Alfred Lindenberger - 28 September 1944

[Leo Etgen]

Hello

Major Alfred Lindenberger (16 victories), Gruppenkommandeur of II.(Sturm)/JG 300, was wounded and forced to bail out of his Fw 190 A-8 "Blue 17" (W.Nr. 171 666) in aerial combat with P-51 fighters of the 434th FS, 479th FG, USAAF near Halberstadt on 28 September 1944. However, I am not sure if this particular aircraft belonged to the Gruppenstab of II.(Sturm)/JG 300 or the Geschwaderstab of JG 300. Could anyone clarify this issue?

Horrido!

Leo

[natttuppen]

In part two of the history of JG 300 by Jean-Yves Lorant & Richard Goyat, page 30, the authors note that Major Lindenberg flew an aircraft from the Gruppenstab.

[Leo Etgen]

Hi natttuppen

Many thanks for your response. I had previously read that the Gruppenstab of II.(Sturm)/JG 300 used both green and blue tactical numbers but since I have read that on occasion he allegedly flew as wingman to Major Walter Dahl (102 victories, RK-EL) with the Geschwaderstab of JG 300 which was using blue tactical numbers in 1944 I was confused as to which unit did his aircraft belong to on that date. An example of the use of green tactical numbers by the Gruppenstab of II.(Sturm)/JG 300 would be when Major Kurd Peters (4 victories, DK-G), Gruppenkommandeur of II.(Sturm)/JG 300, was wounded and forced to bail out of his Fw 190 A-7 "Green 5" (W.Nr. 340 303) in aerial combat over Naumburg on 29 June 1944. Many thanks for your help.

Horrido!

Leo

[knusel]

Good morning Gentlemen,

Lindenberger scored his first gunner kill in 1917.
He scored his first pilot kill in 1918.
He scored his last kill in 1944.
26 years of scoring as a pilot, is this an all-time record ?

Cheers,

Michael

[VtwinVince]

It could be, very unusual to claim this late in the conflict for a first war claimer. My uncle mentions his exploits in a letter from November, 1944 to the OdL.

[knusel]

Even Robin Olds "only" has a period of 23 years.
http://www.cieldegloire.fr/014_olds_r.php

[Leo Etgen]

Hello

I cannot say with certainty that he was the fighter pilot with the longest career but as Vince points out he stands out from the other Great War pilots that went on to serve with the Luftwaffe and claimed victories in the second conflict by the fact that his were recorded later in the war as compared to others such as Generalleutnant Theodor Osterkamp and Oberst Erich Mix. Quite an impressive achievement considering the nature of the air war for the Germans at that stage.

Horrido!

Leo

[knusel]

Good morning Leo,

I recommend the fascinating article "In different Skies" by Robin Schäfer which describes the careers of several German airmen who served in both wars. Shall I send it to you via eMail ?

Have a good weekend,

Michael

[VtwinVince]

Michael, I would also be interested in this article, as Germans who claimed in both conflicts is a subject dear to my heart.

[knusel]

Good evening VtwinVince,

if memory serves me well, there was a function in the forum to attach pdf's to to a post or message but now I cannot find this function, has it been disabled ?

Michael