Karl-Wolfgang Redlich


Karl-Wolfgang Redlich was a German Luftwaffe military aviator in the Spanish Civil War and a fighter ace during World War II. He is credited with 41 aerial victories, potentially 43 aerial victories, including four in Spain. All his World War II victories were claimed over the Western Allies.
Born in Hamburg, Redlich volunteered for military service in the Reichsmarine in April 1934. He later transferred to the Luftwaffe and was trained as a fighter pilot. In later 1938, Redlich fought in the Spanish Civil War with Jagdgruppe 88, under the command of the Condor Legion, and claimed four aerial victories. For his service in Spain, he was awarded the Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords. Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, Redlich was appointed Staffelkapitän of 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 27. With this squadron, he fought in the Battle of France and Britain. In April 1941, his unit was sent to North Africa, fighting in North African campaign. Following 21 aerial victories claimed, Redlich was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in July 1941. In December 1941, he was transferred, serving in various staff positions with the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe. On 19 May 1944, Redlich was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I. Gruppe of JG 27 which was fighting in defense of the Reich over Austria. Ten days later on 29 May, Redlich was killed in action during aerial combat with United States Army Air Forces bombers over Sankt Pölten.

Early life and career

Redlich was born on 13 December 1914 in Hamburg, at the time a sovereign state of the German Empire. In April 1934, he volunteered for military service in the Reichsmarine, later renamed to Kriegsmarine, as an officer cadet. He later transferred to the Luftwaffe and following flight and fighter pilot training, was posted to I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 134 in August 1936.
In late 1938, Redlich volunteered for service with the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War. Following the Battle of the Ebro, Redlich claimed a Tupolev SB-2 bomber shot down on 28 December. On 4 January 1939, he was credited with a second SB-2 shot down. Redlich claimed his fourth and last aerial victory in Spain on 4 February, a Polikarpov I-15 fighter. He was later awarded the Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords on 14 April 1939 for his service in the Spanish Civil War.

World War II

World War II in Europe began on Friday, 1 September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland. On 1 October 1939, the new I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 27 was created at Münster-Handorf Airfield and placed under command of Hauptmann Helmut Riegel. Redlich was transferred and appointed Staffelkapitän of 1. Staffel of JG 27. On 22 January 1940, the Gruppe moved to Krefeld Airfield where they were tasked with flying fighter protection during the "Phoney War" along the German – Belgian border. During this period, the pilots had little to no enemy contact. In late March, I. Gruppe moved to an airfield at Mönchengladbach.

Battle of France and Britain

On 10 May 1940, German forces launched the invasion of France and the Low Countries. At the start of the invasion, I. Gruppe of JG 27 was subordinated to the VIII. Fliegerkorps. The next day, Redlich claimed his first victory of World War II, a Fairey Battle light bomber shot down near Tongeren, probably belonging to the Belgian Air Force. For this, he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class. On 16 May, 1. Staffel intercepted a Royal Air Force Westland Lysander aerial reconnaissance aircraft, escorted by Hawker Hurricane fighters, in the area of Brussels and Charleroi. In this encounter, 1. Staffel pilots claimed five aerial victories, including a Hurricane by Redlich.
On 18 May, I. Gruppe moved to Charleville located approximately west-northwest of Sedan. On 22 May, the Gruppe moved to Guise. Three days later, they were ordered to Saint-Omer for combat against the encircled Allied forces fighting in the Battle of Dunkirk. On 29 May, Redlich claimed his third aerial victory, a Hurricane fighter shot down over Dunkirk. This claim earned him the Iron Cross 1st Class that day. The Gruppe returned to Guise on 31 May. On 2 June, the Gruppe flew an early morning mission to Dunkirk. On this mission, Redlich claimed a Supermarine Spitfire shot down. When the Armistice of 22 June 1940 was signed, Redlich was credited with seven aerial victories and was one of the leading fighter pilots of I. Gruppe of JG 27. On 28 June, the Gruppe was ordered to Neuenlander Feld in Bremen for a brief period of rest and replenishment.
In preparation in what would become the Battle of Britain, I. Gruppe was moved to the English Channel on 2 July where they were based at an airfield near Plumetot. On 7 September 1940, I. Gruppe participated in Operation "Loge", 350 bombers escorted by 648 fighters, attacked various targets in the greater London area. The Gruppe protected those bombers returning from the docks in the East End of London. On this mission, Redlich claimed a Spitfire shot down at 18:55 southeast of London. Two days later, the Luftwaffe flew its second large scale attack of Operation "Loge". That day, Redlich claimed a Hurricane shot down over London. Redlich claimed his last aerial victory during the Battle of Britain on 27 September. Again escorting Luftwaffe bombers to London, Redlich claimed his tenth aerial victory in total when he shot down a Hurricane near Sevenoaks. On 1 October, I. Gruppe was withdrawn from the English Channel and had relocated to an airfield at Stade in Northern Germany. Here the Gruppe was subordinated to the Geschwaderstab of Jagdgeschwader 1 and tasked with patrolling the German Bight. This assignment ended on 21 October, when the Gruppe was ordered to relocate to Dinan in northwestern France.

