Jagdgeschwader 53, universally known as the “Pik As” or Ace of Spades Geschwader, was one of the oldest and most distinguished fighter wings of the Luftwaffe, formed on 1 May 1939 at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim by the redesignation of Jagdgeschwader 133 and equipped throughout its existence primarily with successive variants of the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Its distinctive unit emblem, a black ace of spades, was adopted early under Geschwaderkommodore Hans Klein and became one of the most recognisable insignia of the German fighter arm. The Geschwader first saw action during the Phoney War and then played a major role in the Westfeldzug of May–June 1940, claiming approximately 275 aerial victories against French and British aircraft, including a single-day total of 43 on 14 May. Under subsequent commanders such as Hans-Jürgen von Cramon-Taubadel and especially Günther Freiherr von Maltzahn, who led it from October 1940 until late 1943, JG 53 fought intensively in the Battle of Britain before transferring east for Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. On the Eastern Front the wing rapidly accumulated claims, reaching its one-thousandth victory by the end of July 1941 and recording 762 Soviet aircraft destroyed between 22 June and 5 December 1941 at relatively light cost. Elements later returned to the Mediterranean, operating from Sicily against Malta and then in North Africa and Tunisia, while I. Gruppe saw heavy fighting around Stalingrad in 1942, claiming over 900 victories in a few months. From 1943 onward the Geschwader was increasingly committed to the defence of the Reich and the Italian front, confronting overwhelming Allied numerical superiority over Anzio, Cassino and the Western approaches. In the final year of the war its Gruppen operated from bases in southern Germany, Hungary and Austria, participating in operations such as Bodenplatte before the remnants were disbanded or absorbed into other units in April–May 1945. Among the many notable pilots who served with JG 53 were Werner Mölders, Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke, Franz von Werra, Friedrich-Karl Müller and Helmut Lipfert, several of whom rose to high command and received the highest decorations for aerial combat.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Oberst Günther Freiherr von Maltzahn (1910-1953) was a prominent German Luftwaffe fighter pilot and ace during the Second World War who ultimately attained the rank of Oberst and commanded Jagdgeschwader 53 as Geschwaderkommodore from 9 October 1940 until 4 October 1943, claiming a total of 68 aerial victories in roughly 500 combat missions, with roughly equal numbers achieved over the Western and Eastern Fronts. Having joined the Luftwaffe in 1935 after earlier cavalry service and rising to Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the II. Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 53 by the outbreak of war, he led his Gruppe through the Polish campaign, the Battle of France and the initial phases of the Battle of Britain, scoring his first victory on 30 September 1939 against a French Potez 630 bomber and accumulating further successes against RAF fighters over the English Channel; appointed Geschwaderkommodore in early October 1940, he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 30 December 1940 as Major and former Gruppenkommandeur of the II. Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 53 in recognition of his personal tally of 13 aerial victories together with his effective leadership and organizational contributions during the intense air battles over Britain. During the opening weeks of Operation Barbarossa from late June 1941, Jagdgeschwader 53 operated with notable success against Soviet aircraft, and von Maltzahn himself achieved a rapid series of victories often claiming multiple aircraft in single missions, including several SB-3 bombers and other types in rapid succession across late June and July, bringing his personal score to 42 by mid-July and earning him the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 24 July 1941 as the 29th recipient overall, awarded specifically for both his outstanding command achievements as Kommodore of Jagdgeschwader 53 and his impressive personal combat record. The presentation of the Eichenlaub was made personally by Adolf Hitler at the Führerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze.
