Johannes Bunzek Explained

Johannes Bunzek
Birth Date:	22 May 1922
Birth Place:	Groß-Strehlitz
Death Place:	Nikopol, Ukraine
Serviceyears:	1941–1943
Rank:	Leutnant (second lieuenant)
Unit:	JG 52
Battles:	World War II Battle of the Caucasus Battle of Kursk
Awards:	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Johannes Bunzek (22 May 1922 – 11 December 1943) was a German Luftwaffe ace credited with 75 victories, all on the Eastern Front. Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Bunzek was killed on 11 December 1943 over Nikopol, Ukraine. He was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 6 April 1944.

Career

Bunzek was born on 22 May 1922 in Groß-Strehlitz, present-day Strzelce Opolskie in southern Poland, at the time in the Province of Upper Silesia of the Weimar Republic. He joined the military service of the Luftwaffe and completed his training with Luftkriegsschule 4 (LKS 4—4th Air War School) in July 1942. Bunzek was then posted to 7. Staffel (7th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) in late 1942. At the time, 7. Staffel was commanded by Hauptmann Adalbert Sommer who was replaced by Oberleutnant Walter Krupinski on 15 March 1943. The Staffel was part of III. Gruppe of JG 52 under command of Major Hubertus von Bonin.

War against the Soviet Union

World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. Germany had launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. In late 1942, III. Gruppe was based at an airfield named Soldatskaja, located approximately halfway between Mozdok and Pyatigorsk on the Eastern Front. The Gruppe stayed at this airfield until 1 January 1943. During this period, the pilots occasionally also operated from airfields at Mozdok (15, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23 October) and from Digora (5 to 17 November 1942), supporting Army Group A in the Battle of the Caucasus. On 1 April 1943, III. Gruppe was moved to the combat area of the Kuban bridgehead where it was based at an airfield at Taman. Operating from Taman until 2 July, III. Gruppe also flew missions from Kerch on 12 May, from Sarabuz and Saky on 14 May, Zürichtal, present-day Solote Pole, a village near the urban settlement Kirovske on 23 May, and Yevpatoria on 25/26 June. Here, Bunzek claimed his first aerial victory over a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter on 28 May.

