Helmut Bennemann was born on 16 March 1915 at Wanne-Eickel. In June 1940, Bennemann was serving as Adjutant to I./JG 52. He gained his first victory on 26 August, when he shot down a RAF Spitfire fighter near Dover. On 15 September, Bennemann shot down three RAF Hurricane fighters to record his sixth through eighth victories. On 27 April 1941, he was appointed Staffelkapitän of 3./JG 52. When I./JG 52 was transferred to the Eastern front in September 1941, Bennemann had recorded 12 victories. On 14 June 1942, Bennemann was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 52. On 3 September, he claimed two Russian aircraft shot down (50-51). Hauptmann Bennemann was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 2 October for 52 victories. On 28 December, Bennemann shot down six Russian aircraft to record (67-72). Bennemann was wounded in the explosion of an incendiary bomb on 10 May 1943 resulting in his withdrawal from combat duty for some months. He had 88 victories to his credit at this time. Bennemann was appointed Kommodore of JG 53 on 9 November 1943, replacing Oberst Günther von Maltzahn (68 victories, RK-EL) who left JG 53 to fulfill a staff role. On 25 April 1944, he shot down a USAAF B-24 four-engine bomber over Bologna to record his 90th victory. However, his Bf 109 G-6 (W.Nr. 163 314) “Black < 3” was hit by return fire and Bennemann was wounded. He baled out successfully. In June 1944, Bennemann led the Geschwaderstab of JG 53 on a short sojourn to the Eastern front, to direct the supply missions for the relief of the city of Vilna. The unit departed Russia for Wunstorf near Hanover in Germany on 22 July. From August 1944, Bennemann led JG 53 on Reichsverteidigung duties, initially from bases in France, then from bases in Germany. He recorded three victories in October 1944 to bring his final victory total to 93.
    Helmut Bennemann was credited with 93 victories in over 400 missions. He recorded 77 victories over the Eastern front. Included in his total are at least 10 Il-2 Sturmoviks.
 

No	Date	Time	A/c Type	Unit	Location / Comments
1	26.8.1940	12:50	Spitfire	2./JG 52	Dover
2	31.8.1940	13:50	Hurricane	2./JG 52	S London periphery
3	1.9.1940	11:45	Spitfire	2./JG 52	Sittingbourne
4	2.9.1940	14:00	Spitfire	2./JG 52	Canterbury
5	7.9.1940	17:55	Hurricane	2./JG 52	London
6	15.9.1940	15:30	Hurricane	2./JG 52	Thames Estuary
7	15.9.1940	15:30	Hurricane	2./JG 52	Thames Estuary
8	15.9.1940	15:40	Hurricane	2./JG 52	Thames Estuary
9	24.9.1940	14:35	Spitfire	2./JG 52	10km ahead Dover
10	24.9.1940	14:40	Spitfire	2./JG 52	ahead Dover
11	12.10.1940	17:25	Spitfire	2./JG 52	SE London
12	14.4.1941	-	Blenheim	1./JG 52	Near Vlissinghen
?	27.5.1942	16:05	Il-2	3./JG 52	6083: at 50m
?	27.5.1942	19:20	Il-2	3./JG 52	7071
?	31.5.1942	16:45	I-153	3./JG 52	60 864: at 50m
?	3.6.1942	-	Pe-2	3./JG 52	2000th for JG 52
?	12.6.1942	17:20	LaGG-3	3./JG 52	70 221: 1.200m
?	31.7.1942	10:40	Yak-1	Stab I./JG 52	07 181: at 800m
?	1.8.1942	14:45	Yak-1	Stab I./JG 52	7 853
?	4.8.1942	5:13	Il-2	Stab I./JG 52	66 453
