Military Wiki
Herbert Schramm
Born (1913-10-13)October 13, 1913
Died 1 December 1943(1943-12-01) (aged 30)
Place of birth Wetzlar
Place of death Eupen, Belgium
Allegiance Flag of German Reich (1935–1945) Nazi Germany
Service/branch Luftwaffe
Years of service 1939–1943
Rank Hauptmann (Posthumously)
Unit Jagdgeschwader 53
Jagdgeschwader 27
Battles/wars

World War II

Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Herbert Schramm (13 October 1913 – 1 December 1943) was a German Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves during World War II.

Military career[]

A keen pilot from an early age, in 1933 he became a civil aviation instructor. Then in 1938, as the new Luftwaffe emerged and expanded, he joined and started training as a fighter pilot. When war broke out in September 1939, he was a Feldwebel in 8./ JG53 based on the Western Front.[1]

With very little activity there, it was not until the French campaign that he scored his first victory: a Morane 406 over Sedan on 14 May 1940, although it was unconfirmed. His first verified victory was over another Morane on 27 May. This earned him the Iron Cross (2nd Class) and a promotion to Oberfeldwebel.[2] In the ensuing Battle of Britain, he would score consistently, and ended the campaign with 8 victories. Commissioned as a Leutnant, he was also awarded the Ehrenpokal (Trophy of Honour) on 23 February 1941.

Transferred, along with the rest of JG53, to the East for Operation 'Barbarossa', to support Army Group Centre. On the opening day of the Russian invasion he shot down two bombers. Now a very experienced pilot, he scored quickly, including four DB-3 bombers on the 3rd day of the campaign and two more each on both the 3rd and 6 July. He was personally awarded the Ritterkreuz, along with his Gruppenkommandeur Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke on 9 August 1941 (both for 25 victories) by his Luftflotte' commander, Generalfeldmarschall Kesselring.[3]

By the time his unit was rotated back to Germany in October, for rest and recuperation, Herbert had 37 victories. He did not follow his unit to the Mediterranean theatre though in early 1942. Instead his skills as an instructor, and now combat veteran, were needed for the training of the next generation of new pilots, and he would stay in the Training Schools for all of 1942 and into 1943.

However, with the Allied bomber raids starting to get bigger and bigger he was recalled to combat. Oberleutnant Schramm took command of 5./JG 27 on 13 August 1943, recently returned from the Mediterranean to bolster the Reich Defence. This was a whole new type of aerial warfare - greatly outnumbered by the fighter escorts, and against the fearsome defensive firepower of the American bombers. Schramm shot down his first 4-engined bomber on 14 October, as his 40th victory, and two more at the end of the month.

On December 1, 1943, intercepting bombers en route to Cologne, Schramm was killed in action over Eupen, in Belgium, when he was shot down by an American P-47 Thunderbolt. He was posthumously awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross on 11 February 1945 and promoted to Hauptmann. During his career he flew 480 combat missions and was credited with 42 aerial victories, 14 over the Western Front and 28 over the Eastern Front.

Victories[]