Oberstleutnant Friedrich-Karl "Tutti" Müller (1916-1944) was born on 25 December 1916 in Berlin-Lichterfelde and entered military service in 1936, transferring to the Luftwaffe where he completed fighter training and joined 8./Jagdgeschwader 53 as a Leutnant. He scored his first aerial victory on 27 May 1940 against a French Curtiss Hawk 75 during the Battle of France, claiming eight victories in that campaign before adding further successes against the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain. Deployed to the Eastern Front with Jagdgeschwader 53 in 1941, Müller rapidly increased his tally and was appointed Staffelkapitän of 1./Jagdgeschwader 53. In September 1942, while flying intensive operations in support of the advance toward Stalingrad, he achieved an extraordinary series of victories: four aircraft on 16 September, five on 17 September, six or seven on 18 September, and additional claims on 19 September that brought his total to 100 aerial victories. For this outstanding performance as Staffelkapitän of 1./Jagdgeschwader 53, Oberleutnant Müller was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 19 September 1942. Only four days later, on 23 September 1942, he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz as the 126th recipient of the German armed forces, recognizing his continued success and the century mark. Promoted to Hauptmann, he later became Gruppenkommandeur of I./Jagdgeschwader 53, leading the unit in the Mediterranean and Tunisia before transferring in early 1944 to Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet," where he commanded IV./Jagdgeschwader 3 and was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 3 in March 1944. Credited with 140 aerial victories in more than 600 combat missions, including numerous four-engined bombers in the Defense of the Reich, Müller was killed on 29 May 1944 in a landing accident at Salzwedel while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 and was posthumously promoted to Oberstleutnant.
Leutnant Wilhelm Crinius (1920-1997) was born on 2 December 1920 in Hohenhausen in Kalletal and joined the Luftwaffe in January 1940 after completing basic training, becoming a fighter pilot and being posted in February 1942 to 3./Jagdgeschwader 53. Initially operating from Sicily against Malta without recorded victories, he transferred with I./Jagdgeschwader 53 to the Eastern Front, where his combat career accelerated dramatically during the summer of 1942. He claimed his first aerial victories in June and rapidly built his score, achieving the 15th on 1 August, the 25th by 25 August, and the 49th on 27 August, which also marked the 1,000th victory for I./Jagdgeschwader 53. Promoted to Feldwebel on 1 September after his 55th victory, Crinius then scored with exceptional intensity, claiming approximately 40 victories in August and another 46 between 1 and 22 September. On 22 September 1942 he reached his 100th aerial victory, becoming the 22nd Luftwaffe pilot to achieve this milestone. For this outstanding performance as Flugzeugführer in 3./Jagdgeschwader 53, Feldwebel Crinius was awarded both the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes and the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on the same day, 23 September 1942, the only German fighter pilot to receive the two decorations simultaneously, and was promoted to Leutnant. He subsequently moved with I./Jagdgeschwader 53 to Tunisia, where he claimed a further 14 victories before being shot down by a Spitfire over the sea on 13 January 1943, surviving a day in a dinghy before capture as a prisoner of war. Credited with 114 aerial victories in roughly 400 combat missions, predominantly on the Eastern Front, Crinius survived the war and later worked in private industry as a senior manager until his death on 26 April 1997 in Stuhr-Fahrenhorst.
Major Wolfgang Tonne (1918-1943) was born on 28 February 1918 in Moosbach in Schleiz, Thuringia, and entered the Luftwaffe in 1937 as an officer cadet, completing flight training before being posted as a Leutnant to 3./Jagdgeschwader 53 in December 1939. He claimed his first aerial victory on 14 May 1940 during the Battle of France, a British Blenheim bomber, and went on to score five victories in the Western campaign before participating in the Battle of Britain. Transferred to the Eastern Front in June 1941 with Jagdgeschwader 53, Tonne steadily built his score and was promoted to Oberleutnant on 1 October 1941, becoming Staffelkapitän of 3./Jagdgeschwader 53 in February 1942. Operating intensively over the Soviet Union, particularly in the Stalingrad sector during the summer of 1942, he achieved rapid success and was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 6 September 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of 3./Jagdgeschwader 53 after reaching 54 aerial victories. Continuing his exceptional run, Tonne claimed his 100th and 101st victories shortly thereafter and received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 24 September 1942, the 128th such award, presented by Adolf Hitler. In November 1942 he led 3./Jagdgeschwader 53 to North Africa, where he specialized in combat against Allied fighters and bombers, adding 21 further victories including numerous Spitfires and one four-engined bomber. On 20 April 1943, after scoring his 122nd aerial victory, Tonne was killed in a flying accident while attempting a celebratory low-level pass with landing gear extended over the airfield at Protville near Tunis in Tunisia. Credited with a total of 122 aerial victories in 641 combat missions, of which 96 were claimed on the Eastern Front, he remains remembered as one of the distinguished aces of Jagdgeschwader 53.
