Ulrich Wöhnert


Ulrich Wöhnert was a Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. During his career he was credited with 86 aerial victories, all over the Eastern Front.

Career

Wöhnert was born on 24 October 1914 in Wolfshagen in the Province of Brandenburg within the German Empire, present-day part of Uckerland in Brandenburg.
On 7 April 1944 at 21:25 in the evening, Wöhnert was injured during an aerial bombing attack on Wesenberg, present-day Rakvere, keeping him out of combat for some time. Following his convalescence, he was assigned to 1. Staffel.

Squadron leader

In August 1944, Wöhnert was appointed Staffelkapitän of 5. Staffel of Jgadgeschwader 54, replacing Oberleutnant Wilhelm Schilling in this capacity. The Staffel was subordinated to II. Gruppe of JG 54 under command of Major Erich Rudorffer.
In May 1945, he was taken prisoner of war by Soviet forces. Imprisoned in a Soviet POW camp at Kutaisi, he died on 14 August 1947. Official reports state that he died of pneumonia while fellow inmates claim that he committed suicide.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Spick, Wöhnert was credited with 86 aerial victories claimed in an unknown number of missions, all of which on the Eastern Front. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for at least 83 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference, for example "PQ 47622". 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