Eduard Neumann (fighter pilot): Difference between revisions

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{{short description|German flying ace}}

== Eduard Neumann ==

{{Other uses|Eduard Neumann (disambiguation){{!}}Eduard Neumann}}

{{refimprove|date=July 2016}}

{{Infobox military person

|name=Eduard Neumann

|birth_date={{birth date|1911|6|5|df=y}}

|death_date={{death date and age|2004|8|9|1911|6|5|df=y}}

|birth_place=[[Molodiia]], [[Austria-Hungary]]

|death_place=

|placeofburial=

|placeofburial_label= Place of burial

|image= Neumann37.jpg

|image_size=250

|caption=Eduard Neumann (right) with [[Adolf Galland]] in North Africa, 22 September 1942.

|nickname=

|allegiance={{flag|Nazi Germany}}

|branch=[[Luftwaffe]]

|serviceyears=1934–1945

|rank=[[Oberst]]

|commands=[[JG 27]]

|unit=[[Condor Legion]], [[JG 26]]

|battles=

*[[Spanish Civil War]]

*[[World War II]]

*:[[Battle of France]]

*:[[Battle of Britain]]

*:[[North African campaign]]

|awards=

|laterwork=}}

'''Eduard "Edu" Neumann''' (5 June 1911 – 9 August 2004) was a [[Luftwaffe]] officer and commanded the [[Jagdgeschwader 27]] 'Afrika' during the [[North African Campaign]] from 1941 to 1943.

==Early life==

Neumann was born in the city of [[Molodiia]], in the [[Duchy of Bukovina]] of the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Empire]] on 5 June 1911. In 1914, at the age of three, Eduard and his sister was sent to live with his grandparents after his mother died, and his father was conscripted due to the start of the [[First World War]]. His father was killed on the Russian front in November that year.{{sfn|Roland|2019|p=6}} He attended school in [[Czernowitz]] until 1928 before moving to Germany, studying for a year at [[Dresden]] before attending university at Berlin.{{sfn|Roland|2019|p=6}}

Eduard Neumann ( [[11]] [[June]] [[1911]] – [[9]] [[August]] [[2004]]) was a [[German]] [[Luftwaffe]] Officer and commanded the famous [[Jagdgeschwader 27]] ‘Afrika’ during the [[North African Campaign]] from 1941 to 1943.

==Luftwaffe service==

'''Early Life'''

Neumann learned to fly in Berlin in the early 1930s, and in 1934 joined the ''[[Luftwaffe]]''. In 1935, after completing training, he joined II. ''[[Organization of the Luftwaffe (1933–1945)#Gruppe|Gruppe]]'' of [[Jagdgeschwader 132|''Jagdgeschwader'' 132]] (II./JG 132), flying the [[Heinkel He 51]] fighter.{{sfn|Roland|2019|p=7}}

On 13 February 1940, Neumann was appointed ''Geschwaderadjutant'', the [[adjutant]] of the ''[[Geschwaderkommodore]]'' (wing commander) of [[Jagdgeschwader 27|''Jagdgeschwader'' 27]] (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing). He succeeded ''Hauptmann'' [[Joachim Schlichting]] who had previously held this position.{{sfn|Prien|Rodeike|Stemmer|1998|p=524}}

Eduard Neumann was born on 5 June 1911 in the city of Molodia, the capital of the province of Bukowina, in the former Austria Hungarian Empire, (Which now lies split between the Ukraine’s Oblast Czernowitz and Romania’s Suceava and Botoşani districts.)

In 1914, at the age of three, Eduard lost his mother, and his father not long afterwards. He and his sister Else came into the affectionate, but strict guidance of their grandmother, after the Great War the family moved to Germany.

