Edmund Roßmann

Edmund "Paule" Roßmann (11 January 1918 – 4 April 2005) was a Luftwaffe World War II fighter ace. He was credited with 93 aerial victories achieved in 640 combat missions, among the numerous ground attack missions. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat.[1] He is also noted as being an early mentor of Erich Hartmann, history's leading fighter ace.

Edmund Roßmann
Nickname(s)	"Paule"
Born	11 January 1918 Caaschwitz, Principality of Reuss-Gera
Died	4 April 2005 (aged 87) Krefeld
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Luftwaffe
Rank	Leutnant (second lieutenant)
Unit	JG 52, EJGr Ost
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of France Battle of Britain
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Career

Unteroffizier "Paule" Roßmann was transferred to 7./Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—7th Squadron of the 52nd Fighter Wing) on 1 March 1940 and participated in the Battle of France and Battle of Britain. He was credited with six aerial victories in the western theatre.

War against the Soviet Union

Following its brief deployment in the Balkan Campaign, III. Gruppe was back in Bucharest by mid-June.[2] There, the unit was again subordinated to the Luftwaffenmission Rumänien and reequipped with the new, more powerful Bf 109F-4 model. On 21 June, the Gruppe was ordered to Mizil in preparation of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Its primary objective was to provide fighter protection for the oil fields and refineries at Ploiești.[3] Prior to the invasion, Major Gotthard Handrick was replaced by Major Albert Blumensaat as commander of III. Gruppe. Blumensaat was then replaced by Hauptmann Hubertus von Bonin on 1 October. At the time, von Bonin was still in convalescence so that Hauptmann Franz Höring, the commander of 9. Staffel, was also made the acting Gruppenkommandeur (group commander).[4]

By the end of 1941 he had accumulated 32 aerial victories. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) after 250 combat missions and 49 aerial victories. From March to June 1942, he was posted to Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost as fighter pilot instructor and returned to his Staffel afterwards. Nevertheless, he almost doubled his score by the end of 1942 and claimed his 80th victory on 29 November 1942.

On 9 July 1943, Roßmann attempted to rescue Feldwebel Ernst Lohberg who had crash landed behind enemy lines, approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of Oboyan. Roßmann successfully landed his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 20154—factory number) next to Lohberg's aircraft. At this moment, the Soviet infantry arrived, while Lohberg was shot, Roßmann was taken prisoner of war.[5]

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Spick, Roßmann was credited with 93 aerial victories claimed in approximately 640 combat missions. This figure includes 87 aerial victories on the Eastern Front, and further six victories over the Western Allies.[6] Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 93 aerial victory claims, plus six further unconfirmed claims. All of his confirmed aerialvitories were claimed on the Eastern Front.[7]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 44457". 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.[8]

