Nickname: Buh-mann
Date of Birth: 13.12.1917 - Granschütz, Province of Saxony (German Empire)
Date of Death: 11.08.1985 - Nidda, Hesse (West Germany)
Battles and Operations: Battle of Britain, Mediterranean Theatre (North Africa / Tunisia), Channel Front, Western Front
Luftwaffe service: 1936-1945
Rank: Oberstleutnant
Unit: Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2)
Religion: No information
Parents: Father (pipefitter, name unknown) and unknown mother
Siblings: No information
Spouse: No information
Children: No information
Promotions:
01.06.1940 Unteroffizier
01.09.1941 Oberfeldwebel
01.01.1942 Leutnant
01.02.1943 Oberleutnant
01.05.1943 Hauptmann
01.03.1944 Major
01.10.1944 Oberstleutnant
Career:
13.03.1936 joined Luftwaffe with Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung in Oschatz as recruit and trained as aircraft mechanic.
09.1937-15.02.1938 aircraft mechanic with Kampfgeschwader 153 (KG 153).
16.02.1938-30.04.1939 aircraft mechanic with Kampfgeschwader 4 (KG 4).
00.00.1939-00.00.1940 pilot training after outbreak of war.
15.06.1940 posted to Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2) as Unteroffizier in 2. Staffel of I. Gruppe, equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 109. First aerial victory on 04.09.1940 (Hawker Hurricane over Dover). Transferred within II. Gruppe, flew as wingman.
29.10.1940 awarded Iron Cross 1st Class after further victories.
04.1942 appointed Staffelkapitän of 4. Staffel / II. Gruppe.
11.1942 unit transferred to Mediterranean Theatre (Tunisia). Claimed 50th victory in 02.1943.
03.1943 returned to Channel Front.
04.1943 appointed Kommandeur of II. Gruppe / JG 2.
04.1944 appointed Kommodore of JG 2 (replaced Kurt Ubben). Claimed 100th victory on 07.06.1944.
05.1945 forced landing due to engine failure over Soviet-held territory, taken prisoner by Soviet forces. Released from captivity in 1950.
After release settled in Nidda and worked in automotive sales until his death.
Awards and Decorations:
Flugzeugführerabzeichen
Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse (10.09.1940)
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse (29.10.1940)
Luftwaffe Ehrenpokale für besondere Leistungen im Luftkrieg (01.08.1941)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (04.09.1941) as Oberfeldwebel and pilot in II./JG 2 "Richthofen", after 21 aerial victories plus 15 tethered balloons; the 311th overall award. In the sweltering summer of 1941, with II. Gruppe based at Abbeville-Drucat on the Channel coast, Bühligen threw himself into the RAF Fighter Command's "non-stop offensive" — the Circus operations that sent waves of Spitfires escorting small bomber formations deep into northern France to draw out and destroy Luftwaffe fighters. Day after day, the shrill sirens sent the Bf 109s of 4. Staffel scrambling skyward. On 21 June 1941 alone, during two massive Circus raids, Bühligen claimed three Spitfires in one furious afternoon of combat: climbing at full throttle to 6,000 metres, he positioned his Schwarm above the British formations, then dived in a screaming 600 km/h plunge, cannons hammering as he tore through the escorts. One Spitfire exploded in a fireball after a short burst; the second cartwheeled away trailing smoke; the third he finished with a deflection shot as it tried to break for the Channel. Actual RAF losses were lower than claimed, but the intensity of these whirling dogfights over Boulogne and Hardelot was relentless.
July and August brought more savage clashes. He downed single and double Spitfires on 7, 10, 11 and 23 July (two on the 23rd over the Forest of Éperlecques), using the Bf 109's superior high-altitude climb and dive-and-zoom tactics against the more manoeuvrable but lower-flying Spitfires. By early September he had added six more victories while flying with the Geschwaderstab (one Hurricane and five Spitfires). These were classic Channel Front battles — contrails criss-crossing the sky, radio chatter crackling with warnings, pilots blacking out in tight turns — where Bühligen's cool precision and growing score of 21 victories earned him the Ritterkreuz on 4 September 1941.
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (25.06.1943 as Leutnant, 4. Staffel, II. Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen", award 1/190)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #413 (02.03.1944) as Major and Kommandeur of II./JG 2 "Richthofen", after 96 aerial victories. After returning from the Mediterranean in March 1943 (where he had added roughly 40 victories, including his 50th in February), Bühligen took command of II. Gruppe and faced the escalating daylight onslaught of the US 8th Air Force over France and western Germany. The winter of 1943–44 was a grinding war of high-altitude intercepts against massive bomber streams protected by swarms of P-47 Thunderbolts. Flying the Fw 190, he led his Gruppe in repeated climbs to 7,000–8,000 metres, weaving through flak and fighter screens to strike at the "heavies".
