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World War II
Egon Mayer (19 August 1917 – 2 March 1944) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a fighter ace credited with 102 enemy aircraft shot down in over 353 combat missions. His victories were all claimed over the Western Front and included 26 four-engine bombers, 51 Supermarine Spitfires and 12 P-47 Thunderbolts. Mayer was the first fighter pilot to score 100 victories entirely on the Western Front.
Born in Gruppe (3rd group) of JG 2 "Richthofen".
Mayer claimed his first victories over combat box bomber formations. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 16 April 1943 after 63 victories. On 1 July 1943 he replaced Walter Oesau as Geschwaderkommodore (Wing Commander) of JG 2 "Richthofen". He claimed his 90th victory on 31 December 1943 and was the first pilot on the Channel Front to reach 100 victories on 5 February 1944. Mayer was killed in action on 2 March 1944 leading an attack on a USAAF bomber formation. He was shot down by P-47 Thunderbolt escort fighters near Montmédy, France. He was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords that day.
Mayer, the son of a farmer, was born on 19 August 1917 in Konstanz at the Bodensee. Konstanz at the time was in the Grand Duchy of Baden of the German Empire. He grew up on his parents' farm named Hauserhof and spent his spare time at the glider airfield at the Bellenberg near Engen. He went to school at the Langemarck-Realgymnasium—a secondary school built on the mid-level Realschule to achieve the Abitur (university entry qualification)—in Singen. Today, the Langemarck-Realgymnasium which had been named after the location of the World War I Battle of Langemarck is the Hegau-Gymnasium.[1]
Following his graduation, Mayer volunteered for military service in the Luftwaffe on 1 November 1937.[1] His military training began at the 2nd Air Warfare School (Luftkriegsschule 2) at Gatow, on the southwestern outskirts of Berlin.[Note 1] He was then trained as a fighter pilot and promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant) on 1 August 1939.[1]
World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. Mayer received the Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse) on 25 October 1939 and was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2—2nd Fighter Wing), named after the after World War I fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, on 6 December 1939.[Note 2] For his entire combat career, with the exception of a brief posting to the fighter pilot school at Werneuchen, Mayer would serve in JG 2 "Richthofen". He claimed his first aerial victory on 13 June 1940 during the Battle of France, shooting down an Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) Morane-Saulnier M.S.406.[1]
In the Battle of Britain, Mayer often flew over the English Channel as the wingman of Helmut Wick. He claimed three further victories in this campaign, all over Royal Air Force (RAF) Supermarine Spitfires, but was himself shot down or forced to land at the French Coast. Once he had to swim in the Channel for one hour before he was rescued. At the end of 1940 Mayer had four victories to his credit and JG 2 "Richthofen" was withdrawn from combat to replenish the heavy losses sustained. Following a short tour as fighter pilot instructor at the Jagdfliegerschule (fighter pilot school) in Werneuchen, he was sent back to the Channel Front.[1]
On 10 June 1941, Staffel (7th squadron) of JG 2 "Richthofen", based at Saint-Pol-Brias. He claimed his 19th and 20th victory on 23 July 1941 and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 1 August 1941 after his 21st aerial victory.[1] He received the award together with fellow JG 2 "Richthofen" pilots Oberleutnant Erich Leie and Oberleutnant Rudolf Pflanz on that day. The triple award presentation was recorded by the Deutsche Wochenschau (German Weekly Review), a newsreel series released in the cinemas.[2] His score had increased to 28 aerial victories by the end of 1941.[1]
Mayer received the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) on 16 July 1942. On 19 August, his 25th birthday, Mayer shot down two Spitfires over Dieppe during Operation Jubilee, his 49th and 50th victory.[1]
Mayer was promoted to combat box bomber formations.[4] The concept was based on a Kette (chain), three aircraft flying in a "V" formation, attacking from ahead and to the left. When in range, the attackers opened fire with a deflection burst, aiming in front of the enemy aircraft. Following the attack, the pilots would pull up sharply to the left or right. This gave the attacking fighters the best chance of avoiding the massed firepower of the bombers' guns.[5]
On 14 February 1943 Mayer shot down three RAF Hawker Typhoons, claiming his 60th to 62nd victories. Following his 63rd victory he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) on 16 April 1943, the 232nd officer or soldier of the Wehrmacht so honored. The presentation was made by Adolf Hitler in his office at the Reich Chancellery in Berlin on 11 May 1943. He was then promoted to Major (major) on 1 June 1943.[6]
In June 1943 Mayer encountered Robert S. Johnson, a future ace from the 56th Fighter Group of the Eighth Air Force. Johnson's Republic P-47D Thunderbolt had been badly shot-up by some Focke Wulf Fw 190s during a routine mission. As Johnson limped home, with a canopy that would not open and hydraulic fluid and oil covering his windscreen, Mayer pulled alongside him in his Fw-190. Mayer looked the wounded P-47 over, and then circled to come in from Johnson's six-o'clock to give it the coup de grâce. The first gun pass failed to knock the heavy American fighter out of the sky. Mayer made two more runs on Johnson, without success. After running out of ammunition, Mayer pulled alongside Johnson, saluted him and headed for home. Johnson landed his plane, and counted more than 200 holes, without even moving around the airplane. He also saw that a 20 mm cannon shell had exploded just behind his headrest, making it impossible to open his canopy.[7]
On 22 June 1943, a flight led by Mayer encountered an RAF Spitfire unit. During the course of the engagement, he claimed one Spitfire shot down and damage to another. He shot down three USAAF P-47s on 26 June 1943.[6]
Mayer was appointed Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of JG 2 "Richthofen" on 1 July 1943, thus succeeding Oberst (Colonel) Walter Oesau. Command of III. Gruppe was passed on to the Staffelkapitän of 8. Staffel, Hauptmann Bruno Stolle.[8] He claimed three B-17s shot down within 19 minutes on 6 September. The Eighth Air Force was targeting Stuttgart that day and lost 45 aircraft.[9] On 1 December 1943 he shot down three P-47 Thunderbolts. His claimed aerial victories increased to 90 on 30 December 1943.[6] Mayer claimed four victories on 7 January 1944, three B-24s and one B-17 shot down in the vicinity of Orléans.[10] On 4 February 1944 he claimed his 100th victory, the first fighter pilot on the Channel Front to achieve this mark.[6]
His final score stood at 102, when he was shot down and killed in action by a P-47 Thunderbolt near Montmédy in Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-6 (factory number 470468) on 2 March 1944. Mayer had led his Stabsschwarm (headquarters unit) and elements of III. Gruppe, 14 Fw 190s in total, in an attack on B-17s in the area of Sedan, but failed to detect the fighter escort of 29 P-47s flying 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) above. His aircraft was seen taking hits at a range of 400 yards (370 meters) in the nose and cockpit. His aircraft made a violent snap roll and went into a vertical dive, crashing within 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) of Montmédy.[11] He was posthumously decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) that day.[12]
Recent research suggests that Mayer was shot down by Lieutenant Walter Gresham of the 358th Fighter Squadron of the 355th Fighter Wing. The claim is based on gun camera footage and recollections of Mayer's wingman, who was forced to bail out during the action.[13] Mayer was buried at the cemetery of Beaumont-le-Roger, France, and in 1955 re-interred at the German War Cemetery in St. Desiré de Lisieux.[14]
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