Johannes Bunzek


Johannes Bunzek was a German Luftwaffe ace credited with 75 victories, all on the Eastern Front. Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Bunzek was killed on 11 December 1943 over Nikopol, Ukraine. He was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 6 April 1944.

Early life and career

Bunzek was born on 22 May 1922 in Groß-Strehlitz, present-day Strzelce Opolskie in southern Poland, at the time in the Province of Upper Silesia of the Weimar Republic. He joined the military service of the Luftwaffe and completed his training with Luftkriegsschule 4 at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base in July 1942. On 1 December 1942, he was promoted to Leutnant. Bunzek was then posted to 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 in late 1942. At the time, 7. Staffel was commanded by Hauptmann Adalbert Sommer who was replaced by Oberleutnant Walter Krupinski on 15 March 1943. The Staffel was part of III. Gruppe of JG 52 under command of Major Hubertus von Bonin.

World War II

World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. Germany had launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. In late 1942, III. Gruppe was based at an airfield named Soldatskaja, located approximately halfway between Mozdok and Pyatigorsk on the Eastern Front. The Gruppe stayed at this airfield until 1 January 1943. During this period, the pilots occasionally also operated from airfields at Mozdok and from Digora, supporting Army Group A in the Battle of the Caucasus. On 1 April 1943, III. Gruppe was moved to the combat area of the Kuban bridgehead where it was based at an airfield at Taman. Operating from Taman until 2 July, III. Gruppe also flew missions from Kerch on 12 May, from Sarabuz and Saky on 14 May, Zürichtal, present-day Solote Pole, a village near the urban settlement Kirovske on 23 May, and Yevpatoria on 25/26 June. Here, Bunzek claimed his first aerial victory over a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter on 28 May.
In preparation for Operation Citadel, III. Gruppe was relocated to the central sector of the eastern Front. The Gruppe first moved to Zaporizhzhia and then to Ugrim on 3 July. There, under the command of Luftflotte 4, they supported Army Group South fighting on the southern flank of the salient. On 5 July, the first day of the Battle of Kursk, Hauptmann Günther Rall replaced von Bonin as Gruppenkommandeur of III. Gruppe. That day, Bunzek claimed two LaGG-3 fighters shot down. The next day, he was credited with another LaGG-3 and an Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft shot down. For seven aerial victories claimed, Bunzek was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class on 14 July 1943. On 2 August, III. Gruppe moved to an airfield at Warwarowka, located south of Belgorod, where they stayed for three days. That day, Bunzek was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class. On 5 August, the Gruppe moved to an airfield at Kharkov-Rogan airfield, southeast of Kharkov. Flying from this airfield, Bunzek claimed three aerial victories, all LaGG-3s, until III. Gruppe was ordered to Kharkov-Waitschenko, southeast of Kharkov-Rogan, on 11 August.
On 20 August, the Gruppe moved to Kuteinykove near Stalino, present-day Donetsk, where Bunzek became an "ace-in-a-day" the following day. Here on 21 August, Bunzek claimed four LaGG-3 fighters and a single Il-2 ground-attack aircraft shot down, taking his total to 23 aerial victories. The next day, he claimed three further aerial victories which included two LaGG-3s and an Il-2. On 9 September, III. Gruppe moved to an airfield at Dnipropetrovsk, present-day Dnipro, where they stayed until 24 September. Here, Bunzek increased his total to 48 aerial victories claimed. On 24 September, III. Gruppe moved to an airfield located just west of Zaporizhzhia. There, the Gruppe fought over the area between the lower Dnieper and the Crimea during the Battle of the Dnieper until 15 October. Here on 18 September, Obleser claimed his 50th aerial victory on 27 September. In this timeframe, Bunzek claimed 28 further aerial victories, taking his total to 75.
On 1 November, III. Gruppe was moved to Apostolove fighting in the combat area between Nikopol and Zaporizhzhia. Adverse whether conditions rendered the airfield unusable and the Gruppe temporarily used an airfield near Kirovograd from 12 to 20 November. Bunzek received the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 8 November and the German Cross in Gold on 14 November. On 11 December, Bunzek was killed in action in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 following combat with Il-2 ground-attack aircraft and LaGG-3 fighters during the Battle of the Dnieper. He was initially reported as missing in action west of Nikopol. According to Barbas, this combat took place near Apostolove while fighting over the bridgehead established by Soviet forces at Nikopol. Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock place this southwest of Verblyuzhka which is approximately northwest of Apostolove. Bunzek was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 6 April 1944. His 78 aerial victories claimed made Bunzek the fifth most successful fighter pilot of III. Gruppe at the time of his death.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Bunzek was credited with 75 aerial victories. Spick also lists him with 75 aerial victories in an unknown number of combat missions, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front. Weal states that in addition to his 75 aerial victories, he also had 30 further unconfirmed claims. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 78 aerial victory claims, plus two further unconfirmed claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference, for example "PQ 34 Ost 76791". 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