Oskar Romm


Oskar "Ossi" Romm was a German Luftwaffe military aviator and fighter ace during World War II. He is credited with 92 aerial victories achieved in 283 combat missions, 54 of which were close air support missions. This figure includes 82 aerial victories on the Eastern Front, and further ten victories over the Western Allies, including eight four-engined heavy bombers.
Born in Hejnice, Romm, a half-Jew by the Nuremberg Laws, joined the military service in the Luftwaffe in 1939. Following flight training, he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" which was fighting in 1942. Flying with this wing, Romm claimed his first aerial victory on 4 December 1942 on the Eastern Front. Following his 76th aerial victory, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 February 1944. He was then transferred to Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" which was fighting in defense of the Reich on the Western Front. Here, he was made Staffelkapitän of 12. Staffel of JG 3 in July 1944. In February 1945, he was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of IV. Gruppe of JG 3. He flew his last mission on 24 April when he was wounded in an aircraft crash. Romm died on 1 May 1993 in Waldesch, Germany.

Early life and career

Romm was born on 18 December 1919 in Hejnice, Haindorf in German, within Czechoslovakia. According to Bryan Mark Rigg, Romm was a half-Jew by the Nuremberg Laws who joined the Luftwaffe and served with distinction. He entered the Luftwaffe in October 1939 and following flight and fighter pilot training, In September 1942, Romm was posted to 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders", a squadron of I. Gruppe of JG 51.

World War II

World War II in Europe had begun on Friday, 1 September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland. In June 1941, German forces had launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. At the time of Romm's posting to JG 51, I. Gruppe was based at Jesau, present-day Juschny, located southeast of Königsberg, for conversion training to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 radial engine fighter. Following the conversion, the Gruppe was sent to Lyuban on the Eastern Front on 10 September. Here, the Gruppe was subordinated to the Geschwaderstab of Jagdgeschwader 54 in the combat area of Army Group North.
On 17 October 1942, I. Gruppe of JG 51 was detached from control of JG 54 began relocation to an airfield at Vyazma, in the combat area of Army Group Centre, where it became fully operational again on 23 October. Here on 22 November, Romm made an emergency landing in his Fw 190 A-3 due to engine failure north of Sychyovka. Fighting in the Battle of Velikiye Luki, Romm claimed his first aerial victory on 4 December in support of 9th Army near Rzhev when he shot down an Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft.
On 5 July 1943, German forces launched Operation Citadel, which initiated the Battle of Kursk. The battle began on 5 July 1943 with I. Gruppe of JG 51 supporting the German 9th Army in its northern attack on the Kursk salient. For the first days of the operation, I. Gruppe primary task was to provide fighter escort for the bombers of Kampfgeschwader 4, Kampfgeschwader 51 and Kampfgeschwader 53, as well as for the Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers of Sturzkampfgeschwader 1. That day, Romm claimed two aerial victories, taking his total to ten, an Il-2 ground-attack aircraft and a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 fighter. In the early morning of 8 July, 1. Flieger-Division intercepted Soviet radio communication and ordered I. Gruppe of JG 51 to engage a large formation of Il-2 ground-attack aircraft from 299 ShAD. The Luftwaffe fighters engaged 30 Il-2s, escorted by 15 Soviet fighters, in the area of Fatezh. In this encounter, four Il-2s were shot down, including one by Romm.
In September 1943, Romm was transferred to Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost, specialized training unit for new fighter pilots destined for the Eastern Front, as an instructor. During this assignment, he was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 17 October. He was awarded his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 February 1944 when his victory score stood at 76.

