Peter Düttmann

Peter "Bonifazius" Düttmann (23 May 1923 – 9 January 2001) was a World War II Luftwaffe flying ace. He achieved 152 kills in 398 sorties. All of his victories were scored against Soviet opposition on the Eastern Front flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.

Düttmann, trained at Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost (Supplemantary Fighter Group East) in southern France, joined 5. Staffel (squadron), Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) on 7 May 1943. He served with the same unit until the end of the war and soon became one of their most successful pilots, flying with Heinz Ewald and Heinz Sachsenberg. He scored his first victory on 21 May 1943 and downed another 24 by the end of the year.

On 11 July 1943, Düttmann ditched his Bf 109 G-4 southeast of Anapa in the Black Sea after being hit by return fire form a formation of Douglas Boston medium bombers. Following aerial combat on 9 August 1943, he force landed his Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 19623—factory number) in no-man's land and was posted missing for 17 hours. On the 23 August 1943, his Bf 109 G-6 was again hit by anti-aircraft artillery resulting in a forced landing 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) west of Nikolajewka.

He scored a further 18 kills in March 1944, 22 in April and 14 in May 1944. Düttmann became an "ace-in-a-day" for the first time on 11 April 1944 over the Kerch Peninsula. On 7 May 1944, he claimed nine aerial victories to take his score to 91. Suffering from combat fatigue he was sent on leave at the end of May and returned in September 1944. His 100th kill was claimed on 25 September 1944. He was the 92nd Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. On the 13 November 1944 he was shot down by an Il-2 rear gunner and bailed out at 1000 feet, landing behind enemy lines, but managing to reach German lines. The same happened to him on the 3 March 1945 due to AA damage and he returned a day later. On 23 December 1944, he was appointed Staffelkapitän of 5./JG 52. Düttmann claimed his last victory on 26 April 1945.

During two years on the Russian Front, Düttmann flew 395 missions and claimed 152 victories (including 9 in one day) at the Eastern Front, including two Sherman tanks. His tally includes 38 Il-2s, 8 Boston bombers, 5 Romanian aircraft and 98 Russian fighters. He was shot down or crash landed 17 times but was never wounded. His decorations include the Knights Cross and towards the end of the war was recommended for Oak Leaves.

Düttmann died on 9 January 2001.

Aerial victory claims

Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 147 aerial victory claims, plus 45 further unconfirmed claims, including one North American P-51 Mustang. All of his confirmed victories were claimed on the Eastern Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 34 Ost 96453". 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). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (6 August 1943)
  • 1st Class (25 August 1943)
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Fighter Pilots in Gold (17 August 1943)
• Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 20 March 1944 as Feldwebel and pilot
• German Cross in Gold on 15 April 1944 as Fahnenjunker-Feldwebel in the 5./Jagdgeschwader 52
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 June 1944 as Leutnant (war officer) and pilot in the 5./Jagdgeschwader 52