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Eduard Neumann (fighter pilot)

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Eduard Neumann
Eduard Neumann (right) with Adolf Galland in North Africa, 22 September 1942.
Born	(1911-06-05)5 June 1911 Molodia, Austria-Hungary
Died	9 August 2004(2004-08-09) (aged 93)
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Luftwaffe
Years of service	1934–1945
Rank	Oberst
Unit	Condor Legion, JG 26
Commands held	JG 27
Battles/wars	Spanish Civil War World War II Battle of France Battle of Britain North African campaign

Eduard "Edu" Neumann (5 June 1911 – 9 August 2004) was a Luftwaffe officer and commanded the Jagdgeschwader 27 'Afrika' during the North African Campaign from 1941 to 1943.

Neumann was born in the city of Molodia, in the Duchy of Bukovina of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on 5 June 1911. In 1914, at the age of three, Eduard and his sister was sent to live with his grandparents after his mother died, and his father was conscripted due to the start of the First World War. His father was killed on the Russian front in November that year.^[1] He attended school in Czernowitz until 1928 before moving to Germany, studying for a year at Dresden before attending University at Berlin.^[1]

Neumann learned to fly in Berlin in the early 1930s, and in 1934 joined the Luftwaffe. In 1935, after completing training, he joined II. GruppeofJagdgeschwader 132 (II./JG 132), flying the Heinkel He 51 fighter.^[2]

The day after scoring his first (World War II) victory during the opening phase of the Battle of Britain, a RAF No. 236 Squadron RAF Blenheim off the coast of Cherbourg on the 20 July 1940, he was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 27.^{[citation needed]} After a brief participation In the Invasion of Yugoslavia, in April 1941 the unit moved to Ain-el Gazala, Libya, North Africa on 18 April 1941.^[3] He received the German Cross in Gold on 11 May 1942 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur I./JG 27.^[4]

On 8 June 1942 he was promoted to Major and Geschwaderkommodore of JG 27, which he successfully led until 22 April 1943 when he joined the Staff of General der Jagdflieger. In March 1943 Neumann was promoted to Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel), and later in 1944 to Oberst (Colonel).^[5] Neumann finished the war as the Commander of Fighter Forces in Northern Italy.

After the war Neumann worked as a technical consultant on the Hans-Joachim Marseille biographical film, Der Stern von Afrika, (The Star of Africa), directed by Alfred Weidenmann and starring Joachim Hansen as Marseille.

Neumann died in Munich on 9 August 2004.^[6]

Citations

Bibliography

• Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
• Prien, Jochen; Rodeike, Peter; Stemmer, Gerhard (1998). Messerschmitt Bf 109 im Einsatz bei Stab und I./Jagdgeschwader 27 1939 – 1945 [Messerschmitt Bf 109 in Action with the Headquarter Unit and I./Jagdgeschwader 27 in 1939 – 1945] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-46-5.
• Roland, Bernard (May–June 2019). "J'étais le chef de «Jochen» Marseille: «Edu» Neumann, un as méconnu". Avions (in French). No. 229. pp. 6–20.
• Scutts, Jerry (1994). Bf 109 Aces of North Africa and the Mediterranean. Aircraft of the Aces. Vol. 2. London, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-448-0.
• Weal, John (2003). Jagdgeschwader 27 "Afrika". Aviation Elite Units. Vol. 12. London, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-538-9.

Biography