Uffz. Wolfganf Ortlepp--Stab/JG2--July 1943

[wcarah]

Uffz. Wolfgang Ortlepp claimed a B-17 shotdown near Poille-sur-Vegre S.E. of Laval, France on 4 Jul 1943. It is likely he was one of the JG2 pilots that shot down B-17 42-29928 of the 381st BG piloted by my father and Lt. Olof Ballinger. Can any forum member tell me more about Uffz. Ortlepp?

Thank you,

Warren Carah
Brighton, Michigan
USA

[Chris Goss]

He was flying a FW 190 A-5, Wk Nr 410200 and was wounded, force-landing at Mayenne; I can find no further record of him

[wcarah]

Thank you very much for the information Chris. Interestingly, my father stayed with a farm family in Mayenne after he bailed out. He stayed for about a month and then evaded to Switzerland on 9 August 1943. From there he finally made it back to allied control via Gibralter in late February 1944.

[Chris Goss]

Any chance you could contact me off-board as I would be interested in an account of the combat?

[Fredo Hara]

Originally Posted by Chris Goss

He was flying a FW 190 A-5, Wk Nr 410200 and was wounded, force-landing at Mayenne; I can find no further record of him

Hi Chriss!
You don't precise when Uffz Ortlepp was wounded. The 4 july?
Thanks
Fredo

[Chris Goss]

Oui-4 Juillet

[Fredo Hara]

Merci Chris,
Fredo

[aquarya]

Just realized this 381st BG bomber could not have been shot down by Ortlepp. According to Prien, Freeman, etc. the 381st bombed Le Mans and were attacked by II. Stab/JG2, 6./JG2 and 12./JG2. That means, it had to be G-P Eder, Karch, Aue, Montanus, or Zubrowski.



Geschwaderstab/JG2, including Ortlepp, attacked the bombers targeting Nantes. Only one of these went down, a B-17 from the 92nd BG.

[aquarya]

Just realized this 381st BG bomber could not have been shot down by Ortlepp. According to Prien, Freeman, etc. the 381st bombed Le Mans and were attacked by II. Stab/JG2, 6./JG2 and 12./JG2. That means, it had to be G-P Eder, Karch, Aue, Montanus, or Zubrowski.

Geschwaderstab/JG2, including Ortlepp, attacked the bombers targeting Nantes. Only one of these went down, a B-17 from the 92nd BG.

Also, he appears again in the book Bodenplatte: The Luftwaffe's Last HopeBy John Manrho, Ron Putz on page 63 in a picture with the caption: 10. and 11./JG2 pilots...Faehnrich Wolfgang Ortlepp, WIA 19.11.1944.

[Johannes]

Hi Warren

Ortlepp was born on 10.10.1920. He made three claims(all B-17's), two with 7./JG2:-

03.01.1943 1134 hrs 5500 metres
06.03.1943 1455 hrs 2500 metres

And with Stab./JG2

04.07.1943 1240 hrs 7200 metres Poile-sur-Vegre.

I agree with Chriss his Fw190 was hit by enemy fire on 04.07.1943, he then ran out of fuel, and was injured when he force-landed at Couptrain, France. Then on 19.11.1944 he was shot-down in combat with Allied aircraft, baling-out wounded from his Fw190 in the region of Cologne. Nothing else known.

Regards

Johannes