Edmund Roßmann Explained

Edmund Roßmann
Birth Date:	11 January 1918
Birth Place:	Caaschwitz, Principality of Reuss-Gera
Death Place:	Krefeld
Nickname:	"Paule"
Rank:	Leutnant (second lieutenant)
Unit:	JG 52, EJGr Ost
Battles:	World War II Battle of France Battle of Britain
Awards:	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Edmund "Paule" Roßmann (11 January 1918 – 4 April 2005) was a Nazi Germany Luftwaffe fighter ace during World War II. He was credited with 93 aerial victories achieved in 640 combat missions, among the numerous ground attack missions. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. He is also noted as being an early mentor of Erich Hartmann, history's leading fighter ace.

Career

Unteroffizier "Paule" Roßmann was transferred to 7. Staffel (7th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) on 1 March 1940. At the time, 7. Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant Herbert Ferner. The Staffel was subordinated to III. Gruppe (3rd group) of JG 52 headed by Major Wolf-Heinrich von Houwald. The Gruppe had been formed on 1 March 1940 at Strausberg and was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-1 and E-3. On 6 April, the Gruppe was moved to Mannheim-Sandhofen Airfield where it was placed under the control of the Stab (headquarter unit) of Jagdgeschwader 53 (JG 53–53rd Fighter Wing). On 1 July, III. Gruppe transferred from Jever Airfield to Werneuchen. According to Mathews and Foreman, Roßmann filed claim for an unconfirmed aerial victory over an unknown type of aircraft that day. This claim is not listed by Barbas nor by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock.

Roßmann participated in the Battle of France and Battle of Britain. He was credited with six aerial victories in the western theatre.

In defense of Germany's southeastern borders, with its primary objective defending the oil fields and refineries at Ploiești, Romania, the Luftwaffenmission Rumänien (Luftwaffe Mission Romania) was created. On 15 October, the Stab and 9. Staffel of III. Gruppe of JG 52 were sent to Bucharest Pipera Airfield, followed by 7. And 8. Staffel in late November. There, the III. Gruppe of JG 52 temporarily became the I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 28 (JG 28—28th Fighter Wing). On 4 January 1941, the Gruppe again became the III. Gruppe of JG 52. On 25 May, III. Gruppe was sent to Greece where it was subordinated to Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) and fought in the Battle of Crete.

War against the Soviet Union

Following its brief deployment in the Balkan Campaign, III. Gruppe was back in Bucharest by mid-June. There, the unit was again subordinated to the Luftwaffenmission Rumänien and reequipped with the new, more powerful Bf 109 F-4 model. On 21 June, the Gruppe was ordered to Mizil in preparation of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Its primary objective was to provide fighter protection for the oil fields and refineries at Ploiești. Prior to the invasion, Major Gotthard Handrick was replaced by Major Albert Blumensaat as commander of III. Gruppe. Blumensaat was then replaced by Hauptmann Hubertus von Bonin on 1 October. At the time, von Bonin was still in convalescence so that Hauptmann Franz Höring, the commander of 9. Staffel, was also made the acting Gruppenkommandeur (group commander). The invasion of the Soviet Union began on 22 June. The next day, the Gruppe moved to Mamaia, the northern district of Constanța on the Black Sea coast.

Roßmann received the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (German: Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 17 November. By the end of 1941 he had accumulated 32 aerial victories. On 19 March 1942, Roßmann and fellow JG 52 pilot Leutnant Adolf Dickfeld were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). From March to June 1942, he was posted to Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost (Supplementary Fighter Group, East) as fighter pilot instructor and returned to his Staffel afterwards. Nevertheless, he almost doubled his score by the end of 1942 and claimed his 80th victory on 29 November 1942. At the time, he was an early mentor of Erich Hartmann, history's leading fighter ace.

On 9 July 1943, Roßmann attempted to rescue Feldwebel Ernst Lohberg who had crash landed behind enemy lines, approximately 20abbr=offNaNabbr=off west of Oboyan. Roßmann successfully landed his Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 20154—factory number) next to Lohberg's aircraft. At this moment, the Soviet infantry arrived, while Lohberg was shot, Roßmann was taken prisoner of war.

