Karl-Heinz Leesmann Explained

Karl-Heinz Leesmann
Birth Date:	3 May 1915
Birth Place:	Osnabrück
Death Place:	North Sea, off Heligoland
Serviceyears:	1936–43
Rank:	Major (major)
Unit:	JG 52, JG 1
Commands:	I./JG 52 III./JG 1
Battles:	World War II Battle of France Battle of Britain Operation Barbarossa Defense of the Reich
Awards:	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Karl-Heinz Leesmann (3 May 1915 – 25 July 1943) 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 was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Karl-Heinz Leesmann was shot down on 25 July 1943, by a B-17 bomber that he was attacking. During his career he was credited with 37 aerial victories, 27 on the Western Front and 10 on the Eastern Front.

Career

Leesmann was born on 3 May 1915 in Osnabrück in the Province of Hanover within the German Empire.

Leesmann was awarded the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (German: Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 5 October 1940.

On 27 August 1940, Leesmann was appointed Staffelkapitän (Squadron Leader) of 3. Staffel of JG 52. He replaced Hauptmann Wolfgang Ewald who was appointed commander of I. Gruppe of JG 52. On 24 May 1941, Leesmann was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I. Gruppe of JG 52. He succeeded Ewald who was transferred.

On 6 November 1941, Leesmann was severely wounded in combat when his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 (Werknummer 9181—factory number) was hit by enemy fire resulting in an emergency landing at Ruza. In consequence, command of I. Gruppe was passed to Oberleutnant Carl Lommel.

In defense of the Reich and death

In consequence of the newly created Jagdgeschwader 11 (JG 11—11th Fighter Wing) on 31 March 1943, a new III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1—1st Fighter Wing) was formed and placed under command of Leesmann.

On 25 July during Blitz Week, a period of United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) aerial bombardment during the 1943 Combined Bomber Offensive, the USAAF VIII Bomber Command targeted Hamburg and Warnemünde. III. Gruppe was scrambled at 16:15 and vectored to a point of intercept over the Elbe estuary where they encountered a formation of approximately 100 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. Leading his formation, Leesmann approached the bombers in a head-on attack. Following the attack, he radioed that his Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 20073) had taken hits. Leesmann was killed in action when his Bf 109 crashed into the North Sea in an area southeast of Heligoland. Command of III. Gruppe was then passed to Hauptmann Robert Olejnik.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 34 aerial victory claims, plus two further unconfirmed claims. This figure includes 10 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and 24 over the Western Allies, including one four-engined heavy bomber.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 05 Ost 148". 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
– 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 – Battle of Britain and on the English Channel — 3–26 August 1940
1	24 August 1940	17:12	Spitfire	10km (10miles) east of Margate	2	26 August 1940	12:50	Spitfire	Dover Thames Estuary
– 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 – Battle of Britain and on the English Channel — 27 August – 30 October 1940
3	31 August 1940	13:50?	Hurricane	southern edge of London	10	15 September 1940	15:40	Hurricane	Thames Estuary
4	31 August 1940	14:00	Spitfire	Benchley	11	18 September 1940	13:50?	Hurricane	Tilbury
5	31 August 1940	19:30	Hurricane		12	24 September 1940	14:35	Spitfire	10km (10miles) off Dover
6	1 September 1940	11:50?	Spitfire	Sittingbourne	13	24 September 1940	14:40	Spitfire	10km (10miles) off Dover
7	5 September 1940	11:05	Spitfire		?	27 September 1940	14:55	Spitfire
8	7 September 1940	18:10	Spitfire	Maidstone	14	11 October 1940	12:10	Hurricane
9	15 September 1940	15:25	Hurricane	Thames Estuary
– 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 – On the Western Front — 27 December 1940 – 23 May 1941
15	15 February 1941	13:20	Hurricane	Ostend
– Stab I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 52 – On the Western Front — 24 May – 23 September 1941
16	25 May 1941	16:35	Blenheim	north of Nordeney	20	13 June 1941	06:17	Hudson	120km (80miles) west of Texel
17	28 May 1941	20:55?	Blenheim	200km (100miles) north-northwest of Texel 200km (100miles) north-northwest of Terschelling	21?	30 June 1941	14:47	Blenheim	150km (90miles) northwest of Texel
18	28 May 1941	21:00	Blenheim	200km (100miles) north-northwest of Texel 200km (100miles) north-northwest of Terschelling	22	30 June 1941	14:51	Blenheim	160km (100miles) northwest of Texel
19	12 June 1941	21:05?	Blenheim?	PQ 05 Ost 148 North Sea
– Stab I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 52 – Operation Barbarossa — 2 October – 6 November 1941
23	17 October 1941	15:35	I-18 (MiG-1)		27	28 October 1941	15:05	Pe-2
24	18 October 1941	11:50	SB-2 (Seversky)		28	29 October 1941	08:06	I-18 (MiG-1)
25	22 October 1941	10:59	DB-3		29	5 November 1941	08:52	I-26 (Yak-1)
26	28 October 1941	13:50?	I-18 (MiG-1)		30	6 November 1941	11:25	I-16
– Stab I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 52 – On the Eastern Front — 19 May – 13 June 1942
31	26 May 1942	15:41	Il-2		32	4 June 1942	18:45	Il-2
– Stab III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 11 – On the Eastern Front — Defense of the Reich — 1 April – 26 July 1943
33?	25 June 1943		B-17		35	18 July 1943	20:44	Beaufighter	10km (10miles) west of Den Helder
34	18 July 1943	20:44	Beaufighter	8km (05miles) west of Den Helder	36	25 July 1943	17:45	B-17

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (5 October 1940)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 23 July 1941 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 2./Jagdgeschwader 52
• German Cross in Gold on 27 July 1942 as Hauptmann in the I./Jagdgeschwader 52

References

Bibliography

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