Adolf Borchers (10 February 1913 – 9 February 1996) was a Luftwaffe flying ace of World War II. He was credited with 132 aerial victories—that is, 132 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft—claimed in approximately 800 combat missions.

Biography

Borchers was born on 10 February 1913 in Wendhausen near Lüneburg. He had two brothers who also received the Knight's Cross. Major Walter Borchers was a night fighter pilot and wing commander. A second brother, SS-Hauptsturmführer Hermann Borchers served in the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1937 and participated as an Unteroffizier in the Spanish Civil War, flying with 1. Staffel of Jagdgruppe 88 (J/88—88th Fighter Group) in the Condor Legion. After the Spanish Civil War he was transferred to 2. Staffel (2nd squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) which later became 10. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing) on 21 November 1940. In this unit he fought in the Invasion of Poland, Battle of France and Battle of Britain, claiming two aerial victories. On 19 May 1940, he claimed his first aerial victory over a Hawker Hurricane in the vicinity of Le Cateau Following aerial combat on 31 August 1940, Borchers ditched his Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-1 (Werknummer 5808—factory number) in the Thames Estuary but was rescued. That day, I. Gruppe (1st group) of JG 77 lost seven Bf 109s in combat over southeastern England, with one pilot killed in action and five taken prisoner of war.

Eastern Front

During Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, he accumulated further victories and by the end of 1941 his score had increased to 23 aerial victories. After being promoted to an Officers rank, he was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 11. Staffel of JG 51 on 20 August 1942, replacing Leutnant Wolfgang Böwing-Treuding who was transferred to 10. Staffel. On 15 October, Borchers was awarded the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) for 31 aerial victories. By the end of 1942, his number of aerial victories had increased to 38. In early January 1943, IV. Gruppe was based at an airfield named Isotscha, a makeshift airfield built on a frozen lake lokated approximately 50 km west of Velikiye Luki. In February, the Gruppe converted from the Bf 109 F-2 to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-4. In that combat area, Army Group Centre had launched Operation Büffel, a series of retreats eliminating the Rzhev salient. For 78 aerial victories, Borchers was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 22 November. He received the award together with fellow JG 51 pilot Joachim Brendel.

Group commander

On 10 June 1944, I. Gruppe was ordered to an airfield named Peloniczna near Lviv. Seven days later, they were moved to Serpneve. On 11 June, Borchers was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) replacing Hauptmann Johannes Wiese. Wiese had been injured on 22 February. Intermittently, the Gruppe had been led by Oberleutnant Paul-Heinrich Dähne. Command of 11. Staffel of JG 51 was then passed to Oberleutnant Horst Walther. On 22 June, Soviet forces launched Operation Bagration, attacking Army Group Centre in Byelorussia, with the objective of encircling and destroying its main component armies. On 24 June, the Gruppe transferred to Galați and again to Peloniczna. Borchers claimed his 100 aerial victory on 24 July 1944. He was the 86th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. The Gruppe reached Grabowiec in eastern Poland on 27 July and Kraków on 1 August. On 12 August they were again relocated and moved to Mzurowa. His 118th victory claimed on 2 September 1944, is also noted for claiming JG 52 10,000th aerial victory. On 19 September, Borchers made an emergency landing in his Bf 109 G-6 near Tarnów, in an area approximately 70 km east of Kraków. Borchers was given command to III. Gruppe of JG 52 on 1 February 1945. He succeeded Hauptmann Wilhelm Batz who was transferred to take command of II. Gruppe of JG 52. Command of I. Gruppe of JG 52 was passed to Hauptmann Erich Hartmann. Together with his comrades he surrendered to U.S. forces only to be turned over to Soviet forces.

Later life

After World War II, Borchers was released from Soviet captivity in 1950. He then traveled to Steibis, part of Oberstaufen in Oberallgäu, Bavaria. There, he was reunited with his wife Christl Cranz, a former German alpine ski racer whom he had married in 1943. The marriage produced three children. In 1947, Cranz had founded a Ski school for children, which the two then jointly operated. Borchers died on 9 February 1996 in Oberstaufen.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Borchers was credited with 132 aerial victories. Spick also lists Borchers with 132 aerial victories, 127 of which on the Eastern Front and five during the Battle of France and Battle of Britain, claimed in over 800 combat missions. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and also state that Borchers was credited with 132 aerial victories, including two on the Western Front and the others on the Eastern Front. Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 47764". 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

Citations