Adolf Dickfeld

Born on 20 February 1910 at Jüterborg, Adolf Dickfeld joined the Luftwaffe on 1 March 1937. At the outbreak of War Dickfeld was assigned to III./JG 52. He flew missions over France, England, Greece and Crete before the unit was transferred to Rumania in preparation for the invasion of Russia. By the end of 1941, he had accumulated 37 victories. On 8 May 1942, he shot down 11 enemy aircraft followed by nine on the 14 May and 10 on the 18 May. He was awarded the Eichenlaub on 19 May 1942 for 101 victories and promoted Oberleutnant on 21 May 1942. In January 1943, Dickfeld was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 2. The unit was transferred to North Africa, where Dickfeld achieved 5 victories over Tunisia before he was badly injured in a take-off accident. On 17 April 1943, after recovering from his injuries, Dickfeld was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 11, based in the Bremen–Helgoland area. Dickfeld was shot down during an attack on Allied bombers, and baled out into the sea. He was rescued but was hospitalised with back injuries. Dickfeld was to return to combat, flying Bü 181 trainers armed with Panzerfaust rockets, against Russian armour and, later, He 162 jet fighters. He reputedly shot down a P-47 several weeks before the end of the war with the He 162. Adolf Dickfeld was credited with 136 victories in 1072 combat missions.