Maximilian Volke Explained

Maximilian Volke
Birth Date:	23 May 1915
Birth Place:	Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria
Death Place:	Mirandola, Italy
Branch:	Luftwaffe
Rank:	Oberfeldwebel
Unit:	JG 77
Battles:	World War II
Awards:	German Cross in Gold

Maximilian Volke (Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, 23 May 1915 – Mirandola, Italy, 5 September 1944) was a Luftwaffe Oberfeldwebel (flight sergeant) and 36-victory fighter ace of the Jagdgeschwader 77.

Volke was a veteran of the campaigns in Russia and Africa. On 5 September 1944, he was shot down in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 441456—factory number) near Mirandola-Cividale. Volke was 29 years and was decorated with the German Cross in Gold, received as Feldwebel in the II./JG 77 on 12 July 1943.

Ofw. Volke's remains and parts of his aircraft were located and dug out of a farmer's field in Mirandola, just north of Modena by an Italian amateur war history research team (the Romagna Air Finders) in July 2007, nearly 63 years after he was shot down.^[1] ^[2]

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 36 aerial victory claims. This figure includes 27 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and nine over the Western Allies, including three four-engine bomber.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 83763". 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
– 4. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941
1	26 June 1941	14:25	SB-3
– 4. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – On the Eastern Front — 17 March – 30 April 1942
2	19 March 1942	12:45	DB-3		3	23 April 1942	13:14	Pe-2
– 4. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – On the Eastern Front — 1 May – 7 November 1942
4	13 May 1942	15:24	LaGG-3		16	6 August 1942	18:10	Douglas DB-7 (Boston)	PQ 83763 60km (40miles) south-southwest of Yelets
5	15 May 1942	15:00	Il-2		17	7 August 1942	11:12	LaGG-3	PQ 92471 25km (16miles) southeast of Voronezh
6	16 July 1942	18:02	Yak-1		18	11 August 1942	11:37	LaGG-3	PQ 92364 20km (10miles) east of Voronezh
7	17 July 1942	18:34	Il-2		19	11 August 1942	11:38	LaGG-3	PQ 92353 10km (10miles) east of Voronezh
8	19 July 1942	06:22	Pe-2		20	12 August 1942	07:15	Douglas DB-7 (Boston)	PQ 92424 25km (16miles) east of Voronezh
9	19 July 1942	06:23	Pe-2		21	12 August 1942	07:20	Pe-2	PQ 92324 10km (10miles) north of Voronezh
10	19 July 1942	06:36	Il-2		22	13 August 1942	10:50	Il-2	PQ 83811 50km (30miles) south of Yelets
11	23 July 1942	04:06	Pe-2		23	13 August 1942	18:14	LaGG-3	PQ 83871, Semljansk 60km (40miles) northwest of Voronezh
12	25 July 1942?	05:06	Hurricane		24	21 August 1942	11:06	Yak-1	PQ 92783 20km (10miles) west-northwest of Sloboda
13	28 July 1942	07:40	Hurricane	PQ 82231 40km (30miles) north-northwest of Voronezh	25	26 August 1942	05:55	Pe-2	PQ 82274 45km (28miles) west-northwest of Voronezh
14	28 July 1942	15:15?	Douglas DB-7 (Boston)	PQ 92353 10km (10miles) east of Voronezh	26	13 September 1942	10:22	Hurricane	PQ 92594 30km (20miles) north-northwest of Sloboda
15	28 July 1942	15:20	Douglas DB-7 (Boston)	PQ 92354, Voronezh 10km (10miles) east of Voronezh	27	13 September 1942	10:27	Yak-1	PQ 92653 50km (30miles) north-northeast of Sloboda
– 4. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Mediterranean Theater, North Africa — 1 January – May 1943
28	7 March 1943	12:35	Spitfire	15km (09miles) southeast of Medenine	31	12 March 1943	14:26	P-38	50km (30miles) northwest of Kairouan
29	10 March 1943	16:37	P-40	PQ 03 Ost 94652, 60km (40miles) southwest of Gabès	32	13 March 1943	17:52	P-39	15km (09miles) southeast of La Fauconnerie
30	10 March 1943	16:45	P-40	PQ 03 Ost 94663, 60km (40miles) southwest of Gabès 60km (40miles) south-southwest of Gabès	33	7 April 1943	09:00	Spitfire	15km (09miles) southeast of Skhira
– 6. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Mediterranean Theater, Italy — May – 31 December 1943
34	4 July 1943	11:30	B-17	110km (70miles) east of Syracuse	36	16 July 1943	13:28	B-24	2km (01miles) southwest of Santeramo in Colle 15km (09miles) south-southwest of Palazzo San Gervasio
35	8 July 1943	12:40	B-17	40km (30miles) southwest of Capo Scaramia