Chronicle of aerial victories
This and the – (dash) indicates unconfirmed aerial victory claims for which Roßmann did not receive credit.   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
– 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 –[9] Action at the Channel and over England — 26 June – 1 August 1940
— ?[Note 1]	1 July 1940	—	unknown[9]		—	24 July 1940	—	Spitfire	northeast of Margate[10]
—	21 July 1940	—	Swordfish	English Channel[10]	—	25 July 1940	—	Bréguet 690	40 km (25 mi) east of Margate[10]
— ?[Note 1]	21 July 1940	—	unknown	Strait of Dover[9]	— ?[Note 1]	29 July 1940	—	Spitfire	Dover[9]
– 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 –[11] Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941
1	25 June 1941	17:40	DB-3	southeast of Constanța[12]	16	17 September 1941	10:30	I-16	Brovary[13]
2	8 July 1941	15:56?[Note 2]	DB-3	northeast of Mamaia[14]	17	2 October 1941	08:25	I-26 (Yak-1)	east of Poltava[15]
3	8 July 1941	16:00	DB-3	northeast of Mamaia[14]	18	3 October 1941	17:10	R-10 (Seversky)	north of Karjap[15]
4	8 July 1941	16:03	DB-3	northeast of Mamaia[14]	19	4 October 1941	12:10	ground-attack aircraft (Seversky)	south of Covaci[15]
5	4 August 1941	05:55	I-16[14]		20	14 October 1941	16:30	I-26 (Yak-1)[16]
6	4 August 1941	14:35	I-18 (MiG-1)[17]		21	14 October 1941	16:50	I-16[16]
7	7 August 1941	06:15	I-16[17]		22	17 October 1941	07:21	I-26 (Yak-1)[16]
8	7 August 1941	06:40	DB-3[17]		23	24 October 1941	12:45	I-15	Chaplynka[18]
9	11 August 1941	09:29	I-18 (MiG-1)[17]		24	24 October 1941	12:50	I-61 (MiG-3)	Chaplynka[18]
10	26 August 1941	10:40	I-16[13]		25	25 October 1941	11:45	I-16[18]
11	1 September 1941	11:16	I-17 (MiG-1)[13]		26	31 October 1941	15:32	I-61 (MiG-3)[19]
12	7 September 1941	09:25	I-16	Stschastliwaja[13]	27	9 November 1941	11:21	V-11 (Il-2)[19]
13	7 September 1941	09:30	I-17 (MiG-1)[13]		28	16 November 1941	13:31	I-26 (Yak-1)[20]
14	7 September 1941	11:41	DB-3[13]		29	28 November 1941	12:53	I-61 (MiG-3)[20]
15	13 September 1941	12:45?[Note 3]	I-17 (MiG-1)	50 km (31 mi) northwest of Dnepropetrovsk[13] 3 km (1.9 mi) northeast of Dnepropetrovsk	30	2 December 1941	08:10	I-16[20]
– 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 –[21] Eastern Front — 6 December 1941 – 28 April 1942
31	8 December 1941	09:12	I-16[22]		39	17 February 1942	08:02	I-61 (MiG-3)[23]
32	11 December 1941	10:47	V-11 (Il-2)[22]		40	17 February 1942	10:32	I-61 (MiG-3)[23]
33	4 January 1942	13:03	LaGG-3[24]		41	17 February 1942	10:36	I-16[23]
34	5 January 1942	12:00	DB-3[24]		42	18 February 1942	16:09	I-61 (MiG-3)[23]	20 km (12 mi) northeast of Belgorod
35	7 January 1942	09:30	DB-3	5 km (3.1 mi) west of Karankut[24]	43	22 February 1942	15:36	I-61 (MiG-3)[25]
36	15 January 1942	10:25	DB-3	5 km (3.1 mi) west of Karankut[26]	44	16 March 1942	10:31	I-16[25]
37	15 January 1942	14:50	DB-3[26]		45	16 March 1942	11:47	Il-2[25]
38	17 February 1942	07:59	Su-2 (Seversky)[23]
– 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 –[21] Eastern Front — 29 April 1942 – 3 February 1943
46	13 June 1942	16:15	LaGG-3[27]		65	6 September 1942	14:47	LaGG-3	PQ 44457[28] vicinity of Mozdok
47	23 June 1942	16:35	MiG-1[27]		66	6 September 1942	16:50	I-16	PQ 4444[28]
48	23 June 1942	16:37	Hurricane	PQ 70332[27] vicinity of Shevchenkovo	67	7 September 1942	12:05	I-16	PQ 44474[28]
49	21 July 1942	15:20	I-16	PQ 98821[29] vicinity of Rostov	68	8 September 1942	13:50?[Note 4]	LaGG-3	PQ 44472[28] south of Mozdok
50	23 July 1942	07:15	I-16[29]		69	8 September 1942	13:51	LaGG-3	PQ 44443, north of Georgjewsk[28]
51	24 July 1942	06:28	I-16[29]		70	13 September 1942	09:35	LaGG-3	PQ 44362[30]
52	24 July 1942	09:50	LaGG-3[29]		71	19 September 1942	16:38	LaGG-3	PQ 54351[31]
53	23 August 1942	05:35	I-16	PQ 44251[32]	72	29 September 1942	10:40	I-16	PQ 44533, south of Nizhniy Kurp[33]
54	23 August 1942	05:37	I-153?[Note 5]	PQ 44213[32]	73	9 October 1942	09:07	I-16	PQ 44484[33]
55	23 August 1942	16:35	LaGG-3	PQ 44281[32]	74	9 October 1942	13:25	LaGG-3	PQ 44623[33] vicinity of Malgobek
56	24 August 1942	11:45	Il-2?[Note 6]	PQ 44374[32]	75	15 October 1942	09:30	LaGG-3	PQ 44453[33] south of Mozdok
57	26 August 1942	17:23	LaGG-3	PQ 44471[32] south of Mozdok	76	29 October 1942	10:15	LaGG-3	PQ 44551[34] southwest of Daiskoje
58	28 August 1942	14:16	LaGG-3	PQ 44454[35] south of Mozdok	77	29 October 1942	13:35	LaGG-3	PQ 34694[34]
59	30 August 1942	09:57	I-16	PQ 54213[35] vicinity of Volkenskoje	78	6 November 1942	08:15	I-16	PQ 44857[36]
60	30 August 1942	09:59	LaGG-3	PQ 54373[35]	79	6 November 1942	11:34	LaGG-3	PQ 44764[36]
61	30 August 1942	10:01	LaGG-3	PQ 54342[35] vicinity of Beketowka	80	29 November 1942	05:47	R-5	PQ 44793[37]
62	30 August 1942	11:23	LaGG-3	PQ 54371[35] vicinity of Kalinowskaja	81	8 December 1942	09:54	LaGG-3	PQ 44567[37]
63	5 September 1942	11:00?[Note 7]	LaGG-3	PQ 54454[38] vicinity of Wosnessnokaja	82	8 December 1942	10:00	Il-2	PQ 44551[37] west of Elkhotovo
64	6 September 1942	07:35	I-16	PQ 44453[38] south of Mozdok
– 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 –[39] Eastern Front — 3 February – 9 July 1943
83	28 March 1943	05:40	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 86571[40] northwest of Sslaeanskaja	89	5 July 1943	03:55	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 61442[41] 10 km (6.2 mi) north of Belgorod
84	30 April 1943	08:30	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 85173[42] southwest of Krymsk	90	5 July 1943	18:09	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 61652[41] 15 km (9.3 mi) northwest of Vovchansk
85	30 April 1943	08:32	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 85174[42] east of Krymsk	91	5 July 1943	18:12	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 61652[41] 15 km (9.3 mi) northwest of Vovchansk
86	6 May 1943	16:47	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 76693[43] west of Slavyansk-na-Kubani	92	6 July 1943	10:30	Il-2 m.H.[Note 8]	PQ 35 Ost 61652[41] 15 km (9.3 mi) northwest of Vovchansk
87	31 May 1943	09:55	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 75232, north of Krymskaya[44]	93	7 July 1943	04:58	Il-2 m.H.[Note 8]	PQ 35 Ost 61634[45] 15 km (9.3 mi) north of Vovchansk
88	31 May 1943	14:11	Pe-2	PQ 34 Ost 75232, north of Krymskaya[44]

