Hermann-Friedrich "Jupp" Joppien
Hauptmann

Hermann-Friedrich Joppien

    Hermann-Friedrich “Jupp” Joppien was born on 19 July 1912 at Bochum in Ruhrgebiet. In October 1931, Joppien was serving with an Infantry Regiment. In 1935 he joined the Luftwaffe and underwent flying training. He was promoted to the rank of Leutnant in 1938. He was appointed Technischer Offizier in a Zerstörergruppe but was then transferred to JG 51 in summer of 1939. Joppien was assigned to 1./JG 51. He claimed his first victory, a French Morane fighter near Heillecourt, on 23 November 1939. However, Joppien’s aircraft was hit in this engagement and he was obliged to break off combat. His undercarriage had been damaged and as a result his aircraft overturned on landing. He escaped unhurt. Joppien was to claim a total of four victories during the French campaign. Joppien would emerge from the Battle of Britain as Germany’s fifth top scoring fighter pilot. In all, he recorded 26 victories during the air battles over England. On 6 August 1940, Joppien was appointed Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 51. Oberleutnant Joppien claimed his 10th victory on 15 August, when he shot down a RAF Hurricane fighter. He recorded his 20th and 21st victories, two Spitfires, on 15 September. Oberleutnant Joppien was awarded the Ritterkreuz to commemorate the feat. On 18 October 1940, Hauptmann Joppien was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 51. He recorded his 30th victory, another Spitfire on 5 December and his 40th, a Hurricane shot down near Ashford on 21 April 1941. He was awarded the Eichenlaub (Nr 11) on 23 April for achieving 40 victories. Joppien led I./JG 51 during the invasion of Russia. On 30 June 1941, he shot down five Russian bombers near Bobruysk to record his 47th through 51st victories. Joppien recorded 12 victories in July, including four Russian SB-2 twin-engine bombers shot down on 2 July (52-55), another three SB-2 bombers on 24 July (59-61). However, after recording his 58th victory, a Russian DB-3 twin-engine bomber shot down on 5 July, Joppien was wounded by return fire and spent several weeks recuperating. On 28 August 1941, Joppien entered combat with Russian fighters and bombers near Jelnja, southwest of Bryansk. In the subsequent action, Joppien was shot down and killed in his Bf 109 F-2 (W.Nr. 9670) “Black <<” by a Russian MiG-3 fighter.
    “Jupp” Joppien was credited with 70 victories. His victory total included 42 victories recorded over the Western front. Included in his total are 23 Spitfires.
 
