# Jürgen Brocke

Jürgen Brocke (4 February 1922 – 15 September 1942) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Brocke claimed 42 victories in 150 missions. He was shot down on 15 September 1942 and was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross on 9 December 1942.

## Career

Brocke was born on 4 February 1922 in Bad Harzburg in the Free State of Brunswick with the Weimar Republic. Following the outbreak of World War II in Europe on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland, Brocke joined the Army of the Wehrmacht, initially serving in the artillery. In 1940, he transferred to the Luftwaffe. Following flight training, Brocke was posted to the 4. Staffel (4th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) in early 1942. The Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant Heinrich Setz and subordinated to II. Gruppe of JG 77 headed by Hauptmann Anton Mader. At the time, the Gruppe was stationed at Vienna-Aspern for a period of rest re-equipment with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 F series.

### Eastern Front

On 11 March 1942, II. Gruppe began relocating back to the Eastern Front, at first to Proskuriv where it stayed for a few days, and then to Sarabuz on the Crimea, arriving on 17 March 1942.
On 5 July 1942, II. Gruppe moved to an airfield Kastornoje, approximately 75 kilometers (47 miles) west of Voronezh, where it fought in the Battle of Voronezh.
On 15 September 1942, Brocke was shot down and killed in action by anti-aircraft artillery in his Bf 109 F-2 (Werknummer 7623—factory number) southwest of Devitsa, located approximately 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) west of Voronezh. Posthumously, Brocke was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 9 December 1942.

## Summary of career
### Aerial victory claims

According to Obermaier, Brocke was credited with 42 aerial victories claimed in approximately 150 combat mission on the Eastern Front. Spick also lists him with 42 aerial victories and a mission-to-claim ratio of 3.57. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 39 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed over the Eastern Front.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 82133". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km$^2$). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.
Chronicle of aerial victories :
| This and the ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike, Bock, Mathews and Foreman. ||||||||||
| Claim | Date | Time | Type | Location | Claim | Date | Time | Type | Location |
| – 4. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Eastern Front — 17 March – 30 April 1942 ||||||||||
| 1 | 7 April 1942 | 11:00 | I-16 | Kerch | 3 | 10 April 1942 | 10:20 | I-153 | |
| 2 | 9 April 1942 | 15:50 | I-153 | | 4 | 22 April 1942 | 16:55 | I-153 | |
| – 4. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Eastern Front — 1 May – 15 September 1942 ||||||||||
| 5 | 13 May 1942 | 07:56 | I-180 (Yak-7) | | 24 | 6 August 1942 | 18:09 | Boston | PQ 82133 60 km (37 mi) northwest of Voronezh |
| 6 | 16 May 1942 | 09:40 | Yak-1 | | 25 | 9 August 1942 | 18:54 | LaGG-3 | PQ 92184 15 km (9.3 mi) north of Voronezh |
| 7 | 21 May 1942 | 17:50 | Yak-1 | PQ 35383 | 26 | 12 August 1942 | 14:48 | LaGG-3 | PQ 83674 60 km (37 mi) south-southwest of Yelets |
| 8 | 12 June 1942 | 12:03 | LaGG-3 | | 27 | 13 August 1942 | 06:12 | Yak-1 | PQ 92163 25 km (16 mi) northeast of Voronezh |
| 9 | 14 June 1942 | 14:53 | I-16 | | 28 | 13 August 1942 | 18:20 | LaGG-3 | PQ 93714 50 km (31 mi) north of Voronezh |
| 10 | 10 July 1942 | 03:45 | Yak-1 | | 29 | 13 August 1942 | 18:22 | LaGG-3 | PQ 92112 30 km (19 mi) north-northwest of Voronezh |
| 11 | 11 July 1942 | 05:32 | LaGG-3 | | 30? | 14 August 1942 | 09:18 | Pe-2 | |
| 12 | 14 July 1942 | 06:47 | P-39 | | 31? | 14 August 1942 | 09:28 | Pe-2 | |
| 13 | 14 July 1942 | 19:33 | DB-3 | | 32 | 17 August 1942 | 04:18 | Boston | PQ 92312 vicinity of Devitsa |
| 14 | 16 July 1942 | 13:15 | LaGG-3 | | 33 | 5 September 1942 | 17:17 | Il-2 | PQ 82162 55 km (34 mi) northwest of Voronezh |
| 15 | 18 July 1942 | 18:36 | Yak-1 | | 34 | 5 September 1942 | 17:22 | LaGG-3 | PQ 83851 60 km (37 mi) north-northwest of Voronezh |
| 16 | 21 July 1942 | 15:00 | P-40 | | 35 | 5 September 1942 | 17:28 | Il-2 | PQ 83822 50 km (31 mi) south-southeast of Yelets |
| 17 | 24 July 1942 | 18:41 | LaGG-3 | | 36 | 13 September 1942 | 10:18 | Il-2 | PQ 92731 25 km (16 mi) north-northwest of Sloboda |
| 18 | 26 July 1942 | 17:52 | Pe-2 | | 37 | 13 September 1942 | 10:24 | Hurricane | PQ 92644 45 km (28 mi) north of Sloboda |
| 19 | 26 July 1942 | 17:54 | Pe-2 | | 38 | 15 September 1942 | 10:30 | Il-2 | PQ 92192 vicinity of Devitsa |
| 20 | 26 July 1942 | 18:02 | Pe-2 | | 39 | 15 September 1942 | 10:39 | Pe-2 | PQ 92383 vicinity of Devitsa |
| 21 | 27 July 1942 | 11:39 | LaGG-3 | | 40 | 15 September 1942 | 10:40 | Pe-2 | PQ 92384 vicinity of Devitsa |
| 22 | 28 July 1942 | 07:42 | Il-2 | PQ 83872 60 km (37 mi) northwest of Voronezh | 41 | 15 September 1942 | 10:41 | Pe-2 | PQ 92512 vicinity of Devitsa |
| 23 | 28 July 1942 | 18:58 | LaGG-3 | PQ 93783 50 km (31 mi) north of Voronezh | | | | | |

### Awards

* Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
* Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 13 September 1942 as Leutnant and pilot
* German Cross in Gold on 8 October 1942 as Leutnant in the II/Jagdgeschwader 77
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 December 1942 as Leutnant and pilot in the 4./Jagdgeschwader 77