Rudolf Klemm (10 February 1918 â 5 July 1989) was a German Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. 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. During his career, he was credited with 42 aerial victories in 293 missions. Klemm's plane was shot down 4 times and he saved his life twice by parachuting and twice with an emergency landing.
After the war, Klemm was an instructor in his own flying school for small aircraft based on the airport of Basel-Mulhouse until his plane crashed mysteriously, when he was on training with a trainee pilot.
Klemm was born on 10 February 1918 in Haltingen, now part of Weil am Rhein, then in the Grand Duchy of Baden within the German Empire. He joined the military service of the Luftwaffe in 1937. Following completion of flight and fighter pilot training, Klemm served as a flight instructor before he was transferred to 8. Staffel (8th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54âÂÂ54th Fighter Wing) in December 1941. His Staffel was subordinated to III. Gruppe (3rd group) headed by Hauptmann Reinhard Seiler.
World War II in Europe had begun on Friday, 1 September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland. In late 1941, III. Gruppe was based at Siverskaya, located approximately south of Leningrad on the Eastern Front.
On 4 April 1942, Klemm was credited with JG 54s 2,000th aerial victory.
In mid-February 1943, III. Gruppe of JG 54 was withdrawn from the Eastern Front and ordered to Vendeville, France where it was subordinated to the Geschwaderstab (headquarters unit) of Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" (JG 26âÂÂ26th Fighter Wing). The Gruppe was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-4 armed with 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons installed in conformal gun pods under the wings. The original plan was to exchange JG 26 which had been fighting on the Western Front with JG 54. The plan was cancelled in March. Instead of III. Gruppe of JG 54 returning to the Eastern Front, the Gruppe was ordered to Bad Zwischenahn on 25 March and then to Oldenburg Airfield two days later. Here, the Gruppe was subordinated to the 2. Jagd-Division (2nd Fighter Division) which was fighting in defense of the Reich.
On 17 April, III. Gruppe flew its first combat mission in defense of the Reich. That day, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) VIII Bomber Command, later renamed to Eighth Air Force, attacked the Focke-Wulf factory in Bremen. The Gruppe was scrambled at 12:29. At 12:40 approximately 120 to 150 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers were encountered west of Wilhelmshaven. Due to evasive maneuvering of the bombers and the heavy defensive gunfire, the Gruppe initially failed to attack the bombers head-on. At 13:00, III. Gruppe made their first head-on attack while the leading bombers of the 91st and 306th Bombardment Group made their bomb-run. The Gruppe kept pursuing the bombers and claimed four further bombers shot down, one of which was not confirmed and one was credited to Klemm, his first heavy bomber.
On 14 May, the USAAF VIII Bomber Command attacked the harbor and ship building at Kiel. III. Gruppe was scrambled at 11:29 and shortly after 12:00 intercepted 125 Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers of the 44th Bombardment Group after they had dropped their bombs over the target area. In this encounter, III. Gruppe pilots claimed three B-24 bombers shot down, including one by Klemm. He was then shot down and wounded by friendly fire. His Bf 109 G-4 (Werknummer 16144âÂÂfactory number) was hit by German anti-aircraft artillery in a location approximately west of Kiel. Blinded in one eye, he returned to operations weeks later.
In February 1944, Klemm was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 7. Staffel of JG 54, succeeding Oberleutnant Waldemar Wübke. On 9 April, he was wounded in combat when his Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 15573) was shot down near Kiel, forcing him to bail out.
Klemm was transferred and appointed Staffelkapitän of 12. Staffel of JG 54 on 5 June. The Staffel was redesignated on 20 August and became the 15. Staffel. On 16 October, he was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of IV. Gruppe of JG 54. He succeeded Major Wolfgang Späte who was transferred. Consquently, command of 15. Staffel was passed on to Leutnant Karl Brill. On 18 November, Klemm was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () for 40 aerial victories claimed.
According to Obermaier, Klemm was credited with 42 aerial victories claimed in 293 combat missions. He claimed at least 21 aerial victories over the Western Allies, including 16 heavy bombers. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces â Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 43 aerial victory claims. This figure includes 29 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and 14 over the Western Allies, including ten heavy bombers.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 29773". 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.