# Werner Quast

Werner Hermann Quast (21 June 1920 – 12 July 1962) was a German 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. Following a mid-air collision on 7 August 1943, he was taken prisoner by Soviet forces and was held until 1949. He joined the postwar Luftwaffe in 1956 and died in a helicopter accident in Mittenwald on 12 July 1962. During his career he was credited with 84 aerial victories, all on the Eastern Front.

## Career

Quast was born on 21 June 1920 in Thale of the Weimar Republic. Following flight training, he was posted to the 4. Staffel (5th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) in the summer of 1942. At the time, the Staffel was under the command of Oberleutnant Gerhard Barkhorn and subordinated to II. Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 52 headed by Hauptmann Johannes Steinhoff.

### War against the Soviet Union

In August 1942, II. Gruppe was subordinated to VIII. Fliegerkorps and supported the 6th Army offensive to capture Stalingrad. On 20 August, II. Gruppe reached the airfield at Tusov, approximately 25 kilometers (16 miles) southwest of Kalach-na-Donu on the western bank of the Don, from where the Gruppe operated in the combat area of Stalingrad. Flying from this airfield, Quast claimed his first aerial victory on 23 August when he shot down a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter. Six days later, Quast claimed two further LaGG fighters in the same combat area.
In September 1942, II. Gruppe was ordered into the Battle of the Caucasus, supporting Army Group South on the front over the Caucasus. Opposing it was the 4th and 5th Air Armies of the Red Air Force. The Gruppe then moved to Maykop located in the North Caucasus on 21 September where, with the exception of 24 to 29 October, they were based until 26 November. Operating from Maykop, Quast claimed his fourth and fifth aerial victory when he again claimed two LaGG fighters shot down on 7 October. To support the German forces fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad forced the Luftwaffe to relocate its forces and ordered II. Gruppe to move from Maykop to Morozovsk, located approximately 200 kilometers (120 miles) west of Stalingrad, on 26 November.

### Kuban bridgehead and Crimea

The Gruppe was moved to the combat area of the Kuban bridgehead on 10 February 1943 where it was initially based at an airfield at Slavyansk-na-Kubani. Due to whether conditions, II. Gruppe then moved to Kerch on 16 February. While based at Slavyansk-na-Kubani, Quast claimed three aerial victories on 11 February including two Polikarpov I-16 fighters. The next day, he shot down an Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft followed by four fighters claimed destroyed on 13 February. Operating from Kerch, Quast claimed a I-16 fighter shot down on 25 February and a LaGG-3 fighter the next day followed by a Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber on 5 March. On 13 March, the Gruppe moved to Anapa located on the northern coast of the Black Sea near the Sea of Azov and was fighting in the Battle of the Caucasus.
Flying from Anapa, Quast sank a Soviet motor torpedo boat of the Black Sea Fleet in the area of Gelendzhik on 20 April 1943. By end-April 1943, credited with 38 aerial victories, Quast had become the fourth highest scoring active fighter pilot of II. Gruppe of JG 52. At the time, the most successful fighter pilots of the Gruppe were Oberleutnant Heinz Schmidt with 130 aerial victories to date, Oberleutnant Barkhorn with 124 claims to date, followed by Leutnant Helmut Haberda with 49 aerial victories. By the end of May, Quast had moved into third place within II. Gruppe, his number of aerial victories had increased to 52 claims. In June, his number of aerial victories had reached 65 claims. For this, Quast was awarded the Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 25 June. On 23 July, he received the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold).
On 7 August, Quast claimed three aerial victories over Yakovlev Yak-1 fighters on an early morning mission in the vicinity southwest of Novorossiysk. During this aerial combat, his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 15844—factory number) collided with the debris of his third claim. He bailed out approximately 40 km (25 mi) southwest of Novorossiysk over the Black Sea and was taken prisoner of war. During his captivity, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 31 December 1943 in absentia. The Soviets released him as a prisoner of war in 1949.

## Later life and death

Following World War II, Quast joined the post-war Bundesluftwaffe as a Hauptfeldwebel (master sergeant). On 12 July 1962, Quast was killed in a flying accident when the Aérospatiale Alouette III light utility helicopter, on which he was riding as a passenger, flew into a cable near Mittenwald killing all on board. He is listed on the Ehrenmal der Bundeswehr (Bundeswehr Memorial).

