Walter Brandt

Walter Brandt
Born	24 March 1917 Bad Salzuflen
Died	18 January 1977(1977-01-18) (aged 59) Bottrop
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Luftwaffe
Years of service	1939–45
Rank	Oberleutnant (first lieutenant)
Unit	LG 2, JG 77, JG 3
Commands	2./JG 3, 7./JG 3
Battles / wars	World War II Operation Barbarossa Siege of Malta North African Campaign Defense of the Reich
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Walter Brandt (24 March 1917 – 18 January 1977) 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 was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Brandt was credited with 43 aerial victories in 527 missions.

Brandt was born on 24 March 1917 in Bad Salzuflen in the Principality of Lippe within the German Empire. Following flight training,^{[Note 1]} he was transferred to the 2. Staffel (2nd squadron) of Lehrgeschwader 2 (LG 2—2nd Demonstration Wing), a fighter squadron within the I. (Jäger) Gruppe (I.(J)—1st fighter group).^[2] Brandt claimed his first aerial victory on 13 March 1941 against the Royal Air Force (RAF) during aerial combat with Supermarine Spitfire fighters 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Cap Gris-Nez.^[3]

On 18 June 1941, I.(J)/LG 2 was moved to Bucharest and placed under the command of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing). The Geschwader was located in the sector of Heeresgruppe Süd (Army Group South).^[4] Three days later, I.(J)/LG 2 moved to Roman.^[5] That evening, the pilots and ground crews were briefed of the upcoming invasion of the Soviet Union, which opened the Eastern Front.^[6]

On 6 January 1942, I.(J)/LG 2 was officially redesignated and became the I. Gruppe of JG 77.^[7] On 27 June, I. Gruppe received new orders and began preparations for transfer to Sicily.^[8]

On 29 June 1942, I. Gruppe under the command of Hauptmann Heinrich Bär relocated from the Eastern Front to the Mediterranean theatre of operations. The Gruppe moved from Baherove, via Odessa, Băneasa, Sofia, Thessaloniki to Eleusis, where they arrived on 1 July.^[9] The unit was then ordered to Sicily where it arrived at the Comiso airfield on 5 July and was subordinated to the command of Jagdgeschwader 53 Pik-As (JG 53—53rd Fighter Wing).^[10] Three days later, Brandt claimed a Spitfire fighter shot down. This was his first aerial victory during the Siege of Malta on a fighter escort mission for Junkers Ju 88 bombers attacking the RAF Luqa airfield.^[11] On 10 July, on another Ju 88 escort mission, he yet again claimed a Spitfire shot down.^[12] On 13 July, I. Gruppe flew three combat air patrol missions over Malta, during one of which Brandt claimed a further Spitfire destroyed.^[13]

On 25 October, I. Gruppe of JG 77 was ordered to trans to the North African theater, arriving at an airfield named Bir el Abd, located southwest of El Alamein, on 27 October.^[14] In December, Brandt was awarded the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold).^[15]

On 14 January 1943, Brandt was shot down in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2 trop (Werknummer 10744—factory number) 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of Buerat, Libya.^[16] A Spitfire projectile had nearly severed his right leg prior to him bailing out. Brandt landed in an Italian position and was immediately taken to a nearby field hospital where his right leg had to be amputated. Bär, the commander of I. Gruppe, nominated him for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) which was presented to him while hospitalized in Bavaria on 24 March.^[17][18]

In August 1944, Brandt was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing), replacing Oberleutnant Walter Bohatsch in this capacity.^[19] On 26 November, he was injured in a takeoff accident at Paderborn when he crashed his Bf 109 G.^[20] On 26 November, I. Gruppe, along with other Luftwaffe units, were ordered to participate in a Defense of the Reich mission. The Gruppe, led by Hauptmann Horst Haase, took off from Paderborn and flew into a heavy cloud cover over the airfield. Due to poor visibility conditions, Haase and his wingman, Leutnant Hans Fritz, were killed in a mid-air collision near Erkelenz. Three further aircraft also crashed due to adverse weather conditions. Brandt then took command of the Gruppe, and without sustaining further losses, he safely led the formation back to Paderborn.^[21] Following these events, Brandt was arrested and charged with cowardice before the enemy for not continuing the missions. Later, all charges against him were dropped.^[15][22] On 12 December, Brandt claimed a RAF Avro Lancaster heavy bomber shot down. That day, 140 Lancaster bombers attacked the steel works at Witten in the Ruhr. I. Gruppe was scrambled at 12:30 and were vectored to a point of intercept near Dortmund. The Gruppe attacked the bombers, which were unescorted, just prior to their bomb run. The Luftwaffe pilots claimed thirteen bombers shot down, including one by Brandt, for the loss of five of their own.^[23]

On 22 January 1945, I. Gruppe relocated to the Eastern Front where they initially occupied an airfield at Stettin-Altdamm, present-day Dąbie in Poland. Here, the Gruppe primarily supported the Army Group Vistula fighting in the Vistula–Oder offensive. On 10 February, the Gruppe was ordered to Pinnow airfield, located approximately 32 kilometers (20 miles) south-southwest of Kolberg, present-day Kołobrzeg. Here on 19 February, Brandt claimed a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter shot down over Madüsee, present day Lake Miedwie.^[24] On 3 March, Brandt claimed he had destroyed three Soviet T-34 tanks with bombs, further twenty vehicles by strafing, and shot down three aircraft in aerial combat.^[25]This earned him a named reference in the Wehrmachtbericht, a propaganda bulletin.^[26] Following these events, Brandt was again injured when his Bf 109 G-14 (Werknummer 464278) was hit, resulting in an emergency landing near Augustwalde, present-day Rębusz in Poland.^[27] On 23 March, I. Gruppe was ordered to seize all operations. By 10 April, the Gruppe was fully disbanded and its pilots reassigned to other units. In consequence, Brandt was transferred to II. Gruppe of JG 3 where he was given command of 7. Staffel.^[26] He replaced Oberleutnant Herbert Mielke who had been killed in action on 3 April.^[28] At the time, II. Gruppe was based at Garz Airfield on the island of Usedom. Here, the Gruppe flew several ground attack missions against Soviet bridges crossing the lower Oder. On 30 April, the Gruppe relocated to Pütnitz and to Leck Airfield on 5 May where the remnants of the Luftwaffe surrendered to British forces.^[29]

Brandt died from complications of his wartime injuries on 28 January 1977 in Bottrop.^[15]

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Brandt was credited with 57 aerial victories.^[30] According to Heaton, Lewis, Olds and Schulze however, Brandt was credited with 42 aerial victories.^[31] Dixon also lists him 42 aerial victories claimed in 527 combat missions.^[32] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 42 aerial victory claims. This figure includes 23 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and 19 over the Western Allies, including one four-engined heavy bomber.^[33]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 66642". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) 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 360 square miles (930 km²). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.^[34]

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class^[64]
• Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 13 September 1942 as Feldwebel and pilot^{[65][Note 14]}
• German Cross in Gold on 12 December 1942 as Feldwebel in the 2./Jagdgeschwader 77^[66]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 24 March 1943 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot in the I./Jagdgeschwader 77^{[67][Note 15]}