Later life

Roßmann died on 4 April 2005 at the age of in Krefeld, Germany.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Roßmann was credited with 93 aerial victories. Spick also lists Roßmann with 93 aerial victories claimed in approximately 640 combat missions. This figure includes 87 aerial victories on the Eastern Front, and further six victories over the Western Allies. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 93 aerial victory claims, plus six further unconfirmed claims. All of his confirmed aerialvitories were claimed on the Eastern Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 44457". The Luftwaffe grid map (German: Jägermeldenetz) 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 360sqmi. These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3x in size.

Chronicle of aerial victories
Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location
– 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 – Action at the Channel and over England — 26 June – 1 August 1940
?	1 July 1940		unknown			24 July 1940		Spitfire	northeast of Margate
	21 July 1940		Swordfish	English Channel		25 July 1940		Bréguet 690	40km (30miles) east of Margate
?	21 July 1940		unknown	Strait of Dover	?	29 July 1940		Spitfire	Dover
– 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 – Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941
1	25 June 1941	17:40	DB-3	southeast of Constanța	16	17 September 1941	10:30	I-16	Brovary
2	8 July 1941	15:56?	DB-3	northeast of Mamaia	17	2 October 1941	08:25	I-26 (Yak-1)	east of Poltava
3	8 July 1941	16:00	DB-3	northeast of Mamaia	18	3 October 1941	17:10	R-10 (Seversky)	north of Karjap
4	8 July 1941	16:03	DB-3	northeast of Mamaia	19	4 October 1941	12:10	ground-attack aircraft (Seversky)	south of Covaci
5	4 August 1941	05:55	I-16		20	14 October 1941	16:30	I-26 (Yak-1)
6	4 August 1941	14:35	I-18 (MiG-1)		21	14 October 1941	16:50	I-16
7	7 August 1941	06:15	I-16		22	17 October 1941	07:21	I-26 (Yak-1)
8	7 August 1941	06:40	DB-3		23	24 October 1941	12:45	I-15	Chaplynka
9	11 August 1941	09:29	I-18 (MiG-1)		24	24 October 1941	12:50	I-61 (MiG-3)	Chaplynka
10	26 August 1941	10:40	I-16		25	25 October 1941	11:45	I-16
11	1 September 1941	11:16	I-17 (MiG-1)		26	31 October 1941	15:32	I-61 (MiG-3)
12	7 September 1941	09:25	I-16	Stschastliwaja	27	9 November 1941	11:21	V-11 (Il-2)
13	7 September 1941	09:30	I-17 (MiG-1)		28	16 November 1941	13:31	I-26 (Yak-1)
14	7 September 1941	11:41	DB-3		29	28 November 1941	12:53	I-61 (MiG-3)
15	13 September 1941	12:45?	I-17 (MiG-1)	50km (30miles) northwest of Dnepropetrovsk 3km (02miles) northeast of Dnepropetrovsk	30	2 December 1941	08:10	I-16
– 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 – Eastern Front — 6 December 1941 – 28 April 1942
31	8 December 1941	09:12	I-16		39	17 February 1942	08:02	I-61 (MiG-3)
32	11 December 1941	10:47	V-11 (Il-2)		40	17 February 1942	10:32	I-61 (MiG-3)
33	4 January 1942	13:03	LaGG-3		41	17 February 1942	10:36	I-16
34	5 January 1942	12:00	DB-3		42	18 February 1942	16:09	I-61 (MiG-3)	20km (10miles) northeast of Belgorod
35	7 January 1942	09:30	DB-3	5km (03miles) west of Karankut	43	22 February 1942	15:36	I-61 (MiG-3)
36	15 January 1942	10:25	DB-3	5km (03miles) west of Karankut	44	16 March 1942	10:31	I-16
37	15 January 1942	14:50	DB-3		45	16 March 1942	11:47	Il-2
38	17 February 1942	07:59	Su-2 (Seversky)
– 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 – Eastern Front — 29 April 1942 – 3 February 1943