Western Front

By late May 1944, 2. Staffel of JG 51 had been staffed with a full complement of 16 pilots, including Romm. The Staffel was ordered to relocate to the Western Front where it was attached to IV. Sturmgruppe of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" as fourth squadron fighting in Defense of the Reich. There, the Staffel was underwent conversion training to the Fw 190 radial engine powered fighter aircraft. At the time, IV. Sturmgruppe was based at Salzwedel and commanded by Hauptmann Wilhelm Moritz.
Romm was appointed Staffelkapitän of 12. Sturmstaffel of JG 3 on 7 July 1944. He replaced Oberleutnant Hans Rachner who had been killed in action that day. On 7 July, a force of 1,129 B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers of the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force had set out from England to bomb aircraft factories in the Leipzig area and the synthetic oil plants at Boehlen, Leuna-Merseburg and Lützkendorf. This formation was intercepted by a German Gefechtsverband consisting of IV. Sturmgruppe of JG 3, led by Moritz, escorted by two Gruppen of Bf 109s from Jagdgeschwader 300 led by Major Walther Dahl. Dahl and Moritz drove the attack to point-blank range behind the Liberators of the 492d Bombardment Group before opening fire. 492d Bombardment Group was temporarily without fighter cover. Within about a minute the entire squadron of twelve B-24s had been annihilated. The Germans claimed 28 USAAF 2nd Air Division B-24 bombers that day and were credited with at least 21. The majority to the Sturmgruppe attack. This figure includes one B-24 bomber claimed shot down by Romm, taking his total to 77 aerial victories. In total, Luftwaffe pilots claimed the destruction of 60 bombers while actual losses were 28 bombers destroyed and further bombers returned with various levels of combat damage. The authors Prien, Stemmer and Bock state that the consolidated attack flown in close formation by the Sturmgruppe resulted in overclaiming of aerial victories caused by the confusing combat situation. During these attacks, multiple pilots may have simultaneously fired at the same bomber. It was therefore unclear who was responsible for the destruction of the bomber.
On 18 July, the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force attacked the Luftwaffe Memmingen Airfield. The Sturmgruppe intercepted the bombers and following the mission, the pilots claimed 36 heavy bombers shot down, including three Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers by Romm. This took his total to 80 aerial victories. Two days later, the Sturmgruppe moved to an airfield at Schwaighofen near Neu-Ulm where they stayed until 30 July. The Sturmgruppe then moved to Schongau. There, 12. Sturmstaffel was renamed to 15. Sturmstaffel on 10 August.
In October 1944, Romm was transferred to I. Gruppe of JG 3 where he was tasked with the creation of a newly formed 4. Staffel. At the time, I. Gruppe was based at Bindersleben Airfield and commanded by Hauptmann Horst Haase. Command of 15. Sturmstaffel was then passed to Hauptmann Hubert-York Weydenhammer. Romm claimed his only aerial victory while serving with 4. Staffel on 2 November when he shot down a USAAF North American P-51 Mustang fighter. That day, the Eighth Air Force attacked the synthetic fuel factories at Leuna. The day ended with a defeat for the Luftwaffe with 72 pilots killed in action and further 32 pilots wounded. The USAAF lost 40 heavy bombers, further two crashed on their return to England, and 14 escort P-51 fighters shot down. In early December, Romm was transferred to I. Gruppe of Ergänzungs-Jagdgeschwader 1, a replacement training unit for fighter pilots. Command of 4. Staffel was then passed to Leutnant Franz Ruhl.

Eastern Front and end of war

On 12 January 1945, Soviet forces launched the Vistula–Oder offensive advancing into German-held territory, capturing Kraków, Warsaw and Poznań. In consequence, Romm as an experienced unit leader was transferred back to IV. Sturmgruppe of JG 3 again taking command of 15. Sturmstaffel. He took command from Leutnant Karl-Dieter Hecker who had taken command of the Sturmstaffel after Weydenhammer had been transferred in December 1944. On 21 January 1945, IV. Sturmgruppe was ordered to relocate from Gütersloh Airfield to Märkisch Friedland, present-day Mirosławiec, located approximately east of Stargard. With this transfer, the Sturmgruppe came under the control of the 1. Flieger-Division, commanded by Generalmajor Robert Fuchs, and subordinated to II. Fliegerkorps, headed by General der Flieger Martin Fiebig. On 27 January, Märkisch Friedland had to be abandoned and the Sturmgruppe retreated to an airfield southwest of Stargard. Over the next weeks, the Sturmgruppe predominantly flew fighter-bomber missions in support of German ground forces retreating towards the Oder.
Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, visited the Sturmgruppe on 13 February at Prenzlau. Göring was furious when he learned that the pilots were unable to fly missions due to lack of fuel. On 17 February 1945, Romm was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of IV. Sturmgruppe of JG 3. He succeeded Major Erwin Bacsila who was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 400. Command of 15. Sturmstaffel was then passed to Leutnant Karl-Dieter Hecker. The next day, the Sturmgruppe flew ground support missions southeast of Stargard. During this mission, Luftwaffe pilots claimed four aerial victories, including an Il-2 ground-attack aircraft by Romm.
From 22 to 26 April during the Battle of the Oder–Neisse, the Sturmgruppe flew missions along the Oder in the sector of the 3rd Panzer Army. On 24 April, Romm's Fw 190 D-9 suffered engine failure during aerial combat with Il-2 ground-attack aircraft. Aborting the attack, crashed northeast of Prenzlau, near Brüssow. Severely injured, he was pulled from the wreck by the German infantry and picked up by members of the Sturmgruppe. The next day, he was evacuated to a hospital at Wismar and four days later to moved a hospital at Timmendorfer Strand. In consequence, command of the Sturmgruppe was passed on to Hauptmann Gerhard Koall. He had been nominated for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves which was not approved before the war ended.

Later life

Romm died on 1 May 1993 at the age of in Waldesch, Germany.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Romm was credited with 92 aerial victories. Spick also lists Romm with 92 aerial victories, of which 82 were claimed over the Eastern Front and further 10 over the Western Front, claimed in 229 combat missions. According to Obermaier, Romm flew 283 combat missions of which 54 were close air support missions. In addition, Aders and Held state that he was credited with eight four-engined heavy bombers destroyed. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 88 aerial victory claims. This figure includes 78 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and 10 over the Western Allies, including eight four-engined heavy bombers, claimed in 283 combat missions.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference, for example "PQ 07651". 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.

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