Ernst Kupfer

Ernst Kupfer
Born	(1907-07-02)2 July 1907 Coburg
Died	6 November 1943(1943-11-06) (aged 36) 60 km (37 mi) north of Thessaloniki, Greece
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Army Luftwaffe
Years of service	1928–43
Rank	Oberst
Commands	StG 2
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of Britain Battle of Crete Operation Barbarossa Battle of Stalingrad Battle of Kursk
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (posthumous)

Ernst Kupfer (2 July 1907 – 6 November 1943) was a ground-attack pilot in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany during World War II who commanded a wing (StG 2) of Stuka aircraft. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.

Carreer

On 1 October 1928, Kupfer joined the military, serving with the Bavarian Cavalry Regiment 17, 5th Escadron. From 1 May 1936 to 3 March 1937, he returned to university in preparation for his Dr. jur. degree (Doctor of Law), which he attained on 4 March 1937.

Kupfer participated in the Battle of Crete and was instrumental in the sinking of the British cruiser HMS Gloucester. While operating against Kronstadt, he scored a 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bomb hit on the Soviet battleship Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya.

Kupfer was appointed acting Geschwaderkommodore (Wing Commander) of Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 "Immelmann" (StG 2—2nd Dive-Bomber Wing) on 13 February 1943. He led StG 2 in the battles of the Kuban bridgehead and Operation Citadel. In April and May, several other fighter and ground attack groups augmented his command. Following the failure of Operation Citadel in July 1943, he took command of all local ground attack units, named Gefechtsverband "Kupfer" (Combat Detachment "Kupfer"). He flew 636 combat missions and was shot down three times, all by ground fire.

In September 1943, Kupfer was appointed inspector of the attack aircraft (General der Schlachtflieger) and promoted to Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel). In this role he handled the procurement of the Focke Wulf Fw-190, which was to replace the old obsolete Junkers Ju 87 and especially the Henschel Hs 123. For this purpose he flew and visited a number of Schlachtgeschwader (ground attack wings) to meet with the various Geschwaderkommodore (wing commanders). He visited Oberstleutnant Kurt Kuhlmey, commander of Schlachtgeschwader 3, in early November 1943 and was killed when his Heinkel He 111 crashed returning to his base in bad weather on 6 November 1943. His body lay undiscovered until 17 November. He received a posthumous promotion to Oberst (Colonel) and was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.

Awards

• German Cross in Gold on 15 October 1942 as Major in the II./StG 2
• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st class
• Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe on 14 October 1942 as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
  • Knight's Cross on 23 November 1941 as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän of the 7./StG 2 "Immelmann"
  • 173rd Oak Leaves on 8 January 1943 as Major and Gruppenkommandeur of the II./StG 2 "Immelmann"
  • 62nd Swords on 11 April 1944 (posthumous) as Oberst and former Geschwaderkommodore of StG 2 "Immelmann"

References

Bibliography

• Berger, Florian (1999). Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges (in German). Vienna, Austria: Selbstverlag Florian Berger. ISBN 978-3-9501307-0-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Brütting, Georg (1992) [1976]. Das waren die deutschen Stuka-Asse 1939 – 1945 (in German) (7th ed.). Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch. ISBN 978-3-87943-433-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• 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)
• Griehl, Manfred (2001). Junker Ju 87 Stuka. London/Stuttgart: Airlife Publishing/Motorbuch. ISBN 1-84037-198-6.
• Obermaier, Ernst (1976). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe 1939–1945 Band II Stuka- und Schlachtflieger (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-021-3. {{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)
• Patzwall, Klaus D. (2008). Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-08-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Schaulen, Fritjof (2004). Eichenlaubträger 1940 – 1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe II Ihlefeld - Primozic (in German). Selent, Germany: Pour le Mérite. ISBN 978-3-932381-21-8. {{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)
• Thomas, Franz (1997). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 1: A–K (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2299-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Von Seemen, Gerhard (1976). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 : die Ritterkreuzträger sämtlicher Wehrmachtteile, Brillanten-, Schwerter- und Eichenlaubträger in der Reihenfolge der Verleihung : Anhang mit Verleihungsbestimmungen und weiteren Angaben (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7909-0051-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)