Helmut Grollmus


Helmut Grollmus was a Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Helmuth Grollmus was credited with 75 aerial victories during World War II. In 1944 he was killed in action during a dogfight over Finland.

Career

Grollmus was born on 8 January 1918 in Lissa, at the time in the Province of Posen, a province of the Kingdom of Prussia. Today Lissa is Leszno in western Poland. Following flight training, Grollmus was posted to the Ergänzungsjagdgruppe of Jagdgeschwader 54, a supplementary training group, in November 1941. On 9 March 1942, the Ergänzungsgruppe of JG 54 was disbanded and the pilots were transferred to I. Organization of the [Luftwaffe (1933–1945)#Gruppe|Gruppe] of JG 54. In consequence, Grollmus was transferred to 2. Staffel of JG 54. As part of a Luftwaffe plan to exchange fighter units operating on the Eastern Front with fighter units flying on the Western Front, Grollmus was assigned to 12. Staffel of JG 54 in July 1943 which had been newly formed from elements of 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" and 4. Staffel of JG 54 and was subordinated to II. Gruppe of JG 54.
Grollmus was killed in action over Viipuri, Finland 19 June 1944. He was shot down in his Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-6 during aerial combat with Petlyakov Pe-2 bombers and Bell P-39 Airacobra fighters in a position northeast of Viipuri. Grollmus parachuted out safely but was killed by ground fire. He is buried in the Helsinki-Hietaniemi Cemetery.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Grollmus was credited with 75 aerial victories. Spick also lists him with 75 aerial victories claimed in an unknown number missions on the Eastern Front. Heaton, Lewis, Olds and Schulze also list him with 75 aerial victories. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 68 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference, for example "PQ 10163". The Luftwaffe grid map 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. These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area in size.

Awards