Fate of Lt. Heinz Eichhoff, pilot serving with 2./JG2 in the summer of 1943?

[Kapper]

All

Does anyone have first hand proof (copies of RLM, NVM, KTB document/files) that state that Christian Eickhoff was in JG2 after February 1943? I ask this because the Officers database has the statement “mixed with Christian Eichhof” (name spelt differently), with Christian being WIA 26.01.1943 and going on to be A/Gruppe Kammandeur of I./JG2 late in the war, yet I believe Christian Eickhoff was KIA 26.01.1943 as an Oblt and that all reference to this pilot after this date was actually for Heinz Eichhoff who was a Ltn in 1944 then became Oblt in 1945.

I believe that reference to Christian after 26.01.1943 is an error because Christian Eickhoff (DOB 28.09.1915 in China) was Staka 2./JG2 when KIA 26.01.1943 (previously JG53, 26, and JFS5) which was about the time that Heinz Eichhoff (DOB 08.09.1915 in Berlin) arrived in 2./JG2. Eickhoff/Eichhoff is not a common name that would make anyone look twice at the name, like one would with Muller or Schmidt if these names appeared in the same Staffel. I believe that early researchers simply assumed that the earlier Eickhoff was the same person as the later Eichhoff, therefore Christian must have survived on 26.01.1943 and returned to 2./JG 2 after recovering from wounds. Even in this thread there is reference to Christian Eickhoff making claims in 1944, yet the claims files only mention last names and it would be very easy to mix Eickhoff with Eichhoff. Also, the source mentioned in another earlier post stated the kladde had only last name yet it was the second hand source (Holms) that mentioned the first name Christian. I believe the 1944 claims are for Heinz Eichhoff which would have had him with at least 14 victories. The Officer Database has Heinz Eichhoff as Staka 2./JG 2 on 15.02.1945, which makes me believe that it was Heinz not Christian who was Acting Gruppenkammandeur of I./JG 2 on 26.03.1945 to EOW. It would make sense to me that a successful pilot that was still operational at that stage of the war would be made Acting Gruppenkammandeur even though he was not long a Staffelkapitan – there wasn’t many successful pilots operational at the end of the war. To me it seems an earlier error in published sources keeps repeating, due to a lack of a first name in official documents and the mixup between Eickhoff and Eichhoff.

If I am correct, Christian Eickhoff was KIA 26.01.1943 and Heinz Eichhoff ended the war as the Acting Gruppe Kammandeur of I./JG 2 thus survived.

I suppose the first thing to do to clear this up would be for someone who has a copy of the NVM loss data for Christian Eickhoff on 26.01.1943 to post the relevant page to determine if Christian was KIA or WIA and secondly if anyone can supply copies of original documentation that state that Christian (or another Christian?) was still in JG2 after 26.01.1943. I would also be interested to see the loss data for Ltn Eichhoff when WIA 07.06.1944.

Regards,

Craig…