Английская Википедия:Gerhard Köppen

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Use American English Шаблон:Infobox military person Gerhard Köppen (17 May 1918 – 5 May 1942) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II. As a fighter ace, he was credited with 85 aerial victories claimed in 380 combat missions.

Born in Holzendorf, Köppen joined military service in 1936 and initially served with a bomber before he was trained as a fighter pilot. He was then posted to Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) in 1941. Köppen claimed his first aerial victories on 24 June 1941 during Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Following his 45th aerial victory, he was nominated for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross which he received on 18 December 1942. On 27 February 1942, Köppen was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves after 72 aerial victories and promoted to an officers rank. On 5 May 1942, he was posted missing in action after he made a forced landing in the Sea of Azov.

Military career

Köppen was born on 17 May 1918, in Holzendorf, present-day part of Kuhlen-Wendorf, at the time in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin within the German Empire.Шаблон:Sfn He joined the military service in 1936. His initial posting was with Kampfgeschwader 1 "Hindenburg" (KG 1–1st Bomber Wing) before he was selected for fighter pilot conversion training in 1939.Шаблон:Sfn Following flight training,Шаблон:Refn he was posted to the 8. Staffel (8th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing), a squadron of III. Gruppe, on 6 October 1940.Шаблон:Sfn At the time, 8. Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant Günther Rall and the Gruppe was headed by Major Gotthard Handrick.Шаблон:Sfn Until 12 October, the Gruppe was based at Schönwalde-Glien near Berlin where the pilots continued their training.Шаблон:Sfn

The rise of General Ion Antonescu in Romania in 1940 led to a reorganization of his country's armed forces. In this, he was supported by a military mission from Germany, the Luftwaffenmission Rumänien (Luftwaffe Mission Romania) under the command of Generalleutnant (equivalent to major general) Шаблон:Interlanguage link multi.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn III. Gruppe of JG 52 was transferred to Bucharest in mid-October and temporarily renamed I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 28 (JG 28—28th Fighter Wing) until 4 January 1941.Шаблон:Sfn Its primary task was to train Romanian Air Force personnel.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Eastern Front

Following its brief deployment in the Balkan Campaign, III. Gruppe was ordered to Bucharest by mid-June.Шаблон:Sfn There, the unit was again subordinated to the Luftwaffenmission Rumänien and reequipped with the new, more powerful Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 model. On 21 June 1941, the Gruppe was ordered to Mizil in preparation of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Its primary objective was to provide fighter protection for the oil fields and refineries at Ploiești.Шаблон:Sfn The invasion of the Soviet Union began on 22 June. The next day, the Gruppe moved to Mamaia, the northern district of Constanța on the Black Sea coast.Шаблон:Sfn There, Köppen claimed his first two aerial victories on 24 June. He was credited with shooting down two Soviet Ilyushin DB-3 bombers in the morning near Constanța.Шаблон:Sfn Two days later, he again claimed two DB-3 bombers in that combat area.Шаблон:Sfn

Файл:III-JG52-ins.svg
III./JG 52 emblem

The Gruppe moved to Belaya Tserkov on 1 August during the Battle of Kiev and also used an airfield at Yampil from 6 to 8 August.Шаблон:Sfn There, Köppen claimed a Polikarpov I-16 fighter on 2 August and another I-16 fighter on 4 August near Kiev.Шаблон:Sfn On 6 August, he claimed an aerial victory over Polikarpov I-16 fighter. Three days later, two Tupolev SB-2 bombers were claimed by him followed by two further SB-2 bombers on 17 August. He claimed his twelfth aerial victory on 19 August over a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 fighter.Шаблон:Sfn This put him in second place within III. Gruppe with respect to number of aerial victories claimed, one behind his Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) Oberleutnant Günther Rall. On 27 August, III. Gruppe had reached an airfield named Stschastliwaja located approximately Шаблон:Convert east-southeast of Oleksandriia. In the early morning of 2 September, elements of III. Gruppe moved to Myronivka where they escorted Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers heading for Novomoskovsk.Шаблон:Sfn Near Kremenchuk on the Dnieper, Köppen claimed two Vultee V-11 attack aircraft shot down.Шаблон:Sfn

On 12 September, 8. and 9. Staffel moved to an airfield at Beryslav, staying there for three days.Шаблон:Sfn Here, Köppen claimed two Polikarpov I-153 fighters shot down, one on 13 September and another the next day.Шаблон:Sfn By 23 September, Köppen had increased his number of aerial victories to 17. The next day, III. Gruppe moved to the Poltava Air Base, supporting the 17th Army in the First Battle of Kharkov. Köppen's total number of aerial victories stood at 31 on 23 October, making him the leading fighter pilot of III. Gruppe at the time.Шаблон:Sfn

On 2 November, the Gruppe moved to Taganrog where they stayed until 1 January 1942.Шаблон:Sfn On 18 December 1941, Köppen was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Шаблон:Lang), the first pilot of III. Gruppe to receive the distinction.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn He had qualified for this distinction after 40 aerial victories.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The presentation was made by General der Flieger Kurt Pflugbeil.Шаблон:Sfn By the end of 1941, his total number of aerial victories had increased to 62, making him the most successful fighter pilot of III. Gruppe.Шаблон:Sfn

Oak Leaves and death

Köppen claimed four aircraft shot down on 24 February 1942, and was decorated with Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Шаблон:Lang) after 72 aerial victories on 27 February 1942. He was the second non-commissioned officer and 79th member of the Wehrmacht to be so honored. The presentation was made by Adolf Hitler, who also promoted him to Leutnant effective as of 1 April 1942.Шаблон:Sfn

On 29 April, III. Gruppe had relocated to Zürichtal, a small village at the Inhul in the former German settlement west of Feodosia in the Crimea during the Crimean campaign. On 1 May, the Gruppe was subordinated to VIII. Fliegerkorps and was supporting the 11th Army in the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula and the Siege of Sevastopol.Шаблон:Sfn The next day, Köppen became an "ace-in-a-day", claiming five Soviet fighter aircraft shot down.Шаблон:Sfn

Following combat with a Petlyakov Pe-2 on 5 May, Köppen was posted as missing in action flying Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 "white 4" (Werknummer 7303—factory number) Шаблон:Convert north of Ak-Monai (present-day Kam'yans'ke) near the Arabat Fortress.Шаблон:Sfn He was last seen swimming in the Sea of Azov when Soviet boats closed in on him. Feldwebel Alfred Grislawski made a strafing attack on these boats.Шаблон:Sfn Köppen was officially declared dead on 30 May 1969 by a court in Dillingen. His brother, Eckhardt Köppen, was killed in action on 15 January 1945; he was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross on 15 March 1945.Шаблон:Sfn

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Köppen was credited with 86 aerial victories.Шаблон:Sfn Spick lists Köppen with 85 aerial victories claimed in an unknown number of combat missions. All of his victories were recorded over the Eastern Front.Шаблон:Sfn Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces – Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found documentation for 85 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.Шаблон:Sfn

Chronicle of aerial victories

Шаблон:Legend

Claim Date Time Type Location Claim Date Time Type Location
– 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 –Шаблон:Sfn
Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941
1 24 June 1941 07:30 DB-3 vicinity of ConstanțaШаблон:Sfn 25 2 October 1941 09:39 I-61 (MiG-3)Шаблон:Sfn
2 24 June 1941 07:50 DB-3 vicinity of ConstanțaШаблон:Sfn 26 4 October 1941 12:00 R-10 (Seversky)Шаблон:Sfn
3 26 June 1941 05:50 DB-3 vicinity of ConstanțaШаблон:Sfn 27 4 October 1941 12:40 R-10 (Seversky)Шаблон:Sfn
4 26 June 1941 05:55 DB-3 vicinity of ConstanțaШаблон:Sfn 28 5 October 1941 16:33 R-10 (Seversky)Шаблон:Sfn
5 2 August 1941 05:05 I-16Шаблон:Sfn 29 5 October 1941 16:36 R-10 (Seversky)Шаблон:Sfn
6 4 August 1941 05:55 I-16Шаблон:Sfn 30 14 October 1941 10:10 V-11 (Il-2)Шаблон:Sfn
7 6 August 1941 10:30 I-15Шаблон:Sfn 31 23 October 1941 13:34 I-61 (MiG-3)Шаблон:Sfn
8 9 August 1941 05:33 SB-2Шаблон:Sfn 32 25 October 1941 15:20 I-61 (MiG-3)Шаблон:Sfn
9 9 August 1941 05:48 SB-2Шаблон:Sfn 33 25 October 1941 15:23 I-61 (MiG-3)Шаблон:Sfn
10 17 August 1941 18:54 SB-2Шаблон:Sfn 34 28 October 1941 06:50 Pe-2Шаблон:Sfn
11 17 August 1941 18:56 SB-2Шаблон:Sfn 35 31 October 1941 16:01 I-61 (MiG-3) southeast of SimferopolШаблон:Sfn
12 19 August 1941 05:50 MiG-3Шаблон:Sfn 36 8 November 1941 11:40 I-61 (MiG-3)Шаблон:Sfn
13 2 September 1941 12:10 V-11 (Il-2) east of KremenchukШаблон:Sfn 37 9 November 1941 13:52 I-18 (MiG-1)Шаблон:Sfn
14 2 September 1941 12:15 V-11 (Il-2) east of KremenchukШаблон:Sfn 38 9 November 1941 13:55 I-26 (Yak-1)Шаблон:Sfn
15 13 September 1941 13:00 I-153Шаблон:Sfn 39 16 November 1941 13:42 I-26 (Yak-1)Шаблон:Sfn
16 14 September 1941 17:45 I-153Шаблон:Sfn 40 16 November 1941 13:43 I-26 (Yak-1)Шаблон:Sfn
17 18 September 1941 15:30 I-16Шаблон:Sfn 41 23 November 1941 13:38 Il-2 southeast of RostovШаблон:Sfn
18 24 September 1941 07:43 MiG-3 Шаблон:Convert south of ChudovoШаблон:Sfn 42 27 November 1941 12:45 I-16Шаблон:Sfn
19 24 September 1941 07:45 SB-2Шаблон:Sfn 43 29 November 1941 07:28 I-16Шаблон:Sfn
20 24 September 1941 09:50 SB-2Шаблон:Sfn 44 1 December 1941 15:03 DB-3Шаблон:Sfn
21 26 September 1941 13:24 R-10 (Seversky)Шаблон:Sfn 45 2 December 1941 08:15 I-61 (MiG-3)Шаблон:Sfn
22 26 September 1941 13:25 R-10 (Seversky)Шаблон:Sfn 46 2 December 1941 12:10 I-16Шаблон:Sfn
23 27 September 1941 10:38 DB-3 east of PoltavaШаблон:Sfn 47 5 December 1941 10:09 I-16Шаблон:Sfn
24 27 September 1941 15:20 DB-3 west of PoltavaШаблон:Sfn 48 5 December 1941 10:41 I-61 (MiG-3)Шаблон:Sfn
– 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 –Шаблон:Sfn
Eastern Front — 6 December 1941 – 25 April 1942
49 6 December 1941 08:31 I-16Шаблон:Sfn 61 22 December 1941 15:05 I-16Шаблон:Sfn
50 7 December 1941 13:52 I-16Шаблон:Sfn 62 22 December 1941 15:10 I-16Шаблон:Sfn
51 8 December 1941 09:50 I-15Шаблон:Sfn 63 15 February 1942 14:04 Pe-2Шаблон:Sfn
52 8 December 1941 09:50 I-15Шаблон:Sfn 64 15 February 1942 15:48 I-61 (MiG-3)Шаблон:Sfn
53 8 December 1941 13:10 I-16Шаблон:Sfn 65 15 February 1942 15:51 Il-2Шаблон:Sfn
54 9 December 1941 12:31 I-15Шаблон:Sfn 66 18 February 1942 08:50 I-26 (Yak-1)Шаблон:Sfn
55 9 December 1941 12:32 I-15Шаблон:Sfn 67 18 February 1942 08:52 I-26 (Yak-1)Шаблон:Sfn
56 9 December 1941 12:36 I-15Шаблон:Sfn 68 21 February 1942 12:32 I-16Шаблон:Sfn
57 9 December 1941 12:45 SB-2Шаблон:Sfn 69 22 February 1942 15:35 V-11 (Il-2)Шаблон:Sfn
58 11 December 1941 09:35 SB-3Шаблон:Sfn 70 22 February 1942 15:37 V-11 (Il-2)Шаблон:Sfn
59 11 December 1941 13:34 I-26 (Yak-1)Шаблон:Sfn 71 22 February 1942 15:39 I-26 (Yak-1)Шаблон:Sfn
60 11 December 1941 13:40 SB-2Шаблон:Sfn 72 22 February 1942 15:42 U-2Шаблон:Sfn
– 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 –Шаблон:Sfn
Eastern Front — 25 April – 5 May 1942
73 25 April 1942 11:40 I-16Шаблон:Sfn 80♠ 2 May 1942 04:36 I-15Шаблон:Sfn
74 29 April 1942 17:55 I-153Шаблон:Sfn 81♠ 2 May 1942 05:08 I-153Шаблон:Sfn
75 30 April 1942 16:45 I-61 (MiG-3)Шаблон:Sfn 82♠ 2 May 1942 08:55 I-153Шаблон:Sfn
76 1 May 1942 04:30 R-5Шаблон:Sfn 83♠ 2 May 1942 18:05 I-61 (MiG-3)Шаблон:Sfn
77 1 May 1942 04:31 Su-2 (Seversky)Шаблон:Sfn 84♠ 2 May 1942 18:10 I-16Шаблон:Sfn
78 1 May 1942 04:34 Su-2 (Seversky)Шаблон:Sfn 85 5 May 1942 11:13 MiG-1Шаблон:Sfn
79 1 May 1942 04:58 I-61 (MiG-3)Шаблон:Sfn

Awards

Notes

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References

Citations

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Bibliography

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Further reading

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Шаблон:Refend

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