The day after scoring his first (World War II) victory during the opening phase of the [[Battle of Britain]], a RAF [[No. 236 Squadron RAF]] [[Bristol Blenheim|Blenheim]] off the coast of [[Cherbourg]] on the 20 July 1940, he was appointed ''[[Gruppenkommandeur]]'' of I./JG 27.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}

'''Entry Into the Luftwaffe'''

After a brief participation in the Invasion of Yugoslavia, in April 1941 the unit moved to Ain-el Gazala, Libya, North Africa on 18 April 1941.{{sfn|Weal|2003|p=30}} He received the [[German Cross]] in Gold on 11 May 1942 as [[Hauptmann]] and [[Gruppenkommandeur]] I./[[JG 27]].{{sfn|Patzwall|Scherzer|2001|p=328}}

On 8 June 1942, Neumann, by now a Major, was appointed as ''Geschwaderkommodore'' of JG 27, replacing [[Bernhard Woldenga]], while [[Gerhard Homuth]] replaced Neumann as Gruppenkommandeur I./JG 27.{{sfn|Shores|Massimello|Guest|Olynyk|2012|p=133}} Neumann successfully led JG 27 until 22 April 1943, when he was replaced by [[Gustav Rödel]]. After a period of leave, Neumann joined the Staff of [[General der Jagdflieger]].{{sfn|Roland|2019|pp=18–19}} In March 1943 Neumann was promoted to [[Oberstleutnant]] (Lieutenant Colonel), and later in 1944 to [[Oberst]] ([[Colonel]]).{{sfn|Scutts|1994|p={{pn|date=May 2023}}}} Neumann finished the war as the Commander of Fighter Forces in Northern Italy.

In [[1928]] Eduard went to [[Berlin]] to Study Mechanical and Aviation Engineering. It was here that he discovered his enthusiasm for flight and quickly became a member of the ‘Akakflieg’ [[Glider]] club in [[1929]].

In [[1932]] he passed his flying examinations in powered flight in Cottbus.

In [[1934]] he began training with on the [[Fi 5R]] aircraft, then later the same year he joined the fledgling [[Luftwaffe]], which was still under secret construction. In Schleissheim he received final combat training, Neumann was then deployed to II./JG 132 ‘Richthofen’ in [[July]] [[1935]].

After the re-training on the BF 109D at Barth in August 1937 he was transferred to the Luftwaffe’s ‘[[Condor Legion]]’ which was to be sent to aid [[General Franco]]’s [[Fascists]] in the [[Spanish Civil War]] along with other notable personalities like [[Adolf Galland]] and [[Werner Mölders]].

After a year’s service Neumann returned to Germany at the rank of [[Oberleutnant]] with two victories and the Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords. He was appointed Gruppenkommandeure (Squadron leader) with the 4./JG-26 in Düsseldorf, remaining with the squadron until departing for [[Jagdgeschwader 27]] in early [[1940]], becoming the unit’s [[Adjitunt]].

==After the war==

The day after scoring his first (World War Two) victory during the opening phase of the Battle of Britain, a RAF 236 Squadron Blenheim off the coast of Cherbourg on the 20th July 1940, he was appointed Gruppenkommandeure (Group Commander) of I./JG 27 to Replace Helmut Riegel shot down by Hurricanes off the Island of Alderney.

After the war Neumann worked as a technical consultant on the Hans-Joachim Marseille biographical film, ''[[Der Stern von Afrika]]'', (''The Star of Africa''), directed by [[Alfred Weidenmann]] and starring [[Joachim Hansen (actor)|Joachim Hansen]] as Marseille.

After a brief participation In the Invasion of Yugoslavia, in April 1941 the unit moved to Ain-elGazala, Libya, North Africa on the 18 April 1941.

On 8th June 1942 he was promoted to Major and [[GeschwaderKommodore]] of the squadron, which he successfully led up to 22 April 1943, when spared the defeat in Africa he joined the Staff of General der Jagdflieger.

Neumann died in [[Munich]] on 9 August 2004.{{sfn|Roland|2019|p=20}}

In March 1943 Neumann was promoted to [[Oberstleutnant]] (Lieutenant Colonel), and later in [[1944]] to [[Colonel]].

Eduard Neumann finished the war as the Commander of all Fighter Forces in Northern Italy.

