), the first of such units, as a means to combat the bomber formations of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). Similar to the experimental Sturmstaffel 1 (1st Assault Squadron) of JG 3, the Gruppe was equipped with the heavily armored variant of the Focke Wulf Fw 190 A series. Every pilot of the Gruppe was asked to sign a contract, declaring that they would commit themselves to pressing attacks on the bombers to point-blank range, and that aerial ramming should be considered. Three days later, Moritz was officially appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of the IV. Sturmgruppe of JG 3. He replaced Hauptmann Heinz Lang, who had temporarily led the Gruppe after its former commander, Major Friedrich-Karl Müller was appointed Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) on 11 April.[14][15]

Focke Wulf Fw 190 A-8/R8 of IV.(Sturm)/JG 3 "Udet", flown by Hauptmann Moritz

Moritz claimed his first aerial victory in Defense of the Reich on 22 April when 803 bombers of the USAAF Eighth Air Force targeted various German transportation targets in western Germany, in particular the railroad classification yard in Hamm. IV. Gruppe was scrambled at 18:20 in Salzwedel and engaged Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers from the 2nd Air Division at 19:40 in a 20 minute aerial during which Moritz shot down one of the B-24 bombers.[16] On 29 April, 679 USAAF bombers, escorted by 814 fighters, headed von Berlin to bomb the capital.[17] IV. Gruppe flew two missions to defend against this attack.[18] On the second mission, the Gruppe intercepted the bombers on their return from the target area at 13:20 in the vicinity of Gardelegen. In this encounter, Moritz claimed an Herausschuss (separation shot)—a severely damaged heavy bomber forced to separate from his combat box which was counted as an aerial victory—over a B-24 bomber.[19]

On 7 July 1944, a force of 1,129 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators of the USAAF Eighth Air Force set out from England to bomb aircraft factories in the Leipzig area and the synthetic oil plants at Boehlen, Leuna-Merseburg and Lützkendorf. This formation was intercepted by a German Gefechtsverband (combat formation) consisting of IV. Sturmgruppe of JG 3, led by Hauptmann Moritz, escorted by two Gruppen of Bf 109s from Jagdgeschwader 300 (JG 300—300th Fighter Wing) led by Major Walther Dahl. Dahl and Moritz drove the attack to point-blank range behind the Liberators of the 492d Bombardment Group before opening fire. 492d Bombardment Group was temporarily without fighter cover. Within about a minute the entire squadron of twelve B-24s had been annihilated. The Germans claimed 28 USAAF 2nd Air Division B-24s that day and were credited with at least 21. The majority to the Sturmgruppe attack.[20] This event, also known as the Luftschlacht bei Oschersleben (aerial battle at Oschersleben), earned both Dahl and Moritz a reference in the Wehrmachtbericht, an information bulletin issued by the headquarters of the Wehrmacht, on 8 July 1944.[21]

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 41 aerial victory claims, plus three further unconfirmed claims. This figure includes 28 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and 13 over the Western Allies, including nine four-engined bombers.[22]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 07671". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km²). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size.[23]

