Eduard Neumann (fighter pilot)
{{short description|German flying ace}}
{{Other uses|Eduard Neumann (disambiguation){{!}}Eduard Neumann}}
{{refimprove|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Eduard Neumann
|birth_date={{birth date|1911|6|5|df=y}}
|death_date={{death date and age|2004|8|9|1911|6|5|df=y}}
|birth_place=Molodiia, Austria-Hungary
|death_place=
|placeofburial=
|placeofburial_label= Place of burial
|image= Neumann37.jpg
|image_size=250
|caption=Eduard Neumann (right) with Adolf Galland in North Africa, 22 September 1942.
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flag|Nazi Germany}}
|branch=Luftwaffe
|serviceyears=1934–1945
|rank=Oberst
|commands=JG 27
|unit=Condor Legion, JG 26
|battles=
|awards=
|laterwork=}}
Eduard "Edu" Neumann (5 June 1911 – 9 August 2004) was a Luftwaffe officer and commanded the Jagdgeschwader 27 'Afrika' during the North African Campaign from 1941 to 1943.
Early life
Neumann was born in the city of Molodiia, in the Duchy of Bukovina of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on 5 June 1911. In 1914, at the age of three, Eduard and his sister was sent to live with his grandparents after his mother died, and his father was conscripted due to the start of the First World War. His father was killed on the Russian front in November that year.{{sfn|Roland|2019|p=6}} He attended school in Czernowitz until 1928 before moving to Germany, studying for a year at Dresden before attending university at Berlin.{{sfn|Roland|2019|p=6}}
Luftwaffe service
Neumann learned to fly in Berlin in the early 1930s, and in 1934 joined the Luftwaffe. In 1935, after completing training, he joined II. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 132 (II./JG 132), flying the Heinkel He 51 fighter.{{sfn|Roland|2019|p=7}}
On 13 February 1940, Neumann was appointed Geschwaderadjutant, the adjutant of the Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing). He succeeded Hauptmann Joachim Schlichting who had previously held this position.{{sfn|Prien|Rodeike|Stemmer|1998|p=524}}
The day after scoring his first (World War II) victory during the opening phase of the Battle of Britain, a RAF No. 236 Squadron RAF Blenheim off the coast of Cherbourg on the 20 July 1940, he was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 27.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}
After a brief participation in the Invasion of Yugoslavia, in April 1941 the unit moved to Ain-el Gazala, Libya, North Africa on 18 April 1941.{{sfn|Weal|2003|p=30}} He received the German Cross in Gold on 11 May 1942 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur I./JG 27.{{sfn|Patzwall|Scherzer|2001|p=328}}
On 8 June 1942, Neumann, by now a Major, was appointed as Geschwaderkommodore of JG 27, replacing Bernhard Woldenga, while Gerhard Homuth replaced Neumann as Gruppenkommandeur I./JG 27.{{sfn|Shores|Massimello|Guest|Olynyk|2012|p=133}} Neumann successfully led JG 27 until 22 April 1943, when he was replaced by Gustav Rödel. After a period of leave, Neumann joined the Staff of General der Jagdflieger.{{sfn|Roland|2019|pp=18–19}} In March 1943 Neumann was promoted to Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel), and later in 1944 to Oberst (Colonel).{{sfn|Scutts|1994|p={{pn|date=May 2023}}}} Neumann finished the war as the Commander of Fighter Forces in Northern Italy.
After the war
After the war Neumann worked as a technical consultant on the Hans-Joachim Marseille biographical film, Der Stern von Afrika, (The Star of Africa), directed by Alfred Weidenmann and starring Joachim Hansen as Marseille.
Neumann died in Munich on 9 August 2004.{{sfn|Roland|2019|p=20}}
References
;Citations
{{Reflist|30em}}
;Bibliography
- {{Cite book
|last1=Patzwall
|first1=Klaus D.
|last2=Scherzer
|first2=Veit
|year=2001
|title=Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II
|trans-title=The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2
|language=German
|location=Norderstedt, Germany
|publisher=Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall
|isbn=978-3-931533-45-8
}}
- {{Cite book
|last1=Prien
|first1=Jochen
|last2=Rodeike
|first2=Peter
|last3=Stemmer
|first3=Gerhard
|year=1998
|title=Messerschmitt Bf 109 im Einsatz bei Stab und I./Jagdgeschwader 27 1939 – 1945
|trans-title=Messerschmitt Bf 109 in Action with the Headquarter Unit and I./Jagdgeschwader 27 in 1939 – 1945
|language=German
|location=Eutin, Germany
|publisher=Struve-Druck
|isbn=978-3-923457-46-5
}}
- {{cite magazine
|last=Roland
|first=Bernard
|title=J'étais le chef de «Jochen» Marseille: «Edu» Neumann, un as méconnu
|magazine=Avions
|date=May–June 2019
|issue=229
|pages=6–20
|language=fr}}
- {{Cite book
|last=Scutts
|first=Jerry
|year=1994
|title=Bf 109 Aces of North Africa and the Mediterranean
|series=Aircraft of the Aces
|volume=2
|location=London, UK
|publisher=Osprey Publishing
|isbn=978-1-85532-448-0
}}
- {{cite book
|last1=Shores
|first1=Christopher
|last2=Massimello
|first2=Giovanni
|last3=Guest
|first3=Russell
|last4=Olynyk
|first4=Frank
|last5=Bock
|first5=Winfried
|title=A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940–1945: Volume Two: North African Desert: February 1942 – March 1943
|year=2012
|location=London
|publisher=Grub Street
|isbn=978-1-909166-12-7}}
- {{Cite book
|last=Weal
|first=John
|year=2003
|title=Jagdgeschwader 27 "Afrika"
|series=Aviation Elite Units
|volume=12
|location=London, UK
|publisher=Osprey Publishing
|isbn=978-1-84176-538-9
}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box|
before=Major Bernhard Woldenga|
after=Oberstleutnant Gustav Rödel|
title= Commander of Jagdgeschwader 27 Afrika|
years=June 10, 1942 – April 22, 1943
}}
{{succession box|
before=Oberstleutnant Bernhard Woldenga|
after=none|
title=Commander of Jagdabschnittsführer Rumänien|
years=February 1944 – August 1944
}}
{{succession box|
before=Oberstleutnant Günther Freiherr von Maltzahn|
after=Oberst Günther Lützow|
title=Commander of Jagdfliegerführer Oberitalien|
years=December 1944 – January 1945
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Subject bar
| portal1=Aviation
| portal2=Biography
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Eduard}}
Category:People from Chernivtsi Oblast
Category:People from the Duchy of Bukovina
Category:Bukovina-German people
Category:German people of Austrian descent
Category:Condor Legion personnel