Kampfgeschwader 55 "Greif" was one of the most distinguished medium bomber wings of the Luftwaffe during World War II, officially created on 1 May 1939 with its Geschwaderstab based in Giessen under the early leadership of Generalmajor Wilhelm Süssmann. Operating the twin-engine Heinkel He 111 throughout almost the entirety of its frontline service, the Geschwader opened its operational career in the invasion of Poland in September 1939 before carrying out reconnaissance and bombing sorties during the French campaign of May 1940. Transferred to bases in northern France, the wing took a prominent role in the Battle of Britain and the subsequent Blitz, sustaining heavy casualties which included the death of Geschwaderkommodore Oberst Alois Stoeckl on 14 August 1940. In June 1941, the Geschwader deployed east for Operation Barbarossa, serving extensively under Luftflotte 4 across Ukraine, the Crimea, and the Don river bend, where it supported frontline army formations during the encirclement battles of Kiev and Kharkov. By late 1942, its Gruppen were heavily committed to the Battle of Stalingrad, enduring grueling night and day supply runs into the pocket at Pitomnik airfield while suffering severe losses from Soviet fighter interception and antiaircraft artillery. Highly decorated airmen such as Major Heinz Höfer, Hauptmann Werner Artur Schmidt, and Oberfeldwebel Walter Pilz distinguished themselves in hundreds of ground-attack and interdiction missions, earning the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes. In 1943, its specialized 14. (Eis)/KG 55 was formed to attack Soviet rail networks and supply locomotives using modified aircraft. Later participating in the strategic air strike on the American airbase at Poltava in June 1944, the battered bomber unit was finally redesignated as Kampfgeschwader (J) 55 in November 1944 to retrain as a fighter unit for Reich defense, flying combat missions until its dissolution at the conclusion of the war.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Oberst der Reserve Dr.jur. Ernst Kühl (1888-1972) was born on 18 March 1888 in Breslau and studied law before serving as a Leutnant in the Feldartillerie-Regiment 22 during the First World War, where he earned both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz; after the war he resumed civilian life as a jurist and Landrat before obtaining a pilot’s licence and joining the Luftwaffe as a reservist in 1936. He flew with Kampfgeschwader 55 from the Polish campaign onward, receiving the Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz II. Klasse in 1939 and the Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz I. Klasse in 1940, the Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe on 20 December 1940, and the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 21 August 1942 as Oberstleutnant der Reserve and Kommandeur of the II. Gruppe/Kampfgeschwader 55. Promoted Oberstleutnant der Reserve on 1 February 1942, he became Kommodore of Kampfgeschwader 55 on 27 August 1942 and was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 17 October 1942 for outstanding leadership of his Gruppe and later the entire Geschwader on the Eastern Front together with his personal completion of 230 operational sorties, many of them against targets in the Stalingrad sector. Elevated to Oberst der Reserve, he continued to command Kampfgeschwader 55 “Greif” through supply flights into the Stalingrad pocket, attacks on the tank factory at Gorki and the refineries at Saratov, and direct support of Operation Citadel; on 7 July 1943 his crews flew 178 sorties in close support of the II. SS-Panzer-Korps near Gremutschi and Krassaja, striking targets as near as 200 metres from friendly lines. For these continued successes of the Geschwader until he relinquished command on 8 August 1943, and for reaching a personal total of 314 missions at an advanced age, Kühl received the Eichenlaub on 18 December 1943 (356th award). He later served as Fliegerführer Nord, Kommandeur of the 3. Flieger-Division and of the 5. Flieger-Division, ending the war as Oberst der Reserve; after British captivity until 1947 he lived in Münster until his death on 2 February 1972, having completed approximately 400 operational sorties in all.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kampfgeschwader_55
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