Heinz "Esau" Ewald (1 September 1922 – 14 March 2002) was a Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Ewald was credited with 84 victories in 395 combat missions.
Born in the Free City of Danzig, Ewald joined the military service in 1941. Following fighter pilot training in 1943, he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) which was fighting on the Eastern Front. Ewald claimed his first aerial victory on 12 November 1943. In February 1945, he was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 6. Staffel (6th squadron) of JG 52. On 20 April 1945, Ewald was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, one of the last pilots of JG 52 to receive this distinction. He died on 14 March 2002 in Coburg, Germany.
Early life and career Ewald was born on 1 September 1922 in Zoppot within the Free City of Danzig (now Sopot, Poland). On 1 December 1941, Ewald volunteered for military service in the Luftwaffe. After his pilot and fighter pilot training, which included flight training with the Fliegerausbildungs-Regiment 23 in Kaufbeuren, he was posted, in the fall of 1943, to 6. Staffel (6th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing). The unit was on the Eastern Front and he soon became one of the best young pilots of his group. He frequently flew as wingman to Hauptmann Gerhard Barkhorn. The 6. Staffel was under the command of Leutnant Helmut Lipfert and subordinated to II. Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 52 headed by Barkhorn.
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 2 November 1943, III. Gruppe of JG 52 moved to Bagerovo airfield on the Crimean peninsula where they stayed until 19 March 1944. Here on his fourth combat mission, and on his first enemy encounter, he claimed his first aerial victory on 12 November when he shot down a Yakovlev Yak-1. On 17 December, Ewald made a forced landing in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6. By the end or January 1944, Ewald had increased his number of aerial victories to eleven. He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class () on 8 January 1944. By the end of February, his number of aerial victories claimed had increased to 17, putting him in tenth place within II. Gruppe. In early March, Ewald was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class ().
On 19 March 1944, II. Gruppe was ordered to Grammatikowo near Sovietskyi. Two days later, Ewald was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery in his Bf 109 G-6. He was promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant) on 1 May and he received the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe () on 25 May.
On 24 June, he was again shot down, this time in his Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 163568—factory number) during combat with Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers southeast of Malu Roșu, Ploiești and wounded. Prior to being shot down, Ewald claimed a B-24 bomber. He made two attacks on the bomber. The first, head on, attack, damaged the bomber and separated it from its combat box. The second attack, which flown from the stern, was observed to have shot down the B-24 bomber with its left wing on fire. Flying a third attack on the bomber formation, Ewald was hit by the defensive fire of another bomber. His engine caught fire and he was forced to bail out. Fearing to be shot in his parachute by an escorting fighter, he let himself fall to approximately before opening his parachute. On 30 September, II. Gruppe moved to Nagyrábé. Here on 6 October, Ewald claimed his first aerial victory following his injuries sustained on 24 June when he shot down a Yakovlev Yak-11 aircraft. He received the German Cross in Gold () on 30 November.
On 2 January 1945, II. Gruppe moved to Bábolna-Puszta, a stud farm in Bábolna, Hungary. Here the next day, Ewald became an "ace-in-a-day", claiming four Yakovlev Yak-9 and a Lavochkin La-5 fighter, shot down near Gran, now Esztergom. On 18 January, II. Gruppe moved to Veszprém where they stayed until 21 March. Here the Gruppe supported the 6th Army fighting in Operation Konrad III to relieve the siege of Budapest. Ewald claimed an aerial victory over an Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft the next day, a Douglas A-20 Havoc bomber, also named "Boston", on 20 January. On 22 January, he was credited with four La-5 fighters shot down near Stuhlweißenburg, now Székesfehérvár, followed by another La-5 on 30 January. Credited with 67 aerial victories, he was the third most successful active fighter pilot in II. Gruppe.
Squadron leader On 15 February 1945, Ewald succeeded Oberleutnant Helmut Lipfert as Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 6. Staffel of JG 52. On 1 March, the Staffel was renamed the 7. Staffel. That day, he was shot down in his Bf 109 G-10/U4 (Werknummer 610964) by German anti-aircraft artillery near the airfield at Vesprém. On 28 March, II. Gruppe moved to Götzendorf an der Leitha, located approximately southeast of Vienna, where they stayed until 1 April. Here Ewald's total number of aerial victory claims reached 78. On 1 April, the Gruppe relocated to Wien-Aspern Airfield. Two days later, Ewald made a strafing attack on Russian positions and came under attack by 12 North American P-51 Mustangs resulting in a forced landing near the front line.
II. Gruppe moved to an airfield at Brünn, present-day Brno in the Czech Republic, on 14 April. There, Ewald claimed his last four aerial victories. That day, he shot down two Il-2 ground-attack aircraft and a Yak-9 fighter on 15 and 16 April, taking his total to 84. Four days later on 20 April, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), the last pilot of II. Gruppe to receive this distinction.
On 4 May, II. Gruppe transferred to Zeltweg Air Base, located approximately west-northwest of Graz, Austria. On 8 May at 14:30, Ewald flew from Zeltweg to Neubiberg Air Base, arriving at 15:35, his last flight and surrendered to US forces. Ewald was then held as a prisoner of war at Fürstenfeldbruck in a makeshift camp until he was released on 22 June 1945.
Later life Ewald died on 14 March 2002 at the age of in Coburg, Germany.
Summary of career
Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Ewald was credited with 84 aerial victories. Spick also lists Ewald with 84 aerial victories claimed in 396 combat missions and a mission-to-claim ratio of 4.71. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 82 aerial victory claims, including one P-51 fighter, plus 16 further unconfirmed claims. All of his confirmed victories were claimed on the Eastern Front.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 34 Ost 66562". 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.