## Summary of career
### Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Quast was credited with 84 aerial victories. Spick also lists Quast with 84 aerial victories claimed in an unknown combat missions. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 84 aerial victories, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 49342". 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 ♠ (Ace of spades) indicates those aerial victories which made Quast an "ace-in-a-day", a term which designates a fighter pilot who has shot down five or more airplanes in a single day.  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 52 – Eastern Front — August 1942 – 3 February 1943 ||||||||||
| 1 | 23 August 1942 | 09:40 | LaGG-3 | PQ 49342 south of Stalingrad | 4 | 7 October 1942 | 13:26 | LaGG-3 | PQ 95674, Gunaiberg 45 km (28 mi) northeast of Tuapse |
| 2 | 29 August 1942 | 06:15 | LaGG-3 | PQ 49212 northeast of Grebenka | 5 | 7 October 1942 | 13:35 | LaGG-3 | PQ 95674, Gunaiberg 45 km (28 mi) northeast of Tuapse |
| 3 | 29 August 1942 | 06:17 | LaGG-3 | PQ 49212 northeast of Grebenka | | | | | |
| – 4. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 – Eastern Front — 4 February – 7 August 1943 ||||||||||
| 6 | 11 February 1943 | 07:25 | I-153 | PQ 34 Ost 8537, Gelendzhik 25 km (16 mi) east of Novocherkassk | 46 | 26 May 1943 | 16:20? | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75892 Black Sea, 60 km (37 mi) south of Gelendzhik |
| 7 | 11 February 1943 | 10:45 | I-16 | PQ 34 Ost 75461 Black Sea, 5 km (3.1 mi) west of Kabardinka | 47 | 28 May 1943 | 09:34 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 76892, northeast of Kijewskoje vicinity of Kijewskoje |
| 8 | 11 February 1943 | 11:05 | I-16 | PQ 34 Ost 75452 8 km (5.0 mi) south of Novorossiysk | 48♠ | 30 May 1943 | 07:23 | Il-2 m.H. | PQ 34 Ost 75152 vicinity of Anapa |
| 9 | 12 February 1943 | 13:15 | Il-2 | PQ 34 Ost 85433 south of Stawropoliskaja | 49♠ | 30 May 1943 | 07:38 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75182 vicinity of Kutak |
| 10 | 13 February 1943 | 07:30 | I-16 | PQ 34 Ost 85414 over sea, southwest of Anapa | 50♠ | 30 May 1943 | 07:50 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 7536 |
| 11 | 13 February 1943 | 07:33 | I-16 | PQ 34 Ost 85442 east of Krassnyi | 51♠ | 30 May 1943 | 15:30 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 76884 vicinity of Gostagejewo |
| 12 | 13 February 1943 | 07:35 | I-153 | over hight 591 | 52♠ | 30 May 1943 | 15:40 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 76864, Kruglik north of Kessjetowa |
| 13 | 13 February 1943 | 13:37 | LaGG-3 | PQ 34 Ost 8592 25 km (16 mi) southeast of Novocherkassk | 53 | 31 May 1943 | 10:43 | P-39 | PQ 34 Ost 86721 southeast of Slavyansk-na-Kubani |
| 14 | 25 February 1943 | 07:15 | I-16 | PQ 34 Ost 75423 southwest of Novorossiysk | 54 | 3 June 1943 | 10:55 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 86772 south of Trojzkaja |
| 15 | 26 February 1943 | 10:47 | LaGG-3 | PQ 34 Ost 75464, southeast of Kabardinka Black Sea, 5 km (3.1 mi) west of Kabardinka | 55 | 3 June 1943 | 18:37 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75231, northwest of Krymskaja northwest of Krymsk |
| 16 | 5 March 1943 | 09:40 | Pe-2 | PQ 34 Ost 76732 south of Ssewernije | 56 | 4 June 1943 | 05:40 | Pe-2 | PQ 34 Ost 86723 vicinity of Tichonowskij |
| 17 | 28 March 1943 | 05:30 | La-5 | PQ 34 Ost 76691 west of Slavyansk-na-Kubani | 57 | 4 June 1943 | 10:20 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 85113 east of Krymsk |
| 18 | 28 March 1943 | 05:50 | P-39 | PQ 34 Ost 86572 north of Slavyansk-na-Kubani | 58 | 5 June 1943 | 11:30 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 85141 east of Krymsk |
| 19 | 29 March 1943 | 15:12 | I-16 | PQ 34 Ost 76692 vicinity of Deaschi | 59 | 5 June 1943 | 18:50 | La-5 | PQ 34 Ost 75232, southeast of Kijewskoje north of Krymsk |
| 20 | 29 March 1943 | 15:15 | I-16 | PQ 34 Ost 86543 west of Krassnoarmejskaja | 60 | 8 June 1943 | 09:23 | LaGG-3 | PQ 34 Ost 76821 vicinity of Kalabatka |
| 21 | 30 March 1943 | 06:20 | LaGG-3 | PQ 34 Ost 8654 | 61 | 9 June 1943 | 18:30 | La-5 | PQ 34 Ost 85111 vicinity of Krasshyj Golubowski |
| 22 | 30 March 1943 | 06:30 | LaGG-3 | PQ 34 Ost 8652 | 62 | 10 June 1943 | 06:31 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 85111 vicinity of Krasshyj Golubowski |
| 23 | 11 April 1943 | 05:48 | LaGG-3 | PQ 34 Ost 86584 east of Slavyansk-na-Kubani | 63 | 10 June 1943 | 11:50 | La-5 | PQ 34 Ost 76894, east of Kijewskoje vicinity of Kijewskoje |
| 24 | 15 April 1943 | 12:29 | I-16 | PQ 34 Ost 85141 east of Krymsk | 64 | 10 June 1943 | 11:52 | La-5 | PQ 34 Ost 85111 vicinity of Krasshyj Golubowski |
| 25 | 18 April 1943 | 14:52 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 86794 east of Mingrelskaya | 65 | 13 June 1943 | 10:42 | La-5 | PQ 34 Ost 86774 vicinity of Bondarenka |
