Heinz Arnold
Heinz Arnold | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 February 1919 JG 7 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Heinz Arnold (12 February 1919 – 17 April 1945) was a German
fighter ace. He is credited with 49 aerial victories including seven victories claimed flying the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter.[Note 1]
Career
Arnold joined the Luftwaffe in September 1939, training for a technical role with the Kampffliegerschule at Tutow. Arnold began flying training in January 1940 with Flieger Ausbildungs Rgt. 12., before advanced training with Jagdfliegerschule 5 in late 1940. Arnold was then posted to Jagdgeschwader 5 (JG 5—5th Fighter Wing) on the Arctic Front.
On 15 June 1944, Arnold claimed two aerial victories, taking his total to 10.[1] As part of the group expansion from three Staffeln per Gruppe to four Staffeln per Gruppe, Arnold's 7. Staffel was re-designated and became the 10. Staffel of JG 5 on 15 August. At the same time, the Staffel was placed under command of Leutnant Walter Schuck.[2] On 26 September, defending against an attack on Vardø, Arnold claimed three Yakovlev Yak-9 fighters shot down, taking his total to 40 aerial victories.[3]
Flying the Messerschmitt Me 262
Defense of the Reich, making him one of the top jet-aces of the war.[9]
On 3 March 29 Me 262s from Stab and III. Gruppe intercepted
Hannover, Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Near Magdeburg, Me 262s from 10. and 11. Staffel intercepted the bombers of the 2nd Air Division and 3rd Air Division. During this encounter, Arnold claimed a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and an escorting Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter shot down.[8] On 18 March, Wegmann, the commander of 11. Staffel was wounded in combat. In consequence, Leutnant Karl Schnörrer was given command of the Staffel. The next day, Me 262s led by Schnörrer intercepted 374 B-17 bombers of the 3rd Air Division heading for the Carl Zeiss AG optical factories at Jena. On this mission, Arnold claimed a B-17 bomber shot down.[10][11]
Arnold's Me 262 A-1a (Werknummer 500491—factory number) "Yellow 7" was unserviceable at
ground-attack mission in the Thuringian Forest area of Germany.[12] Alternatively, Arnold may have been shot down by First Lieutenant James A. Steiger from the 357th Fighter Group during an attack on a B-17 of the 305th Bombardment Group on a mission to bomb Berlin.[13]
His Me 262 (Werknummer 500491) bearing his personal victory marks is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., USA.[14]
Aerial victory claims
Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces – Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and state that Arnold was credited with 48 aerial victories. This figure includes 41 claims made on the Eastern Front and seven on the Western Front, including five four-engined bombers, flying the Me 262 jet fighter.[15]
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 37 Ost PC-4/8". 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 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.[16]
| Chronicle of aerial victories | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
This and the ♠ (
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 ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike, Balke, Bock, Mombeek, Mathews, and Foreman.
| |||||||||
| Claim | Date | Time | Type | Location | Claim | Date | Time | Type | Location |
