1940 victories of Lt. Rolf Hermichen

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

In my continuing effort to compile an accurate and complete victory list for the Bf110 units for 1939-40, I note that Lt. Rolf Hermichen, who flew during the FC with 6./ZG1, survived the war and is listed as a signer of the book plate for Jerry Crandall's forthcoming book "Knights of the Black Cross." Obviously he survived into relatively recent times.

Hermichen is one of the "black holes" on my ZG victory lists for 1940. I know that he was awarded credit for shooting down a Dutch fighter on 10.5.40, a "Spitfire" on 27.5.40, and went on to score two more victories by the end of the French Campaign. I have provisional dates for those other two victories but this info is not confirmed.

Before the Battle of Britain, II./ZG1 became III./ZG76, with Hermichen now serving in 9./ZG76. He apparently ended the BoB and the year with a total of 8 victories, making him one of the top performers for a Zerstörer pilot. A website bio states that he got his first victory during the BoB on 12.8.40, but this and the prospective dates for an additional three victories during this period, which I have, remain "unconfirmed" by hard evidence.

Has anyone on this board been in touch with him and perhaps obtained any confirmation for the dates for his victory claims in the west during 1940? Does anyone know if, perhaps, his Flugbuch or other service documentation has survived? Does anyone have ANY information that would help add to what I have?

Hermichen went on to have a distinguished war career, ending it as a Major with 64 victories, most of them in the west and many against heavy bombers. He was awarded the both the RK and the EL. However, I am interested here only in his victories and career during 1940.

Regards,

[Doug Stankey]

Here's what we have on this guy. It doesn't say much about the 1940 period.

HERMICHEN, Rolf.
(Date of birth: 25.07.18 in Wernigerode/Harz).
(n.d.) after training, trf to 6./ZG 1.
09.39 Lt. in II./ZG 1, and then later in III./ZG 76.
05.41 now in II./SKG 210.
01.11.41 Oblt. trf to 7./JG 26.
03.42 was Adj. III./JG 26.
01.05.42 Hptm., appt Staka 3./JG 26 (to 12.06.43).
15.10.42 Oblt., awarded DKG, 3./JG 26.
15.06.43 Hptm., appt acting Kdr. III./JG 26 (to 04.07.43).
05.07.43 re-appt Staka 3./JG 26 (to 15.10.43).
16.10.43 Hptm., appt Kdr. I./JG 11 (to 05.44).
26.03.44 Hptm., awarded Ritterkreuz, Kdr. I./JG 11.
01.05.44 promo to Maj.
05.44 trf to Stab/2. Jagddiv.
19.07.44 Maj., appt Kdr. II./JG 104 (to 10.01.45).
19.02.45 Maj., awarded Eichenlaub, Kdr. I./JG 11.
Credited with 629 combat missions and 64 air victories.

LdZ
DGS

[Larry Hickey]

Doug,

Thanks for the info. I appreciate the effort you went to for this post. However, it doesn't really add anything to his history from the 1939-40 period, which is the subject of my interest.

Regards,

[Tom Semenza]

Larry,

As I think you know, there was some speculation on this forum last month that Hermichen's 4th victory was a Swiss Bf 109 on 4 June. As for claims 5 through 8; Obermeier in Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe says that he claimed 3 RAF fighters in August, the first of these, according to Vasco & Cornwell in ´Zerstörer: The Messerschmitt Bf 110 and its Units in 1940, was a Hurricane on 12 August. His 8th claim was, again according to Obermeier, a Beaufort off the Norwegian coast on 9.02.41.