Awards

• Iron Cross 2nd and 1st class
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 17 November 1942 as Unteroffizier and pilot[46][Note 9]
• German Cross in Gold on 22 January 1942 as Feldwebel in the III./Jagdgeschwader 52[48]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 March 1942 as Feldwebel and pilot in the 7./Jagdgeschwader 52[49][50]

Notes

1. This claim is not listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock.[10]
2. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 15:55.[9]
3. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 12:40.[9]
4. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 13:49.[21]
5. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed as a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk.[21]
6. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed as a Seversky Aircraft Company aircraft.[21]
7. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 11:09.[21]
8. The "m.H." refers to an Ilyushin Il-2 with rear gunner (mit Heckschütze).
9. According to Obermaier on 6 November 1941.[47]

References

Citations

1. Spick 1996, pp. 3–4.
2. Weal 2004, p. 56.
3. Prien et al. 2003, p. 53.
4. Prien et al. 2003, p. 65.
5. Prien et al. 2012, p. 497.
6. Spick 1996, p. 234.
7. Matthews & Foreman 2015, pp. 1060–1062.
8. Planquadrat.
9. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 1060.
10. Prien et al. 2002, p. 172.
11. Matthews & Foreman 2015, pp. 1060–1061.
12. Prien et al. 2003, p. 68.
13. Prien et al. 2003, p. 71.
14. Prien et al. 2003, p. 69.
15. Prien et al. 2003, p. 72.
16. Prien et al. 2003, p. 74.
17. Prien et al. 2003, p. 70.
18. Prien et al. 2003, p. 75.
19. Prien et al. 2003, p. 76.
20. Prien et al. 2003, p. 77.
21. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 1061.
22. Prien et al. 2005, p. 153.
23. Prien et al. 2005, p. 156.
24. Prien et al. 2005, p. 154.
25. Prien et al. 2005, p. 157.
26. Prien et al. 2005, p. 155.
27. Prien et al. 2006, p. 549.
28. Prien et al. 2006, p. 557.
29. Prien et al. 2006, p. 551.
30. Prien et al. 2006, p. 558.
31. Prien et al. 2006, p. 559.
32. Prien et al. 2006, p. 554.
33. Prien et al. 2006, p. 561.
34. Prien et al. 2006, p. 562.
35. Prien et al. 2006, p. 555.
36. Prien et al. 2006, p. 563.
37. Prien et al. 2006, p. 564.
38. Prien et al. 2006, p. 556.
39. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 1062.
40. Prien et al. 2012, p. 478.
41. Prien et al. 2012, p. 483.
42. Prien et al. 2012, p. 480.
43. Prien et al. 2012, p. 481.
44. Prien et al. 2012, p. 482.
45. Prien et al. 2012, p. 484.
46. Patzwall 2008, p. 173.
47. Obermaier 1989, p. 189.
48. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 386.
49. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 364.
50. Scherzer 2007, p. 640.

Bibliography

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