==References==

Neumann’s active combat career was somewhat limited, although an outstanding Commander he believed in commanding from the ground, as a consequence he only achieved 13 victories during his Luftwaffe career (2 in [[Spain]]).After the war Eduard ‘Edu’ Neumann developed an engineering company. He continued to fly as hobby, after the banning of civilian flight clubs was lifted.

;Citations

Neumann’s most successful achievement was the molding of the career of Hans-Joachim Marseille, giving the unorthodox fighter pilot a freer reign to practice his tactics. Marseille went on to score 158 victories against Western Allied Pilots, a number no other Pilot would match.

{{Reflist|30em}}

In 1989 Neumann and other members of JG 27 errected a [[Pyramid]] with the co-operation of the Egyptian Government on the place that Marseille fell to his death.

;Bibliography

Neumann remained a member of the Fighter Pilot’s Society, until his death from a long illness

He is survived by his wife Ursula.

* {{Cite book

|last1=Patzwall

|first1=Klaus D.

|last2=Scherzer

|first2=Veit

|year=2001

|title=Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II

|trans-title=The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2

|language=German

|___location=Norderstedt, Germany

|publisher=Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall

|isbn=978-3-931533-45-8

}}

* {{Cite book

|last1=Prien

|first1=Jochen

|last2=Rodeike

|first2=Peter

|last3=Stemmer

|first3=Gerhard

|year=1998

|title=Messerschmitt Bf 109 im Einsatz bei Stab und I./Jagdgeschwader 27 1939 – 1945

|trans-title=Messerschmitt Bf 109 in Action with the Headquarter Unit and I./Jagdgeschwader 27 in 1939 – 1945

|language=German

|___location=Eutin, Germany

|publisher=Struve-Druck

|isbn=978-3-923457-46-5

}}

* {{cite magazine

|last=Roland

|first=Bernard

|title=J'étais le chef de «Jochen» Marseille: «Edu» Neumann, un as méconnu

|magazine=Avions

|date=May–June 2019

|issue=229

|pages=6–20

|language=fr}}

* {{Cite book

|last=Scutts

|first=Jerry

|year=1994

|title=Bf 109 Aces of North Africa and the Mediterranean

|series=Aircraft of the Aces

|volume=2

|___location=London, UK

|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]

|isbn=978-1-85532-448-0

}}

* {{cite book

|last1=Shores

|first1=Christopher

|last2=Massimello

|first2=Giovanni

|last3=Guest

|first3=Russell

|last4=Olynyk

|first4=Frank

|last5=Bock

|first5=Winfried

|title=A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940–1945: Volume Two: North African Desert: February 1942 – March 1943

|year=2012

|___location=London

|publisher=Grub Street

|isbn=978-1-909166-12-7}}

* {{Cite book

|last=Weal

|first=John

|year=2003

|title=Jagdgeschwader 27 "Afrika"

|series=Aviation Elite Units

|volume=12

|___location=London, UK

|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]

|isbn=978-1-84176-538-9

}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-mil}}

{{succession box|

before=Major [[Bernhard Woldenga]]|

after=Oberstleutnant [[Gustav Rödel]]|

title= Commander of [[Jagdgeschwader 27]] ''Afrika''|

years=June 10, 1942 – April 22, 1943

}}

{{succession box|

before=Oberstleutnant [[Bernhard Woldenga]]|

after=none|

title=Commander of ''[[Jagdabschnittsführer Rumänien]]''|

years=February 1944 – August 1944

}}

{{succession box|

before=Oberstleutnant [[Günther Freiherr von Maltzahn]]|

after=Oberst [[Günther Lützow]]|

title=Commander of ''[[Jagdfliegerführer Oberitalien]]''|

years=December 1944 – January 1945

}}

{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Subject bar

| portal1=Aviation

| portal2=Biography

}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Eduard}}

[[Category:1911 births]]

[[Category:2004 deaths]]

[[Category:People from Chernivtsi Oblast]]

[[Category:People from the Duchy of Bukovina]]

[[Category:Bukovina-German people]]

[[Category:German people of Austrian descent]]

[[Category:Condor Legion personnel]]

[[Category:German World War II flying aces]]

[[Category:Recipients of the Gold German Cross]]