Peter Kalden

Peter Kalden (17 August 1923 – 11 June 1996) was a German World War II fighter ace, attached to Jagdgeschwader 51. Depending on source, he was credited with 69 or 84 aerial victories.

Career
Kalden was born on 17 August 1923 in Wittenberge in the Province of Brandenburg of the Weimar Republic.

On 2 May 1944, Kalden was wounded in combat when he was shot down in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 140356—factory number) near Kurovichi.

On 1 August, Kalden was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 10. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing). He replaced Oberleutnant Heinz Venth who had been reported as missing in action on 16 July. On 15 August, as part of the group expansion from three Staffeln per Gruppe to four Staffeln per Gruppe, 10. Staffel was re-designated and became the 13. Staffel while 11. Staffel became the 14. Staffel of JG 51. Consequently, Kalden then commanded 13. Staffel.

Kalden was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 6 December 1944. The presentation was 11 days later by Generalmajor Robert Fuchs. On 11 March 1945, Kalden attacked Soviet armor near Neustadt in Westpreußen, present-day Wejherowo. On this mission, he was shot down in his Bf 109 G-14 (Werknummer 511439) by Soviet anti-aircraft artillery resulting in a crash landing near Danzig, present-day Gdańsk, and was taken prisoner of war. Command of 13. Staffel then briefly went to Leutnant Engel before Leutnant Kurt Tanzer was given command on 12 April.

Later life
Kalden died on 11 June 1996 at the age of 72 in Friedrichsdorf, Germany.

Aerial victory claims
According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Kalden was credited with 69 aerial victories. Spick lists him with 84 aerial victories claimed in 538 combat missions. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 69 aerial victory claims, plus further fifteen unconfirmed and undated claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 35 Ost 63251". 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
 * Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 8 May 1944 as Leutnant and pilot
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 6 December 1944 as Leutnant and Staffelführer of the 13./Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders"
 * German Cross in Gold on 1 January 1945 as Leutnant in the 10./Jagdgeschwader 51