Eugen-Ludwig Zweigart

Eugen-Ludwig Zweigart
Born	3 May 1914 Saargemünd, German Empire (today Sarreguemines, France)
Died	8 June 1944(1944-06-08) (aged 30) Les Champeaux, France
Buried	Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux German war cemetery, Lisieux, Normandy
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Luftwaffe
Years of service	1935–1944
Rank	Oberleutnant (first lieutenant)
Unit	JG 54
Commands	8./JG 54
Battles / wars	World War II Eastern Front Western Front †
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Eugen-Ludwig Zweigart (3 May 1914 – 8 June 1944) a former German fighter ace in the Luftwaffe. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II, awarded by Nazi Germany for extreme battlefield bravery. He was credited with 69 victories.[1]

Career

On 11 November 1941, Zweigart made a forced landing at Sablin, near Lyuban, following combat damage sustained to his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 (Werknummer 12943—factory number).[2]

On 27 July 1943, Zweigart was shot down in his Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 15678) by Supermarine Spitfire fighters, bailing out near Norden.[3]

On 8 June 1944, Zweigart was shot down flying Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8 (Werknummer 170736) in aerial combat near Les Champeaux, France.[4][5] He bailed out and was allegedly shot and killed while hanging in his parachute.[6][7] He was interred at the Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux German war cemetery.[8]

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Zweigart was credited with 69 aerial victories.[9] Spick also lists him with 69 aerial victories claimed in an unknown number of combat missions. This figure includes 54 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and 15 over the Western Allies.[1] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 66 aerial victory claims plus two further unconfirmed claims. This figure includes 52 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and 14 on the Western Front, including ten four-engined bombers.[10]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 10131". 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 square miles (930 km^2). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.[11]

Chronicle of aerial victories
This and the – (dash) indicates unconfirmed aerial victory claims for which Zweigart did not receive credit.   This along with the * (asterisk) indicates an Herausschuss (separation shot)—a severely damaged heavy bomber forced to separate from his combat box which was counted as an aerial victory.   This and the ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike, Bock, Mathews and Foreman.
Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location
– 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –[7] Action at the Channel and over England — October 1940 – 29 March 1941
1	10 November 1940	12:20	Blenheim	25 km (16 mi) northeast of De Kooy[12]
– 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –[7] Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941
2	22 June 1941	14:25?[Note 1]	I-153[13]		6	11 September 1941	09:55	I-18 (MiG-1)[14]
3	30 June 1941	12:32	SB-3	Dünaburg[15]	7	30 September 1941	16:30	ground-attack aircraft?[16][Note 2]
4	6 July 1941	18:50	SB-3[15]		8	5 November 1941	13:05	I-26 (Yak-1)	Kolpino[17]
5	14 July 1941	16:20	SB-2[18]		9	1 December 1941	09:27	I-18 (MiG-1)[17]
– 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –[19] Eastern Front — 6 December 1941 – 30 April 1942
10	9 February 1942	15:57	R-Z?[20][Note 3]		13	6 April 1942	08:03	P-40[21]
11	9 February 1942	16:12	I-26 (Yak-1)[20]		14	25 April 1942	11:32	MiG-3[21]
12	4 April 1942	15:14	Pe-2[21]		15	25 April 1942	11:40	MiG-3[21]
– 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –[22] Eastern Front — 1 May 1942 – 3 February 1943
16	28 May 1942	09:04	I-16	PQ 10131[23] east of Shlisselburg	35	20 September 1942	17:28	LaGG-3	PQ 10214[24] 30 km (19 mi) west-southwest of Shlisselburg
—	23 July 1942	—	P-40[25]		36	21 September 1942	11:07	P-40	PQ 10161[24] southeast of Shlisselburg
17	30 July 1942	19:45	I-18 (MiG-3)	PQ 18224[25] 25 km (16 mi) east-southeast of Staraya Russa	37	28 September 1942	14:46	LaGG-3	PQ 00321[26] 20 km (12 mi) northwest of Shlisselburg
18	2 August 1942	16:52	MiG-3	PQ 00243[25] 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Leningrad	38	28 September 1942	15:21	Hurricane	PQ 00264[26] 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of Shlisselburg
19	2 August 1942	19:12	MiG-3	PQ 00164, Aleksandrowka[25] 10 km (6.2 mi) southeast of Leningrad	39	29 September 1942	06:54?[Note 4]	LaGG-3	PQ 00251, Oserki[26] 15 km (9.3 mi) west-southwest of Shlisselburg
20	13 August 1942	17:53	P-40	PQ 18261[27] 30 km (19 mi) east-southeast of Staraya Russa	40	26 October 1942	08:45	Il-2	PQ 28263[28] 20 km (12 mi) southwest of Waldi
21	13 August 1942	17:55	P-40	PQ 18264[27] 30 km (19 mi) east-southeast of Staraya Russa	41	26 October 1942	13:57	LaGG-3	PQ 18334[28] 30 km (19 mi) east-southeast of Staraya Russa
22	28 August 1942	11:23	MiG-3	PQ 10181[29] east of Mga	42	30 October 1942	08:55	LaGG-3	PQ 28123[28] 40 km (25 mi) northwest of Demyansk
23	29 August 1942	10:28	MiG-3	PQ 10164[29] vicinity of Putilowo	43	30 October 1942	09:37	LaGG-3	PQ 29783, Tschasyja[28] 45 km (28 mi) north-northwest of Demyansk
24	29 August 1942	10:31	MiG-3	PQ 10164[29] vicinity of Putilowo	44	7 November 1942	08:48	P-40	PQ 38742[28] vicinity of Ostashkov
25	31 August 1942	17:16	MiG-3	PQ 10191, Kilosi[29]	45	7 November 1942	08:57	P-40	PQ 28843[28] 15 km (9.3 mi) northwest of Ostashkov
26	31 August 1942	17:20	MiG-3	PQ 10164[29] vicinity of Putilowo	46	14 November 1942	11:35	LaGG-3	PQ 10262[28] 25 km (16 mi) west-southwest of Shlisselburg
27	1 September 1942	10:55	LaGG-3	PQ 10254[30] 30 km (19 mi) west-southwest of Shlisselburg	47	22 November 1942	11:45	Pe-2	PQ 90441[28] 10 km (6.2 mi) north of Volosovo
28	2 September 1942	10:12	LaGG-3	PQ 00212[30] 20 km (12 mi) east of Leningrad	48	17 December 1942	10:40?[Note 5]	MiG-3	PQ 46214[31] 20 km (12 mi) south of Zubtsov
29	2 September 1942	18:39	MiG-3	PQ 10113[30] vicinity of Shlisselburg	49?[Note 6]	25 December 1942	12:48	Il-2	PQ 07741[31]
30	3 September 1942	11:02	P-40	PQ 10254[30] 30 km (19 mi) west-southwest of Shlisselburg	50	25 December 1942	12:50	Il-2	PQ 07742[31] 20 km (12 mi) southwest of Velikiye Luki
31	3 September 1942	11:07	P-40	PQ 10254[30] 30 km (19 mi) west-southwest of Shlisselburg	51	29 December 1942	08:36	Yak-1	PQ 07692[31] 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Velikiye Luki
32	9 September 1942	11:12	P-40	PQ 10242[32] 25 km (16 mi) east-southeast of Shlisselburg	52	29 December 1942	08:40	La-5	PQ 07733[31] 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of Velikiye Luki
33	9 September 1942	17:20	MiG-3	PQ 00264[32] 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of Shlisselburg	53	29 December 1942	08:49	La-5	PQ 07591[31] 15 km (9.3 mi) south of Velikiye Luki
34	15 September 1942	06:04	P-40	PQ 10241[24] 25 km (16 mi) east-southeast of Shlisselburg	54	29 December 1942	11:16	Yak-1	PQ 07594[31] 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of Velikiye Luki
– 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –[22] Defense of the Reich — 27 March – August 1943
55	25 June 1943	09:03	B-17	southwest of Dörpen[33]	58	27 July 1943	20:13	Ventura	PQ 05 Ost S/GK[33] Haarlem
56	18 July 1943	07:15	P-51	10 km (6.2 mi) west of Scheveningen[33]	59	12 August 1943	08:52	B-17	PQ 05 Ost S/LN-3/6[34] Kerken-Kempen
57	25 July 1943	15:19	Spitfire	west of Wijk aan Zee[33]
– 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –[22] Defense of the Reich — November 1943 – March 1944
60	29 November 1943	14:58	B-17?[Note 7]	Cloppenburg[34]	63	6 March 1944	11:58	B-17	PQ 05 Ost EQ[35] Sögel-Cloppenburg
61	20 February 1944	12:57	B-17	PQ 15 Ost JD[35]	64	6 March 1944	14:49	B-17	Reinsehlen[35]
62	20 February 1944	13:06	B-17*	PQ 15 Ost JE[35]	—	6 March 1944	—	B-17[35]
– 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –[22] Defense of the Reich — March 1944
65	18 March 1944	15:20	B-17	PQ 04 Ost CQ-6[35] Lahr-Biberach
– Stab III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 54 –[36] Defense of the Reich — May 1944
66	19 May 1944	13:10	B-24*	PQ 15 Ost HB-4[35]	67	27 May 1944	12:19	B-17	PQ 04 Ost DO-6/DP-4[37] Ballons de Voges

