Karl "Quax" Schnörrer (22 March 1919 – 25 September 1979) was a German military aviator who served in the Luftwaffe during World War II. As a fighter ace, he claimed 46 enemy aircraft shot down in 536 combat missions, eleven of which while flying the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter in Defense of the Reich.
Born in Nuremberg, Schnörrer served in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany. Following flight training, he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing) in 1941, operating on the Eastern Front. He claimed his first aerial victory on 13 December 1941. In October 1942, Schnörrer became the wingman of his friend Walter Nowotny. In November 1943, he was severely wounded after he was shot down. After his convalescence, he was posted to Erprobungskommando 262, an experimental unit testing the Me 262 jet fighter. He then served with Kommando Nowotny, an operational test unit led by Nowotny, experimenting with the Me 262 under combat conditions. Following the death of his friend Nowotny on 8 November 1944, Schnörrer was posted to Jagdgeschwader 7 "Nowotny" (JG 7—7th Fighter Wing), the first jet fighter wing. Flying with this unit, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 22 March 1945. On 30 March, Schnörrer was forced to bail out from his damaged aircraft, sustaining severe injuries to his leg which then had to be amputated. Schnörrer died on 25 September 1979 in Nuremberg.
Early life and career Schnörrer was born on 22 March 1919 in Nuremberg, at the time in Free State of Bavaria. Prior to joining the military service, Schnörrer worked as a photo reporter. Starting in May 1940, Schnörrer was trained as a fighter pilot at the Jagdfliegerschule 5 in Wien-Schwechat where he befriended Walter Nowotny. He "earned" his nickname "Quax" by crashing the difficult-to-control Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter plane three times during his flight-training. The name of a popular accident-prone cartoon character of the time, it was taken from the movie Quax the Crash Pilot released in 1941 with the famous German actor Heinz Rühmann as "Quax".
World War II World War II in Europe began on Friday, 1 September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland. Schnörrer arrived on the Eastern Front as an Unteroffizier, soon after German forces had launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. There, he was assigned initially to the Ergänzungsgruppe of Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing). The Ergänzungsgruppe was a supplementary training group attached to JG 54 under the command of Hauptmann Leo Eggers. There, he was again reunited with Nowotny. In July, he was posted to 1. Staffel (1st squadron) of JG 54. He claimed his first victory on 13 December 1941, which was not confirmed. On this mission, Schnörrer, against orders, had broken formation to attack the enemy aircraft. The Schwarm, flight of four aircraft, had been led by Horst Ademeit who later criticized Schnörrer for his behavior.
Eastern Front Schnörrer claimed his first confirmed aerial victory on 12 May 1942 over a Yakovlev Yak-1. On 13 August, he shot down a Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber, his only other claim in 1942. At the time, 1. Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant Heinz Lange and subordinated to I. Gruppe (1st group) headed by Hauptmann Hans Philipp. On 25 October, Nowotny was transferred from 3. Staffel to take command of 1. Staffel from Lange. Nowotny then chose his friend Schnörrer to be his wingman. In mid-December, I. Gruppe began converting to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-4 fighter aircraft. On 16 January 1943, 1. Staffel was ordered to Heiligenbeil, present-day Mamonovo, where most of the pilots received the Fw 190 aircraft.
As of 1 February, Nowotny, Schnörrer, Anton Döbele and Rudolf Rademacher, formed a team known as the "chain of devils" () or the Nowotny Schwarm, which during the course of the war was credited with 524 combined aerial victories, making them the most successful team in the Luftwaffe. In February, I. Gruppe of JG 54 was fighting in the Siege of Leningrad. The combat area was predominantly in the east and southeast of Leningrad where Soviet forces had created a corridor to the city in Operation Iskra. On 23 February, Soviet forces launched an attack south of Leningrad as part of Operation Polyarnaya Zvezda. The attack was repelled by forces under the command of Generalleutnant Carl Hilpert. That day, all available aircraft of I. Gruppe flew missions in defense of this attack, predominantly attacking Soviet ground attack aircraft. By nightfall, the Gruppe reported 32 Soviet aircraft destroyed, including an Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft claimed by Schnörrer in the vicinity of Mga, southeast of Leningrad. On 15 March, Soviet forces attacked the German positions of the X. Armeekorps (10th Army Corps) south of Lake Ilmen, breaching the German lines south of Staraya Russa. Operating from an airfield at Gorodets, I. Gruppe claimed 21 aerial victories that day, including Schnörrer's fifth aerial victory. This victory was claimed over an Il-2 ground attack aircraft shot down southeast Staraya Russa.
On 1 April, the Gruppenkommandeur (group commander), Philipp was transferred and temporarily replaced by Hauptmann Gerhard Koall until Major Reinhard Seiler took command on 1 May. On 5 June, I. Gruppe flew combat air patrols in the area of Volkhov as well as escorting bombers from Kampfgeschwader 53 (KG 53—53rd Bomber Wing) attacking the locks in the harbor of Novaya Ladoga. There, the Gruppe fought against many Soviet fighter aircraft during the course of which Schnörrer claimed a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 fighter shot down. Three days later, I. Gruppe escorted bombers to the railroad bridges near Volkhovstroy. On this mission, Schnörrer claimed the destruction of a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter aircraft. On 15 June, the Nowotny Schwarm was sent on a mission to the coastal area near Kronstadt. On this mission, Schnörrer claimed another LaGG-3 fighter shot down, his eighth aerial victory in total, while Nowotny claimed his 99th to 101st aerial victory.
