Heinz Sachsenberg (12 July 1922 – 17 June 1951) was a German World War II fighter ace who served in the Luftwaffe. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. Sachsenberg claimed 104 aerial victories, all of which on the Eastern Front. He was severely injured on 23 August 1944 in aerial combat with United States Army Air Forces. At the end of the war, Sachsenberg briefly led the Platzschutzstaffel, or airfield-protection squadron, of Jagdverband 44, an elite unit flying the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. He died on 17 June 1951 of complications from wounds he had received on 23 August 1944.
Early life Sachsenberg was born on 12 July 1922 in Dessau then in the Free State of Anhalt within the Weimar Republic. "Heino", also called "Wimmersal" by his comrades, was the nephew of Gotthard Sachsenberg, a World War I fighter pilot and recipient of the Pour le Mérite. He had a brother also named Gotthard, who also served in the Luftwaffe, and was killed in action on 8 March 1944 during a night fighter mission. Sachsenberg had been nicknamed "Wimmersal" for his sharp tongue, and his love for crude songs and poems. "Wimmersal", alternatively "Vimasal", is a character from a poem, a Middle Ages squire. The poem was written with ambiguous wording about manhood. Sachsenberg joined the military service of the Luftwaffe and following flight training, he was posted to the 6. Staffel (6th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) in late 1942. At the time, the Staffel was under the command of Oberleutnant Rudolf Resch and subordinated to II. Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 52 headed by Hauptmann Johannes Steinhoff.
World War II World War II in Europe had begun on Friday, 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. In June 1941, German forces had launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, which created the Eastern Front. On 13 March 1943, II. Gruppe of JG 52 moved to an airfield at Anapa. The commanding officers had also changed, 6. Staffel was now led by Oberfeldwebel Willi Nemitz while the Gruppe was commanded by Hauptmann Helmut Kühle. Here on 21 April, Sachsenberg claimed his first aerial victory, shooting down an Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft southwest of Novorossiysk. On 5 May, Sachsenberg was shot down in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-4, (Werknummer 14956—factory number) by a Supermarine Spitfire in combat northeast of Anapa. By end of May, he had claimed eight aerial victories and had been awarded both classes of the Iron Cross ().
By the end of July 1943, Sachsenberg had claimed 22 aerial victories in air combat over the Kuban bridgehead. His unit was then transferred to cover the retreat from the southern Kursk salient where he scored a further 16 victories. After a spell of leave from September to November due to overstress, he returned to the Crimea and the intense air-battles over the Kerch Straits. During this period, Sachsenberg was awarded the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe () on 11 October followed by the German Cross in Gold () on 17 October. On 2 November, the Gruppe moved to Baherove on the Crimean peninsula where they were based until 19 March 1944. By the end of December 1943, Sachsenberg's number of aerial victories claimed had increased to 52, making him the seventh most successful active fighter pilot in II. Gruppe at the time.
After 76 victories, and on leave, Sachsenberg was recommended for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () in March 1944. Upon returning to the Crimea at the beginning of May, he shot down 25 aircraft in just a month including six aircraft on 7 May, making him an "ace-in-a-day" for the first time. On 31 May, over Iași, in the battles for Romania, he claimed four aerial victories, three Bell P-39 Airacobra and a single Yakovlev Yak-1. On 8 June, Sachsenberg claimed five further aerial victories, another "ace-in-a-day" achievement, bringing his total to 101 airial victories. He was the 76th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. Fahnenjunker-Feldwebel Sachsenberg was awarded the Knight's Cross on 9 June 1944, at the time credited with 101 aerial victories.
Returning from leave, his unit was then transferred to cover the Ploiești oilfields in Romania. On 23 August 1944, he was seriously wounded during an air battle with United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) North American P-51 Mustang fighters, fighters resulting in a forced landing of his Bf 109 G-6, (Werknummer 166233) "Yellow 1". Following hospitalization, Sachsenberg was sent to the fighter pilot recreation facility at Bad Wiessee for a period of rest and recovery. The pyrotechnic flare material of a tracer round slowed the healing process.
Promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant), Sachsenberg returned to his unit in early 1945. At the time, II. Gruppe was based at Veszprém in Hungary. Here on 3 March, Sachsenberg claimed a USAAF P-51 shot down. Following a series of relocations, the Gruppe reached Brünn, now Brno, on 14 April. Here, Sachsenberg claimed his final aerial victory, a Soviet Bell P-39 Airacobra shot down on 16 April.
The Sachsenberg Schwarm
In 1945, he transferred briefly to jet fighters in Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7—7th Fighter Wing) as Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 9. Staffel of JG 7, but in April 1945 he joined Jagdverband 44 (JV 44—44th Fighter Detachment) based at Munich-Riem. His task was to provide top cover for the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighters during takeoff and landing. Sachsenberg was assigned as Staffelkapitän of the Platzschutzstaffel or airfield-protection squadron, flying the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-9 fighter. As squadron commander, his particular aircraft was known as "Red 1". The inscription on his Fw 190 D-9 was "Verkaaft's mei Gwand I foahr in Himmel!" meaning "Sell my clothes I'm going to heaven" in a Bavarian dialect. The Me 262 jet was vulnerable to strafing attacks during takeoff and landing. Generalleutnant Adolf Galland, the commanding officer of JV 44, ordered the formation of the Platzschutzstaffel. Already in 1944, III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing), flying the Fw 190 D, had provided fighter protection to Kommando Nowotny, the first experimental Me 262 jet fighter unit.
The aircraft in the protection squadron were painted red on their underbelly with prominent white stripes to help in their identification by ground crews. On 28 April, Galland moved JV 44 to Maxglan Airfield, near Salzburg while the remaining aircraft of the Platzschutzstaffel were to fly to Ainring. The next day, Sachsenberg led four Fw 190 D-9 to Ainring. His flight included Oberleutnant Klaus Faber, Hauptmann Waldemar Wübke and Leutnant Karl-Heinz Hofmann. On 4 May, JV 44 surrendered to U.S. forces, the pilots taken prisoner of war. Sachsenberg, accompanied by Klaus Neuman, Bodo Dischauer, Hofmann and Wübke, took off with whatever means they found.
Later life Sachsenberg died on 17 June 1951 at the age of in Lich, West Germany of complications from wounds he had received on 23 August 1944.
Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Sachsenberg was credited with 104 aerial victories. Obermaier and Spick also list him with 104 aerial victories, claimed in 520 combat missions, one on the Western Front and 103 on the Eastern Front and a mission-to-claim ratio of 5.00. He was also credited with the destruction of one fast attack craft. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 104 aerial victory claims, 103 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and one on the Western Front.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 34 Ost 7545". 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.