Schorsch Menke I.(J)/LG 2

[sidney]

Dear All,

Could someone please give some biographical details on Schorsch Menke, who I believe was with I.(J)/LG 2 around the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, possibly even before then.

Note that "Schorsch" is probably nickname for Georg, which is apparently commonly used in Austria and Bavaria.

Regards,
Sinisa

[Doug Stankey]

I cannot find anyone who clearly matches up with what you describe. The closest is:

MEYER, Georg. (DOB: 09.03.11). 01.12.37 Hptm., appt Staka 2./JG 135. 02.38 with 2./JG 135. 01.11.38 appt Staka 2./JG 233. 01.05.39 appt Staka 2./JG 51. 12.39 with 2./JG 51. 02.03.40 Hptm., 2./JG 51. 18.05.40 Hptm., 2./JG 51. 08.08.40 Oblt., appt Staka 1./JFS 4 (to 23.12.40). 24.12.40 Hptm., appt Gruppenleiter in JFS 4 (to 02.41 or 27.07.42?). 09.02.41 appt Staka 5./LG 2 (to 30.04.41). 28.07.42 Maj., appt Kdr. Zerstörervorschule 1 (to 11.10.42). 12.10.42 Maj., appt Kdr. JFS 7 (to 25.01.43). 26.01.43 Maj., appt Kommodore JG 107 (to 31.05.44). 01.05.44 promo to Obstlt. Credited with 3 victories.

Others are even less likely:

MENAPACE, Josef (“Bazi”). (DOB: 31.07.20 in Linz).
MEYER, Bruno. (DOB: 13.11.15 in Jeremie/Haiti).

Any more clues?

[sidney]

Doug,

Thank you for your reply. I herewith attach the photo, where on the backside was written Schorsch Menke in pencil, which I suspect was added at later date, while the supposedly original remark in pen gave the location where the photo was taken (i.e., Semlin (Zemun), Belgrade), date (i.e., early June 1941) and the occasion (i.e., transfer flight from Romania to Viena (Wien)).

I could not find him in your and Larry de Zeng's excellent Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, so he might have been a non-commissioned officer.

Best Regards,
Sinisa

[Doug Stankey]

Most likely he was a non-commissioned officer. Over 80% of the pilots were NCOs. As we have data for only 48,000 of the 120,000+ commissioned officers known to have served in this time period, he could easily be among the ones unknown to us.

I got inspired to look at Prien's JG 77 Band I, which deals extensively with I.(J)/LG 2 but I could not easily find any reference to your fellow, but he could well be hidden in amongst all that.

A search of the Tom Kracker database for Luftwaffe pilots yielded only a bomber pilot. Perhaps your fellow was not a pilot?

Thats all I can think of for now....

[sidney]

I thought that it would be a laborious task to try and identify the man captured on the photo based on the limited data available. Nevertheless, it was worth a try, so I posted it on the TOCH.

Thank you for your best effort in this respect, it was highly valued.

Best Regards,
Sinisa