Key actions included a P-47 kill near Durbuy on 29 January 1944, a B-24 and another P-47 on 5 February, and a spectacular double on 24 February — a B-17 (Herausschuss, forced out of formation) followed seconds later by a B-24 east of Dümmer See — amid towering columns of bombers stretching to the horizon. The culminating 96th victory came on 18 March 1944 when, south-southwest of Forges, he singled out a straggling B-24 Liberator in the chaos of a large formation. Closing from behind and below in a classic Fw 190 attack run, he poured cannon fire into the fuselage until the bomber shuddered, caught fire, and spiralled down in flames. These victories — scored in freezing cockpits, against overwhelming numbers, while protecting the Reich — brought him the Eichenlaub on 2 March 1944 (presented personally by Hitler at the Berghof in April).
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #88 (14.08.1944) as Major and Geschwaderkommodore of JG 2 "Richthofen", after 104 aerial victories. By spring 1944 Bühligen had replaced the fallen Kurt Ubben as the last Kommodore of the legendary Richthofen Geschwader. The Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944 plunged JG 2 into the most desperate fighting of the war. With the unit understrength and scattered, Bühligen personally opened the Geschwader's D-Day account at 11:57, diving on a P-47 Thunderbolt over the Orne Estuary and sending it flaming into the sea — the 98th victory. The next day, 7 June, in a frantic series of low- and medium-altitude sweeps north of Caen, he claimed two more P-47s in quick succession (19:07 and 19:09), the second sealing his 100th victory. In the words of the rival "race" with JG 26's Josef Priller, Bühligen received a victory bouquet at Creil airfield that evening while Allied fighters swarmed overhead.
The pressure never eased. On 5 July 1944 near Bernay and Dreux he added three more kills in one day (two P-47s and a P-51 Mustang at 15:49–15:52), the last pushing his total to 104. These were brutal, low-level dogfights in the Normandy bocage — Fw 190s roaring at treetop height, dodging flak and Allied fighter-bombers, engines howling as pilots yanked sticks in violent breaks and zooms while P-47s and P-51s filled the sky. Outnumbered and short of fuel and pilots, Bühligen's personal leadership and deadly accuracy in these swirling, smoke-filled battles over the invasion beaches and inland airfields earned him the Schwerter on 14 August 1944.
Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Schwarz
Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Silber
Ärmelband Afrika
Frontflugspange für Jäger in Gold mit Anhänger (for over 700 combat missions)
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Kurt Bühligen was a Luftwaffe wing commander and fighter ace of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was credited with 112 enemy aircraft shot down in over 700 combat missions. His victories were all claimed over the Western Front and included 24 four-engine bombers and 47 Supermarine Spitfire fighters. He rose from an aircraft mechanic to Geschwaderkommodore of the elite Jagdgeschwader 2 Richthofen, earning the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords while leading intense defensive operations against the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces in the skies over France, the English Channel, and North Africa.
Born on 13 December 1917 in Granschütz in the Province of Saxony of the German Empire, Bühligen was the son of a pipefitter. After completing an apprenticeship as a locksmith he volunteered for military service in the Luftwaffe on 13 March 1936 with the Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung in Oschatz. He first served as an aircraft mechanic with Kampfgeschwader 153 from September 1937 until February 1938 and then with Kampfgeschwader 4 until April 1939. When World War II broke out he began pilot training and was posted on 15 June 1940 as an Unteroffizier to the 2. Staffel of I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 2 Richthofen, flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109. His first aerial victory came on 4 September 1940 when he shot down a Hawker Hurricane over Dover during the Battle of Britain. He was soon transferred to 6. Staffel of II. Gruppe where he often flew as wingman and claimed additional Hurricanes and Spitfires in September and October.
In the summer of 1941 II. Gruppe moved to Abbeville-Drucat and faced the RAF Fighter Command's relentless Circus operations over northern France. On 21 June 1941 alone Bühligen claimed three Spitfires in a single afternoon of furious combat over Boulogne and Hardelot, diving through British formations at high speed and using precise cannon bursts to send the fighters spinning down in flames or trailing smoke. He added seven more Spitfires in July and August while flying with 4. Staffel and then six further victories with the Geschwaderstab, including a Hurricane and five Spitfires. These successes, together with fifteen tethered balloons destroyed, brought his total to twenty-one confirmed aerial victories and earned him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 4 September 1941 while still an Oberfeldwebel. He was also awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class on 10 September 1940, the Iron Cross 1st Class on 29 October 1940, and the Luftwaffe Honour Goblet on 1 August 1941.
Promoted to Leutnant on 1 January 1942, Bühligen took command of 4. Staffel of II. Gruppe in April 1942 after the unit converted to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. During the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942 he claimed four Spitfires in one day as the Gruppe scored twenty-six victories overall, weaving through flak and fighter screens at low altitude over the French coast. In November 1942 II. Gruppe was rushed to the Mediterranean Theatre following Operation Torch. Operating from Sicily and Tunisia with the Fw 190 A-3 and A-4, Bühligen claimed his first victory there on 3 December 1942 south of Tebourba and two Lockheed P-38 Lightnings on 26 December during an interception of Boeing B-17 bombers attacking Bizerte. His acting Gruppenkommandeur recommended him for preferential promotion, and on 1 February 1943 he became Oberleutnant after approval by General der Flieger Bruno Loerzer and Field Marshal Albert Kesselring.
