Heini Dittmar

[Doug Stankey]

I have a question for you fellows. I am missing career data about Heini Dittmar. We had nothing in our files about him so I had assumed that he had been a civilian. After reading Volume 2 of the Ransom/Cammann book about the Me 163 it was apparent that he had been in the Luftwaffe. Here is what I have found so far:

DITTMAR, Heini. (DOB: 30.03.11 in Bad Kissingen). 1932 won first place in the Rhön glider competition. 1934 was a member of the German glider expedition to Argentina, where he set an altitude record for sailplanes of 4,350 m. 1934 set a distance record for sailplanes. 02.10.41 achieved a speed of 624 mph. in an Me 163 A (KE+SW), the first pilot to exceed 1,000 km/hr. (n.d.) with EK 262? (n.d.) Hptm. demoted to Flieger and sentenced to death, but commuted to being sent to the front to prove himself. - went to Kommando Elbe. 01.45 Flg., with 14./Erg.JG 2. (n.d.) with JG 7? †28.04.60 in a crash of his HD-153 Möve vic Essen-Mülheim a/f.

Combing through my books has revealed nothing of significance. I am missing Volume 1 of Ransom/Cammann. To confuse matters further, we have data about a Walter Dittmar with an oddly related career. Could it be the same fellow?

DITTMAR, Walter. 12.42 Oblt., Staka DFS 230-Staffel/III./LLG 1. 01.01.43 promo to Hptm. 02.43 appt Staka VK(S) 1. 15.10.43 Hptm., appt Kdr. Schleppgruppe 1 (still 01.44). (later demoted).


Any comments/insights?

DGS

[Marcel Hogenhuis]

Hello Doug,

No, Heini and Walter are two different persons, I have volume 1 of the Ransom/Cammann books as well (of course: the Me163 was in Venlo) and will look if some more info comes up.

All the best, Marcel

[Doug Stankey]

After reviewing a number of books by Ransom, Späte, Ethell, Schlaug and Ziegler here are the corrected mini-histories of the Dittmar's. Apparently Heini had not been in the Luftwaffe but may have been attached to it very late in the war.

DITTMAR, Heini. (DOB: 30.03.11 in Bad Kissingen). Son of a dentist. (n.d.) apprenticed as a cabinet maker. 1932 glider instructor pilot with Peter Riedel in Darmstadt. 1932 won first place in the Rhön glider competition. 1934 was a member of the German glider expedition to Argentina, where he set an altitude record for sailplanes of 4,350 m (14,272 feet). 1934 set a distance record for sailplanes. 1935 briefly arrested in Bohemia by the Czechs as a suspected spy. 01.39 began work as a test pilot for Dept. L (Lippisch) at the Messerchmitt factory at Augsburg. 02.10.41 achieved a speed of 624 mph. in an Me 163 A (KE+SW), the first pilot to exceed 1,000 km/hr. 02.10.42 flew Me 163 V4 at Peenemünde - 1003.67 kmph (621.5 mph) - won the Lilienthal Prize for High Speed Research. 11.42 severely injured his back during a hard landing at Augsberg - diagnosed with a bruised liver - out of flying ops for about a year and a half. 19.04.44 flew the Me 163 BV18. 06.07.44 reached a speed of 1,130 kph (702.3 mph) in Me 163 BV18 (VA+SP). (n.d.) with EK 262? 01.45 Flg., with 14./Erg.JG 2. (n.d.) with JG 7? †28.04.60 in a crash of his HD-153 Möve vic Essen-Mülheim a/f.


DITTMAR, Walter. Brother of Heini Dittmar. 12.42 Oblt., Staka DFS 230-Staffel/III./LLG 1. 01.01.43 promo to Hptm. 02.43 appt Staka VK(S) 1. 15.10.43 Hptm., appt Kdr. Schleppgruppe 1 (to at least 18.09.44). (n.d.) Hptm. demoted to Flieger and sentenced to death, but commuted to being sent to the front to prove himself. 12.44/01.45 at Sprottau retraining on Me 163. 16.03.45 with JG 400 flew the Me 163 to ram a Mosquito at 40,000 feet but flamed out (n.d.) may have been sent to Kommando Elbe.

Any further clarifications would be appreciated.

DGS

[Steve Coates]

There's an article here on the South American expedition - http://www.scalesoaring.co.uk/Articl...xpedition.html

A fair amount of detail on his pre-war exploits can be found in Peter Riedl's book 'Über sonnige Weiten' which contains a wealth of information on other notable pilots.