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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER
Oberst Werner Mölders (1913-1941) was born on 18 March 1913 in Gelsenkirchen and entered the Reichswehr as a Fahnenjunker in 1931 before transferring to the Luftwaffe, receiving his pilot’s wings and rising to Oberleutnant by 1936. In 1938 he volunteered for the Legion Condor in the Spanish Civil War, serving as Staffelkapitän of the 3. Staffel of Jagdgruppe 88 and becoming the leading German ace of that conflict with fourteen confirmed victories, for which he received the Spanienkreuz in Gold mit Schwertern und Brillanten. Returning to Germany he commanded III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 53 “Pik As” from October 1939, scoring his first Second World War victory on 20 September 1939 and, after brief French captivity in June 1940, being appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 51. For twenty-five aerial victories he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 29 May 1940 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of III./Jagdgeschwader 53. Continuing to score over the Channel Front, he received the Eichenlaub on 21 September 1940 as Major and Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 51 after forty victories, becoming the second recipient of that decoration. On the opening day of Operation Barbarossa, 22 June 1941, he claimed four Soviet aircraft, bringing his total to seventy-two, and was awarded the Schwerter the same day as the second officer of the Wehrmacht so honoured. On 15 July 1941 he became the first fighter pilot in history to reach one hundred confirmed aerial victories, achieving his one-hundred-and-first that same day, and the following day was presented with the Brillanten as the first soldier of the Wehrmacht to receive the highest grade of the Ritterkreuz. Promoted to Oberst on 20 July 1941 and forbidden further combat flying, he was appointed Inspekteur der Jagdflieger and later General der Jagdflieger. On 22 November 1941, while travelling as a passenger in a Heinkel He 111 to the state funeral of Ernst Udet, the aircraft crashed near Breslau-Gandau in bad weather, killing Mölders at the age of twenty-eight; he had accumulated one hundred and fifteen victories in more than three hundred combat sorties.
Oberst Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke was born on 11 March 1913 in Schrimm in the Province of Posen and initially enlisted in the cavalry in 1934 before transferring to the newly formed Luftwaffe as an officer candidate the following year, completing his pilot training and serving as an instructor at the Jagdfliegerschule Werneuchen prior to a brief tour with the Legion Condor in Spain. Returning to Germany he joined Jagdgeschwader 53, rising by the outbreak of war to Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän of the 7. Staffel of III. Gruppe, scoring his first victory over a French Potez 637 on 7 November 1939 and adding further successes during the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain, where he was forced to bale out over the Channel on 13 August 1940 after engine failure yet was rescued. In the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa he claimed his twenty-fifth aerial victory and was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 6 August 1941 as Hauptmann. After a period of service in North Africa, Malta and Sicily from December 1941 to May 1942, during which he added four more victories, he returned to the Eastern Front and transferred to the Geschwaderstab of Jagdgeschwader 3 “Udet,” becoming Kommodore of the Geschwader on 12 September 1942. Having achieved his one-hundredth victory on 6 September he received the Eichenlaub on 9 September 1942 as Hauptmann, and on 17 December 1942, during the fighting over Stalingrad, he became the fourth fighter pilot to reach one hundred and fifty victories. For a total of one hundred and fifty-five confirmed aerial victories he was awarded the Schwerter on 23 December 1942 as Major and Kommodore of Jagdgeschwader 3 “Udet.” Although officially grounded from further operational flying after the award of the Schwerter, he continued to fly combat missions in the Defence of the Reich and on 23 March 1944, after claiming his one-hundred-and-sixty-second and final victory, a Boeing B-17 and a North American P-51 Mustang, he was himself shot down near Schöppenstedt by American Mustang fighters and killed in the ensuing crash, having flown seven hundred and thirty-two combat sorties and attained one hundred and sixty-two confirmed victories, twenty-five of them in the West including four four-engined bombers.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagdgeschwader_53
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