In the bitter fighting over Tunisia Bühligen achieved ace-in-a-day status on 2 February 1943 by downing four Curtiss P-40 Warhawks and one Bell P-39 Airacobra near Kairouan in rapid succession, followed by four more Spitfires on 3 February alone. By early February he reached his fiftieth victory amid swirling dogfights against Allied fighter-bombers protecting ground advances. He was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 25 June 1943 as Leutnant and promoted to Hauptmann on 1 May 1943. Returning to the Channel Front in March 1943 he was appointed Kommandeur of II. Gruppe in April 1943. Flying high-altitude intercepts against massive USAAF bomber streams protected by P-47 Thunderbolts, he claimed a series of Herausschuss victories including B-17s and B-24 Liberators, reaching ninety-six confirmed kills by 18 March 1944 when he destroyed a straggling B-24 south-southwest of Forges. This milestone brought him the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves on 2 March 1944, the 413th such award.
On 28 April 1944 Bühligen succeeded Major Kurt Ubben as Geschwaderkommodore of JG 2, initially as Major and soon promoted to Oberstleutnant on 1 October 1944. The Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944 plunged the Geschwader into desperate low-level combat. At 11:57 that day he opened the unit's account by shooting down a P-47 Thunderbolt over the Orne Estuary. On 7 June he claimed two more P-47s north of Caen, the second marking his 100th victory. In the smoke-filled skies over the bocage he added three kills on 5 July near Bernay and Dreux, two Thunderbolts and a North American P-51 Mustang, pushing his score to 104. These actions in swirling, treetop-height dogfights against overwhelming Allied fighter-bombers earned him the Swords to the Knight's Cross on 14 August 1944, the 88th award overall. He was later transferred toward the Eastern Front where engine failure forced an emergency landing behind Soviet lines in May 1945. Taken prisoner, he remained in Soviet captivity until his release in 1950.
After the war Bühligen settled in Nidda, Hesse, where he worked in automotive sales until his death on 11 August 1985. Throughout his career he had been shot down three times and had flown more than 700 missions, ending as one of the last commanders of the legendary Richthofen Geschwader. His record of 112 victories, achieved entirely on the Western and Mediterranean fronts without any claims on the Eastern Front, stood as a testament to his skill in both the Bf 109 and Fw 190 against ever-improving Allied opposition.
Oberfeldwebel Kurt Bühligen.
Leutnant Kurt Bühligen.
Oberleutnant Kurt Bühligen.
Oberleutnant
Kurt Bühligen (Staffelkapitän 4.Staffel / II.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 2
"Richthofen") at the Kairouan airfield in Tunisia, 12 February 1943. The
2nd Group was based there between
January 11, 1943, and March 15, 1943. Other pictures from this occasion can be seen HERE.
The
pilots of II.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (II./JG 2) at the
Kairouan airfield in Tunisia, 12 February 1943. From left to right:
Leutnant Bruno Siekmann (Flugzeugführer in 4. Staffel), Oberfeldwebel
Kurt Goltzsch (Flugzeugführer in 4. Staffel), Oberleutnant Kurt Bühligen
(Staffelkapitän 4. Staffel), Hauptmann Erich Rudorffer (Gruppenführer
II. Gruppe), and Leutnant Lothar Werner (Flugzeugführer in 4. Staffel).
The pilots of II.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (II./JG 2)
eating lunch at
the Kairouan airfield in Tunisia, 12 February 1943. Facing to the camera, from left to right:
Oberfeldwebel Kurt Goltzsch (Flugzeugführer in 4. Staffel), Hauptmann Erich
Rudorffer (Gruppenführer II. Gruppe), and Leutnant Kurt Bühligen (Staffelkapitän 4. Staffel).
Hauptmann Kurt Bühligen.
Major Kurt Bühligen.
Major Kurt Bühligen.
Major Kurt Bühligen.
Major Kurt Bühligen.
Major Kurt Bühligen.
Sources:
W. P. Fellgiebel, Elite of the Third Reich, Helion & Company Limited, Solihull, 2003.
F. Kurowski, Knight's Cross Holders of the Afrikakorps, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Atglen, 1996.
E. Obermaier, Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe, Hoffmann, 1989.
K. Patzwall & V. Scherzer, Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941-1945, Band II, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt, 2001.
A. Kwasny & G. Kwasny, Die Eichenlaubträger 1940-1945 (CD), Deutsches Wehrkundearchiv, Lage-Waddenhausen, 2001.
F. Berger, Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern, Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges, Selbstverlag Florian Berger, 2006.
Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht (CD), VMD-Verlag GmbH, Osnabrück, 2002.
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://en.wikipedia.org/
https://www.tracesofwar.com/
https://grokipedia.com/
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.bundesarchiv.de/en/
https://www.geni.com/
https://books.google.com/
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