# Siegfried Lemke

Siegfried "Wumm" Lemke (7 April 1921 – 18 December 1995) was a Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. During his career he was credited with between 70 and 96 aerial victories.

## Biography

Lemke was born on 7 April 1921 in Schivelbein in Farther Pomerania, at the time in the Province of Pomerania within the Weimar Republic, present-day Świdwin, Poland. Following completion of flight and fighter pilot training, Lemke was posted to the 1. Staffel (1st squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2—2nd Fighter Wing) in October 1942. He claimed his first aerial victory on 12 March 1943 when he downed a Royal Air Force (RAF) Supermarine Spitfire fighter near Fécamp. For this, he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz zweiter Klasse).

### Squadron leader

On 1 January 1944, Lemke was officially appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 1. Staffel of JG 2. He succeeded Leutnant Hugo Dahmer who had been injured on 11 September 1943. Since then, Lemke had inoffically led the Staffel as Staffelführer.
In late January 1944 following the Allied amphibious landing in Italy known as Operation Shingle, I. Gruppe under the command of Hauptmann Erich Hohagen was moved to Aix-en-Provence Aerodrome in southern France. There the unit fought against the 15th Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). On 9 February, Lemke engaged Spitfires from the 52nd Fighter Wing which were attacking shipping off the coast of France. During this encounter, Lemke claimed four Spitfires shot down. One of the pilots shot down was the American pilot Bob Hoover who was taken prisoner of war. In this engagement, Lemke also shot down Flight Officer James H. Montgomery and Lieutenant John L. Bishop, both pilots killed in action. Lemke's fourth claim did not lead to a loss by the Americans. His squadron were again transferred to Italy to counter the Allied landings at Anzio. In March, 1944 Lemke added sixteen further victories to his tally. The USAAF sent 200 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and 80 Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers to the Rome marshalling yards on 3 March. The bombers were escorted by Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters of which two were shot down by Lemke.
In April, Lemke was awarded the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) after claiming 37 aerial victories. That month, he was also promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant). By the early summer of 1944, Lemke's squadron was again moved, this time to Creil, an airfield north of Paris. From here Lemke flew combat missions over the developing campaign in Normandy following D-Day. On 14 June 1944, Lemke was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) for his then tally of 44 aerial victories.

### Group commander

In July 1944, Lemke was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of the III. Gruppe of JG 2, replacing Hauptmann Josef Wurmheller who had been killed in action on 22 June. In consequence, command of 1. Staffel passed on to Leutnant Rudolf Wirtgen. The Gruppe flew its last combat mission from Creil, France on 19 August before they relocated to Königsberg in der Neumark, present-day Chojna, Poland, for a period of rest and replenishment. Their remaining aircraft were left in France and assigned to other units. At Königsberg in der Neumark, the Gruppe received factory new Fw 190 A-8/R6 aircraft. The Gruppe moved to Mohrin, present-day Moryń, on 5 October where training of the newly assigned pilots continued. Reaching operational readiness, Lemke relocated III. Gruppe to Altenstadt Airfield on 15 October.
Lemke led III. Gruppe during Operation Bodenplatte in their attack on Sint-Truiden airfield on 1 January 1945. Prior to the attack, he reported 40 Fw 190s operational, 34 of them Fw 190 Ds. However, only 28 of the 43 pilots in the unit were fit for operations and the formation fielded only 28 fighters. The attack turned out to be a disaster. III. Gruppe lost 19 Fw 190s and three were damaged, a loss rate of 79%. Nine pilots were killed, two were wounded and four were captured. While JG 2 moved to Bohemia in April 1945, III. Gruppe disappeared from German order of battle. It is said that Lemke led his surviving men north, though no record exists of the Gruppe movements. In the final days of the war, Lemke was nominated for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) which were not awarded before the war ended.

## Later life

Lemke died on 18 December 1995 at the age of 74 in Worfelden, a municipality of Büttelborn, Germany.