Operation Citadel In early July, I. Gruppe of JG 54 was ordered to move to Oryol, in the southern sector of Army Group Centre, where it fought in Operation Citadel which initiated the Battle of Kursk. Subordinated to Luftflotte 6 (Air Fleet 6), the Gruppe began relocating on 2 July and arrived at the airfield name Panikowo, a makeshift airfield created for the attack on the Kursk salient, on 4 July. The next day, the Wehrmacht launched Operation Citadel and I. Gruppe supported the attack of the 9th Army on the northern sector of the salient, escorting bombers of Kampfgeschwader 4, 51 and KG 53 (KG 4, KG 51—4th, 51st Bomber Wing), as well as Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers of Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 (StG 1—1st Dive Bomber Wing) to their target areas. That day, I. Gruppe claimed 59 aerial victories, including a LaGG-3 fighter by Schnörrer in the vicinity of Maloarkhangelsk. The next day, I. Gruppe targeted the airspace near Ponyri and during multiple combat missions claimed 29 aerial victories which included a LaGG-3 shot down by Schnörrer at 14:33.
On 7 July, the Gruppe again operated over Ponyri where they claimed 35 aerial victories for no loss of their own, including a Douglas A-20 Havoc bomber, also known as "Boston", and a Lend-Lease Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter claimed by Schnörrer. By 14 July, Operation Citadel had failed after Soviet forces had launched Operation Kutuzov in the northern sector. Although in the southern sector, the offensive continued until 17 July in Operation Roland. That day, Schnörrer claimed an Il-2 ground attack aircraft and a LaGG-3 fighter destroyed. One of his opponents may have been a pilot from the Free French Régiment de Chasse Normandie-Niémen (Fighter Squadron 2/30 Normandie-Niemen). That day, Mayor Jean Tulasne led his unit on an Il-2 ground attack aircraft escort mission to Znamenskaya, northwest of Oryol, losing three aircraft to I. and IV. Gruppe of JG 54. With German forces in retreat, Oryol was cleared on 5 August. Over the following days, I. Gruppe operated from an airfield at Karachev, located approximately halfway between Oryol and Bryansk, predominately flying over the combat area of Oryol. On 7 August, Schnörrer shot down two Il-2 ground attack aircraft in this area.
Battle at Kharkiv and Smolensk On 9 August, I. Gruppe was ordered south to Poltava Airfield where they were placed under the control of Luftflotte 4 (Air Fleet 4). The reason for this was a response to the successful Soviet Belgorod–Kharkiv offensive operation following the Battle of Kursk. On 11 August, Nowotny was temporarily appointed commander of I. Gruppe, a position he held until 15 September when he was officially assigned as Gruppenkommandeur. The next day, the Gruppe flew multiple combat air patrols and fighter escort for Ju 87 dive bombers in the area west of Kharkiv. On one of these missions, Schnörrer shot down a La-5 fighter. Over the following days, the Gruppe continued to escort for dive bombers to Grayvoron and Okhtyrka. On 16 August, Schnörrer shot down another La-5 fighter. Two days later, the Gruppe returned to Kharkiv and Okhtyrka where Schnörrer claimed a MiG-3 fighter shot down in the afternoon, his 20th claim. On 20 August, I. Gruppe again escorted Ju 87 dive bombers and Heinkel He 111 bombers to Okhtyrka. Without loss, I. Gruppe claimed 15 aerial victories, including a Pe-2 bomber and an Il-2 ground attack aircraft by Schnörrer. The next day, Schnörrer claimed another Il-2 ground attack aircraft shot down on a mission to Kharkiv.
On 27 August, I. Gruppe was withdrawn from the combat area of Kharkiv and ordered to the airfield Iwanowka which was located at Ordschonikidsegrad, present-day part of Bryansk, which again placed them under the control of Luftflotte 6. The reason for this relocation was Soviet success in the Battle of Smolensk and the pressure exerted on the 9th Army. Nowotny claimed his 200th aerial victory on 8 September. On 17 September, the Gruppe moved to Vitebsk. Schnörrer claimed his next aerial victory on 28 September, a LaGG-3 fighter. That day, I. Gruppe operated over Velizh, located approximately northeast of Vitebsk. On 7 October, I. Gruppe again flew missions to combat area of Velizh where Schnörrer claimed a Bell P-39 Airacobra and P-40 fighter aircraft. Two days later, in combat near Nevel, he was credited with shooting down another P-39 fighter and an Il-2 ground attack aircraft.
On 14 October, to the southwest of Smolensk near Markovo, Nowotny became the first pilot to claim 250 aerial victories. That day, Schnörrer claimed his 33rd aerial victory, a P-40 shot down near Lyady. Schnörrer was awarded the German Cross in Gold () on 21 October. On 11 November, the Nowotny Schwarm lost Döbele, who was killed in a mid-air collision with an Il-2 ground attack aircraft east of Vitebsk. The next day, Nowotny claimed his last aerial victory on the Eastern Front. A few minutes later Schnörrer shot down a Yakovlev Yak-9 attacking Nowotny for his own 35th victory claim. Schnörrer was then shot down in his Fw 190 A-5 (Werknummer 410021—factory number) south of Nevel by German anti-aircraft artillery. Bailing out at approximately , his parachute failed to deploy in time, and he crashed to the ground, breaking both legs and suffering a severe concussion. Schnörrer was then rescued by the German infantry and flown in a Junkers Ju 52 to a Luftwaffe hospital in Dölau, today part of Halle.
Flying the Messerschmitt Me 262