Heinz Lange (October 2, 1917 – February 26, 2006) was an officer and pilot in the Luftwaffe of National Socialist German Workers' Party Germany during World War II who briefly commanded fighter wing Jagdgeschwader 51. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Contents

• 1 Career
  • 1.1 Wing commander and end of war
• 2 Summary of career
  • 2.1 Aerial victory claims
  • 2.2 Awards
• 3 Notes
• 4 References
  • 4.1 Citations
  • 4.2 Bibliography

Career

On 1 October 1940, Lange was transferred and appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 1. Staffel (1st squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG:54—54th Fighter Wing). He succeeded Hauptmann Reinhard Seiler was given command of III. Gruppe (3rd group) of JG:54. On 9 May 1944, Lange succeeded Major Hans-Ekkehard Bob as Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of IV. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG:51—51st Fighter Wing).

Wing commander and end of war

On 2 April 1945, he was appointed Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of fighter wing JG:51. He succeeded Major Fritz Losigkeit who took command of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG:77—77th Fighter Wing). Command of IV. Gruppe of JG:51 was then p*ed to Oberleutnant Günther Josten.

Fw 190 D-13/R11, "Yellow 10" from the Champlin Fighter Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, c. 1995.

Shortly after the end of the war the British wanted to evaluate the performance of the German Focke Wulf Fw 190:D-13/R11 "Yellow 10" (Werknummer 836017—factory number) which had been *igned to the Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 26, Major Franz Götz. At Flensburg, the British Disarmament Wing wanted to compare the fighter's performance against a Hawker Tempest. Squadron Leader Evans approached Lange and asked him to fly a mock combat against one of their pilots. Lange accepted, even though he had only ten flights in a D-9. The mock dogfight was conducted at an al*ude of 3,000 meters (9,800 feet), with only enough fuel for the flight and no ammunition. The machines proved evenly matched. Lange *essed that the outcome of such a contest greatly depended on the skills of the individual pilot. At the time Lange was not aware that he was not flying a D-13, but rather a D-9. "Yellow 10" was further subjected to mock combat when on 25 June 1945 Josten was asked to fly a comparison flight against another Tempest. This very rare Fw:190:D-13/R11 is now on display at the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum in Everett, Washington, which recently had its Junkers Jumo 213 engine made operable once more. However, it will not be flown again.

After the war Lange attended the University of Kiel and studied law receiving a doctorate in jurisprudence (Dr. jur.) degree. In August 1950 he started his career working for the Gerling Insurance Group. He retired in 1982.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Obermaier, Lange was credited with 70 aerial victories, claimed in 628 combat missions, all but one on the Eastern Front. Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 73 aerial victory claims, plus one further unconfirmed claim. This figure includes 72 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and one over the Western Allies.

Awards

• Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 20 September 1943 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän
• German Cross in Gold on 17 May 1943 as Hauptmann in the 3./Jagdgeschwader 51
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 18 November 1944 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the IV./Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders"

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Aders, Gebhard; Held, Werner (1993). Jagdgeschwader 51 'Mölders' Eine Chronik:– Berichte:– Erlebnisse:– Do*ente (in German). Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN:978-3-613-01045-1.
• Crandall, Jerry (2000). Yellow 10 The story of the ultra-rare Fw 190 D-13. Hamilton, MT: Eagle Editions. ISBN:978-0-9660706-3-7.
• David, Dennis (2000). Dennis 'Hurricane' David: My Autobiography. London, UK: Grub Street. ISBN:978-1-902304-46-5.
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) . Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN:978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Matthews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2015). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 2 G–L. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN:978-1-906592-19-6.
• Neulen, Hans-Werner (July 2000). "Les as de la Luftwaffe: Heinz Lange, le dernier Kommodore" . Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (88): 16–27. ISSN:1243-8650.
• Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN:978-3-87341-065-7.
• Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN:978-3-931533-45-8.
• Patzwall, Klaus D. (2008). Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN:978-3-931533-08-3.
• Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2003). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 6/II—Unternehmen "BARBAROSSA"—Einsatz im Osten—22.6. bis 5.12.1941 (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN:978-3-923457-70-0.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN:978-3-938845-17-2.
• "Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-13 (Dora)". Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum. Retrieved 3 November 2020.

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