Theo Osterkamp

Theodor “Theo” Osterkamp (15 April 1892 – 2 Jan-uary 1975) was a World War I and World War IILuftwaffe fighter ace. He achieved 32 victories in WorldWar I. In World War II, he led Jagdgeschwader 51through the Battle of Britain and claimed a further 6 vic-tories, in the process becoming one of only a few men toscore victories in both world wars.

1 World War I

Osterkamp flew as a naval pilot operating over theWestern Front. On 14 August 1914, he joined theMarinefliegerkorps. He then flew with the 2. Marine-Fliegerabteilung in Flanders. During 1915–1916, heserved as an air observer, and became the first Ger-man pilot to fly a land-based aircraft to England on areconnaissance-mission. In March 1917, he joined theKampffliegerschule (Combat pilot school) in Putzig andthen joined the Marine-Jagdstaffel 1. On 15 October1917, Leutnant Osterkamp took command over Marine-Jagdstaffel 2. He scored a total of 32 victories during thewar, and was awarded the Prussian military order Pour leMérite on 2 September 1918, and was the last individualto receive it.

2 Interwar years

Between the twoWorldWars, Osterkamp was involved inthe formation of the new Luftwaffe, amongst other thingsby setting up Jagdfliegerschule 1. He also participatedin the second, third and fourth FAI International TouristPlane Contest Challenge 1930 (11th place), Challenge1932 (12th place) and Challenge 1934 (5th place).

3 World War II

On 19 September 1939, OberstOsterkamp was appointedGeschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st FighterWing).[Note 1] During the Battle of France, heclaimed four victories. During the Kanalkampf period ofthe Battle of Britain in July 1940, he claimed a further twovictories, (a Bristol Blenheim on 1 June and a Spitfire on13 July 1940) bringing his total to six. He was replacedas commander of JG 51 by Werner Mölders on 23 July.Promoted to Generalmajor, Osterkamp was awarded hisKnight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on 22 August 1940.

Wedding of Theodor Osterkamp with Fel Gudrun Pagge in Ep-pendorf, Hamburg

Following his replacement in JG 51, Osterkamp was ap-pointed Jagdfliegerführer 2, the commander of fighter air-craft in Luftflotte 2.[1]

On 1 August 1942, he was transferred to Luftgaustabz.b.V. Afrika. On 5 April 1943, he was appointedJagdfliegerführer Sizilien and served until replaced on15 July by Adolf Galland. He then served in a num-ber of staff positions until being appointed Inspekteurder Luftwaffen-Bodenorganisation (Inspector of Luft-waffe ground organisation) in 1944. After criticism fromHigh Command, he was dismissed from the service on 21December 1944.

4 Post-war career

In 1960, he was appointed honorary chairman of theGemeinschaft der Jagdflieger, the Association of FighterPilots.[2]

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2 8 REFERENCES

5 Awards and decorations

• Abzeichen für Marine-Flugzeugführer

• Iron Cross (1914)

• 2nd Class• 1st Class

• Knight’s Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohen-zollern with Swords

• Baltic Cross

• 2nd Class

• Pour le Mérite (2 September 1918)

• Cross of Honor

• Flugzeugführer- und Beobachter-Abzeichen

• Iron Cross (1939)

• 2nd Class• 1st Class

• Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on 22 August 1940as Generalmajor and Jagdfliegerführer of Luftflotte2[3][Note 2]

• Ärmelband Afrika

6 See also

Pilots who flew in combat in both World Wars

• Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp, German ace in bothWorld War I and II

• Otto Höhne

• Erich Mix

• Stanley Vincent

• Marcel Haegelen

7 Notes

[1] For an explanation of Luftwaffe unit designations seeOrganisation of the Luftwaffe during World War II.

[2] According to Scherzer as Jagdfliegerführer 1 forhis achievements as Geschwaderkommodore ofJagdgeschwader 51.[4]

8 References

8.1 Citations[1] See Luftwaffe Organization

[2] “Namhafte Persönlichkeiten”. Gemeinschaft der Fliegerdeutscher Streitkräfte e.V. (in German). Retrieved 7February 2014.

[3] Fellgiebel 2000, p. 330.

[4] Scherzer 2007, p. 579.

8.2 Bibliography

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Trägerdes Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945— Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung desZweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bear-ers of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945— The Owners of the Highest Award of the SecondWorld War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in Ger-man). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN978-3-7909-0284-6.

• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des EisernenKreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine,Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland ver-bündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bun-desarchives [The Knight’s Cross Bearers 1939–1945The Holders of the Knight’s Cross of the IronCross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS,Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany Ac-cording to the Documents of the Federal Archives](in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.

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