Awards

Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 5 June 1943 as Feldwebel and pilot
German Cross in Gold on 10 July 1944 as Feldwebel in the II./Jagdgeschwader 77

References

Bibliography

Web site: Bergström . Christer .
sv:Christer Bergström
. Identifying a Luftwaffe Planquadrat . Bergström Black Cross/Red Star website . 29 August 2024 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20181222042030/http://www.bergstrombooks.elknet.pl/bc-rs/planquadrat.htm . 22 December 2018 . dead.
Book: Mathews . Andrew Johannes . Foreman . John . 2015 . Luftwaffe Aces – Biographies and Victory Claims – Volume 4 S–Z . Walton on Thames . Red Kite . 978-1-906592-21-9.
Book: Michulec , Robert . 2002 . Luftwaffe at War/Luftwaffe Aces of the Western Front . London . Greenhill Books . 978-1-85367-486-0.
Book: Patzwall . Klaus D. . Scherzer . Veit . 2001 . Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II . The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2 . de . Norderstedt, Germany . Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall . 978-3-931533-45-8.
Book: Patzwall . Klaus D. . 2008 . Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg . The Honor Goblet for Outstanding Achievement in the Air War . de . Norderstedt, Germany . Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall . 978-3-931533-08-3.
Book: Prien . Jochen . Stemmer . Gerhard . Rodeike . Peter . Bock . Winfried . 2003 . Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 6/II—Unternehmen "BARBAROSSA"—Einsatz im Osten—22.6. bis 5.12.1941 . The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part VI/2—Operation "BARBAROSSA"—Action in the East—22 June to 5 December 1941 . de . Eutin, Germany . Struve-Druck . 978-3-923457-70-0.
Book: Prien . Jochen . Stemmer . Gerhard . Rodeike . Peter . Bock . Winfried . 2005 . Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 9/I—Winterkampf im Osten—6.12.1941 bis 30.4.1942 . The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part IX/1—Winter War in the East—6 December 1941 to 30 April 1942 . de . Eutin, Germany . Struve-Druck . 978-3-923457-76-2.
Book: Prien . Jochen . Stemmer . Gerhard . Rodeike . Peter . Bock . Winfried . 2006 . Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 9/III—Vom Sommerfeldzug 1942 bis zur Niederlage von Stalingrad—1.5.1942 bis 3.2.1943 . The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part IX/3—From the 1942 Summer Campaign to the Defeat at Stalingrad—1 May 1942 to 3 February 1943 . de . Eutin, Germany . Struve-Druck . 978-3-923457-78-6.
Book: Prien . Jochen . Stemmer . Gerhard . Rodeike . Peter . Bock . Winfried . 2011 . Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 11/II—Einsatz im Mittelmeerraum—1.1 bis 31.12.1943 . The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 11/II—Action in the Mediterranean Theater—1 January to 31 December 1943 . de . Eutin, Germany . Struve-Druck . 978-3-942943-00-0.
Book: Prien . Jochen . Stemmer . Gerhard . Bock . Winfried . Balke . Ulf . 2021 . Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 14—Einsatz im Mittelmeerraum—1.1. bis 15.9.1944 . The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 14—Action in the Mediterranean Theater—1 January to 15 September 1944 . de . Eutin, Germany . Struve-Druck . 978-3-942943-24-6.

Notes and References

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,145909,00.html Military.com: "Remains of German WWII Ace Found"
News: Una tomba per l'erede del Barone Rosso. Jenner Meletti. Repubblica. 2007-08-13. it.