?	5.8.1942	10:13	I-153	Stab I./JG 52	65 230
?	5.8.1942	10:13	I-153	Stab I./JG 52	65 230: at 20m
?	10.8.1942	15:50	MBR-2	Stab I./JG 52	85 520: at 100m
?	13.8.1942	8:18	LaGG-3	Stab I./JG 52	86 771
?	21.8.1942	8:40	U-2	Stab I./JG 52	55 763
?	22.8.1942	8:25	LaGG-3	Stab I./JG 52	54 433: at 3.000m
?	22.8.1942	13:15	LaGG-3	Stab I./JG 52	64 173
?	23.8.1942	6:42	Pe-2	Stab I./JG 52	54 452: at 2.800m / 600th for I./JG 52
?	23.8.1942	6:42	Il-2	Stab I./JG 52	54 452: at 2.800m
?	27.8.1942	14:27	Il-2	Stab I./JG 52	46 362
50	3.9.1942	6:40	LaGG-3	Stab I./JG 52	57 753
51	3.9.1942	14:35	Il-2	Stab I./JG 52	46 253: at 100m
52	4.9.1942	5:58	Pe-2	Stab I./JG 52	46 412: at 700m
53	23.9.1942	11:50	LaGG-3	Stab I./JG 52	40 840: at 3.000m
54	24.9.1942	16:35	LaGG-3	Stab I./JG 52	49 150: at 2.000m
55	16.10.1942	9:55	MiG-3	Stab I./JG 52	49 432
56	17.10.1942	10:10	MiG-3	Stab I./JG 52	49 273: at 400m
57	24.10.1942	11:05	Yak-1	Stab I./JG 52	49 131: at 2.500m
58	24.10.1942	14:20	La-5	Stab I./JG 52	49 272: at 1.000m
59	24.10.1942	14:35	Pe-2	Stab I./JG 52	49 471: at 6.000m
60	25.10.1942	16:05	Yak-1	Stab I./JG 52	49 462: at 1.500m
61	29.10.1942	15:30	MiG-3	Stab I./JG 52	49 294: at 4.000m
62	1.11.1942	11:45	MiG-3	Stab I./JG 52	49 452 at 1.500m
63	2.11.1942	9:50	MiG-3	Stab I./JG 52	59 143 / 800th for I./JG 52
64	26.12.1942	10:30	La-5	Stab I./JG 52	01 762 at 200m
65	26.12.1942	10:50	MiG-1	Stab I./JG 52	01572
66	27.12.1942	11:29	Pe-2	Stab I./JG 52	01 721 at 1.500m
67	28.12.1942	7:20	Il-2	Stab I./JG 52	91 864 at 400m
68	28.12.1942	7:22	Il-2	Stab I./JG 52	91 864 at 300m
69	28.12.1942	7:23	Il-2	Stab I./JG 52	91 863 at 100m
70	28.12.1942	7:30	Il-2	Stab I./JG 52	01763
71	28.12.1942	10:00	Pe-2	Stab I./JG 52	01 783 at 3.000m
72	28.12.1942	10:03	Pe-2	Stab I./JG 52	01 763 at 2.800m
73	17.3.1943	12:45	LaGG-5	Stab I./JG 52	61 664: at 2.200m
74	18.3.1943	16:10	LaGG-3	Stab I./JG 52	61 891: at 400m
75	19.3.1943	10:13	LaGG-5	Stab I./JG 52	62 110: at 1.000m
76	19.3.1943	10:13	LaGG-5	Stab I./JG 52	60 212: at 1.000m
77	19.3.1943	13:42	Pe-2	Stab I./JG 52	61 851: at 1.000m
78	19.3.1943	13:48	Pe-2	Stab I./JG 52	61 851: at 1.000m
79	26.3.1943	9:15	MiG-3	Stab I./JG 52	71 794: at 300m
80	29.3.1943	12:23	Il-7	Stab I./JG 52	61 451: at 800 m
81	17.4.1943	11:16	LaGG-3	Stab I./JG 52	75 492: at 200m
82	17.4.1943	11:23	LaGG-3	Stab I./JG 52	S Novorossiysk
83	17.4.1943	15:07	P-39	Stab I./JG 52	75 431: at 5.000m
84	17.4.1943	15:09	P-39	Stab I./JG 52	75 533: at 3.500m
85	21.4.1943	9:25	LaGG-3	Stab I./JG 52	75 423: at 400m
86	27.4.1943	14:52	LaGG	Stab I./JG 52	-
87	9.5.1943	10:03	I-16	Stab I./JG 52	98 840: at 1.000m
88	9.5.1943	10:06	I-16	Stab I./JG 52	98 730: at 1.000m
89	15.12.1943	11:15	B-26	Stab/JG 53	SW Circano
90	25.4.1944	11:33	B-24	Stab/JG 53	Bologna
91	8.10.1944	-	P-47	Stab/JG 53	Near Worms
92	??.10.1944	-	P-47	Stab/JG 53	-
93	29.10.1944	11:45	P-51	Stab/JG 53	Jöhlingen

Victories : 93
Awards : Ehrenpokal (5 October 1940)
                Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (27 July 1942)
                Ritterkreuz (2 October 1942)
Units : JG 52, JG 53