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class[38]
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 26 October 1942 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot[39]
• German Cross in Gold on 17 November 1942 as Oberfeldwebel in the 9./Jagdgeschwader 54[40]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 22 January 1943 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot in the 5./Jagdgeschwader 54[41][42]

Notes

1. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed at 14:21.[7]
2. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed as an Ilyushin Il-2.[7]
3. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed as an Polikarpov R-5.[7]
4. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed at 06:56.[22]
5. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed at 10:50.[22]
6. This claim is not listed by Mathews and Foreman.[22]
7. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed as an Herausschuss (separation shot)—a severely damaged heavy bomber forced to separate from his combat box which was counted as an aerial victory.[22]

References

Citations

1. Spick 1996, p. 238.
2. Prien et al. 2003, p. 272.
3. Prien et al. 2009, p. 287.
4. Weal 2007, p. 71.
5. Prien et al. 2019, p. 458.
6. Obermaier 1989, p. 228.
7. Mathews & Foreman 2015, p. 1470.
8. Dixon 2023, p. 5.
9. Zabecki 2014, p. 1616.
10. Mathews & Foreman 2015, pp. 1470–1472.
11. Planquadrat.
12. Prien et al. 2002, p. 340.
13. Prien et al. 2003, p. 262.
14. Prien et al. 2003, p. 265.
15. Prien et al. 2003, p. 263.
16. Prien et al. 2003, p. 266.
17. Prien et al. 2003, p. 268.
18. Prien et al. 2003, p. 264.
19. Mathews & Foreman 2015, pp. 1470–1471.
20. Prien et al. 2005, p. 250.
21. Prien et al. 2005, p. 252.
22. Mathews & Foreman 2015, p. 1471.
23. Prien et al. 2006, p. 213.
24. Prien et al. 2006, p. 224.
25. Prien et al. 2006, p. 218.
26. Prien et al. 2006, p. 225.
27. Prien et al. 2006, p. 219.
28. Prien et al. 2006, p. 226.
29. Prien et al. 2006, p. 221.
30. Prien et al. 2006, p. 222.
31. Prien et al. 2006, p. 228.
32. Prien et al. 2006, p. 223.
33. Prien et al. 2009, p. 284.
34. Prien et al. 2009, p. 285.
35. Prien et al. 2019, p. 450.
36. Mathews & Foreman 2015, p. 1472.
37. Prien et al. 2019, p. 451.
38. Dixon 2023, p. 4.
39. Patzwall 2008, p. 225.
40. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 534.
41. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 459.
42. Scherzer 2007, p. 809.

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