| – 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 5 –[15] Eastern Front — 1 January – 15 August 1944 | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 April 1944 | 10:38 | Boston[17] | PQ 37 Ost PC-4/8[18] | 16♠ | 17 June 1944 | 21:29 | P-39[19] | PQ 37 Ost RB-6/6[20] |
| 2 | 23 April 1944 | 10:45 | Boston[17] | PQ 37 Ost PC-7/6[18] north of Rybachy Peninsula |
17♠ | 17 June 1944 | 21:30 | Yak-9[19] | PQ 37 Ost RB-8/1[20] |
| 3 | 11 May 1944 | 03:18 | Il-2[17] | PQ 37 Ost QE-8/1[21] | 18♠ | 17 June 1944 | 21:33 | Boston[19] | PQ 37 Ost RC-4/3[20] |
| 4 | 11 May 1944 | 03:21 | Il-2[22] | PQ 37 Ost RC-9/3[21] | 19♠ | 17 June 1944 | 21:38 | Il-2[19] | PQ 37 Ost RD-9/3[20] |
| 5 | 11 May 1944 | 07:44 | Boston[22] | PQ 37 Ost RC-1/1[21] | 20 | 27 June 1944 | 16:40 | Yak-9[19] | PQ 37 Ost SC-7/4[20] |
| 6 | 25 May 1944 | 21:42 | P-40 | northeast of Berlevåg[21] northeast of Hamningberg[23] |
21 | 27 June 1944 | 16:44 | Yak-9[19] | PQ 37 Ost RB-7/1, northwest of Pummanki[20] |
| 7 | 25 May 1944 | 21:45 | Boston | north-northeast of Berlevåg[21][23] | 22 | 27 June 1944 | 16:45 | Boston[19] | PQ 37 Ost RB-5/4[20] |
| 8 | 25 May 1944 | 21:46 | Boston | north-northeast of Berlevåg[21][23] | 23 | 27 June 1944 | 23:58 | P-39[24] | PQ 37 Ost SB-3/1[25] |
| 9 | 15 June 1944 | 02:34 | Yak-9[26] | PQ 37 Ost RD-6/6[27] | 24♠ | 28 June 1944 | 00:11 | P-39[24] | PQ 37 Ost SU-2/6[25] |
| 10 | 15 June 1944 | 02:48 | Yak-9[26] | PQ 37 Ost RD-8/2[27] | 25♠ | 28 June 1944 | 00:13 | Boston[24] | PQ 37 Ost RC-3/7[25] |
| 11♠ | 17 June 1944 | 07:48 | P-40[26] | PQ 37 Ost PC-8/6[27] | 26♠ | 28 June 1944 | 00:15 | P-39[24] | PQ 37 Ost RC-4/6[25] |
| 12♠ | 17 June 1944 | 07:49 | P-40[26] | PQ 37 Ost PC-6/2[27] | 27♠ | 28 June 1944 | 03:48 | Yak-9[24] | PQ 37 Ost RD-4/7[25] |
| 13♠ | 17 June 1944 | 08:05 | Boston[19] | PQ 37 Ost QC-1/7[20] | 28♠ | 28 June 1944 | 03:49 | P-40[24] | PQ 37 Ost RD-7/7[25] |
| 14♠ | 17 June 1944 | 08:07 | P-39[19] | PQ 37 Ost QC-3/5[20] | 29♠ | 28 June 1944 | 03:51 | Boston[24] | PQ 37 Ost SB-9/2[25] |
| 15♠ | 17 June 1944 | 19:57?[Note 2] | P-39[19] | PQ 37 Ost RB-8/7[20] | 30♠ | 28 June 1944 | 04:01 | Yak-9[24] | PQ 37 Ost RC-9/4[25] |
| – 10. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 5 –[28] Eastern Front — 15 August – 8 November 1944 | |||||||||
| 31 | 15 September 1944 | 07:25 | P-39[29] | PQ 37 Ost RD-8/4[30] | 37♠ | 16 September 1944?[Note 3] | 17:42 | P-40[29] | PQ 37 Ost RD-5/8[30] |
| 32 | 15 September 1944 | 07:32 | P-39[29] | PQ 37 Ost RD-7/6[30] | 38 | 26 September 1944 | 14:36 | Yak-9 | PQ 37 Ost RB-6/2[31] |
| 33♠ | 16 September 1944 | 12:05 | P-39[29] | PQ 37 Ost SA-3/4[30] | 39 | 26 September 1944 | 14:39 | Yak-9 | PQ 37 Ost RC-1/5[31] |
| 34♠ | 16 September 1944 | 12:08 | Il-2[29] | PQ 37 Ost SB-4/1[30] | 40 | 26 September 1944 | 14:43 | Yak-9 | PQ 37 Ost RD-4/4[31] |
| 35♠ | 16 September 1944?[Note 3] | 17:30 | P-40[29] | PQ 37 Ost QA-6/9[30] | 41 | 27 September 1944 | 11:48 | P-39[32] | PQ 37 Ost QA-7/7[31] |
| 36♠ | 16 September 1944?[Note 3] | 17:33 | P-40[29] | PQ 37 Ost QA-7/9[30] | |||||
| – 11. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 7 "Nowotny" –[28] Defense of the Reich — March 1945 | |||||||||
| 42 | 3 March 1945 | —
|
P-47[33] | vicinity of Genthin | 46 | 21 March 1945 | 09:15± | B-17[34] | vicinity of Dresden |
| 43 | 3 March 1945 | —
|
B-17[33] | vicinity of Genthin | 47 | 22 March 1945 | 12:45± | B-17[34] | Cottbus—Bautzen—Dresden |
| 44 | 7 March 1945 | —
|
P-51[33] | vicinity of Wittenberg | 48 | 24 March 1945 | 12:45± | B-17[35] | vicinity of Wittenberg |
| 45 | 19 March 1945 | —
|
B-17[36] | north of Chemnitz | |||||
Notes
References
Citations
- ^ Weal 2016, p. 95.