No
Date
Time
A/c Type
Unit
Location / Comments
1
23.11.1939
15:30
 Morane 1./JG 51 Zweibrücken / Morane 406 of GC III/7, Armée de l’Air flown by Sgt Guillaume – crash-landed
2
23.5.1940
16:28
 Dewoitine 1./JG 51 Béthune
3
5.6.1940
14:42
 Curtiss 1./JG 51 Bréteuil
4
6.6.1940
17:12
 LeO 451 1./JG 51 Ham
5
29.7.1940
8:25
 Spitfire 1./JG 51 Dover
6
29.7.1940
8:28
 Spitfire 1./JG 51 Dover
7
29.7.1940
-
 Spitfire 1./JG 51 Dover
8
11.8.1940
15:13
 Spitfire 1./JG 51 -
9
15.8.1940
16:05
 Hurricane 1./JG 51 -
10
15.8.1940
-
 Hurricane 1./JG 51 -
11
24.8.1940
14:09
 Spitfire 1./JG 51 -
12
29.8.1940
20:09
 Spitfire 1./JG 51 -
13
31.8.1940
14:10
 Spitfire 1./JG 51 -
14
31.8.1940
14:16
 Spitfire 1./JG 51 -
15
6.9.1940
-
 Spitfire 1./JG 51 -
16
9.9.1940
-
 Hurricane 1./JG 51 -
17
9.9.1940
-
 Hurricane 1./JG 51 -
18
11.9.1940
16:50
 Spitfire 1./JG 51 -
19
11.9.1940
17:10
 Spitfire 1./JG 51 -
20
15.9.1940
12:40
 Spitfire 1./JG 51 -
21
15.9.1940
-
 Spitfire 1./JG 51 -
22
27.9.1940
-
 Hurricane 1./JG 51 -
23
29.10.1940
-
 Hurricane I./JG 51 -
24
8.11.1940
12:20
 Hurricane I./JG 51 -
25
11.11.1940
-
 Spitfire I./JG 51 -
26
11.11.1940
-
 Spitfire I./JG 51 -
27
14.11.1940
12:25
 Spitfire I./JG 51 Dungeness
28
1.12.1940
11:40
 Spitfire I./JG 51 -
29
1.12.1940
15:16
 Hurricane I./JG 51 Ashford
30
5.12.1940
15:47
 Spitfire I./JG 51 -
31
26.2.1941
18:05
 Hurricane I./JG 51 SE Ashford
32
26.2.1941
18:07
 Hurricane I./JG 51 SE Ashford
33
3.3.1941
17:02
 Spitfire I./JG 51 S Ashford
34
3.3.1941
17:13
 Spitfire I./JG 51 Folkestone
35
12.3.1941
19:27
 Spitfire I./JG 51 Dungeness
36
18.3.1941
12:28
 Hurricane I./JG 51 5km S Lewes
37
15.4.1941
12:33
 Spitfire I./JG 51 5km SE Dungeness
38
16.4.1941
18:30
 Hurricane I./JG 51 4km SW Dungeness
39
20.4.1941
12:12
 Spitfire I./JG 51 20km N Cap Gris Nez
40
21.4.1941
20:10
 Hurricane I./JG 51 NW Ashford
41
8.5.1941
18:02
 Hurricane I./JG 51 Folkestone
42
8.5.1941
18:03
 Hurricane I./JG 51 NE Dungeness
43
25.6.1941
12:32
 SB-2 I./JG 51 -
44
25.6.1941
12:35
 SB-2 I./JG 51 -
45
25.6.1941
12:36
 SB-2 I./JG 51 -
46
29.6.1941
19:48
 Skua I./JG 51 -
47
30.6.1941
13:15
 E/a I./JG 51 Near Bobruysk
48
30.6.1941
14:50
 SB-2 I./JG 51 Near Bobruysk
49
30.6.1941
16:25
 E/a I./JG 51 Near Bobruysk
50
30.6.1941
16:27
 E/a I./JG 51 Near Bobruysk
51
30.6.1941
18:58
 SB-2 I./JG 51 Near Bobruysk
52
2.7.1941
12:55
 SB-2 I./JG 51 -
53
2.7.1941
15:30
 SB-2 I./JG 51 -
54
2.7.1941
15:31
 SB-2 I./JG 51 -
55
2.7.1941
15:32
 SB-2 I./JG 51 -
56
3.7.1941
16:47
 SB-2 I./JG 51 -
57
3.7.1941
-
 SB-2 I./JG 51 -
58
5.7.1941
19:40
 DB-3 I./JG 51 -
59
24.7.1941
14:55
 SB-2 I./JG 51 -
60
24.7.1941
14:58
 SB-2 I./JG 51 S Propojsk
61
24.7.1941
14:59
 SB-2 I./JG 51 S Propojsk
62
28.7.1941
17:20
 I-18 I./JG 51 -
63
28.7.1941
18:40
 I-16 I./JG 51 -
64
15.8.1941
10:04
 I-61 I./JG 51 -
65
21.8.1941
13:11
 I-61 I./JG 51 -
66
22.8.1941
11:50
 DB-3 I./JG 51 -
67
22.8.1941
11:52
 DB-3 I./JG 51 -
68
24.8.1941
9:55
 R-3 I./JG 51 -
69
24.8.1941
16:10
 I-18 I./JG 51 -
70
25.8.1941
12:19
 I-61 I./JG 51 18km SW Brjansk

Victories : 70
Awards : Ritterkreuz (16 September 1940)
                Eichenlaub (23 April 1941)
Units : JG 51

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