Rudolf Miethig

Rudolf Miethig (17 October 1921 – 10 June 1943) was a Luftwaffe flying ace of World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Miethig was credited with 101 aerial victories—that is, 101 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft—and was killed in action following a midair collision with an enemy aircraft on 10 June 1943.[1]

Rudolf Miethig
Born	(1921-10-17)17 October 1921 Zwickau
Died	10 June 1943(1943-06-10) (aged 21) near Krymskaja
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Luftwaffe
Years of service	1939–43
Rank	Hauptmann (captain)
Unit	JG 52
Commands held	3./JG 52
Battles/wars	See battles World War II Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Career

Miethig volunteered for service in the Luftwaffe in 1939. He was transferred to the 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 (3./JG 52—3rd squadron of the 52nd fighter wing) in the spring of 1941.[2] 3./JG 52 at the time was stationed in the Netherlands.[3] Miethig claimed his first aerial victory, a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1, on 14 November 1941, during Operation Barbarossa.[4]

Squadron leader

On 2 July 1942, Miethig was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of the 3. Staffel of JG 52. He replaced Leutnant Karl Rüttger who became of prisoner of war after he made a forced landing behind enemy lines near Kruty the day before.[5] On 8 June 1943, Miethig was credited with his 100th aerial victory. He was the 41st Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark.[6]

Miethig was killed in a crash following combat with Yakovlev Yak-1 fighters on 10 June 1943 roughly 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north-east of Krymskaya, over the Kuban bridgehead. Miethig, flying Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2 (Werknummer 14 602—factory number), had shot down one of the Yak-1 fighters and collided with his crashing opponent.[7][8] Miethig was posthumously awarded the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) as well as posthumously promoted to Hauptmann (captain).[3][9] Leutnant Johann-Hermann Meier succeeded him as Staffelkapitän of 3. Staffel.[10]

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Spick, Miethig was credited with 101 aerial victories claimed in an unknown number of combat missions.[1] Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and state that Miethig was credited with 100 aerial victories, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.[11]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 47852". 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 km²). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size.[12]

