Lutz-Wilhelm Burckhardt

Ludwig-Wilhelm "Lutz" Burckhardt (5 February 1919 – 2 January 1993) was a Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. During his career, he was credited with 69 aerial victories, 16 on the Western Front and 53 on the Eastern Front.

Career
Burckhardt was born on 5 February 1919 in Bremen, at the time a federated state of the Weimar Republic. He began his military with the anti-aircraft artillery of the Luftwaffe, serving with this branch until June 1940. Following flight training, Burckhardt served with Ergänzungsgruppe, a supplementary training unit, of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing). On 29 November 1941, this unit was ordered to relocate to North Africa and flew from Bucharest Pipera Airfield via Sofia to Saloniki. The next day, the Ergänzungsgruppe continued their journey and moved to Athens where they stayed for two days when their orders were cancelled, returning to Bucharest Pipera Airfield on 3 December. In April 1942, Burckhardt was transferred to the Gruppenstab (headquarters unit) of II. Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 77, at the time based at Sarabus on the Eastern Front and fighting in the Crimean campaign. There on 29 April, he crash landed his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 (Werknummer 7602—factory number) at Sarabus due to technical failures of the aircraft. On 1 May, II. Gruppe moved to an airfield named Fernheim, located on the Sea of Azov, approximately 15 km west-northwest of Kirovske. Operating from Fernheim on 3 May, Burckhardt claimed his first aerial victory, a Polikarpov I-153 fighter, over the Kerch Strait during the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula. On 14 July following aerial combat with Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft, Burckhardt was forced to make a landing with a partially deployed landing gear, resulting in minor damage to his Bf 109 F-4 (Werknummer 13172).

Burckhardt flew his last mission on the Eastern Front on 2 October, shortly after he fell ill with jaundice and was hospitalized. On 12 November, Burckhardt was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 4. Staffel of JG 77, succeeding Hauptmann Heinrich Setz who had been transferred. On 5 December, II. Gruppe moved to North Africa where they were based at Zarzur. On 7 January 1943, Burckhardt claimed a Supermarine Spitfire fighter shot down south-southeast of Buerat. His opponent may have belonged to the Royal Air Force No. 92 Squadron. Three days later, he stepped on land mine at Zarzur and was injured. In consequence, Oberleutnant Heinrich Osswald replaced him as Staffelkapitän. Following convalescence, Burckhardt was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I. Gruppe of JG 77 on 19 August. He succeeded Oberleutnant Armin Köhler who had temporarily led the Gruppe after Major Heinz Bär had been transferred on 6 August.

Defense of the Reich
On 22 December 1943, the commanding officer of 6. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1–1st Fighter Wing), Hauptmann Harry Koch, was killed in action. In consequence, Burckhardt was transferred to JG 1, taking command of 6. Staffel as Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) on 25 December. According to the authors Prien and Rodeike, this transfer was considered a demotion and disciplinary action, a measure for redemption in combat. The authors state, that particularly Oberstleutnant Johannes Steinhoff, the commander of JG 77 at the time, had a number of pilots transferred to JG 1 for redemption in defense of the Reich combat, this measure included pilots Burckhardt, Bär, Leutnant Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert, Oberfeldwebel Alexander Preinfalk, and Oberfeldwebel Herbert Kaiser. In consequence, command of I. Gruppe of JG 77 was passed to Hauptmann Theo Lindemann.

On 19 February 1944, Burckhardt was transferred to III. Gruppe of JG 1 where was given command of 7. Staffel. Command of his former 6. Staffel was then given to the previously demoted Bär. Burckhardt had requested transfer to III. Gruppe, the reason for this request was that Burckhardt had difficulties adapting to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 while III. Gruppe was still operating the Bf 109. On 2 July, Burckhardt fell ill with Malaria and had to be taken off combat duties. Following various staff positions, he was transferred to III. Gruppe of Ergänzungs-Jagdgeschwader 2 (EJG 2—2nd Supplementary Fighter Wing) in early 1945 for conversion training to the then new Messerschmitt Me 262 jet aircraft. Command of 7. Staffel was then given to Oberleutnant Fritz Bilfinger. In early March, Burckhardt commanded II. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 7 "Nowotny" (JG 7—7th Fighter Wing) at Neumünster airfield in northern Germany. JG 7 "Nowotny" was the first operational jet fighter wing in the world and was named after Walter Nowotny, who was killed in action on 8 November 1944. Nowotny, a fighter pilot credited with 258 aerial victories and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten), had been assessing the Me 262 under operational conditions. II. Gruppe had just been formed in February 1945 under the command of Major Hermann Staiger.

Aerial victory claims
According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Burckhardt was credited with 69 aerial victories. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found documentation for more than 57 aerial victory claims, including 53 claims on the Eastern Front and at least four claims over the Western Allies.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 35392". 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
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 15 October 1942 as Leutnant and pilot in the 4./Jagdgeschwader 77
 * Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 19 October 1942 as Leutnant and pilot