Günter Steinhausen

Günther Steinhausen
Born	15 September 1917 Lobkevitz on the isle of Rügen
Died	6 September 1942(1942-09-06) (aged 24) near El Alamein
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Luftwaffe
Rank	Leutnant
Unit	JG 27
Battles/wars	World War II North African campaign
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Feldwebel Günther Steinhausen (born 15 September 1917 in Lobkevitz on the isle of Rügen – killed in action, 6 September 1942 near El Alamein, Egypt) was a German World War II Luftwaffe Flying ace with 40 combat victories to his name. He was also a posthumous recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. For the fighter pilots, it was a tangible measure of their skill and success.

Biography

Günther Steinhausen was born 15 September 1917 at Lobkevitz, on the island of Rügen. After flight training, Steinhausen was posted, as an Unteroffizier, to 1./JG 27 (the 1st aquadron of the 27th Fighter Wing) in the spring of 1941, transferring with the unit to North Africa soon after.

The first Luftwaffe fighter unit in Africa, they were initially based at Ain-el-Gazala, just west of the besieged port of Tobruk. Flying the older Bf 109E-7, it was still found to be eminently competitive against the British squadrons based there. He recorded his first victory on 9 June, shooting down a Hawker Hurricane north of Tobruk. On 26 August Steinhausen claimed his fifth victory: probably a Tomahawk IIb of No. 250 Sqn flown by British ace Sgt. Maurice Hards (7 victories) who force-landed wounded near Mersa Matruh. In August, as the remaining Gruppen of Jagdgeschwader 27 transferred in to North Africa from Russia as reinforcements, I./JG 27 rotated its squadrons back to Germany to re-equip onto the Bf 109F.

After the British Operation Crusader in November and December had relieved Tobruk and driven the Axis back, in January Rommel had sufficient fuel supplies to launch his next counter-attack, and he took Benghazi on 29 January, as the aircrew retraced their steps to airfields they had abandoned only a month or so previously. On 28 March Steinhausen claimed his 10th victory, when he shot down a Kittyhawk fighter of 94 Squadron RAF flown by P/O Crosbie, near Timimi.

Four days after his 13th victory on 22 May 1942, Rommel launched his offensive that would eventually take the Axis forces right across Libya and into Egypt, almost to the gates of Alexandria. It was this time, as with many other pilots of JG27 that was to be particularly successful for Steinhausen. With a rush of multiple victories he advanced his tally: a pair of South African Tomahawks on 31 May, followed by four fighters in the El Adem area on 16 June (20-23v.) and then a further four Hurricanes (of No. 238 Sqn (RAF)) on 28 June over Sidi Haneish (27-30v.).

On 9 July, Steinhausen shot down a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) B-24 Liberator, ("Eager Beaver"), and only the second four-engine bomber claimed by JG 27. One of six bombers of the Halverston Detachment that had been sent to attack an Axis supply convoy, it was his 34th victory.^[1] By now the front had stabilised at the Alamein line and both sides paused to draw breath, and build up supplies for their next offensives. In the interim, he was awarded the Ehrenpokal (Honour Goblet) on 5 August, and then the German Cross in Gold on 21 August, for his success to date.

At the end of August, activity picked up again, and Rommel launched his assault on the fortified Alamein line at the beginning of September. On 6 September 1942, on an early-morning patrol, Fw Steinhausen shot down a Hurricane of No. 7 Sqn (SAAF) or No. 274 Sqn (RAF) near El Alamein for his 40th victory. However, he was then himself shot down in his Bf 109F-4 "White 5" (WerkNr. 13272). His body was never recovered. It is highly likely that James Francis Edwards was his victor since his combat report tallies with the action, though he only claimed a "damaged" Bf 109.^[2]

Günther Steinhausen was credited with 40 victories, all recorded over the Western Desert, all but two of those were over single-seat fighters. On 3 November he was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz) and promoted to Leutnant.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st class
• Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (5 August 1942)^[3]
• German Cross in Gold (21 August 1942)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 3 November 1942 as Feldwebel and pilot in the 1./Jagdgeschwader 27^[4]

Victories

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

• "Aces of the Luftwaffe". Günther Steinhausen. http://www.luftwaffe.cz/steinhausen.html. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
• "das-ritterkreuz.de". Günther Steinhausen. Retrieved 11 May 2007. 
• "Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries". Günther Steinhausen.  Retrieved 7 November 2013
• "Luftwaffe Fighter Claims". Günther Steinhausen.  Retrieved 7 January 2013
• "Luftwaffe Air Units: Single–Engined Fighters". Jagdgeschwader 27.  Retrieved 7 November 2013

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of Jagdgeschwader 27 Karl-Heinz Bendert Ernst Börngen Ernst Düllberg Wolf-Udo Ettel1 (Oak Leaves) Ludwig Franzisket Fritz Gromotka Gerhard Homuth Max Ibel Erbo Graf von Kageneck (Oak Leaves) Willy Kientsch (Oak Leaves) Friedrich Körner Wolfgang Lippert Hans-Joachim Marseille (Oak Leaves, Swords & Diamonds) Karl-Wolfgang Redlich Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert2 (Oak Leaves & Swords) Hans Remmer Gustav Rödel (Oak Leaves) Joachim Schlichting Herbert Schramm3 (Oak Leaves) Werner Schröer4 (Oak Leaves & Swords) Otto Schulz Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt (Oak Leaves) Günter Steinhausen Peter Werfft 1 Knight's Cross with JG 3. 2 Knight's Cross and Oak Leaves with JG 77. 3 Oak Leaves with JG 53. 4 Swords with JG 3.