No Date Time Unit & Airfield Gruppe Kommandeur[4] Location / Planquad Claimed Aircraft Source / Comments[5]
- 14/05/1940 - 7./ JG 53 - Trier Hptm Werner Mölders Sedan Morane 406 OKL; Prien/Bock - unconfirmed
1 27/05/1940 14.15 7./ JG 53 - La Selve Hptm Werner Mölders 10 km S of Creil Morane 406 OKL; Prien/Bock
2 2/09/1940 17.50 7./ JG 53 - Le Touquet Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke NE of Dungeness: 6000m Spitfire OKL; Prien/Bock
3 15/09/1940 12.50 7./ JG 53 - Le Touquet Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - Spitfire OKL; Prien/Bock
4 26/09/1940 13.16 7./ JG 53 - Le Touquet Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - Hampden OKL; Prien/Bock
5 30/09/1940 14.38 7./ JG 53 - Le Touquet Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke London: 5000m Spitfire OKL; Prien/Bock
6 30/09/1940 14.55 7./ JG 53 - Le Touquet Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - Spitfire OKL; Prien/Bock
7 5/10/1940 18.40 7./ JG 53 - Le Touquet Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke Thames Estuary Hurricane OKL; Prien/Bock
8 17/10/1940 11.00 7./ JG 53 - Le Touquet Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke Dungeness: 6500m Spitfire OKL; Prien/Bock
- 16/04/1941 12.00 7./ JG 53 - Berck-sur-Mer Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke English Channel Spitfire Prien/Bock - unconfirmed
- 16/04/1941 - 7./ JG 53 - Berck-sur-Mer Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke English Channel Spitfire Prien/Bock
9 22/06/1941 9.44 8./ JG 53 - Suwalki Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke N of Kalwarija DJ-6 (?) C. 2035/II
10 22/06/1941 16.40 8./ JG 53 - Suwalki Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - DB-3 Prien/Bock
11 25/06/1941 10.55 8./ JG 53 - Suwalki Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - DB-3 Prien/Bock
12 25/06/1941 11.00 8./ JG 53 - Suwalki Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - DB-3 Prien/Bock
13 25/06/1941 13.05 8./ JG 53 - Suwalki Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - DB-3 Prien/Bock
14 25/06/1941 17.21 8./ JG 53 - Wilno Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - DB-3 Prien/Bock
15 3/07/1941 18.40 8./ JG 53 - Molodeczno Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - DB-3 Prien/Bock
16 3/07/1941 18.43 8./ JG 53 - Molodeczno Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - DB-3 Prien/Bock
17 6/07/1941 17.24 8./ JG 53 - Lepel Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - DB-3 Prien/Bock
18 6/07/1941 17.35 8./ JG 53 - Lepel Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - DB-3 Prien/Bock
19 9/07/1941 10.10 8./ JG 53 - Lepel Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - Pe-2 Prien/Bock
20 13/07/1941 10.05 8./ JG 53 - Lepel Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - DB-3 Prien/Bock
21 14/07/1941 14.30 8./ JG 53 - Vitebsk Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - DB-3 Prien/Bock
22 26/07/1941 10.03 8./ JG 53 - Demidov Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - DB-3 Prien/Bock
23 27/07/1941 7.18 8./ JG 53 - Demidov Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke NNE of Werchino I-15 Prien/Bock
24 5/08/1941 4.39 8./ JG 53 - Moschna Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - Pe-2 Prien/Bock
25 5/08/1941 14.51 8./ JG 53 - Moschna Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - Pe-2 Prien/Bock
26 20/08/1941 14.41 8./ JG 53 - Maklok Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - I-18 (MiG-3) Prien/Bock
27 20/08/1941 14.44 8./ JG 53 - Maklok Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke NW of Frolowo Pe-2 Prien/Bock
28 23/08/1941 12.27 8./ JG 53 - Maklok Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - DB-3 Prien/Bock
- 23/08/1941 - 8./ JG 53 - Maklok Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - I-18 (MiG-3) Prien/Bock - unconfirmed
29 26/08/1941 16.36 8./ JG 53 - Maklok Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - I-15 Prien/Bock
30 26/08/1941 16.40 8./ JG 53 - Maklok Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - R-5 Prien/Bock
31 29/08/1941 16.10 8./ JG 53 - Maklok Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke N of Nikolino I-18 (MiG-3) Prien/Bock
32 30/08/1941 13.32 8./ JG 53 - Maklok Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilckev - I-15 Prien/Bock
33 7/09/1941 13.43 8./ JG 53 - Gomel Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - I-15 Prien/Bock
34 9/09/1941 9.05 8./ JG 53 - Gomel Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - I-16 Prien/Bock
35 9/09/1941 15.54 8./ JG 53 - Gomel Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - I-17 (?) Prien/Bock
36 10/09/1941 6.40 8./ JG 53 - Gomel Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - I-17 (?) Prien/Bock
37 10/09/1941 10.10 8./ JG 53 - Gomel Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - I-15 Prien/Bock
38 12/02/1942 18.23 8./ JG 53 - Comiso Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - Blenheim Prien/Bock
39 ? - 8./ JG 53 - Comiso Hptm Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke - ?
40 14/10/1943 15.47 5./ JG 27 - St Dizier Hptm Werner Schroer St Avold: 7000m B-17 C.2031/II
41 29/11/1943 15.15 5./ JG 27 - Wiesbaden Hptm Werner Schroer SW of Bremen: 8000m B-17 [HSS] C.2031/II
42 30/11/1943 12.35 5./ JG 27 - Wiesbaden Hptm Werner Schroer Cologne: 8000m B-17 [HSS] C.2031/II
1/12/1943 - 5./ JG 27 - Wiesbaden Hptm Werner Schroer Verviers

Awards[]

References[]

Citations
  1. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries website.
  2. Luftwaffe 39-45 Historia website.
  3. Weal 2007, pg. 47.
  4. Luftwaffe Air Units: Single–Engined Fighters website.
  5. Aces of the Luftwaffe website.
  6. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 315.
  7. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 80.
Bibliography
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) (in German). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 – Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtsteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches]. Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. 
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007) (in German). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives]. Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2. 
  • Weal, John (2007). Aviation Elite Units #25: Jagdgeschwader 53 Pik-As’. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84603-204-2
  • Weal, John (2003). Aviation Elite Units #12: Jagdgeschwader 27 'Afrika’. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84176-538-4* Weal, John (2006). Bf109 Defence of the Reich Aces. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84176-879-0

External links[]

Military Offices held[]

Military offices
Preceded by
Hptm Fritz Schiffke
Squadron Leader of 5./JG 27
13 August 1943 – 1 December 1943
Succeeded by
Oblt Karl-Heinz Bendert



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