Adolf Dickfeld
Oberst
Adolf Dickfeld was born on 20 February 1910 at Jüterborg
in Mark Brandenburg. He developed a strong interest in radiotelephony as
a student. In 1928, he played an important role in the rescue of the crew
of the downed airship “Italia” when he received the SOS message. He joined
the Luftwaffe on 1 March 1937.
At the outbreak of World War 2, Dickfeld was assigned to III./JG 52.
He flew missions over France, England, Greece and Crete before the unit
was transferred to Rumania in preparation for the invasion of Russia. Dickfeld
achieved outstanding success in the aerial battles over Russia. On 16 August
1941, he recorded his 10th victory. He shot down five enemy aircraft on
24 October 1941 to record his 16th through 20th victories. By the end of
1941, he had accumulated 37 victories. Leutnant Dickfeld was awarded the
Ritterkreuz on 19 March 1942 for 47 victories. In addition, he had claimed
8 aircraft, 11 locomotives, 2 armoured vehicles and 2 trucks destroyed
on the ground. On 8 May, he shot down 11 enemy aircraft (63-73), followed
by nine on the 14 May (82-90) and 10 on the 18 May (91-100). He was awarded
the Eichenlaub on 19 May 1942 for 101 victories and promoted Oberleutnant
on 21 May 1942. Following a lengthy leave, Dickfeld returned to the Eastern
front and in August and September added a further 14 victories to his tally.
When he left the unit, he had 128 victories to his credit. In January 1943,
Dickfeld was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 2. The unit was transferred
to North Africa, where Dickfeld achieved 5 victories over Tunisia before
he was badly injured in a take-off accident at Kairouan on 8 January 1943,
when his Fw 190 A-4 (W.Nr. 0750) struck an obstacle on the airfield. On
17 April 1943, after recovering from his injuries, Dickfeld was appointed
Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 11, based in the Bremen–Helgoland, area of
northern Germany performing Reichsverteidigung duties. Dickfeld accounted
for some four-engine bombers while serving with the unit but probably no
more than two were confirmed. He was promoted to the rank of Major
on 18 May 1943. Dickfeld was shot down during an attack on Allied bombers
that saw him bale out into the sea. He was rescued but was hospitalised
with back injuries. Following his recovery, Dickfeld was appointed General
für Nachwuchs (Luftwaffe) Reichsluftministerium and Reich Inspekteur der
Flieger Hitler Jugend, performing these staff duties until late in the
war. Dickfeld was to return to combat, flying Bü 181 trainers armed with
Panzerfaust rockets, against Russian armour and, later, He 162 jet fighters.
He reputedly shot down a P-47 several weeks before the end of the war with
the He 162.
Adolf Dickfeld was credited with 136 victories in
1072 combat missions. He also claimed a further 15 enemy aircraft unconfirmed.
He achieved about 128 victories over the Eastern
front. Included in his total are 2 confirmed four-engine
bombers and possibly several uncofirmed. Reputedly he claimed one victory
flying the He 162 jet fighter.
|
No
|
Date
|
Time
|
Unit
|
A/c
Type
|
Location
|
|
10
|
16.8.1941
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
16
|
24.10.1941
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
17
|
24.10.1941
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
18
|
24.10.1941
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
19
|
24.10.1941
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
20
|
24.10.1941
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
56
|
29.4.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
63
|
8.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
64
|
8.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
65
|
8.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
66
|
8.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
67
|
8.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
68
|
8.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
69
|
8.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
70
|
8.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
71
|
8.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
72
|
8.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
73
|
8.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
82
|
14.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
83
|
14.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
84
|
14.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
85
|
14.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
86
|
14.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
87
|
14.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
88
|
14.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
89
|
14.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
90
|
14.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
91
|
18.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
92
|
18.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
93
|
18.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
94
|
18.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
95
|
18.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
96
|
18.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
97
|
18.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
98
|
18.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
99
|
18.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
100
|
18.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
101
|
19.5.1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
128
|
1942
|
-
|
III./JG
52 |
E/a |
|
|
?
|
27.11.1942
|
-
|
Stab
II./JG 2 |
E/a |
|
|
?
|
1.12.1942
|
15:35
|
Stab
II./JG 2 |
Spitfire |
N
Tebourda |
|
?
|
3.12.1942
|
11:47
|
Stab
II./JG 2 |
P-38 |
10km
W Bizerta |
|
134
|
17.4.1943
|
13:08
|
Stab
II./JG 11 |
B-17 |
Stotel |
|
135
|
15.5.1943
|
10:50
|
Stab
II./JG 11 |
B-17 |
7573 |
Victories : 136
Awards : Ehrenpokal (15 December 1941)
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (22 January 1942)
Ritterkreuz (19 March 1942)
Eichenlaub (19 May 1942)
Units : JG 52, JG 2, JG 11