On 1 November, III. Gruppe was moved to Apostolove fighting in the combat area between Nikopol and Zaporizhzhia. Adverse whether conditions rendered the airfield unusable and the Gruppe temporarily used an airfield near Kirovograd from 12 to 20 November. Bunzek received the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (German: Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 8 November. On 11 December, Bunzek was killed in action in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 20644—factory number) following combat with Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft and LaGG-3 fighters during the Battle of the Dnieper. He was initially reported as missing in action west of Nikopol. According to Barbas, this combat took place near Apostolove while fighting over the bridgehead established by Soviet forces at Nikopol. Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock place this southwest of Verblyuzhka which is approximately 100abbr=offNaNabbr=off northwest of Apostolove. Bunzek was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 6 April 1944.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Spick, Bunzek was credited with 75 aerial victories in an unknown number of combat missions, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front. Weal states that in addition to his 75 aerial victories, he also had 30 further unconfirmed claims. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 78 aerial victory claims, plus two further unconfirmed claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 34 Ost 76791". 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 – Eastern Front – 4 February – 11 December 1943
1	28 May 1943	06:40	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 76791 east of Trojzkaja	41	18 September 1943	16:10	Il-2	PQ 34 Ost 68141
2	5 July 1943	04:10	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 61453 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on northeast of Belgorod	42	19 September 1943	10:15	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 58662 20abbr=onNaNabbr=on northeast of Bolschoj Tokmak
3	5 July 1943	18:08	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 61633 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on north of Vovchansk	43	20 September 1943	08:10	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58142 northwest of Zaporizhzhia
4	6 July 1943	10:23	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 61354 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on west of Tomarovka	44	20 September 1943	08:14	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58144, northeast of Zaporizhzhia northwest of Zaporizhzhia
5	6 July 1943	10:40	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 35 Ost 61284 25abbr=onNaNabbr=on north-northeast of Belgorod	45	20 September 1943	08:20	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58153 northeast of Zaporizhzhia
6	7 July 1943	08:50	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 61241 10abbr=onNaNabbr=on south of Prokhorovka	46	21 September 1943	16:11	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58144 20abbr=onNaNabbr=on east of Zaporizhzhia
7	12 July 1943	13:45	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 61212 10abbr=onNaNabbr=on southwest of Prokhorovka	47	21 September 1943	16:12	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58271 25abbr=onNaNabbr=on east of Zaporizhzhia
8	31 July 1943	10:00	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 54661 west of Bolkhov	48	24 September 1943	11:14	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 58891 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on east-southeast of Zaporizhzhia
9	3 August 1943	06:20	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 61412 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on north of Belgorod	49	26 September 1943	07:19	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 58272 25abbr=onNaNabbr=on east of Zaporizhzhia
10	7 August 1943	08:50	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 61472 5abbr=onNaNabbr=on south of Belgorod	50	27 September 1943	05:55	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58552 southeast of Vasilyevka
11	7 August 1943	12:05	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 61383 vicinity of Orlovka	51?	27 September 1943	14:21	LaGG-3	PQ 58192 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on east-southeast of Zaporizhzhia
12	8 August 1943	12:55	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 60244 25abbr=onNaNabbr=on east-southeast of Kharkov	52	28 September 1943	06:05	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 48464 25abbr=onNaNabbr=on south-southwest of Zaporizhzhia
13	12 August 1943	16:00	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 51822 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on southwest of Zolochiv	53	29 September 1943	14:11	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58674 10abbr=onNaNabbr=on northwest of Bolschoj Tokmak
14	17 August 1943	05:21	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 70791, Tichocki 20abbr=onNaNabbr=on southeast of Izium	54	29 September 1943	14:33	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58594 20abbr=onNaNabbr=on west of Bolschoj Tokmak
15	19 August 1943	12:56	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 88293, southwest of Kuibyschewo 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on east of Jalisawehino	55	30 September 1943	05:55	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 58681 5abbr=onNaNabbr=on north of Bolschoj Tokmak
16	19 August 1943	13:10	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 88391	56	30 September 1943	16:30	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 58432 20abbr=onNaNabbr=on west of Bolschoj Tokmak
17	19 August 1943	17:15	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 88754 60abbr=onNaNabbr=on west-southwest of Taganrog	57	1 October 1943	06:05	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 48432 20abbr=onNaNabbr=on southwest of Zaporizhzhia
18	20 August 1943	06:07	Il-2	PQ 34 Ost 88263 10abbr=onNaNabbr=on east of Marinowka	58	3 October 1943	10:17	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 58673 10abbr=onNaNabbr=on northwest of Bolschoj Tokmak
