Ernst Wilhelm Reinert

 Ernst Wilhelm Reinert was born on 2 February 1919 in Liderthal, near Koln. At the age of 13 the young Reinert joined the Deutschluftverband the German amateur flying club, and learned to fly. After having completed his school studies he joined the RAD ( Reichsarbaitdienst - German national work programm); he wanted to study as an engineer but was eventually accepted only as a technician in mechanics. His time at RAD completed, Reinert was sent to the Wermacht as an infantry soldier, but thanks to a friendly officer whom he knew from his time at the flyng club the future Jagdflieger managed to be trasferred to the Luftwaffe.

The young pilot underwent basic training at A/B Schule and was then transferred to Jagdgeschwader 77 in 1941, as an Unteroffizier. Initially detached to EJG 77, the Geschwader's training unit, based in Wien, Reinert was subsequently posted to 4./JG 77 and took part in the invasion of Crete.

After Crete' s fall, Luftwaffe units were transferred to the East in preparation for the invasion of the Soviet Union. Operation Barbarossa was launched on 22 June, and six weeks later, on 8 August, Reinert scored his first victory downing a Soviet I-16. A week later he shot down another enemy plane, and on 19 August  an I-16 for his third kill.

In September Reinert, flying as Rottenflieger for Hauptmann Heinrich Setz, was forced to land in a field due to engine malfunction. He actually never reached the field below him, since he hit high-tension cables and was lucky to escape unscathed.

Reinert started to score steadily, claiming three kills on 27 November and was promoted Feldwebel. On that particular mission Reinert attacked a formation of a dozen+ Soviet bombers, shooting down three but being badly shot up by return fire and flak. Chased by eneny fighters, he crash landed at 500 m from German lines., and was  was rescued by Waffen SS soldiers from the arriving Soviet infantry. His superior Oberst Roman Painczynk was less fortunate; he belly landed on enemy territory, and was never seen again.

During the harsch winter of 1941, II./JG 77 was sent back to Germany for rest and refit. On 7 February, with 24 kills to his belt, Reinert receive the Ehrepokal der Luftwaffe. During this time his unit re-equipped with the BF-109 F, and moved to Crimea in March 1942. The new theatre marked the start of a happy time for Reinert, who downed an I-153 on 17 March and other three the following day. On 1 May he was credited with three MiG-3s and awarded the German Cross in Gold on 18 May. Two days later Reinert claimed his 45th kill, and in three days reached 53.

On 1 July Reinert received the Knight's Cross. His happy time continued and on the 17th of the same month the young Jagdflieger topped the height of 79 kills. He was eventually wounded on 23 July following a clash with VVS fighters and hospitalized until September. His return to combat mission was nevertheless smooth, Reinert claiming 16 in two weeks and reaching 100 kills on 3 October, 1942. For his successes, Oberfeldwebel Reinert receive the Oak Leaves.
At the end of the year the Gruppe was transferred to Tunisia. Fighting against numerically superior USAAF and RAF units, Reinert scored 51 victories - 47 fighters, 3 Bostons and a single B-24 - more than any other pilot in the theatre. In many cases he claimed multiple kills in the same mission: five on 11 January and 1 April, six on 26 February. His last kill in Tunisia came on 6 May, a Spitfire; JG 77 then left Tunisia and relocated to Sicily.
Reinert enjoyed a brief license in Germany and came back to his unit when Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, was launched. Two P-40s were downed on 7 August and a Spitfire the following day. On the 9th, Reinert was forced to ditch his Bf 109 off Milazzo; he returned to his unit the following, having been declared missing in action. Reinert's Gruppe was moved to Central Italy in September, where the now Leutnant was nominated Staffelkapitan of 1./JG 77. At the end of the year his score had risen to 165.
Reinert contracted malaria and was then hospitalized; fully recovered for spring 1944, he was transeferred to  JG 27.  Assuming command of 1./JG 27 and shortly thereafter 14./JG 27, Reinert took part in Defence of The Reich operations. His Staffel was sent to Normandy in June, following the D-Day. Allied superiority was overwhelming and many Luftwaffe gruppen were almost entirely wiped out. Reinert nevertheless managed to claim one P-51, one P-47 and a Spitifre on 27 June, 2 and 3 July respectively. 14./JG 27 was sent back to Germany in August, having suffered terrible losses.

