Fritz Tegtmeier (30 July 1917 â 8 April 1999) was a World War II Luftwaffe 146 aerial victories Flying ace and recipient of the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat.
Tegtmeier was born on 30 July 1917 in Sundern, now part of Stemwede, then in the Province of Westphalia within the German Empire. He joined the military service of the Luftwaffe and following flight and fighter pilot training, Tegtmeier was posted to the 2. Staffel (2nd squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54âÂÂ54th Fighter Wing) in October 1940.
At the time, his Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant Rudolf Unger and subordinated to I. Gruppe (1st group) of JG 54 headed by Hauptmann Hubertus von Bonin. The Gruppe had just been withdrawn from the English Channel where it had fought in the Battle of Britain and ordered to Jever Airfield for a period of rest and replenishment. The Gruppe was then split up, with 2. Staffel initially based at Westerland Airfield before moving to Wangerooge where they flew fighter patrols over the German Bight. Here, Tegtmeier was severely injured on 17 November when his Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-1 (Werknummer 6043âÂÂfactory number) suffered engine failure, resulting in crash landing at Jever Airfield.
On Friday 1 September 1939 German forces had invaded Poland which marked the beginning of World War II, and in June 1941. Following his injuries sustained on 17 November 1940, Tegtmeier returned to his Staffel in the spring of 1941.
Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began on 22 June 1941 which opened up the Eastern Front. In the fortnight prior, JG 54 had been moved to an airfield in Lindenthal near Rautenberg, East Prussia, present-day Uslowoje in Kaliningrad Oblast. Tasked with supporting Army Group North in its advance through the Baltic states towards Leningrad, the unit began combat operations shortly afterwards. In the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa, Tegtmeier claimed his first aerial victory.
On 8 September, I. Gruppe moved to an airfield at Ziverskaya located southwest of Leningrad. There, on 11 September he was again severely injured in a collision in his Bf 109 F-2 resulting in a crash landing at Ziverskaya. He returned to active duty in April 1942 and was assigned to the 1. Staffel of JG 54. By the end of 1942 he had claimed 24 aerial victories.
On 14 January 1943, Tegtmeier became an "ace-in-a-day" for the first time. That day, pilots of I. Gruppe had claimed 30 aerial victories (Luftsiege). He claimed aerial victories number 36 and 37 on 23 January. On 3 May 1943 he claimed numbers 51âÂÂ53. Tegtmeier was then posted to Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost (EJGr OstâÂÂSupplementary Fighter Group, East), a specialized training unit for new fighter pilots destined for the Eastern Front, where he served as a fighter pilot instructor. In September 1943, he returned to front line duty, this time with the 3. Staffel of JG 54. In November 1943 he achieved his 75th aerial victory. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 28 March 1944 following his 99th aerial victory. Tegtmeier was promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant) on 20 April 1944. He claimed his 100th and 101st aerial victory on 3 May 1944. He was the 71st Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. On 1 September 1944, he was made Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of the 3. Staffel of JG 54. He succeeded Leutnant Otto Kittel who was transferred. By the end of 1944 his score of aerial victories stood at 139 claims. When he was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7âÂÂ7th Fighter Wing) for flight training on the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter in March 1945 his score stood at 146 aerial victories. Tegtmeier had been nominated for the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross ().
Tegtmeier died on 8 April 1999 at the age of in Greven, Germany.
According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Tegtmeier was credited with 146 aerial victories. Mathews and ubForeman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces â Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 146 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 01852". The Luftwaffe grid map () covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about . These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area in size.