Herbert Ihlefeld - World War II

World War II

Ihlefeld was born on 1 June 1914 in Pinnow at the time in the Province of Pomerania, a province of the Kingdom of Prussia. In August 1938, he was assigned to the I(J)./Lehrgeschwader 2 (LG 2—2nd Demonstration Wing), an operational training unit. He flew in the invasion of Poland, and in the battle of France and Britain. In July 1940, "Ihle" was now Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 1.(J)/LG 2, leading it during the Battle of Britain. He was awarded the Ritterkreuz during September 1940, for 24 claimed kills.

In April 1941, the unit was transferred to the Balkans to take part of the invasion of Yugoslavia. During one of his first missions, strafing an airfield near Niš, Ihlefeld was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and captured by Yugoslavian soldiers. While in Yugoslavian captivity, he was allegedly severely beaten, and was threatened with execution by firing squad. Ihlefeld was rescued by German troops after eight days of arrest, and returned to Germany to recover. After a few weeks, "Ihle" returned to participate in the assault on Crete, claiming a Hawker Hurricane shot down for his 36th claim. Soon after, LG 2 was rearmed and remustered as I./Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) in time for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Ihlefeld retaining the command of I./JG 77.

In the spring of 1942, a series of multiple victories (five aircraft on 24 March, seven on 30 March and seven on 20 April) saw Ihlefeld become the fifth pilot to reach 100 victories. During the period of Ihlefeld's leadership, I./JG 77 was credited with the destruction of 323 enemy planes while losing only 17 Messerschmitt Bf 109s.

In June 1942, Ihlefeld became Geschwaderkommodore (Wing Commander) of the famed Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing). On 22 July 1942, whilst flying over the front in his Storch, he was shot down and badly wounded by Soviet fighters, this took him out of the front line until July 1943, when he joined the newly formed Jagdgeschwader 25 as Geschwaderkommodore, leading the group's high-altitude Bf 109s in ultimately unsuccessful operations against Royal Air Force Mosquitos, and later United States Air Force (USAAF) heavy bomber formations in Reichsverteidigung missions.

In May 1944, he became Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 11 (JG 11—11th Fighter Wing), briefly before switching to Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1—1st Fighter Wing), overseeing the period where elements of the Geschwader were equipped late in the war with the He 162 Volksjager.