| 26 | 19 April 1943 | 16:43 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75424 4 km (2.5 mi) east of Novorossiysk | 66 | 16 July 1943 | 06:25 | Pe-2 | PQ 34 Ost 85122 vicinity of Sswobodnyj |
| 27 | 19 April 1943 | 16:45 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75434 vicinity of Kabardinka | 67 | 16 July 1943 | 14:32 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 66632 |
| 28 | 21 April 1943 | 08:48 | P-40 | PQ 34 Ost 75434 vicinity of Kabardinka | 68 | 21 July 1943 | 16:42 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75351 over sea, south of Anapa |
| 29 | 21 April 1943 | 09:20 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75462, west of Kabardinka vicinity of Kabardinka | 69♠ | 22 July 1943 | 07:05 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75232, southeast of Kijewskoje north of Krymsk |
| 30 | 27 April 1943 | 14:15 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 85154 vicinity of Achtyrskaja | 70♠ | 22 July 1943 | 07:14 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 85121 vicinity of Sswobodnyj |
| 31 | 27 April 1943 | 17:06 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 85172 vicinity of Beregowoj | 71♠ | 22 July 1943 | 11:35 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 85141 east of Krymsk |
| 32 | 27 April 1943 | 17:20 | Yak-1? | PQ 34 Ost 85213 vicinity of Rekrowski | 72♠ | 22 July 1943 | 11:45 | Il-2 | PQ 34 Ost 75231, northwest of Krymskaja northwest of Krymsk |
| 33 | 28 April 1943 | 11:40 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 85183 vicinity of Erwinskij | 73♠ | 22 July 1943 | 16:19 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75232, southeast of Kijewskoje north of Krymsk |
| 34 | 29 April 1943 | 08:45 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 85112 east of Mertschanskaja | 74♠ | 22 July 1943 | 18:32 | Il-2 m.H. | PQ 34 Ost 76891 vicinity of Kijewskoje |
| 35 | 29 April 1943 | 08:52 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 85124 northeast of Sorin | 75 | 23 July 1943 | 17:24 | Il-2 m.H. | PQ 34 Ost 76894, east of Kijewskoje vicinity of Kijewskoje |
| 36 | 29 April 1943 | 09:09? | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 85142 vicinity of Beregowoj | 76 | 23 July 1943 | 17:28 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 86773, northeast of Kijewskoje northeast of Krymsk |
| 37 | 29 April 1943 | 13:20 | LaGG-3 | PQ 34 Ost 86792, northeast of Mingrelskaja south of Fedorowskaja | 77 | 30 July 1943 | 06:41 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 76894, east of Kijewskojevicinity of Krymsk |
| 38 | 30 April 1943 | 10:22 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 85153 vicinity of Abinsk | 78 | 30 July 1943 | 10:43 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75234, west of Kijewskojevicinity of Kijewskoje |
| 39 | 4 May 1943 | 15:00 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75442, west of Gelendzhik Black Sea, 15 km (9.3 mi) southwest of Novorossiysk | 79 | 2 August 1943 | 08:20 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 76821 vicinity of Kalabatka |
| 40 | 5 May 1943 | 15:35 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75262 south of Krymsk | 80 | 6 August 1943 | 15:05 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75171, west of Anapa over sea, southwest of Anapa |
| 41 | 11 May 1943 | 07:20 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 85111 vicinity of Krasshyj Golubowski | 81 | 6 August 1943 | 15:17 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75494 Black Sea, 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of Gelendzhik |
| 42 | 23 May 1943 | 05:42 | P-40 | PQ 34 Ost 85281 south of Slavyansk-na-Kubani | 82 | 7 August 1943 | 06:24? | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75321 over sea, south of Anapa |
| 43 | 23 May 1943 | 05:55 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 85343 south of Tscheschskij | 83 | 7 August 1943 | 06:35 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75392 over sea, southeast of Anapa |
| 44 | 26 May 1943 | 11:05 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75231 northwest of Krymsk | 84 | 7 August 1943 | 06:40 | Yak-1 | PQ 34 Ost 75612 vicinity of Wassiljewka |
| 45 | 26 May 1943 | 13:12 | P-39 | PQ 34 Ost 85111 vicinity of Krasshyj Golubowski | | | | | |

## Awards

* Iron Cross (1939)
** 2nd Class
** 1st Class (19 March 1943)
* Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 25 June 1943 as Feldwebel and pilot
* German Cross in Gold on 23 July 1943 as Feldwebel in the 4./Jagdgeschwader 52
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 31 December 1943 as Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel and pilot in the 4./Jagdgeschwader 52