Ritterkreuzträger of Lehrgeschwader 1 (LG 1)

Lehrgeschwader 1 (LG 1), also known as Demonstration Wing 1 and formerly Lehrgeschwader Greifswald, was a versatile multi-purpose Luftwaffe wing formed in July 1936 that played a significant role across nearly every major theater of World War II, operating a wide array of aircraft including the Messerschmitt Bf 109, Bf 110, Dornier Do 17, Heinkel He 111, Junkers Ju 88, and Ju 87 Stuka in fighter, bomber, dive-bomber, and Zerstörer roles. Mobilized in 1939, its Gruppen supported the Invasion of Poland with strikes on Warsaw and naval targets, then participated in the invasions of Denmark and Norway where II./LG 1 infamously sank the hospital ship Dronning Maud; during the Battle of France and the Low Countries in 1940 the wing conducted intense ground support, air interdiction, and anti-shipping missions around Dunkirk, claiming multiple Allied vessels sunk or damaged while suffering 55 aircraft losses. In the Battle of Britain, LG 1 endured heavy attrition with 94 aircraft lost or written off between July and December 1940 during raids on RAF airfields and night Blitz operations, after which it shifted to the Balkans in 1941, sinking transports in Piraeus harbor and damaging Royal Navy warships like HMS Ajax, Barham, and Warspite during the campaigns in Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete. Relocated to the Mediterranean and North Africa, the wing excelled in anti-shipping strikes, notably damaging HMS Illustrious, sinking vessels from convoys such as MW 9, and under commanders like Hauptmann Joachim Helbig executing the devastating 11 May 1942 attack that sank three British destroyers (HMS Kipling, Jackal, and Lively) south of Crete, while also mining the Suez Canal, supporting the Afrika Korps, and contributing to the Siege of Malta. Elements operated on the Eastern Front with anti-shipping missions in the Black Sea and ground attacks during the battles of Sevastopol and Stalingrad, while the main force continued in Italy against Anzio and later transferred to France for night operations during the Normandy Campaign and Battle of the Bulge, finally engaging in desperate bridge interdiction over the Oder River before being overrun in northern Germany in late April 1945, having fought from the first to the last days of the war as one of the Luftwaffe's most enduring bomber units despite mounting losses from Allied air superiority and fuel shortages.

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SCHWERTERTRÄGER


Oberst Joachim Helbig (1915-1985) was a highly decorated German bomber pilot in the Luftwaffe who served almost his entire career with Lehrgeschwader 1 (LG 1), distinguishing himself as one of the most successful anti-shipping specialists of World War II. Born in Dahlen, Saxony, he joined the military in 1935, transferred to the Luftwaffe, and by the outbreak of war was an observer and later pilot flying He 111 and Ju 88 aircraft. He earned the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 24 November 1940 as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän of the 4. Staffel, II. Gruppe, LG 1, after completing 75 combat sorties that included support missions over Dunkirk, attacks on Loire bridges, operations against targets in England such as the Worthy Down airfield on 15 August 1940 where his damaged Ju 88 barely returned, and the sinking or damaging of over 33,000 GRT of Allied shipping during the campaigns in Poland, Norway, the Low Countries, France, and the Battle of Britain. Transferred to the Mediterranean theater in early 1941, Helbig continued relentless operations against Malta, British convoys, the Suez Canal, and ports in North Africa while supporting the Afrika Korps; he became Gruppenkommandeur of I. Gruppe, LG 1 in November 1941 and received the Eichenlaub on 16 January 1942 as the 64th recipient after 210 sorties, including damaging HMS Illustrious, sinking a 10,000 GRT troop transport in Piraeus harbor, and numerous anti-shipping strikes. His most spectacular feat came on 11 May 1942 south of Crete when, leading a wave of Ju 88s from I./LG 1, he personally sank the destroyer HMS Kipling and contributed to the destruction of HMS Lively, HMS Jackal, and crippling of others in a daring low-level attack against four British destroyers, actions that, combined with over 330 sorties and the sinking of approximately 182,000 GRT of shipping, earned him the Schwerter on 28 September 1942 as the 20th recipient while still a Hauptmann. Later promoted to Oberst and Geschwaderkommodore of LG 1, Helbig commanded operations in Italy, France, and the Eastern Front before surrendering in May 1945; he lived a civilian life afterward and died in a car accident in 1985.

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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER


Oberstleutnant Gerhard Kollewe (1912-1942) was born on 3 March 1912 in Deutsch-Kruschin in the Province of Posen and after completing his Abitur entered Infanterie-Regiment 7 of the Reichswehr in 1931 as a gunner, becoming an officer candidate in 1932 and receiving promotion to Leutnant in March 1934 before transferring to the Luftwaffe in the summer of 1935; he subsequently served with Stukageschwader units including I./St.G. 162 and St.G. 163, flew with J/88 of the Legion Condor in Spain in 1938 earning the Spanienkreuz in Silber mit Schwertern, and at the outbreak of war held the rank of Oberleutnant as Staffelkapitän of a dive-bomber Staffel that participated on 3 September 1939 in the sinking of the Polish destroyer ORP Wicher and minelayer ORP Gryf in the harbour of Gdynia. Promoted Hauptmann and appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II.(Kampf)/Lehrgeschwader 1, he led his Gruppe with distinction during the Battle of Crete and subsequent operations in the eastern Mediterranean, where on 15 June 1941 his aircraft contributed to the damaging of the British destroyers HMS Isis and HMS Ilex and where his command achieved further successes against enemy shipping that earned him a personal mention in the Wehrmachtbericht of 16 June 1941; for these achievements he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 5 July 1941 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the II.(Kampf)/Lehrgeschwader 1. Continuing operations against Allied naval and merchant traffic in the Mediterranean, II./LG 1 under his leadership sank approximately 148 000 GRT of merchant shipping together with two destroyers and damaged a further 203 500 GRT of merchant vessels as well as three battleships, eight heavy cruisers, five light cruisers and nine destroyers, for which Kollewe, now promoted Major, received the Eichenlaub (112th award) on 12 August 1942 as Gruppenkommandeur of II./Lehrgeschwader 1. On 17 October 1942, while flying a Ju 88 A-4 (Werknummer 141033, coded L1+YC) during an attack on Malta, he was shot down by fighters of Nos. 126 and 249 Squadrons RAF and crashed into the sea between Salina Bay and Valletta; his observer Feldwebel Bernhard Mähler was also killed while the remaining crew members were taken prisoner, and Kollewe, credited with roughly 250 combat missions, was posthumously promoted to Oberstleutnant.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehrgeschwader_1