Herbert Schramm

Herbert Schramm
Born	13 October 1913 Wetzlar
Died	Eupen, Belgium
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Luftwaffe
Years of service	1939–43
Rank	Hauptmann (Posthumously)
Unit	Jagdgeschwader 53 Jagdgeschwader 27
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of France Battle of Britain Eastern Front Defence of the Reich
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.

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. 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.

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	Location / Planquad	Claimed Aircraft	Source / Comments
-	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

• Flugzeugführerabzeichen
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe
• Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (23 February 1941)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (20 April 1940)
  • 1st Class (13 September 1940)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 6 August 1941 as Leutnant and Flugzeugführer in the III./Jagdgeschwader 53
  • 736th Oak Leaves on 11 February 1945 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 5./Jagdgeschwader 27

References

Bibliography

• 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

• Luftwaffe 39-45 including a colour profile of aircraft
• World War 2 Awards.com
• Lexikon der Wehrmacht
• Retrieved 29 December 2012
• Retrieved 7 January 2013

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