46	13 June 1942	16:15	LaGG-3		65	6 September 1942	14:47	LaGG-3	PQ 44457 vicinity of Mozdok
47	23 June 1942	16:35	MiG-1		66	6 September 1942	16:50	I-16	PQ 4444
48	23 June 1942	16:37	Hurricane	PQ 70332 vicinity of Shevchenkovo	67	7 September 1942	12:05	I-16	PQ 44474
49	21 July 1942	15:20	I-16	PQ 98821 vicinity of Rostov	68	8 September 1942	13:50?	LaGG-3	PQ 44472 south of Mozdok
50	23 July 1942	07:15	I-16		69	8 September 1942	13:51	LaGG-3	PQ 44443, north of Georgjewsk
51	24 July 1942	06:28	I-16		70	13 September 1942	09:35	LaGG-3	PQ 44362
52	24 July 1942	09:50	LaGG-3		71	19 September 1942	16:38	LaGG-3	PQ 54351
53	23 August 1942	05:35	I-16	PQ 44251	72	29 September 1942	10:40	I-16	PQ 44533, south of Nizhniy Kurp
54	23 August 1942	05:37	I-153?	PQ 44213	73	9 October 1942	09:07	I-16	PQ 44484
55	23 August 1942	16:35	LaGG-3	PQ 44281	74	9 October 1942	13:25	LaGG-3	PQ 44623 vicinity of Malgobek
56	24 August 1942	11:45	Il-2?	PQ 44374	75	15 October 1942	09:30	LaGG-3	PQ 44453 south of Mozdok
57	26 August 1942	17:23	LaGG-3	PQ 44471 south of Mozdok	76	29 October 1942	10:15	LaGG-3	PQ 44551 southwest of Daiskoje
58	28 August 1942	14:16	LaGG-3	PQ 44454 south of Mozdok	77	29 October 1942	13:35	LaGG-3	PQ 34694
59	30 August 1942	09:57	I-16	PQ 54213 vicinity of Volkenskoje	78	6 November 1942	08:15	I-16	PQ 44857
60	30 August 1942	09:59	LaGG-3	PQ 54373	79	6 November 1942	11:34	LaGG-3	PQ 44764
61	30 August 1942	10:01	LaGG-3	PQ 54342 vicinity of Beketowka	80	29 November 1942	05:47	R-5	PQ 44793
62	30 August 1942	11:23	LaGG-3	PQ 54371 vicinity of Kalinowskaja	81	8 December 1942	09:54	LaGG-3	PQ 44567
63	5 September 1942	11:00?	LaGG-3	PQ 54454 vicinity of Wosnessnokaja	82	8 December 1942	10:00	Il-2	PQ 44551 west of Elkhotovo
64	6 September 1942	07:35	I-16	PQ 44453 south of Mozdok
– 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 – Eastern Front — 3 February – 9 July 1943
83	28 March 1943	05:40	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 86571 northwest of Sslaeanskaja	89	5 July 1943	03:55	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 61442 10km (10miles) north of Belgorod
84	30 April 1943	08:30	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 85173 southwest of Krymsk	90	5 July 1943	18:09	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 61652 15km (09miles) northwest of Vovchansk
85	30 April 1943	08:32	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 85174 east of Krymsk	91	5 July 1943	18:12	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 61652 15km (09miles) northwest of Vovchansk
86	6 May 1943	16:47	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 76693 west of Slavyansk-na-Kubani	92	6 July 1943	10:30	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 35 Ost 61652 15km (09miles) northwest of Vovchansk
87	31 May 1943	09:55	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 75232, north of Krymskaya	93	7 July 1943	04:58	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 35 Ost 61634 15km (09miles) north of Vovchansk
88	31 May 1943	14:11	Pe-2	PQ 34 Ost 75232, north of Krymskaya

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 17 November 1941 as Unteroffizier and pilot
• German Cross in Gold on 22 January 1942 as Feldwebel in the III./Jagdgeschwader 52
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 March 1942 as Feldwebel and pilot in the 7./Jagdgeschwader 52

References

Bibliography

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