Otto Schulz

Otto Schulz
Otto Schulz
Nickname(s)	Eins-Zwei-Drei Schulz
Born	(1911-02-11)11 February 1911 Treptow an der Rega (Now in Poland)
Died	17 June 1942(1942-06-17) (aged 31) Sidi Rezegh
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Luftwaffe
Years of service	1934–1942
Rank	Oberleutnant
Unit	Jagdgeschwader 27
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of France Battle of Britain Balkans Campaign North African Campaign
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Otto Schulz (born 11 February 1911 in Treptow an der Rega – died 17 June 1942 in Sidi Rezegh) was a Oberleutnant and Luftwaffe fighter ace in World War II. He scored 48 of his victories against the Western Allies and three victories over the Eastern Front in over 450 combat missions whilst flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109. [Also, as distinct from Otto Schultz, another German fighter ace in World War II who flew with JG 51 over the Eastern Front]

Luftwaffe service

Otto Schulz joined the Luftwaffe in 1934 and served as an instructor until January 1940, when he was posted to the newly formed 4./Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing). He participated in the French Campaign and the Battle of Britain, scoring his first victory on 31 August 1940. By the end of 1940, he had four victories to his credit. Schulz also participated in the brief Balkan Campaign in April 1941, scoring two victories, flying out of airbases in Bulgaria then Greece.^[1] His unit, as with most of the Luftwaffe, was then withdrawn for the imminent invasion of Russia. Despite II./JG 27's very brief 9-day participation in Operation Barbarossa,^[2] he scored three victories. Two of these were some of the 25 bombers shot down over Vilnius by II./JG 27 on 25 June,^[2] however most of that short time the Gruppe was tasked with fighter-bomber missions.

The Gruppe was then withdrawn back to Germany to re-equip on the new Messerschmitt Bf 109F fighter, before being sent to join I./JG 27 already based in North Africa late in September.^[2] Once there, Otto became far more successful. On 6 October 1941, 20 October and 28 November, he recorded three victories on each day. Otto's score-sheet is slightly unusual in that many of his victories can be positively identified with specific Allied pilots: On 30 November, his 23rd and 24th victims were aces Sergeant Alan Cameron (6.5 victories) and Pilot Officer Neville Duke (27th v.). He claimed another 'ace' on 15 December (30th v.), when he shot down and killed Pilot Officer Geoffrey Ranger (5 victories) of No. 250 Squadron RAF.

On 25 January 1942, in claiming two P-40 fighters for his 34th and 35th victories, he overtook his Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) Gustav Rödel as the top scorer in II./JG 27. On 15 February 1942, he took off on his own and chased after 20 aircraft of Nos 94 and 112 Sqns that had just strafed his airfield at Martuba.^[3] He shot down five more P-40 Kittyhawks in ten minutes, including the top 17-victory Royal Air Force (RAF) ace Ernest "Imshi" Mason.^[4][5] This put him on 44 victories, just behind the 48 of the then top-scorer in the Desert, Hans-Joachim Marseille. In recognition of this success, they were both awarded the Knight's Cross on the same day - 22 February - the first such awards for JG 27 since arriving in North Africa.

After this his scoring slowed down to only three victories in March. Sent to officer-training school,^[5] he was promoted to Leutnant in April. At the end of May, now an Oberleutnant and assigned to the Stab (HQ) flight of II./JG 27 as Technical Officer,^[3] he had another quick flurry of four victories including his 50th on 31 May: a P-40 flown by South African ace Major Andrew Duncan (5.5 victories) of No. 5 Squadron SAAF, who was killed.

On 17 June 1942, after claiming his 51st and last victory (Canadian ace Flight Lieutenant Walter "Wally" Conrad (6.5 victories) of No. 274 Squadron who was wounded), Schulz himself was shot down and killed in his Bf 109 F-4trop (Werknummer 10 271—factory number) by RAF Kittyhawks near Sidi Rezegh.^[3][4] Research suggests the victory should be credited to Canadian ace James "Stocky" Edwards of No. 260 Squadron RAF.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

Schulz is credited with 51 victories from about 400 combat missions, and included only 3 victories on the Eastern Front.

  This and the ♠ (Ace of spades) indicates those aerial victories which made Schulz an "ace-in-a-day", a term which designates a fighter pilot who has shot down five or more airplanes in a single day.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
• Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 5 January 1942 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot^{[9][Note 1]}
• German Cross in Gold on 14 February 1942 as Oberfeldwebel in the 4./Jagdgeschwader 27^[11]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 22 February 1942 as Oberfeldwebel in the II./Jagdgeschwader 27^[12][13]

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading

• Ring, Hans & Girbig, Werner. Die Dokumentation über den Einsatz and allen Fronten 1939-1945 Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag (1994). ISBN 3-87943-215-5 for extensive unit history & data
• Shores, Christopher & Ring, Hans. Fighters over the Desert London: Neville Spearman (1969). ISBN 0-854350-60-8
• Shores, Christopher & Massimello, Giovanni. A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940-1945 Vol 1 London: Grub Street Publishing (2012). ISBN 978-1908117076 has day-by-day combat analysis
• Shores, Christopher & Massimello, Giovanni. A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940-1945 Vol 2 London: Grub Street Publishing (2014). ISBN 978-1909166127 has day-by-day combat analysis
• Smith, J.Richard & Pegg, Martin. Jagdwaffe Vol 3, Sec3: War over the Desert June1940 - June1942 Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, 2003 ISBN 1-903223-22-9
• Weal, John. Bf109D/E Aces 1939-41. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1996. ISBN 1-85532-487-3.