Gerhard Schöpfel

Gerhard Schöpfel (19 December 1912–17 May 2003) was a German World War II Luftwaffe 45-victory flying ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. He held the position of Geschwaderkommodore of fighter wing Jagdgeschwader 26.

Military career
Gerhard "Gerd" Schöpfel was born on 19 December 1912 at Erfurt in Thüringen. He was originally a member of the police force but transferred to the Luftwaffe in 1936. Following completion of his flying training, Schöpfel was initially assigned to I./Jagdgeschwader 233 (JG 233—233rd Fighter Wing). However in June 1938 he was transferred to the Stab (HQ) flight of I./Jagdgeschwader 334 (JG 334—334th Fighter Wing), which became I./Jagdgeschwader 132 (JG 132—132nd Fighter Wing) and, ultimately, I./Jagdgeschwader 26 (JG 26—26th Fighter Wing). Oberleutnant Schöpfel took command of 9./JG 26 (9th Squadron) on its formation on 23 September 1939.

Schöpfel gained his first victory during the Battle of France, a Royal Air Force (RAF) Hawker Hurricane near Courtrai on 19 May 1940. He added to his score over the beaches of Dunkirk during the evacuation of the British Army. He was very successful during the Battle of Britain, and on 18 August 1940 he shot down four Hawker Hurricanes from No. 501 Squadron RAF in one sortie over Canterbury, England. P/O Bland was killed, and Sgt Kozlowski baled out burnt. The other two victims in this engagement were notable RAF fighter pilots; Sgt. Donald McKay (20 confirmed and 4 damaged victories) who baled out wounded, and P/O Kenneth Lee (7 confirmed and 1 damaged victories), who also baled out wounded. Hauptmann Schöpfel became Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of III./JG 26 when Göring promoted Adolf Galland (104 victories, RK-Br) to Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of JG 26 on 22 August 1940, and on the same day shot down a Spitfire of No. 65 Squadron, his 13th victory. Soon afterward, on 11 September 1940, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on achieving 20 victories (the 11th Luftwaffe pilot to reach that mark).

On 1 December 1941 he was promoted to Major and on 6 December 1941 became Geschwaderkommodore of JG 26 when Galland was again promoted, this time to General der Jagdflieger. Through 1942, JG 26 and Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2—2nd Fighter Wing) were the only defence in northern France as the RAF took the fight back to them. On 19 August 1942, over the Dieppe landings and now in the rugged Fw190A, he shot down two Spitfires for his 41st and 42nd victories. Schöpfel left JG 26 on 10 January 1943, with 45 victories, to take up a number of administrative roles - firstly as the I-a (Operations Officer) at Jafü Brittany. He then went to serve as Fighter Operations Officer for the South Italy Command from July (during the critical Sicily landings) and then Jafü (Fighter Leader) Norway from November.

He returned to a combat command on 1 May 1944, briefly joining the staff of III./Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing) for a month. This was based in Germany on Reich Defence, and he mentored the newly promoted Gruppenkommandeur Siegfried Schnell who had previously commanded the 9./JG 2 squadron alongside Schöpfel on the Channel Front. Then on 1 June 1944, he was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of the newly set up Jagdgeschwader 4, also based on Defence of the Reich. The original Gruppe I./JG 4, formed in mid 1943, had previously been based in Romania defending the oilfields, and was currently based in northern Italy. The new II. and III./JG 4 Gruppen were authorised in mid July, and I./JG 4 transferred to Germany to join them to bring his Geschwader up to full strength. However, on 6 August he was shot down in combat and wounded near Schwerin flying Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 440728—factory number). His injuries were serious enough that he had to give up his command on 6 August to ObstLt Gerhard Michalski.

Following recovery from his wounds, in November 1944 Schöpfel was appointed as Jafü (Fighter Leader) Hungary. In February 1945 he commanded the Luftkriegsschule (training school) at Gatow. On 10 April he was appointed the final Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 6 (JG 6—6th Fighter Wing) based in northern Czechoslovakia.

Unluckily, even though he had only been based on the Eastern Front for a month, at war's end Schöpfel became a prisoner of the Russians and was interned in Soviet prisons for four and a half years before finally returning to Germany in December 1949.

Later life
After his release from imprisonment in the Soviet Union, Schöpfel worked as a chauffeur. He later became a merchant and in the early 1960s returned to the aviation field as an executive of Air Lloyd in Bonn, ironically in an office next to his former commander Adolf Galland. He died, of natural causes, on 17 May 2003 aged 90.

Victories
'Gerd' Schöpfel flew over 700 missions and claimed 45 victories. His total including three USAAF four-engined bombers. All his victories were scored over the Western Front.

Awards

 * Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (27 August 1940)
 * Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st class
 * German Cross in Gold on 9 December 1941 as Hauptmann in the III./JG 26
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 11 September 1944 as Hauptmann and ''Gruppenkommandeur of the III./JG 26 "Schlageter"