Joachim Kirschner


Joachim Kirschner was a German World War II Luftwaffe 188 victories flying ace. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Early life and career

Kirschner was born on 7 June 1920 in Niederlössnitz, at the time in the Free State of Saxony of the Weimar Republic. He was the son of Andreas J. Kirschner, an insurance accountant. On 26 August 1939, he joined the military service with the Luftwaffe. From 1 October to 14 November, Kirschner served with 2./Flieger-Ausbildungs-Regiment 51 and then attended the Air War School Klotzsche until 30 June 1940. On 1 July, he was transferred to the Jagdfliegerschule 5. There, he was promoted to Leutnant on 1 February 1941.

World War II

World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. He received the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe and the German Cross in Gold after claiming 51 aerial victories. On 27 April 1943, Kirschner was credited with his 100th aerial victory over a Douglas A-20 Havoc named "Boston". He was the 37th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. He claimed his 150th aerial victory on 5 Juli 1943. Following his 170th aerial victory he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 2 August 1943. The presentation was made by Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair, Hitler's headquarters in Rastenburg, present-day Kętrzyn in Poland. Five other Luftwaffe officers were presented with awards that day by Hitler, Hauptmann Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld, Hauptmann Heinrich Ehrler, Hauptmann Manfred Meurer, Hauptmann Werner Schröer, Oberleutnant Theodor Weissenberger were also awarded the Oak Leaves, and Major Helmut Lent received the Swords to his Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.

Group commander and death

Kirschner was made Gruppenkommandeur of IV. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 27. At the time, III. Gruppe was based in Kalamki, Greece and operated in the Mediterranean theatre. Kirschner claimed his first aerial victories in this theater of operations on 23 October. In two combat missions, he claimed the destruction of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning and two Spitfires.
On 17 December 1943, Kirschner was shot down his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 was shot down east of Metković over Croatia. According to Bernstein, his victors were either Lieutenant Warren Shaw, who was credited with the destruction of one Bf 109 or by the Lieutenants Charles Leaf and Hugh Barlow, who were credited with a shared victory from the USAAF 57th Fighter Group. Kirschner had bailed out safely and landed on his parachute between villages Bjelojevići and Donje Hrasno. He was killed by a firing squad from the 29. Hercegovačka udarna divizjia at Metković.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 181 aerial victory claims, plus five further unconfirmed claims. This figure includes 162 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and 19 over the Western Allies.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference, for example "PQ 39362". The Luftwaffe grid map 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. These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size.

Awards