Chronicle of aerial victories
This and the ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike, Bock, Matthews and Foreman.
Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location
– 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 –[2] Operation Barbarossa — 2 October – 5 December 1941
1	14 November 1941	15:08	I-18 (MiG-1)[4]		2	27 November 1941	12:58	I-61 (MiG-3)[13]
– 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 –[2] Eastern Front — 6 December 1941 – 30 April 1942
3	28 January 1942	09:38	R-5[14]
– 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 –[15] 19 May 1943 – 3 February 1943
4	26 May 1942	16:16	Pe-2[16]		30	11 September 1942	16:16	P-39	PQ 47852[17]
5	29 May 1942	10:48	MiG-1[16]		31	14 September 1942	17:10	LaGG-3	PQ 47732[17]
6	29 May 1942	11:03	Il-2[16]		32	14 September 1942	17:21	Il-2	PQ 47594[17]
7	31 May 1942	14:40	Il-2	12 km (7.5 mi) east of Wodjany Airfield[18]	33	16 September 1942	09:52	R-5	PQ 47361[17]
8	13 June 1942	11:38	Yak-1[18]		34	26 September 1942	06:10	P-39?[Note 1]	PQ 30124[20]
9	13 June 1942	11:40	Yak-1[18]		35	27 September 1942	11:00?[Note 2]	Yak-1	PQ 40391[20]
10	23 June 1942	17:32	Hurricane[21]		36	30 September 1942	14:12	Il-2	PQ 49433[20] vicinity of Srednjaja Achtuba
11	24 June 1942	06:42	LaGG-3[21]		37	2 October 1942	13:40	I-153	PQ 49293[20] 40 km (25 mi) east of Stalingrad
12	29 June 1942	18:36	Hurricane	PQ 71481[21]	38	2 October 1942	13:43	I-153	PQ 49293[20] 40 km (25 mi) east of Stalingrad
13	30 June 1942	08:53?[Note 3]	LaGG-3[Note 3]	PQ 71622[21]	39	2 October 1942	13:46	I-16	PQ 49421[20] vicinity of Srednjaja Achtuba
14	4 July 1942	18:27	Hurricane[22]		40	2 October 1942	13:47	I-16	PQ 49431[20] vicinity of Srednjaja Achtuba
15	8 July 1942	11:56	R-5[22]		41	3 October 1942	13:46	Yak-1?[Note 4]	PQ 50743[20]
16	10 July 1942	09:50	MiG-1[22]		42	4 October 1942	14:58	Il-2	PQ 59321[20]
17	18 August 1942	17:01	I-180 (Yak-7)	PQ 54161[23] vicinity of Duminichi	43	4 October 1942	14:59	Il-2	PQ 59321[20]
18	23 August 1942	06:44?[Note 5]	Pe-2	PQ 54294[24] northwest of Bolkhov	44	9 October 1942	14:24	SB-2	PQ 49264[20] 35–40 km (22–25 mi) east of Stalingrad
19	23 August 1942	06:46	Pe-2	PQ 54461[24] vicinity of Uljanowo	45	12 October 1942	13:07	Yak-1	PQ 58544[25]
20	31 August 1942	11:06	LaGG-3	PQ 47813[24]	46	16 October 1942	13:03	Yak-1	PQ 49291[25] 40 km (25 mi) east of Stalingrad
21	31 August 1942	11:09	LaGG-3	PQ 47811[24]	47	16 October 1942	13:04	Yak-1	PQ 49291[25] 40 km (25 mi) east of Stalingrad
22	2 September 1942	16:36	LaGG-3	PQ 56414, Garetewo[24]	48	16 October 1942	13:12	Yak-1	PQ 49263[25] 35–40 km (22–25 mi) east of Stalingrad
23	3 September 1942	14:34	LaGG-3	PQ 4424[24]	49	16 October 1942	13:18	Yak-1	PQ 49283[25] 20–30 km (12–19 mi) east of Stalingrad
24	5 September 1942	15:42	Il-2	PQ 46812[17]	50	24 October 1942	13:44	Yak-1	PQ 49231[25] 20–30 km (12–19 mi) east of Stalingrad
25	5 September 1942	15:43	Il-2	PQ 46812[17]	51	25 October 1942	14:43	Yak-1	PQ 49273[25] 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Stalingrad
26	6 September 1942	15:15	LaGG-3	PQ 4327[17]	52	31 October 1942	13:10	LaGG-3	PQ 49424[25] 25 km (16 mi) east of Stalingrad
27?[Note 6]	9 September 1942	12:12	tethered balloon	PQ 4782[17]	53	1 November 1942	12:59	LaGG-3	PQ 49293[25] 40 km (25 mi) east of Stalingrad
28	10 September 1942	10:21	Yak-1	PQ 47674[17]	54	1 November 1942	13:04	LaGG-3	PQ 59141[25]
29	11 September 1942	16:13	I-153?[Note 7]	PQ 47882[17]
– 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 –[26] 4 February 1943 – 10 June 1943
55	12 February 1943	15:43	U-2	PQ 35 Ost 61554[27] 20 km (12 mi) northeast of Zolochiv	79	7 May 1943	18:32	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 70112, 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Martowaja[28]
56	28 February 1943	09:17	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 40454[27]	80	14 May 1943	17:47	P-39	PQ 35 Ost 61251[29] 15 km (9.3 mi) southeast of Prokhorovka
57	28 February 1943	09:18	Il-2 m.H.[Note 8]	PQ 35 Ost 40454[27]	81	16 May 1943	15:13	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 86586[29] east of Slavyansk-na-Kubani
58	5 March 1943	14:18	La-5	PQ 35 Ost 50251[27] 20 km (12 mi) south-southwest of Olshany	82	25 May 1943	05:50	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 85514[29] Black Sea, south of Gelendzhik
59	5 March 1943	14:19	La-5	PQ 35 Ost 50242[27] 25 km (16 mi) southwest of Olshany	83	26 May 1943	10:55?[Note 9]	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 75234[29] vicinity of Krymsk
60	20 March 1943	10:45?[Note 10]	Il-2 m.H.[Note 8]	PQ 35 Ost 71852[27] 25 km (16 mi) west-southwest of Valuyki	84	27 May 1943	08:12	La-5	PQ 34 Ost 76892[29] vicinity of Kijewskoje
61	26 March 1943	09:12?[Note 11]	MiG-3	PQ 35 Ost 71794[27] 25 km (16 mi) southeast of Kolodez	85	27 May 1943	08:50?[Note 12]	Spitfire	PQ 34 Ost 76863[29] north of Kecskemét
62	29 March 1943	17:04	La-5	PQ 35 Ost 61453[27] 15 km (9.3 mi) northeast of Belgorod	86	27 May 1943	17:47	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 76864[29] north of Kecskemét
63	9 April 1943	07:30	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 85114, east of Krymskaya[28] Black Sea, south of Gelendzhik	87	28 May 1943	10:45	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 76863[29] north of Kecskemét
64	11 April 1943	11:55	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 85711, 6 km (3.7 mi) northeast of Krymskaya[28]	88	28 May 1943	10:53	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 76892[29] vicinity of Kijewskoje
65	16 April 1943	11:22	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 86713[28] southwest of Tamanj	89	28 May 1943	17:12	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 76861[29] north of Kecskemét
66	17 April 1943	09:13	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 75452[28] 8 km (5.0 mi) south of Novorossiysk	90	29 May 1943	12:50	Spitfire	PQ 34 Ost 76221[29] southeast of Warenikowskaja
67	18 April 1943	16:25?[Note 13]	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 75461[28] Black Sea, 5 km (3.1 mi) west of Kabardinka	91	29 May 1943	17:22	La-5	PQ 34 Ost 76231[29] vicinity of Krymsk
68	20 April 1943	08:22	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 85312, east of Novorossiysk[28] vicinity of Schapssugskaja	92	30 May 1943	16:12	La-5	PQ 34 Ost 75232[29] north of Krymsk
69	20 April 1943	08:30	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 75431[28] 8 km (5.0 mi) southeast of Novorossiysk	93	30 May 1943	16:29	Spitfire	PQ 34 Ost 76833[29] vicinity of Anastasiewskaja
70	24 April 1943	16:42	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 75452, Novorossiysk[28] 8 km (5.0 mi) south of Novorossiysk	94	31 May 1943	17:47	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 76832[29] vicinity of Anastasiewskaja
71	24 April 1943	16:45	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 85341, 9 km (5.6 mi) northwest of Gelendzhik[28] vicinity of Tscheshskij	95	3 June 1943	16:46	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 76865, 7 km (4.3 mi) southeast of Anastasiewskaja[31] north of Kecskemét
72	27 April 1943	17:18	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 86783[28] east of Bondarenka	96	5 June 1943	17:55	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 86771[31] vicinity of Bondarenka
73	28 April 1943	09:25	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 85161[28] vicinity of Nowenjkij	97	5 June 1943	17:55	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 86771[31] vicinity of Bondarenka
74	6 May 1943	04:04	Yak-1	PQ 35 Ost 71622[28] 25 km (16 mi) northeast of Volchansk	98	5 June 1943	17:58?[Note 14]	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 75234, 1 km (0.62 mi) west of Moldawanskoje[31] vicinity of Krymsk
75	6 May 1943	04:05	Yak-1	PQ 35 Ost 71541[28] 15 km (9.3 mi) northeast of Volchansk	99	7 June 1943	07:56	Boston	PQ 44 Ost 05651[31]
76	6 May 1943	04:10	Yak-1	PQ 35 Ost 71522[28] 25 km (16 mi) northeast of Volchansk	100	8 June 1943	17:25	Spitfire	PQ 34 Ost 76821[31] vicinity of Kalabatka
77	7 May 1943	18:23	La-5	PQ 35 Ost 70183[28] vicinity of Shipovatoje	101	10 June 1943	18:30	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 85112, Krymskaja[31] north of Mertschanskaja
78	7 May 1943	18:25	LaGG-3?[Note 15]	PQ 35 Ost 70184, vicinity of Chuhuiv[28] vicinity of Shipovatoje

