Franz Eisenach

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Franz Eisenach (11 August 1918 - 21 August 1998) was an ace German fighter pilot in the Second World War. He took down 129 enemies in 319 missions.

[edit] Early life

Born on 11 August 1918 at Reetz in the Arnswalde region of Neumark Germany. He became an officer cadet in 1937 and promoted to Leutnant in the Luftwaffe in 1939.

[edit] World War II service

In 1940, and possibly into 1941, Eisenach served with II./ZG 76. In November 1941 he joined 1.(Erg.)/JG 51. In January 1942, he joined IV./JG 1, later renamed III./JG 5. Oberleutnant Eisenach was appointed Staffelkapitän of 12./JG 1 in June. In October 1942, Eisenach was transferred to 9./JG 54, based at Krasnogvardeisk on the Eastern Front. On 8 November, during his 21st combat mission, Eisenach shot down a P-40 fighter for his first victory. By the end of 1942 he had claimed three more victories.

On 17 April 1943, Eisenach was appointed Staffelkapitän of 3./JG 54. In May his unit was equipped with the Fw 190 A fighter. On 24 May 1943, Eisenach claimed two Russian Il-2 Sturmovik ground-attack aircraft shot down for his 10th and 11th victories. On 8 July, he shot down a Russian Boston twin-engine bomber (21) but in the subsequent dogfight with escorting enemy fighters his aircraft was damaged necessitating an emergency landing. He sustained injuries in the incident, which required hospitalization. Eisenach was awarded the Ehrenpokal on 31 August 1943. On 18 December 1943, after claiming two Il-2 Sturmoviks shot down (48-49), he was hit by flak while flying Fw 190A-6 (W.Nr. 530 391) "Yellow 3". Although seriously wounded, he successfully bailed out. Oberleutant Eisenach was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz on 16 January 1944.

On 1 May, he was promoted to the rank of Hauptmann. In June 1944, he was serving with I./JG 54, based in Courland on the Eastern front. Eisenach recorded three victories on 26 June, when he shot down two Il-2 Sturmoviks and one Russian Yak-9 fighter (50-52). From July until August, he led 4./JG 54. Eisenach claimed 15 victories in July, including three victories on 24 July (59-61), a further three on 26 July (62-64) and five on 30 July (67-71). On 8 August 1944, Eisenach was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 54, replacing Horst Ademeit (166 victories, RK-EL), who went missing in action on 7 August. In August, he claimed 17 victories, including four on 3 August (73-76) and his 80th victory on 15 August. September was to be Eisenach's most successful month. He claimed 19 victories, including five Il-2 Sturmoviks and four Russian Pe-2 twin engine bombers shot down on 14 September (92-100) and a further two Il-2 Sturmovik and a Yak-9 fighter on 17 September (104-106). On 21 September, he was again seriously wounded during a bombing raid on his command post. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 10 October 1944 for his 107th victory and was sent on leave. He returned to the front on 15 December.

Eisenach was promoted to the rank of Major on 1 January 1945. By 31 March, he had gained 22 more victories to achieve his final victory total of 129.

[edit] Post World War II

Having survived the war and being incarcerated as a British prisoner of war, Major Franz Eisenach joined the Bundeswehr in 1956. He retired from the service in 1974, having attained the rank Oberstleutnant. He died on 21 August 1998.