Chronicle of aerial victories
This and the ♠ (Ace of spades) indicates those aerial victories which made Moritz an ace-in-a-day, a term which designates a fighter pilot who has shot down five or more airplanes in a single day.   This and the – (dash) indicates unwitnessed aerial victory claims for which Moritz did not receive credit.   This along with the * (asterisk) indicates an Herausschuss (separation shot)—a severely damaged heavy bomber forced to separate from his combat box which was counted as an aerial victory.   This and the ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike, Bock, Matthews and Foreman.
Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location
– 4. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –[24] Norway — 6 April – 10 November 1940
1	6 July 1940	07:01	Blenheim	west of Stavanger[25]	3	26 October 1940	16:52	Beaufort[26]	southwest of Bergen
2	19 August 1940	14:47	Blenheim[27]
– 12. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 –[24] Eastern Front — September 1942
— ?[Note 1]	26 September 1942	—	unknown		— ?[Note 1]	27 September 1942	—	unknown
– Stab IV. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 51 –[24] Eastern Front — October – 8 December 1942
4	30 October 1942	09:35	Il-2	south-southeast of Ssurash[28]	6	8 December 1942	12:45	Il-2	18 km (11 mi) north of Velikiye Luki[29]
5	3 December 1942	13:50	Il-2	25 km (16 mi) southeast of Velikiye Luki[29]	7	8 December 1942	12:50	Il-2	15 km (9.3 mi) north of Velikiye Luki[29]
– 12. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 –[24] Eastern Front — December 1942 – 3 February 1943
8	16 December 1942	10:03	Il-2	PQ 07671[30]	10	17 December 1942	11:47	Il-2	PQ 07594[30] vicinity of Glazunovka
9	17 December 1942	07:48	Il-2	17 km (11 mi) southwest of Velikiye Luki[30]	11	7 January 1943	11:15	Il-2	PQ 07751[30]
– 12. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 –[22] Eastern Front — 4 February – 31 December 1943
12	10 April 1943	12:55	R-Z?[Note 2]	PQ 35 Ost 46773[31] 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Vyazma	22♠	13 July 1943	14:15	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 63252[32] 15 km (9.3 mi) southeast of Zalegoshch
13	8 May 1943	18:10	P-39	PQ 35 Ost 63582[33] 20 km (12 mi) southwest of Maloarkhangelsk	23	15 July 1943	16:40	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 64824[32] 15 km (9.3 mi) southeast of Mtsensk
14	10 May 1943	06:35	La-5	PQ 35 Ost 72131[33] vicinity of Cheremisnowo	24	5 August 1943	17:30	La-5	southeast of Karachev[34]
15	5 July 1943	07:25	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 53883[35] 20 km (12 mi) southwest of Fatezh	25	12 August 1943	17:40	LaGG-3	north of Orvodowka[34]
16	10 July 1943	10:35	MiG-3	PQ 35 Ost 63554[36] 15 km (9.3 mi) west of Maloarkhangelsk	26	16 August 1943	06:15	LaGG-3	east-southeast of Bohodukhiv[37]
17	10 July 1943	10:40	MiG-3	PQ 35 Ost 63514[36] 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Trosna	27	20 August 1943	06:30	Il-2 m.H.[Note 3]	northwest of Ulitschewka[37]
18♠	13 July 1943	11:15	Yak-1	PQ 35 Ost 64883[32] 15 km (9.3 mi) northeast of Zalegoshch	28	27 August 1943	09:12	Il-2 m.H.[Note 3]	southwest of Kotelva[37]
19♠	13 July 1943	13:48	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 63242[32] 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Zalegoshch	29	19 September 1943	08:15	Il-2 m.H.[Note 3]	northwest of Sajzewo[38]
20♠	13 July 1943	13:52	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 63241[32] 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Zalegoshch	30	4 October 1943	10:48	Yak-1	northwest of Klushino[39]
21♠	13 July 1943	14:00	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 63251[32] 15 km (9.3 mi) southeast of Zalegoshch	31	4 October 1943	13:03	Pe-2	southwest of Nowy-Orlik[39]
– Stab IV. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –[40] Defense of the Reich — 18 April – 31 May 1944
32	22 April 1944	19:46	B-24[41]	Westerwald, southeast of Bonn	35	8 May 1944	10:14	B-24*[42]	north of Braunschweig
33	29 April 1944	13:20	B-24*[41]	northwest of Gardelegen	36	13 May 1944	14:16	B-17*[42]	Lake Kummerow
34	8 May 1944	10:07	B-24*[42]	north of Braunschweig	37	13 May 1944	14:24	B-17*[42]	Lake Kummerow
– Stab IV. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –[40] Defense of the Reich — July – December 1944
38	7 July 1944	09:42	B-24*[43]	vicinity of Oschersleben	41?[Note 4]	27 September 1944	—	B-24[44]
39	18 July 1944	10:50	B-17[43]	southeast of Kempten	42?[Note 5]	2 November 1944	—	B-17[45]
40	23 August 1944	12:20	B-24[44]	Mürzzuschlag	43?[Note 6]	28 November 1944	13:52	P-51[40]

Awards

• Flugzeugführerabzeichen
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe
• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
• Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 11 October 1943 as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän[46]
• German Cross in Gold in 1945 as Major in the IV./Jagdgeschwader 3[47]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 18 July 1944 as Major and Gruppenkommandeur of IV./Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet"[48][Note 7]

Notes

1. This unconfirmed claim is not listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock.[28]
2. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed as a Polikarpov R-5.[24]
3. The "m.H." refers to an Ilyushin Il-2 with rear gunner (mit Heckschütze).
4. According to Matthews and Foreman this claim is unconfirmed.[40]
5. This claim is not listed by Matthews and Foreman.[40]
6. This claim is not listed by Prien.[45]
7. According to Scherzer as Gruppenkommandeur of the IV.(Sturm)/Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet".[49]

References

Citations

1. Obermaier 1989, p. 170.
2. Prien et al. 2000, p. 16.
3. Prien et al. 2000, pp. 13, 16, 23.
4. Prien et al. 2000, pp. 24, 26.
5. Prien et al. 2000, p. 14.
6. Prien et al. 2002, p. 358.
7. Prien et al. 2002, p. 361.
8. Prien & Rodeike 1994, p. 99.
9. Prien & Rodeike 1994, pp. 99, 105.
10. Prien & Rodeike 1994, p. 585.
11. Prien et al. 2006, p. 344.
12. Prien et al. 2006, p. 350.
13. Aders & Held 1993, p. 252.
14. Prien 1996, pp. 100–102.
15. Forsyth 2011, p. 71.
16. Prien 1996, p. 107.
17. Prien 1996, p. 111.
18. Prien 1996, p. 112.
19. Prien 1996, p. 113.
20. Weal 1996, p. 78.
21. Prien 1996, p. 175.
22. Matthews & Foreman 2015, pp. 869–870.
23. Planquadrat.
24. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 869.
25. Prien et al. 2000, p. 23.
26. Prien et al. 2000, p. 26.
27. Prien et al. 2000, p. 24.
28. Prien et al. 2006, p. 356.
29. Prien et al. 2006, p. 357.
30. Prien et al. 2006, p. 358.
31. Prien et al. 2012, p. 147.
32. Prien et al. 2012, p. 151.
33. Prien et al. 2012, p. 148.
34. Prien et al. 2012, p. 152.
35. Prien et al. 2012, p. 149.
36. Prien et al. 2012, p. 150.
37. Prien et al. 2012, p. 153.
38. Prien et al. 2012, p. 154.
39. Prien et al. 2012, p. 155.
40. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 870.
41. Prien 1996, p. 356.
42. Prien 1996, p. 357.
43. Prien 1996, p. 358.
44. Prien 1996, p. 360.
45. Prien 1996, p. 361.
46. Patzwall 2008, p. 148.
47. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 315.
48. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 258.
49. Scherzer 2007, p. 551.

Bibliography

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