Horst Ademeit (8 February 1912 – 7 August 1944) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves during World War II. Ademeit fought in the Battle of Britain and the Eastern Front where he was officially credited with 166 aerial victories before his disappearance during a mission over Latvia on 7 August 1944.

Early life

Horst Ademeit was born on 8 February 1912 in Breslau in the Kingdom of Prussia of the German Empire (present-day Wrocław, Poland) the son of Walter Ademeit, a Regierungsbaurat (government building officer). He studied chemistry at the Königsberg Albertina University and was a member of the Corps Masovia Königsberg. In 1933, he transferred to the Technische Hochschulen in Charlottenburg, Berlin (now Technische Universität Berlin) while his family had moved to nearby Potsdam, where his father was leading the construction of the Niederfinow Boat Lift. On 1 August 1936, Ademeit joined the Luftwaffe as a reservist. He graduated as Diplom Ingenieur from the Technische Hochschulen in Braunschweig (now Technische Universität Braunschweig) in 1938. On 9 December 1938, Ademeit was made an officer cadet of the reserves and received flight training.

World War II

In the spring of 1940, Unteroffizier Ademeit was transferred to 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing) Grünherz and participated in the Battle of Britain. He claimed his first aerial victory during the Battle of Britain on 18 September 1940. However, shortly afterwards he was shot down over the English Channel, bailing out and rescued by the Seenotdienst unharmed. In June 1941, after the German invasion of Soviet Union, Ademeit accompanied I./JG 54 to the Eastern Front. In quick succession he achieved aerial victories, promotions and awards. On 7 March 1943, Ademeit was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 6. Staffel of JG 54, replacing Oberleutnant Hans Beißwenger who was killed in action the day before. In October 1943, Ademeit was credited with his 100th aerial victory. He was the 61st Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. On 4 February 1944, Ademeit succeeded Hauptmann Walter Nowotny as Gruppenkommandeur (group commander of I. Gruppe of JG 54. On 14 February, I. Gruppe moved to an airfield named Wesenberg near Rakvere, located approximately 60 km north of Lake Peipus and 105 km west of Narva. Here the Gruppe was subordinated to the 3. Flieger-Division (3rd Air Division) and fought in the Battle of Narva.

Disappearance

On 7 August 1944, Ademeit, flying a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-5 (Werksnummer 5960 — factory number) led a flight of four Fw 190s to the combat area near Kreutzburg on the right bank of the Daugava, where they intecepted a flight of ten Ilyushin Il-2s and Yakovlev Yak-9 fighters at 15:17. His wingman, Gefreiter Biebrichter, later reported that Ademeit was last seen in pursuit of an Il-2 into a thick cloud of smoke. He pursued the Il-2 eastwards near Dünaburg across the front line, but failed to return from this mission and was considered missing in action. Ademeit was succeeded by Hauptmann Franz Eisenach as commander of I. Gruppe. Berlin radio announced his loss on 29 September 1944. Ademeit was officially credited with 166 victories in over 600 missions over the Eastern Front. He was posthumously promoted to Major.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to American historian David T. Zabecki, Ademeit was credited with 166 aerial victories. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found documentation for 160 aerial victory claims, all of which confirmed and claimed on the Eastern Front. The authors Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock list six further victories, aerial victories numbered 99–104, which were not documented by Mathews and Foreman, in the timeframe 18 September to 3 October 1943. Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 2525". 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