Herbert Ihlefeld

Infobox Military Person
name=Herbert Ihlefeld
lived=birth date|1914|6|1|df=y — death date and age|1985|8|8|1914|6|1|df=y
placeofbirth=Pinnow, Pommern
placeofdeath=Wennigsen, Lower Saxony


caption=Herbert Ihlefeld
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=Luftwaffe
serviceyears=1933-1945
rank=Oberst
commands=I./JG 77, JG 52, JG 103, JG 25,
JG 11, JG 1
unit=Lehrgeschwader 2, JG 77, JG 52,
JG 103, JG 25, JG 11, JG 1
battles=Spanish Civil War
World War II
*Battle of France
*Battle of Britain
*Operation Barbarossa
awards="Spanish Cross in Silver with Swords"
"Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords"
laterwork=

Herbert Ihlefeld (born 1 June 1914 in Pinnow, Pommern, died 8 August 1995 in Wenningsen, Lower Saxony) was a German World War II fighter ace who served in the Luftwaffe from 1936 until the very end of World War II in 1945. He claimed 132 enemy aircraft shot down, among them 9 in the Spanish Civil War 67 on the Russian front and 56 on the Western Front including 15 four-engined bombers and 26 Spitfires. He survived being shot down 8 times during his 1000 combat missions.

World War II

In August 1938, he was assigned to the I(J)/LG 2 ("Lehrgeschwader" 2), an operational training unit. He flew in the battles of Poland, France and Britain. In July 1940 "Ihle" was now "Staffelkapitän" of 1.(J)/LG 2, leading it during the Battle of Britain. He was awarded the "Ritterkreuz" during September 1940, for 24 claimed kills.

In April 1941, the unit was transferred to the Balkans to take part of the invasion of Yugoslavia. During one of his first missions - strafing of an airfield near Niš, Ihlefeld was shot down by anti aircraft machine-gun fire and captured by Yugoslavian soldiers. While in Yugoslavian captivity, he was allegedly severely beaten and was threatened with execution by firing-squad. Ihlefeld was rescued by German troops after eight days of arrest and returned to Germany to recover. After a few weeks, "Ihle" returned to participate in the assault on Crete, claiming a Hurricane shot down for his 36th claim. Soon after, LG 2 was rearmed and remustered as I/JG 77 (Jagdgeschwader 77) in time for Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, Ihlefeld retaining the command of I/JG 77.

In the spring of 1942 a series of multiple victories (five aircraft on 24 March, seven on 30 March and seven on 20 April) saw Herbert Ihlefeld become the fifth pilot to reach 100 victories. During the period of Ihlefeld's leadership, I/JG 77 was credited with the destruction of 323 enemy planes while losing only 17 Bf 109s.

In June 1942 Ihlefeld became "Geschwaderkommodore" of the famed Jagdgeschwader 52. On 22 July 1942 whilst flying over the front in his Fieseler Fi 156 Storch, he was shot down and badly wounded by Soviet fighters [J. S. A. Hayward 1998, p.146] , this took him out of the front line until July 1943, when he joined the newly formed "Jagdgruppe" 25 as Geschwaderkommodore, leading the group's high altitude Me 109s in ultimately unsuccessful operations against the RAF Mosquito and later against the USAAF heavy bomber formations in defense of the Reich.

In May 1944, he became Kommodore of JG 11 briefly before switching to Kommodore of Jagdgeschwader 1, overseeing the period where elements of the Geschwader were equipped late in the war with the Heinkel 162 people's fighter jet.

Awards

* Spanish Cross in Silver with Swords
* Wound Badge in Black
* Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold with Pennant "1000"
* Combined Pilots-Observation Badge
* Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe
* German Cross in Gold (9 April 1942)
* Iron Cross 2. and 1. class
* Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves [Fellgiebel]
** Knight's Cross (13 September 1940)
** 16. Oak Leaves (27 June 1941)
** 9. Swords (24 April 1942)

See also

*List of Spanish Civil War air aces

References

*
*
* Berger, Florian, "Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges". Selbstverlag Florian Berger, 2006. ISBN 3-9501307-0-5.
* Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. "Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945". Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
* Hayward, Joel S. (2001). "Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler's Defeat in the East 1942-1943". University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-1146-0
* 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.

Persondata
NAME=Ihlefeld, Herbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=German World War II fighter pilot
DATE OF BIRTH=June 1, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH=Pinnow, Pommern
DATE OF DEATH=August 8, 1995
PLACE OF DEATH=Wenningsen, Germany