Georg-Peter Eder

Infobox Military Person
name=Georg-Peter Eder
born=birth date|1921|3|8|df=y
died=dda|1986|3|11|1921|3|8|df=y
placeofbirth=Oberdachstetten
placeofdeath=Wiesbaden


caption=Georg-Peter Eder
nickname="Schorsch"
allegiance=flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=Luftwaffe
serviceyears=1938-1944
rank=Major
commands=
unit=JG 51, JG 2, JG 1, JG 26, EKdo 262,
Kommando Nowotny, JG 7
battles=World War II
*Battle of France
*Battle of Britain
awards="Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves"
laterwork=

Georg-Peter "Schorsch" Eder (born 8 March 1921 in Oberdachstetten, died 11 March 1986 in Wiesbaden) was a German World War II fighter ace who served in the Luftwaffe from 1938 until the end of World War II in 1945. He flew 572 combat missions claiming 78 enemy aircraft shot down.

World War II

Georg-Peter Eder joined the Luftwaffe as Fahnenjunker at the age of 17 in 1938. In the beginning of April 1939 Eder enrolled in the aviation academy at Berlin-Gatow. His first combat appointment was to 1 Staffel, Jagdgeschwader 51 on 1 September 1940. He flew all through the Battle of Britain but did not claim any victories.

In May 1941 he joined 4./JG 51 and claimed his first aircraft, a Spitfire, on 7 May. Eder then flew with JG 51 in the opening months of the campaign on the Eastern Front, destroying two Russian aircraft on 22 June. However, on 24 July he was shot down and slightly wounded.On 22 August,after 10 victories, Eder fighter collided with a Junkers Ju 52 on the ground at Ponjatowska, suffering a skull fracture.

Atter recovery, Eder served as a flight instructor with "Jagdfliegerschule" 2 at Zerbst from November 1941 to November 1942.

The Western Front 1942-44

Eder was then sent to 7. JG 2 in France, and participated in the battle against the American 8th Air Force day bombing offensive. With Hauptmann Egon Mayer of III/JG 2, Eder developed the head-on attack strategy to combat the formations of B-17s and B-24s.

In February 1943 Eder became "Staffelkapitän" of 12./JG 2. On 28 March after downing a B-17, he was wounded when his Bf 109 G-4 somersaulted on landing at Beaumont-le-Roger.

Eder destroyed his 20th aircraft on 29 May 1943. On 5 September 1943, Eder was transferred to 5./JG 2. On 5 November, Eder was again forced to bale out of his Bf 109 and was again injured.

In March 1944 Oberleutnant Eder was transferred to 6./JG 1 in Northern Germany. He baled out of his Fw 190 A-7 during combat with a P-47 over Göttingen on 19 April.On 8 May, he claimed a B-24 but made an emergency landing at Vechta.

Normandy and the Me 262 1944-45

By the end of May he had a total of 49 victories. As Gruppenkommandeur II./JG1 he fought in the aerial battles over Normandy during the Allied invasion, and on 21 June 1944 recorded his 50th victory. On 24 June Eder received the "Ritterkreuz".

On 11 August 1944 Eder took command of 6 Staffel, JG 26. Attacking Allied armour near Dreux on 17 August Eder shot down a Spitfire at low level; it crashed between two Sherman tanks, destroying them. Shortly after it he shot down another Spitfire, which crashed on a another tank, setting it on fire.

On 4 September Hauptmann Eder became "Gruppenkommandeur" II./JG 26, after the unit's Kommandeur Hauptmann Emil Lang was killed in action against USAAF Thunderbolts over St Trond. In September Hauptmann Eder was transferred to "Erprobungskommando 262" and appointed "Staffelkapitän," 1./Kdo Nowotny. On 19 November, following the redesignation of the unit to JG 7, he commanded 9 Staffel, flying the Me 262 in combat.

During the Ardennes offensive, Eder claimed 40 P-47s destroyed on the ground. He was awarded the Oakleaves on 25 November 1944 for some 60 victories. On 22 January he was shot down near Parchim by P-51s and P-38s while trying to land. He broke both legs and spent the rest of the war in hospital at Wismar and Bad Weissee, where he was captured by the US Army.

Career Summary

Georg-Peter Eder flew 572 combat missions of which 150 were with the Messerschmitt Me 262. On the Eastern Front he scored 10 victories and on the Western Front 68, of which no less than 36 were four-engined bombers. With the Me 262 he scored at least 12 victories, at least one sources indicate that this number could be as high or even higher than 24 kills [For a list of Luftwaffe jet aces see "List of German World War II Jet aces"] . He was the leading scorer against the four-engined bombers, and leading air ace against the USAAF, claiming some 56 US flown aircraft. Eder himself was shot down 17 times, bailing out 9 times, and was wounded 14 times.

Trivia

On 26 June 1943 USAAF fighter pilot Robert S. Johnson was one in a flight of sixteen P-47 Thunderbolts assigned to escort B-24 Liberator bombers to their target. The flight was bounced by approximately sixteen Focke-Wulf Fw 190's approaching the group from 5 o'clock high position. In the ensuring dog fight Johnson's P-47 was severely shot up. The only option left was to fly the Thunderbolt home. Somewhere over France another Fw 190 spotted Johnson and made a firing pass at him. The German pilot then realized Johnson's rather defenceless position and decided to pull in close. The German pilot escorted Johnson for almost 30 minutes until reaching the English Channel near Dieppe, France. It is believed that the German pilot was Georg-Peter Eder of JG 2 who was ferrying a JG 26 aircraft that day.

Awards

* Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (16 June 1943)
* German Cross in Gold (31 August 1943)
* Iron Cross 2. and 1. class
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
** Knight's Cross (24 June 1944)
** 663. Oak Leaves (25 November 1944)

References

*cite web |title=Aces of the Luftwaffe|work=Georg-Peter Eder|url=http://www.luftwaffe.cz/eder.html|accessdate=26 March|accessyear=2007
* Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. "Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945". Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
*Johnson, Robert S. "Thunderbolt!: An Extraordinary Story of a World War II Ace". Honoribus Pr, 1997. ISBN 1885354053.
* Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit. "Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 - 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II". Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.