Winfried Schmidt was born on 28 February 1915 at Köln. From 1935, he was a reserve officer in the Luftwaffe. At the outbreak of World War 2, Schmidt was posted to JG 77. Leutnant Schmidt was assigned to 5./JG 77. On 18 December 1939, he shot down a RAF Wellington twin-engine bomber over the North Sea to record his first victory. In March 1940, Schmidt was transferred to 8./JG 3. During the French campaign and, later, the Battle of Britain, he was wounded on three occasions. However, he also managed to claim four additional victories, including, on 13 May 1940, a RAF Hurricane fighter shot down near Tirlemont. His victim was the British ace John “Doggie” Oliver (7.333 destroyed victories) of 85 Sqn, RAF who baled out unhurt. On 27 September, Schmidt was wounded and required to force-land his Bf 109 E-4 (W.Nr. 1283) at Wissant, following aerial combat damage over England. On 23 June 1941, Schmidt was appointed Staffelkapitän of 8./JG 3, based on the Eastern front. The unit was heavily involved in ground support missions and, in particular, attacks on Russian airfields. However, this did not preclude aerial combat and Schmidt claimed seven victories before the end of June, all Russian twin-engine bombers, to raise his victory total to 12. On 11 July, Schmidt was badly wounded in aerial combat with Russian bombers near Polonne. Suffering severe blood loss, Schmidt was in danger of losing consciousness. However, with the help of his Rottenflieger, Leutnant Wilhelm Lemke (131 victories, RK-EL, killed in action 4 December 1943), who gave Schmidt encouragement and directions over the radio, Schmidt managed to return to his base. The effect of his wounds was to keep Schmidt from returning to combat duty. Oberleutnant Schmidt was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 18 September. Schmidt held a staff position at 7./Jagddivision following his recovery until the end of the war.
    Winfried Schmidt was credited with 19 victories in about 150 missions. He recorded five victories over the Western front.

Victories : 19
Awards : Ritterkreuz (18 September 1941)
Units:  JG 77, JG 3