## Summary of career
### Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Lemke was credited with 70 aerial victories. Spick lists him with 96 aerial victories claimed in 325 combat missions. This figure includes one claim on the Eastern Front and 95 claims on the Western Front of which 21 are four-engined heavy bombers. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and state that Lemke was credited with more than 54 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Western Front, including at least five four-engined bombers.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 14 West 4846". 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 |
| – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" – On the Western Front — 1 January – 31 December 1943 ||||||||||
| 1 | 12 March 1943 | 13:10 | Spitfire | 20–25 km (12–16 mi) north of Fécamp | 7 | 24 September 1943 | 17:08 | Spitfire | Gisors Crillon |
| 2 | 17 May 1943 | 12:15 | B-17 | PQ 14 West 4846 10 km (6.2 mi) southeast of Île de Groix | 8 | 26 September 1943 | 12:48 | P-51 | PQ 05 Ost TC-7, east of Elbeuf |
| 3 | 29 May 1943 | 16:23 | B-17 | 15 km (9.3 mi) north of Saint-Malo 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of Saint-Nazaire | 9 | 4 October 1943 | 17:33 | Typhoon | 9 km (5.6 mi) southeast of Champenard |
| 4 | 4 July 1943 | 13:24 | B-17 | 85 km (53 mi) west-southwest of Saint-Nazaire PQ 14 West 4722 | 10 | 5 October 1943 | 14:21 | P-51 | PQ 05 Ost RC, north of Bolbec |
| 5 | 6 September 1943 | 19:03 | Spitfire | 35 km (22 mi) northwest of Montdidier | 11 | 19 October 1943 | 11:22 | Typhoon | PQ 15 West UT-1, southwest of Bayeux |
| 6 | 24 September 1943 | 12:05 | Typhoon | 9 km (5.6 mi) northwest of Honfleur | | | | | |
| – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" – On the Western Front — 1 January – 20 February 1944 ||||||||||
| 12 | 27 January 1944 | 11:01 | Spitfire | PQ 04 Ost S/DN-1 Hyères, Marseilles | 16 | 9 February 1944 | 14:50 | Spitfire | PQ 04 Ost S/CP-2/2 southeast of Cannes |
| 13 | 27 January 1944 | 11:13 | Spitfire | Hyères | 17 | 9 February 1944 | 14:54 | Spitfire | PQ 04 Ost S/CP-3 southeast of Cannes |
| 14 | 27 January 1944 | 11:17 | Spitfire | Hyères | 18 | 9 February 1944 | 15:00 | Spitfire | PQ 04 Ost S/CP-9 southeast of Cannes |
| 15 | 4 February 1944 | 14:27? | B-17 | PQ 04 Ost S/EM-8 100 km (62 mi) south of Nice | 19 | 9 February 1944 | 16:35 | Spitfire | PQ 04 Ost S/CQ-5/8 southeast of Cannes |
| – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" – In Italy — 20 February – 8 April 1944 ||||||||||
| 20 | 29 February 1944 | 17:10 | Spitfire | 2 km (1.2 mi) northeast of Nettuno | 29 | 14 March 1944 | 11:37 | B-26 | 5 km (3.1 mi) northwest of Rome |
| 21 | 29 February 1944 | 17:22 | Spitfire | 20 km (12 mi) southwest of the Tiber estuary 5 km (3.1 mi) south-southwest of Cisterna di Latina | 30 | 17 March 1944 | 06:57 | Spitfire | 12 km (7.5 mi) west of Cape Anzio |
| 22 | 3 March 1944 | 11:51 | P-47 | Valentano | 31 | 17 March 1944 | 07:23 | Spitfire | 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Marsciano |
| 23 | 3 March 1944 | 11:53 | P-47 | 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Farnese | 32 | 18 March 1944 | 09:11 | Spitfire | 5 km (3.1 mi) northwest of Mignano Monte Lungo |
| 24 | 7 March 1944 | 09:47? | Spitfire | 5 km (3.1 mi) northeast of Nettuno | 33 | 18 March 1944 | 17:36 | Spitfire | 10 km (6.2 mi) west of Frosinone |
| 25 | 7 March 1944 | 09:57 | Spitfire | 15 km (9.3 mi) west of Nettuno | 34 | 19 March 1944 | 07:50 | Spitfire | 5 km (3.1 mi) west of Montalto di Castro |
| 26 | 7 March 1944 | 12:22 | B-24 | 55 km (34 mi) southwest of Tarquinia | 35 | 19 March 1944 | 09:53 | Spitfire | 20 km (12 mi) west of Tarquinia |
| 27 | 10 March 1944 | 10:15 | P-51 | 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Rome | 36 | 19 March 1944 | 10:02 | Spitfire | 20 km (12 mi) west of Montalto di Castro |
| 28 | 11 March 1944 | 07:20 | Spitfire | 20 km (12 mi) northeast of Nettuno | 37 | 2 April 1944 | 13:37 | P-39 | 7 km (4.3 mi) southwest of Montalto di Castro |
| – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" – On the Western Front — 8 April – July 1944 ||||||||||
| 38 | 9 May 1944 | 09:35? | P-38 | 30 km (19 mi) northwest of Nancy | 44 | 12 June 1944 | 10:47 | Typhoon | PQ 05 Ost UA-7 vicinity of Lisieux |
| 39 | 30 May 1944 | 11:35 | P-51 | PQ 04 Ost N/CK-4/5 Doulevant-le-Château | 45 | 14 June 1944 | 06:45 | Typhoon | PQ 05 Ost UC-2/1 vicinity of Évreux |
| 40 | 7 June 1944 | 06:12 | Spitfire | 3 km (1.9 mi) southeast of Tilly | 46 | 15 June 1944 | 06:42 | Spitfire | PQ 05 Ost UC-8 vicinity of Évreux |
| 41 | 7 June 1944 | 06:18 | P-47 | 8 km (5.0 mi) northeast of Bayeux | 47 | 15 June 1944 | 06:44 | Spitfire | PQ 05 Ost UC-8/PQ 04 Ost N/AC-2 vicinity of Évreux/Dreux |
| 42 | 7 June 1944 | 19:13 | P-47 | PQ 15 West UT-3, Caen 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Caen | 48 | 16 June 1944 | 19:50 | P-51 | PQ 05 Ost UA-3 vicinity of Lisieux |
| 43 | 8 June 1944 | 06:17 | P-51 | PQ 04 Ost N/AD-7/BD-1 southeast of Dreux | | | | | |
| – Stab III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" – On the Western Front — July – 31 December 1944 ||||||||||
| 49 | 19 August 1944 | 09:09? | Typhoon | PQ 04 Ost N/AC-4/5 vicinity of Dreux | 52 | 17 December 1944 | 11:37 | Tempest | PQ 05 Ost PO Eifel |
| 50 | 20 October 1944 | 09:11 | P-38 | PQ 05 Ost S/NG-5/8 east of Cologne-Bonn | 53 | 23 December 1944 | 14:49 | P-47 | PQ 05 Ost NO southwest of Cologne |
| 51 | 20 October 1944 | 15:08 | P-47 | PQ 05 Ost S/QP-1 east of Cologne-Bonn | 54 | 23 December 1944 | 14:51 | P-47 | PQ 05 Ost NO southwest of Cologne |

### Awards

* Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
* Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 8 May 1944 as Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel and pilot
* German Cross in Gold on 3 April 1944 as Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel in the 1./Jagdgeschwader 2
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 14 June 1944 as Leutnant and Staffelführer of the 1./Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen"