Karl-Heinz Leesmann


Karl-Heinz Leesmann was a Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. He was the first member of Jagdgeschwader 52 to receive this distinction. Leesmann was shot down on 25 July 1943, by a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber that he was attacking. During his career he was credited with 37 aerial victories, 27 on the Western Front and 10 on the Eastern Front.

Early life and career

Leesmann was born on 3 May 1915 in Osnabrück in the Province of Hanover within the German Empire. He joined the military service of the Luftwaffe and following completion of his flight and fighter pilot training, Leesmann was posted to Luftwaffe staff position holding the rank of Leutnant.
On 18 February 1939, Oberleutnant Alfons Klein, the commander of 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 433, was killed in a flight accident. The Junkers Ju 52 on which he was travelling as a passenger crashed in heavy snowfall. In consequence, Leesmann was briefly appointed Staffelkapitän of 3. Staffel. He led the Staffel until 1 March when Oberleutnant Helmut Kühle was officially appointed its new commander. On 20 March, I. Gruppe of JG 433 was redesignated and became I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 52. That day, I. Gruppe moved to Böblingen.

World War II

World War II in Europe began on Friday, 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. That day, I. Gruppe moved to, protecting the German border during the "Phoney War". In preparation for Operation Sea Lion, the proposed amphibious invasion of Great Britain, I. Gruppe of JG 52 moved to an airfield at Coquelles near the English Channel on 3 August 1940. Here on 24 August, Leesmann claimed his first aerial victory, a Royal Air Force Supermarine Spitfire shot down east of Margate.
On 27 August, Leesmann was appointed Staffelkapitän of 3. Staffel of JG 52. He replaced Hauptmann Wolfgang Ewald who was appointed commander of I. Gruppe of JG 52. On 15 September, also known as Battle of Britain Day, Leesmann claimed two Hawker Hurricane fighters over the Thames Estuary on fighter escort mission for Junkers Ju 88 bombers heading for London, taking his total to ten aerial victories. Leesmann was awarded the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 5 October.
On 24 May 1941, Leesmann was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I. Gruppe of JG 52. He succeeded Ewald who was transferred. Five days later, the Geschwaderstab of I. Gruppe relocated to Leeuwarden Airfield. Here on 30 June, Leesmann claimed two Bristol Blenheim bombers shot down northwest of Texel, taking his total to 22. Following his 22nd aerial victory claimed, Leesmann was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 23 July 1941. He was the first member of JG 52 to receive this distinction.

War against the Soviet Union

On 22 June, German forces had launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. On 21 September 1941, I. Gruppe of JG 52 was ordered to relocate to the Eastern Front. With stopovers at Dortmund, Magdeburg, and Warsaw, the Gruppe arrived in Orsha on 29 September. In support for Operation Typhoon, also known as the Battle of Moscow, the Gruppe moved to an airfield named Ponyatovka, located approximately southwest of Roslavl, on 2 October. There, the Gruppe was initially subordinated to the Stab of Jagdgeschwader 27 and supported German forces fighting in the Battle of Vyazma as part of Operation Typhoon, the code name of the German offensive on Moscow.
On 20 October, the Gruppe moved to an airfield named Kalinin-Southwest, present-day Tver, and located on the Volga, and to Staritsa on 31 October and then to Ruza located approximately west of Moscow, on 3 November. Here on 22 October, Leesmann claimed his 25th aerial victory when he shot down an Ilyushin DB-3 bomber. On 6 November, Leesmann was severely wounded in combat and was grounded for many months. His Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 was hit by enemy fire resulting in an emergency landing at Ruza. In consequence, command of I. Gruppe was passed to Oberleutnant Carl Lommel. Leesmann returned to active service following a lengthy period of convalescence on 6 May 1942. At the time, I. Gruppe was based at Olmütz, present-day Olomouc in the Czech Republic, where they received new Bf 109 F-4 aircraft. The Gruppe then redeployed to the Eastern Front. On 13 June, Leesmann had to again transfer command of I. Gruppe, this time to Hauptmann Helmut Bennemann. The injuries he had sustained on 6 November 1941 had prevented him from further operational flying. On 27 July, Leesmann was awarded the German Cross in Gold.

In defense of the Reich and death

In consequence of the newly created Jagdgeschwader 11 on 31 March 1943, a new III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 1 was formed and placed under command of Leesmann.
On 25 July during Blitz Week, a period of United States Army Air Forces aerial bombardment during the 1943 Combined Bomber Offensive, the USAAF VIII Bomber Command targeted Hamburg and Warnemünde. III. Gruppe was scrambled at 16:15 and vectored to a point of intercept over the Elbe estuary where they encountered a formation of approximately 100 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. Leading his formation, Leesmann approached the bombers in a head-on attack. Following the attack, he radioed that his Bf 109 G-6 had taken hits. Leesmann was killed in action when his Bf 109 crashed into the North Sea in an area southeast of Heligoland. Command of III. Gruppe was then passed to Hauptmann Robert Olejnik.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 34 aerial victory claims, plus two further unconfirmed claims. This figure includes 10 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and 24 over the Western Allies, including one four-engined heavy bomber.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference, for example "PQ 05 Ost 148". 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