- ^ Prien et al. 2022, pp. 117, 138.
- ^ Weal 2016, p. 101.
- ^ Morgan & Weal 1998, pp. 35, 94.
- ^ Morgan & Weal 1998, pp. 42–43.
- ^ Forsyth 2008, p. 17.
- ^ Mathews & Foreman 2014, p. 17.
- ^ a b Forsyth 2008, p. 61.
- ^ Morgan & Weal 1998, p. 88.
- ^ Forsyth 2008, pp. 69–70.
- ^ Harvey 2011, p. 327.
- ^ Forsyth 2008, p. 105.
- ^ Heaton & Lewis 2012, pp. 161–162.
- ^ Radinger & Schick 1993, p. 60.
- ^ a b Mathews & Foreman 2014, pp. 17–18.
- ^ Planquadrat.
- ^ a b c Mombeek 2011, p. 282.
- ^ a b Prien et al. 2022, p. 143.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Mombeek 2011, p. 286.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Prien et al. 2022, p. 146.
- ^ a b c d e f Prien et al. 2022, p. 144.
- ^ a b Mombeek 2011, p. 283.
- ^ a b c Mombeek 2011, p. 284.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mombeek 2011, p. 287.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Prien et al. 2022, p. 147.
- ^ a b c d Mombeek 2011, p. 285.
- ^ a b c d Prien et al. 2022, p. 145.
- ^ a b Mathews & Foreman 2014, p. 18.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mombeek 2011, p. 291.
- ^ a b c d e f g Prien et al. 2022, p. 149.
- ^ a b c d Prien et al. 2022, p. 150.
- ^ Mombeek 2011, p. 292.
- ^ a b c Heaton & Lewis 2012, p. 269.
- ^ a b Heaton & Lewis 2012, p. 271.
- ^ Heaton & Lewis 2012, p. 272.
- ^ Heaton & Lewis 2012, p. 270.
Bibliography
- Bergström, Christer [in Swedish]. "Bergström Black Cross/Red Star website". Identifying a Luftwaffe Planquadrat. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- Forsyth, Robert (2008). Jagdgeschwader 7 "Nowotny". Aviation Elite Units. Vol. 29. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-320-9.
- Harvey, James (2011). Sharks of the Air: Willy Messerschmitt and How He Built the World's First Operational Jet Fighter. Havertown, Pa: ISBN 978-1-61200-023-7.
- Heaton, Colin; Lewis, Anne-Marie (2012). The Me 262 Stormbird: From the Pilots Who Flew, Fought, and Survived It. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Zenith Imprint. ISBN 978-0-76034-263-3.
- Mathews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2014). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 1 A–F. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-18-9.
- Mombeek, Eric (2011). Eismeerjäger—Zur Geschichte des Jagdgeschwaders 5—Band 4 [Fighters in the Arctic Sea—The History of the 5th Fighter Wing—Volume 4]. Linkebeek, Belgium: ASBL, La Porte d'Hoves. ISBN 978-2-930546-05-6.
- Morgan, Hugh; Weal, John (1998). German Jet Aces of World War 2. Aircraft of the Aces. Vol. 17. London; New York: ISBN 978-1-85532-634-7.
- Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Balke, Ulf; Bock, Winfried (2022). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 15/I—Einsatz im Osten—1.1. bis 31.12.1944 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 15/I—Action in the East—1 January to 31 December 1944] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Buchverlag Rogge. ISBN 978-3-942943-26-0.
- Radinger, Willy; Schick, Walther (1993). Messerschmitt Me 262 Development Testing Production. Atglen, PA: ISBN 978-0-88740-516-7.
- Weal, John (2016). Arctic Bf 109 and Bf 110 Aces. Aircraft of the Aces. Vol. 124. London, UK: ISBN 978-1-78200-798-2.