Regards,

Tom

[Jerry Crandall]

Hi Larry;
Hope you are doing okay. Haven't talked with you for a long time.
Rolf is now 90, and his health is okay. I just talked with him a few days ago. Here are his victory claims for 1940:
6./ZG 1: 1. 10 May 1940 Fairey Battle (Confirmed)
2. 15 May 1940 Morane (Unconfirmed)
3. 27 May 1940 Spitfire (Confirmed)
4. 30 May 1940 Potez 63 (Unconfirmed)
9./ZG 76: 5. 12 August 1940 Hurricane (Unconfirmed)
6. 15 August 1940 Spitfire (Unconfirmed)
7. 25 August 1940 Hurricane (Unconfirmed)
8. 9 February 1941 Beaufort (Confirmed)

Source: Rolf Hermichen and Hans Ring

Hope this helps,
Jerry

[Larry Hickey]

Tom & Jerry (did you guys used to make cartoons together?),

I have the same info that Jerry published above. The ones that he lists as "unconfirmed" are not actually unconfirmed, but the official reporting on them apparently did not survive the war. Ring and other German historians consider these to be "turks" (don't ask me where the term comes from), which were worked out or reported upon by a variety of sources, including contemporary press reports, and sometimes probably just by logic and a process of elimination, much like Robert used to reach his conclusions about the June 4th Hermichen victory over Switzerland, which is probably wrong. However, after German researchers, principally Hans Ring, developed these "turks" lists by the late 1980s, we've subsequently obtained primary sources, such as Flugbuchs, for some of these individuals, and discovered that some of the "turks" reporting on their careers was unreliable. Right now Hans Ring has all of our (EOE WG -- "Eagles Over Europe Working Group") info on Bf110 losses, and hopefully is updating them with whatever he has discovered during his research over the last 15-20 years. I have all of these "turks" lists for the "missing" ZG unit victories, which are really mostly Hans Ring's lists, but my copies, except for a few individuals, have not been updated since the late-1980s. Through this board and with help from some German historians, we've acquired reasonable confirmation of about 20-25 of these "turks" victory reports, but from now on it's going to be very tough going to fill in the approximately 25% of Bf110 victories that are currently documented only through the speculative "turks" lists. My problem with the "turks" material is that some of it is undoubtedly from high-quality sources, such as unit records and FB, and some of it is not, and I have no way of knowing what sources were used for any specific victory claim. For some pilot's/gunner's claims the "turks" lists are probably 100% accurate, and for others they may be mostly wrong, I just don't have any way of knowing which is which.

So you guys with FBs, diaries, unit records and other primary source documents on Bf110 pilots in 1939-40, as well as info from direct interviews with surviving pilots over the years, may be the only people who can help fill in the gaps as these airmen themselves are now mostly gone.

This is turning out to be very difficult problem to solve, a fact that German researchers such as Hans Ring, Winfried Bock and the late Heinrich Weiss have long known.

Regards,



Regards,

[Tom Semenza]

A question for Jerry Crandall:

While on the subject of Hermichen, do you have any details on his 3 claims with 6./SKG 210 in Russia in 1941?

Thanks,
Tom

PS: Can't take any credit for the cartoons, Larry.

[Andre Stewart]

Hello Jerry,

Thanks for sharing with us the details of Hermichen's 1940 claims.

Like Tom and Larry (heh heh), I too have a keen interest in the claims of the Zerstorer pilots of 1940-41. So as Tom has requested I hope you can provide some details of his Russia claims of 1941.

Can you also confirm that Hermichen did NOT claim any Swiss aircraft on both 4 and 8 June 1940? This has been the subject of much speculation in the past so it would really be great to confirm / verify this.

There is much interest in the personal claim details of the hitherto "unknown" ZG pilots, Hermichen among them. It is great that you are in contact with Hermichen and have this rare opportunity to get information from him.

Please send my best wishes to Hermichen, from someone who admires what he and his fellow crewmen went through many years ago...

Andre

[robert]

Hi,

I have a huge doubts concerning his victory against Potez 63 on the 30.05.40. Is it for 100% correct?

Regards

Robert

[Larry Hickey]

Robert,

None of the victories that are on the "turks" list that I sent you, and listed in Jerry Crandall's post, are "100% confirmed." That is the problem with "turks;" we just don't have any way to judge the reliability of the information. Only Hans Ring knows where he got this information.

Regards