19♠	21 August 1943	05:34	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 88283, southwest of Kuibyschewo 1abbr=onNaNabbr=on south of Jalisawehino	59	3 October 1943	15:08	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58133 20abbr=onNaNabbr=on northeast of Zaporizhzhia
20♠	21 August 1943	07:16	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 88254, Kalinowka vicinity of Dmitrijewka	60	3 October 1943	15:13	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 58152 northeast of Zaporizhzhia
21♠	21 August 1943	07:25	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 88411 20abbr=onNaNabbr=on southwest of Jalisawehino	61	7 October 1943	06:23?	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 49174 55abbr=onNaNabbr=on east-northeast of Mironowka
22♠	21 August 1943	13:10	Il-2	PQ 34 Ost 88274 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on west-southwest of Jalisawehino	62	7 October 1943	15:33	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 49363 45abbr=onNaNabbr=on west-northwest of Dnipropetrovsk
23♠	21 August 1943	17:32	LaGG-3	PQ 88233 30abbr=onNaNabbr=on west-southwest of Rovenki	63	9 October 1943	08:55	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 49333 55abbr=onNaNabbr=on west-northwest of Dnipropetrovsk
24	22 August 1943	08:16	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 88293, southwest of Kuibyschewo 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on east of Jalisawehino	64	9 October 1943	15:35	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 58564, northeast of Michailowka vicinity of Kalinowka
25	22 August 1943	10:50	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 88283, southwest of Kuibyschewo 1abbr=onNaNabbr=on south of Jalisawehino	65	10 October 1943	08:10	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 58154 northeast of Zaporizhzhia
26	22 August 1943	17:59	Il-2	PQ 34 Ost 88421 20abbr=onNaNabbr=on south of Jalisawehino	66	10 October 1943	08:43	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58124 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on north-northeast of Zaporizhzhia
27	23 August 1943	06:16	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 88263	67	11 October 1943	10:08	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58123 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on north-northeast of Zaporizhzhia
28	26 August 1943	11:11	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 88281 5abbr=onNaNabbr=on southwest of Jalisawehino	68	11 October 1943	10:12	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58124 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on north-northeast of Zaporizhzhia
29	27 August 1943	12:10	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 88281 5abbr=onNaNabbr=on southwest of Jalisawehino	69	11 October 1943	12:45	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58154 northeast of Zaporizhzhia
30	27 August 1943	17:35	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 88194 10abbr=onNaNabbr=on east of Kuteinikowo	70	11 October 1943	15:17	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 58141, northeast of Zaporizhzhia northwest of Zaporizhzhia
31	27 August 1943	17:37	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 88194 10abbr=onNaNabbr=on east of Kuteinikowo	71	12 October 1943	06:50	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58152 northeast of Zaporizhzhia
32	28 August 1943	11:00	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 88612 30abbr=onNaNabbr=on northwest of Taganrog	72	12 October 1943	06:51	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 34 Ost 58154 northeast of Zaporizhzhia
33	28 August 1943	12:35	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 88354 20abbr=onNaNabbr=on south-southwest of Kuteinikowo	73	13 October 1943	10:48	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 57183 10abbr=onNaNabbr=on southwest of Melitopol
34	5 September 1943	12:22	Boston	PQ 34 Ost 79883 10abbr=onNaNabbr=on northwest of Stalino	74	13 October 1943	10:50	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 57193 10abbr=onNaNabbr=on south of Melitopol
35	5 September 1943	15:08	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 79684 20abbr=onNaNabbr=on west of Gorlowka	75	14 October 1943	15:25	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 58125 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on north-northeast of Zaporizhzhia
36	14 September 1943	09:00	Boston	PQ 34 Ost 79574 Black Sea, 65abbr=onNaNabbr=on west-southwest of Gelendzhik	76	15 October 1943	10:15	Boston	PQ 34 Ost 49821 25abbr=onNaNabbr=on south-southwest of Werchnedjeprowak
37	14 September 1943	15:16	Boston	PQ 34 Ost 79712 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on south of Grischino	77	30 November 1943	11:45	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 49781 15abbr=onNaNabbr=on north-northwest of Nikopol
38	15 September 1943	12:17	Yak-9?	PQ 34 Ost 68642	78	7 December 1943	12:37	LaGG	PQ 34 Ost 29634, south of Petro-Nikolayevka
39	18 September 1943	13:30	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 69341	?	11 December 1943		Il-2	southwest of Verblyuzhka
40	18 September 1943	16:05	Il-2	PQ 34 Ost 68893	?	11 December 1943		La-5	southwest of Verblyuzhka

Awards

Flugzeugführerabzeichen (3 September 1942)
Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold
Iron Cross (1939)
- 2nd Class (14 July 1943)
- 1st Class (2 August 1943)
Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 8 November 1943 as Leutnant and pilot
German Cross in Gold 14 November 1943 as Leutnant in the 7./Jagdgeschwader 52
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 6 April 1944 as Leutnant and pilot in the 7./Jagdgeschwader 52

References

Bibliography

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Web site: Bergström . Christer .
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. Identifying a Luftwaffe Planquadrat . Bergström Black Cross/Red Star website . 20 March 2022 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20181222042030/http://www.bergstrombooks.elknet.pl/bc-rs/planquadrat.htm . 22 December 2018 . dead.
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