Jürgen Brocke


Jürgen Brocke was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Brocke claimed 42 victories in 150 missions. He was shot down on 15 September 1942 and was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross on 9 December 1942.

Early life and career

Brocke was born on 4 February 1922 in Bad Harzburg in the Free State of Brunswick with the Weimar Republic. Following the outbreak of World War II in Europe on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland, Brocke joined the Army of the Wehrmacht, initially serving in the artillery. In 1940, he transferred to the Luftwaffe. Following flight training, Brocke was posted to the 4. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 in early 1942. The Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant Heinrich Setz and subordinated to II. Gruppe of JG 77 headed by Hauptmann Anton Mader. At the time, the Gruppe was stationed at Vienna-Aspern for a period of rest re-equipment with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 F series.

World War II

World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. On 11 March 1942, II. Gruppe began relocating back to the Eastern Front, at first to Proskuriv where it stayed for a few days, and then to Sarabuz on the Crimea, arriving on 17 March 1942. Here, Brocke claimed his first aerial victory on 7 April when he shot down a Polikarpov I-16 fighter. Operating from Sarabuz, he was credited with three further aerial victories, all Polikarpov I-153 fighters claimed on 9, 10 and 22 April. This earned him the Iron Cross 2nd Class.
On 1 May, II. Gruppe moved to a makeshift airfield named Fernheim located near Sovietskyi on the southern coast of the Sea of Azov. Here on 13 May, Brocke claimed an aerial victory during Operation Trappenjagd in the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula. Two days later, the air elements of the Gruppe moved to an airfield at Baherove. Here Brocke claimed two Yakovlev Yak-1 fighters shot down, one on 16 and 21 May respectively. The Gruppe then briefly returned to Sarabuz before relocating to an airfield named Oktoberfeld, now Oktyabrskoye air base on 28 May. Here, Brocke claimed a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter on 12 June and an I-16 fighter two days later. On 5 July, II. Gruppe moved to an airfield Kastornoje, approximately west of Voronezh, where it fought in the Battle of Voronezh. Here Brocke claimed eight further aerial victories, taking his total to 17 on 24 July.

Combat in the Caucasus and death

In late July, Army Group A launched Operation Edelweiß, an attempt to gain control over the Caucasus and capture the oil fields of Baku, initiating the Battle of the Caucasus. In support of this operation, Brocke claimed three Petlyakov Pe-2 bombers shot down on 26 July. In August, Brocke claimed nine aerial victories, including three on 13 August and two the following day. On 5 September, he again claimed three aerial victories, taking his total to 35 aerial victories claimed.
On 9 September, II. Gruppe moved to Stary Oskol. Here on 12 September, Brocke was awarded the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe. Three days later from 09:55 to 11:05, 4. Staffel flew a combat air patrol in the area southwest of Voronezh. There, they encountered Soviet bomber, close air support and fighter aircraft. In this encounter, Brocke claimed four aerial victories. He was then shot down and killed in action by anti-aircraft artillery in his Bf 109 F-2 southwest of Devitsa, located approximately west of Voronezh. The day after his death, his commanding officer Heinrich Setz noted that Brocke had been the best officer in the Staffel. A few days later, Brocke's father Alfred Brocke, an Oberstleutnant in the Luftwaffe, visited 4. Staffel at Stary Oskol. Posthumously, Brocke was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 8 October and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 December 1942.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Obermaier, Brocke was credited with 42 aerial victories claimed in approximately 150 combat mission on the Eastern Front. Spick also lists him with 42 aerial victories and a mission-to-claim ratio of 3.57. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 39 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed over the Eastern Front.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference, for example "PQ 82133". 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