Adolf “Addi” Glunz was born on 11 June 1916 at Bresegard in the Lugwiglust region of Mecklenburg. He joined the Luftwaffe on 1 September 1939. On completion of his flying training, he was posted to JG 52 on 9 November 1940. Gefreiter Glunz was assigned to 4./JG 52. He recorded his first victory, a RAF Spitfire fighter, on 7 May and claimed a second on 19 May. Glunz accompanied the unit when it transferred to Russia. He recorded three victories during his time on the Eastern front. He also claimed two tanks destroyed! Glunz returned to the Channel Front to serve with II./JG 26 and became one of the most successful fighter pilots over the Western Front. He was assigned to 4./JG 26, arriving there on 8 July 1941. He claimed his sixth victory, another RAF Spitfire, on 27 August. By the end of 1942 he had accumulated 23 victories. On 28 March, Glunz was scrambled from his base at Vitry to intercept six RAF Mosquito twin-engined bombers bombers headed toward Dunkirk at low level. He succeeded in shooting down two of the bombers within one minute to record his 28th and 29th victories. He recorded his 30th victory on 3 April. He shot down his first USAAF four-engined bomber on 5 April for his 32nd victory. On 29 August 1943, he became the only non-commissioned officer in JG 26 ever to receive the Ritterkreuz. Glunz claimed his 50th victory on 31 December. Oberfeldwebel Glunz was appointed Staffelkapitän of 5./JG 26 on 15 January 1944. On 22 February 1944, he achieved six victories in one day, including five four-engined bombers (54-59). He was commissioned with the rank of Leutnant in the first week of April 1944.
On 3 March 1944, Glunz was appointed Staffelkapitan of 6./JG 26, a position he held until 18 March 1945. Operating over the Invasion front, Glunz claimed three USAAF P-47 fighters shot down on 10 June (62-64). He was awarded the Eichenlaub (Nr 508) on 24 June 1944 after 65 victories. On 24 December, Glunz shot a further two USAAF P-47 fighters (69-70). He recorded his 71st, and last, victory, a RAF Spitfire fighter, on 1 January 1945. On 18 March 1945, Glunz was transferred to III./EJG 2 for conversion training on to the Me 262 jet fighter. He was then assigned to JG 7 where he served out the remainder of the war. Although continuously in action until 1945, “Addi” Glunz was never shot down or wounded in aerial combat. He was, however, wounded once on the ground when he was showered with glass from a window during an RAF bombing raid on Abbeville in April 1942.
“Addi” Glunz flew a total of 574 missions, including 238 with enemy contact, in achieving 71 victories. His total includes 19 four-engined bombers. He claimed three victories over the Eastern Front. In addition to his confirmed victories he had ten unconfirmed victories, possibly as many as 15 according to some sources.
Source :
Dick van Steijn photo collection
https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/adolph-glunz_12344E4B53/
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5545335338840170&set=gm.1823559754487937
