Ulrich Wöhnert

Ulrich Wöhnert (24 October 1914 – 14 August 1947) 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 86 aerial victories, all over the Eastern Front.

Career
Wöhnert was born on 24 October 1914 in Wolfshagen in the Province of Brandenburg within the German Empire, present-day part of Uckerland in Brandenburg.

On 7 April 1944 at 21:25 in the evening, Wöhnert was injured during an aerial bombing attack on Wesenberg, present-day Rakvere, keeping him out of combat for some time. Following his convalescence, he was assigned to 1. Staffel.

Squadron leader
In August 1944, Wöhnert was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 5. Staffel of Jgadgeschwader 54, replacing Oberleutnant Wilhelm Schilling in this capacity. The Staffel was subordinated to II. Gruppe of JG 54 under command of Major Erich Rudorffer.

In May 1945, he was taken prisoner of war (POW) by Soviet forces. Imprisoned in a Soviet POW camp at Kutaisi, he died on 14 August 1947. Official reports state that he died of pneumonia while fellow inmates claim that he committed suicide.

Aerial victory claims
According to Spick, Wöhnert was credited with 86 aerial victories claimed in an unknown number of missions, all of which on the Eastern Front. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for at least 83 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 47622". 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 (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 8 November 1943 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot
 * German Cross in Gold on 14 November 1943 as Oberfeldwebel in the 2./Jagdgeschwader 54
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 6 December 1944 as Leutnant and pilot in the 5./Jagdgeschwader 54