- Maximilian Volke
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Maximilian Volke
Leutnant Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert (left) and Feldwebel Maximilian Volke standing next to Hans-Joachim Marseille's "Otto" Kübelwagen, April 1943[1]Born 1915
MunichDied 9 September 1944
Modena, ItalyAllegiance Nazi Germany Service/branch Luftwaffe Rank Oberfeldwebel Unit JG 77 Battles/wars World War II Awards German Cross in Gold Oberfeldwebel (flight sergeant) Maximilian Volke (Munich, Germany, 1915 – Modena, Italy, 9 September 1944) was a German 37-victory fighter ace of the World War II Luftwaffe's Jagdgeschwader 77.
A veteran of the campaigns in Russia and Africa, he was shot down in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter over Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, during the Gothic Line operations, on 9 September 1944, by a gunner in an American B-25 Mitchell bomber. Volke was 29 years and was decorated with the German Cross in Gold, received as Feldwebel in the II./JG 77 on July 12, 1943.[2]
Ofw. Volke's remains and parts of his aircraft were located and dug out of a farmer's field just north of Modena by an Italian amateur war history research team (the Romagna Air Finders) in July 2007, nearly 63 years after he was shot down.[3]
References
- ^ Michulec 2002, p. 64.
- ^ Patzwall, p. 489
- ^ Military.com: "Remains of German WWII Ace Found"
- Michulec, Robert (2002). Luftwaffe at War/Luftwaffe Aces of the Western Front. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-486-9.
- 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.
External links
- Remains of German WWII Ace Found – Associated Press, 15 August 2007
- German WWII aces with 33 to 39 victories – At the Kaczmarek website, by Fuß
- JG 77 air victories 1942, 1943, 1944/45 – At the Ciel de Gloire website
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