Helmut Bergmann
Helmut Bergmann | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 May 1920 Bochum |
| Died | 6 August 1944 (aged 24) Mortain, France |
| Buried | German War Cemetery Marigny |
| Allegiance |  Nazi Germany |
| Service/ |  Luftwaffe |
| Years of service | ?–1944 |
| Rank | Hauptmann |
| Unit | NJG 4, NJG 1 |
| Commands held | 8./Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Helmut Bergmann (26 May 1920 – 6 August 1944) was a German Luftwaffe night fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Bergmann claimed 36 nocturnal aerial victories in 135 combat missions.[Note 1]
Career
Bergmann was born in 1920 in Bochum. He joined the Luftwaffe in May 1940 and after completing pilot training in July 1941, he was assigned to the Ergänzungsstaffel (Training/Supplement Squadron) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing). He was then assigned to 8./Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 (NJG 4—4th Night Fighter Wing) in early 1942. Promoted Staffelkapitän of 7./NJG 4 in April 1944, Bergmann shot down seven Lancasters in 46 minutes on the night of 10/11 April 1944, all from an RAF Bomber Command raid on the Aulnoye-Aymeries rail marshalling yard on the Franco-Belgian frontier. 38 Allied aircrew were killed. This was Bergmann's most successful sortie. He was transferred to 6./NJG 4 in May and on 9 June 1944 he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for achieving 30 victories.
Four months later Bergmann and his crew - radar operator Feldwebel Gunter Hauthal and gunner Feldwebel Willie Schopp - were shot down and killed in Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 (Werknummer 140320—factory number) on the night of 6/7 August 1944 at Mortain on the Cotentin Peninsula. Flight Lieutenant John Surman, flying a Mosquito of No. 604 Squadron RAF, may have shot them down as he claimed a Bf 110 destroyed. However, friendly fire from the 1st SS Leibstandarte Panzer division who were launching Operation Lüttich, the counterattack at Mortain may have been responsible.[1]
Awards
- Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe
- Iron Cross (1939)
- 2nd Class
- 1st Class
- German Cross in Gold on 17 October 1943 as Oberleutnant in the 8./NJG 4[2]
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 June 1944 as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän of the 8./NJG 4[3]
See also
- Wilhelm Herget - claimed eight RAF bombers in just 50 minutes during a raid against Frankfurt on the night of 20 December 1943.
Notes
- ^ For a list of Luftwaffe night fighter aces see List of German World War II night fighter aces.
References
Citations
Bibliography
- Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - Spick, Mike (1996). Luftwaffe Fighter Aces. New York: Ivy Books. ISBN 978-0-8041-1696-1.
- Nimmo Stuart (2012) "Perilous Moon:Occupied France, 1944 - The End Game". Philadelphia & Oxford: Casemate Publication. ISBN 978-1-61200-124-1
External links
Template:Knight's Cross recipients of NJG 4