Reinert scored his last kills over the Reich in late 1944: two P-51 on 2 November and another on the 26th, followed by a Auster on 27 December. On 1 January Reinert was nominated Gruppenkommandeur of IV./JG 27, but operations were severly hampered by lack of fuel. At the end of the month Ernst Wilhelm Reinert was the 130th member of German Armed Forces to receive the Swords to the Knight's Cross. He was then promoted Hauptmann and transferred to JG 7, equipped with the revolutionary Me-262.
Reinert underwent conversion onto the new jet fighter, but never completed it. When the war ended in May, he still hadn't have the opportunity to fly combat mission with the Schwalbe.

After the war, Reinert joined studied at the university and got a degree in medicine. He eventually opened a ginecology clinic and married an opera singer. Ernst Wilhelm Reinert died at the age of 88 on 5 September 2007.

715 mission flown

174 victories
16 enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground
10 armoured vehicles destroyed

 

 

Count, cartograph and fighter ace: Gunther Freiherr von Maltzahn

Gunther von Maltzhan was born on 20 October 1910 in Wodarg, Pomerania. The von Maltzhans were members of the German aristocracy, and Gunther could boast the title of Freiherr (Count).  During World War 1, his father was lost in Battle of Verdun. The young Gunther was raised and educated in an atmosphere of patrotism, sense of honour and loyalty to the Kaiser.

After having studied Arts at the University of Rostock, Gunther von Maltzhan was trained as a pilot during the period of Germany's secret flying activites in the Soviet Union, wich began well before Hitler had come to power. Following the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had been forbidden from having an air force, therefore its pilots were officially formed as commercial flyers. Von Maltzhan joined a company doing business in cartography, and carried out flights aimed at charting Patagonia, African Coast and Pacific islands.

In mid 1930s, with expansion programmes now openly set and carried out, von Maltzahn was integrated in the Luftwaffe as flying instructor. In 1937 von Maltzahn was posted to 6./JG 334 as Staffelkapitan, the unit later renominated 6./ JG 53. The Geschwader, known as the "Pik As" was an elite unit led by Werner Molders, Luftwaffe's leading tactician.

Bf-109F of Gunther Freiherr von Maltzahn, 46 kills depicted on the rudder.

In 1939, von Maltzahn was nominated Gruppenkommandeur of II./ JG 53. He led his Gruppe through the Polish campaign, Blitzkrieg in France and the Low Countries and the Battle of Britain.  On 9 October  1940 he was promoted Geschwaderkommodore of JG 53, and on 30 December ,w as awarded the Knight's Cross, not just for his 12 victories, but also for his tireless work in organizing and running the unit.

In 1941 JG 53 participated in the Ivasion of the Soviet Union, achieving astonishg successes against the unprepared Red Air Force. Von Matlzahn, now Major, reached 43 kills and on 24 July 1941 received the Oak Leaves, the 29th member of German Armed Forces awarded with such honour.

In September 1941, JG 53 was pulled out from frontline duties and relocated to Holland for rest and refit. The Geschwader was sent to Sicily in December an participated in the battles over Malta and the Mediterranea. Von Maltzahn reached 68 victories, before contracting and then leaving JG 53 in October 1943, assuming a staff position at the Luftwaffenbefehlshabers Mitte (Luftwaffe Command of the Mediterranean), and later Jagdfliegerführer Italien, (Chief of Operations in Italy). In February 1945 he was detached to 9 Fliegerdivision, where he remained until the end of the war.

After a brief captivity, Von Maltzahn settled in Dusseldorf and dedicated himself to cartography again. He died in 1953, at the age of 43. Some sources claim he died in car crash, while others state he died due to complications from malaria, contracted ten years before.

Oberst Gunther Freiherr von Maltzahn flew 497 missions and claimed 68 victories. He fought on the Western Front, Eastern Front and the Mediterranean.

• 7 October 1939 - Iron Cross 2nd Class
• 10 May 1940 - Iron Cross 1st Class
• 30 December 1940 - Knight's Cross
• 24 July 1941 - Oak Leaves
• 23 March 1942 - Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe
• 23 December 1942 - German Cross in Gold