Gerhard Schöpfel

Infobox Military Person
name=Gerhard Schöpfel


caption=Gerhard Schöpfel
born=birth date|1912|12|19|df=y
died=death date and age|2003|5|17|1912|12|19|df=y
placeofbirth=Erfurt
placeofdeath=Bergisch Gladbach-Refrath
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=Luftwaffe
serviceyears=1937-1945
rank=Major
commands=JG 26, JG 4, JG 6
unit=JG 26, JG 54, JG 4, JG 6
battles=World War II
*Battle of France
*Battle of Britain
awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
laterwork=law

Major Gerhard Schöpfel (19 December, 1912–17 May, 2003) was a German World War II Luftwaffe 45-victory flying ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He held the position of Geschwaderkommodore of fighter wing Jagdgeschwader 26. He held the rank of major.

On 18 August 1940 he shot down four Hurricanes in one sortie over Canterbury, England. Two of his victims were notable No. 501 Squadron RAF fighter pilots Donald McKay and Kenneth Lee, both of them baled out wounded.

In December 1941 he was promoted to Major and became "Kommodore" of JG 26 when Adolf Galland was promoted to "General der Jagdfieger".

In January 1943 Schöpfel became Operations Officer, "Jagdfliegerführer Bretagne" before being posted as Operations Officer, Italy in July and then Fighter Leader, Norway ("Jagdfliegerführer Norwegen") in November 1943. In May 1944, he joined III./JG 54 briefly before becoming Kommodore of Jagdgeschwader 4 in June 1944. On 6 August, leading JG 4, he was shot down and bailed out wounded near Schwerin flying a Bf 109 G-6. In November 1944, Schöpfel took up the post of Fighter Leader, Hungary ("Jagdfliegerführer Ungarn"). By February 1945 he was commander of the Luftkriegsschule in Gatow. In April 1945 he was appointed Kommodore Jagdgeschwader 6 flying operations from northern Czechoslovakia. At the end of the war he was incarcerated by the Russians for four and a half years, finally returning to Germany in late 1949.

"Gerd" Schöpfel flew 700 combat missions and was credited with 45 aerial victories including three USAAF four-engined bombers. All his victories were scored over the Western Front against the RAF and USAAF.

Awards

* German Cross in Gold (9 December 1941)
* Iron Cross 2. and 1. class
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (18 November 1944)

References

*cite web |title=Aces of the Luftwaffe|work=Gerhard Schöpfel|url=http://www.luftwaffe.cz/schopfel.html|accessdate=24 September|accessyear=2007
* Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. "Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945". Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
* 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.