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 19 October 1942 as Leutnant and pilot[32][Note 16]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 October 1942 as Staffelführer and Leutnant of the 3./Jagdgeschwader 52[33][34]
• German Cross in Gold on 19 January 1944 (posthumously) as Hauptmann in the 3./Jagdgeschwader 52[35]

Notes

1. Matthews and Foreman claimed over a Hawker Hurricane.[19]
2. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 11:03.[19]
3. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 15:10 over an Ilyushin Il-2.[2]
4. Matthews and Foreman claimed over a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3.[19]
5. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 06:34.[2]
6. Matthews and Foreman do not list this claim over a tethered balloon.[19]
7. Matthews and Foreman claimed over a Yakovlev Yak-7.[19]
8. The "m.H." refers to an Ilyushin Il-2 with rear gunner (mit Heckschütze).
9. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 10:56.[30]
10. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 06:45.[19]
11. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 09:13.[19]
12. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 08:05.[30]
13. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 16:28.[19]
14. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 17:53.[30]
15. Matthews and Foreman claimed over a Lavochkin La-5.[19]
16. According to Obermaier on 6 July 1942.[3]

References

Citations

1. Spick 1996, p. 233.
2. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 851.
3. Obermaier 1989, p. 169.
4. Prien et al. 2003, p. 20.
5. Prien et al. 2006, pp. 423, 440.
6. Obermaier 1989, p. 243.
7. Prien et al. 2012, p. 296.
8. Weal 2004, p. 93.
9. Weal 2001, p. 67.
10. Prien et al. 2012, p. 278.
11. Matthews & Foreman 2015, pp. 851–853.
12. Planquadrat.
13. Prien et al. 2003, p. 21.
14. Prien et al. 2005, p. 133.
15. Matthews & Foreman 2015, pp. 851–852.
16. Prien et al. 2006, p. 428.
17. Prien et al. 2006, p. 435.
18. Prien et al. 2006, p. 429.
19. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 852.
20. Prien et al. 2006, p. 436.
21. Prien et al. 2006, p. 430.
22. Prien et al. 2006, p. 431.
23. Prien et al. 2006, p. 433.
24. Prien et al. 2006, p. 434.
25. Prien et al. 2006, p. 437.
26. Matthews & Foreman 2015, pp. 852–853.
27. Prien et al. 2012, p. 282.
28. Prien et al. 2012, p. 283.
29. Prien et al. 2012, p. 284.
30. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 853.
31. Prien et al. 2012, p. 285.
32. Patzwall 2008, p. 208.
33. Fellgiebel 2000, pp. 311, 498.
34. Scherzer 2007, p. 544.
35. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 311.

Bibliography

• Bergström, Christer. "Bergström Black Cross/Red Star website". Identifying a Luftwaffe Planquadrat. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
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• Matthews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2015). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 3 M–R. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-20-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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