Heinrich Klöpper

Heinrich (Heinz) Klöpper (9 January 1918 – 29 November 1943) was a former Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Heinrich Klöpper was credited with 94 victories.

Career
Klöpper was born on 9 January 1918 in Größ Bülten, present-day part of Ilsede, at the time in the Province of Hanover within the German Empire.

In 1940 Heinrich (Heinz) Klöpper served with Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing), during the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain he recorded his first two victories. On 15 May, elements of 2. Staffel of JG 77 engaged five Armée de l'air Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 fighters west of Dinant. During this encounter, Klöpper claimed a M.S.406 fighter shot down, which was not confirmed, but was himself shot down and had to bail out of his Messerschmitt Bf 109 E. He landed safely near the advancing German tanks.

On 21 November, I. Gruppe of JG 77 was redesignated and became the IV. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing). In consequence, Klöpper's former 2. Staffel of JG 77 became 11. Staffel of JG 51.

On the first day of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, he claimed his first victory on the Eastern Front, when he shot down a Russian SB-3 bomber. On 27 October 1941 he claimed a double Soviet victory, shooting down two LaGG-3 fighters. Another double on 5 July 1942, an Il-2 and an I-16 Rata; and five victories on 7 July 1942. Another five victories on 4 August 1942; a MiG-3, a Pe-2 and three Il-2 ground-attack aircraft.

On 4 September 1942, Klöpper was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) for 65 aerial victories claimed.

Defense of the Reich
In May 1943, Klöpper was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1—1st Fighter Wing). He succeeded Hauptmann Günther Specht who was transferred. On the Western Front his 91st victim was a B-17 bomber on 5 November 1943. His 92nd, was a P-38 Lightning fighter on 13 November 1943. His 93rd aerial victory was the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber, "Sack-Time Sally", claimed on 26 November 1943. His 94th and final victory was a P-38 at Hasselt claimed on 29 November 1943.

On 29 November 1943, Klöpper was killed in action following aerial combat with USAAF approximately 20 to 30 Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters of the 55th Fighter Group, supported by few Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. The combat occurred at an altitude of 9000 m in the area of Groningen, Leeuwarden and Meppel, ending over the Zuiderzee. Following this encounter, Klöpper crashed his Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 410 106—factory number) southwest of Meppel after flying through a low cloud cover.

Aerial victory claims
During his career, he shot down a total of 94 enemy planes in approximately 500 combat missions (18 victories were on the Western Front), of which eight were four engined bombers and seven Il-2 Sturmoviks. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 89 aerial victories, plus further one unconfirmed claim. This figure includes 80 claims on the Eastern Front and nine claims over the Western Allies, including four four-engined heavy bombers.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 05 Ost 0021". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 sqmi. These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 x in size.

Awards

 * Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
 * Wound Badge in Black (25 June 1943)
 * Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold with Pennant
 * Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 20 October 1941 as Feldwebel in a Jagdgeschwader
 * German Cross in Gold on 21 August 1942 as Oberfeldwebel in the VI./Jagdgeschwader 51
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 4 September 1942 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot in the 11./Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders"