Peter Düttmann

Peter Düttmann
Born 23 May 1923(1923-05-23)
Gießen
Died 9 January 2001(2001-01-09) (aged 77)
Echterdingen, Germany
Allegiance  Nazi Germany (to 1945)
Service/branch Luftwaffe
Years of service 1941–1945
Rank Leutnant
Unit JG 52
Commands held 5./JG 52
Battles/wars

World War II
Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The title of this article contains the character ü . Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Peter Duettmann.

Peter "Bonifazius" Düttmann was a World War II Luftwaffe flying ace. He achieved 152 kills in 398 sorties. All of his victories were scored against Soviet opposition on the Eastern Front flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109.

Contents

Military career

Düttmann joined 5 staffel, Jagdgeschwader 52 on 7 May 1943. He served with the same unit until the end of the war and soon became one of their most successful pilots, flying with Heinz Ewald and Heinz Sachsenberg. He scored his first victory on 21 May 1943 and downed another 24 by the end of the year. He was forced to ditch his plane on 11 July 1943 after being hit by return fire form a formation of Douglas Boston medium bombers. On 9 August 1943 he belly-landed in no-man's land and was posted missing for 17 hours. On the 23 August 1943 his machine caught fire while belly-landing after Soviet AA damage.

He scored a further 18 kills in March 1944, 22 in April and 14 in May 1944. On 7 May 1944 he scored 9 victories to take his score to 91. Suffering from combat fatigue he was sent on leave at the end of May and returned in September 1944. His 100th kill was claimed on 24 September 1944. On the 13 November 1944 he was shot down by an Il-2 rear gunner and bailed out at 1000 feet, landing behind enemy lines, but managing to reach German lines. The same happened to him on the 3 March 1945 due to AA damage and he returned a day later. On 23 December 1944 he was appointed Staffelkapitän of 5./JG 52. Düttmann claimed his last victory on 26 April 1945.

During two years on the Russian Front Düttmann flew 395 missions and claimed 152 victories (including 9 in one day) at the Eastern front, including two Sherman tanks. His tally includes 38 Il-2s, 8 Boston bombers, 5 Romanian aircraft and 98 Russian fighters. He was shot down or crash landed 17 times but was never wounded.

His decorations include the Knights Cross and towards the end of the war was recommended for Oak Leaves. Peter Düttmann died on 9 January 2001.

Awards

References

Citations
  1. ^ Obermaier 1989, p. 104.
  2. ^ Patzwall and Scherzer 2001, p. 95.
  3. ^ Scherzer 2007, p. 283.
Bibliography
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945. Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
  • Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 - 1945 (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 3-87341-065-6.
  • Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit. Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 - 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II. Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
  • Weal, John (2003a). Bf109 Aces of the Russian Front. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 1-84176-084-6

External links