North Africa

On 3 December 1940, I. Gruppe was again withdrawn from the English Channel and relocated to Döberitz located approximately west of Staaken. There, the pilots were sent on home leave, returning in January 1941. In February, the Gruppe began preparations for Operation Marita, the German invasion of Greece while the ground elements of the Gruppe began their relocation to Tripoli in North Africa, arriving there on 18 March. There, the ground crew began preparations for the air elements to arrive at the designated airfield at Ayn al-Ġazāla. In parallel, the air elements of I. Gruppe relocated to Munich-Riem Airfield in early March. There, the Gruppe received refurbished Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-7 fighter aircraft. The aircraft had been equipped with a sand-filter on the front of the supercharger intake which made the aircraft more suitable for deployment in North Africa. On 4 April, the Gruppe was ordered to move to Graz Airfield for Operation Marita. German forces launched the attack on 6 April. The orders for I. Gruppe that day were to attack and destroy the Yugoslavian air defenses in the area of Laibach, present-day Ljubljana in Slovenia. At the time of his relocation to North Africa, Redlich was credited with ten aerial victories.
Following Operation Marita, the air elements briefly returned to Munich-Riem before they transferred to North Africa, arriving in Ayn al-Ġazāla between 18 and 22 April 1941. On 19 April, 1. Staffel flew its first combat mission in North Africa. On a mid-day mission to Tobruk, Redlich claimed two Hurricane fighters shot down. On 23 April, Redlich claimed two Bristol Blenheim bombers shot down near Tobruk. His opponents probably belonged to the RAF No. 55 Squadron. On 30 April, Redlich claimed a Hurricane fighter shot down near Tobruk. The Hurricane may have belonged to the RAF No. 274 Squadron which lost two aircraft that day. On 16 May, Redlich shot down the Blenheim IV V5817 of No. 45 Squadron. On 9 July, Redlich was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for 21 aerial victories claimed. After Oberleutnant Gerhard Homuth from 3. Staffel, he was the second pilot within I. Gruppe of JG 27 to receive this distinction in North Africa.
In late October, I. Gruppe was reequipped with the Bf 109 F-4/trop. To retain operation status, 1. and 3. Staffel left North Africa on 22 October while 2. Staffel stayed. In Italy they handed over their Bf 109 E variants and continued the journey back home by train. The pilots were sent on a short home-leave before returning to Ayn al-Ġazāla on 10 November.

Luftwaffe staff service

On 5 December 1941, Redlich was transferred to the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe. Command of 1. Staffel of JG 27 was then given to Oberleutnant Ludwig Franzisket. On 26 January 1942, Redlich was appointed Ia in the staff of Fliegerführer Afrika, an organizational until controlling air operations during the North African campaign, under command of Generalmajor Stefan Fröhlich. On 19 November, Redlich transferred to the staff of II. Fliegerkorps headed by General der Flieger Bruno Loerzer. In June 1943, he was posted to the XII. Fliegerkorps where he was promoted to Major in August. This assignment was followed by another posting to the staff of the OKL.

Group commander and death

On 19 May 1944, Redlich, who commanded the Verbandsführerschule of the General der Jagdflieger, was transferred and appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I. Gruppe of JG 27. He succeeded Hauptmann Ernst Börngen who had been severely injured in combat that day. At the time, the Gruppe was based at Fels am Wagram and fighting in defense of the Reich missions.
On 29 May 1944, the United States Army Air Forces targeted German aircraft production and Luftwaffe infrastructure. The USAAF Eighth Air Force sent 993 heavy bombers to Leipzig, Sorau, present-day Żary, and Posen, present-day Poznań, the airfield at Tutow, as well as the at Pölitz. At the same time, the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force attacked the, manufacturing at Atzgersdorf, and the airfield at Wollersdorf, with 563 heavy bombers. At 08:55, I. Gruppe was scrambled at Fels am Wagram. In the area of Sankt Pölten, the Gruppe under the leadership of Redlich intercepted a formation of Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers. During this encounter, the Gruppe claimed five bombers shot down, including one by Redlich. However, Redlich was then killed in action when he was shot down in his Bf 109 G-6/U4 near Sankt Pölten. Redlich was buried in the war grave section of the . Following his death, command of I. Gruppe was passed on to Hauptmann Walter Blume, who had commanded 3. Staffel.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Obermaier, Redlich was credited with 41 aerial victories, four in the Spanish Civil War and another 37 in World War II, claimed in an unknown number of combat missions. Forsyth states that three of his four aerial victories claimed in Spain were unconfirmed. The authors Ring and Girbig list Redlich with 43 aerial victories which includes one four-engined heavy bomber. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found documentation for 37 aerial victory claims, plus four further unconfirmed claims. This number includes four claims during the Spanish Civil War and 37 claims during World War II over the Western allies on the Western Front and North Africa, including one four-engined heavy bomber.

Awards