Bernhard Woldenga

Bernhard Woldenga (4 December 1901 – 19 January 1999) was a German pilot during World War II. He served in the Luftwaffe, commanding the JG 27 and JG 77 fighter wings. Woldenga was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany.

Bernhard Woldenga
Born	(1901-12-04)4 December 1901 Hamburg, German Empire
Died	19 January 1999(1999-01-19) (aged 97) Timmendorfer Strand, Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Luftwaffe
Rank	Oberst (colonel)
Commands	I./JG 1, JG 27, JG 77
Battles / wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations	Rüdiger von Wechmar (son in law)

Career

Woldenga's career started as a captain in the merchant marine. He started his flight training in 1928 and worked as chief pilot for the FVK Warnemünde. He transferred to the newly emerging Luftwaffe, taking command as Gruppenkommandeur of the I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 131 (JG 131—131st Fighter Wing) on 15 March 1937.^[1] This unit was then renamed on 1 November 1938 to I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 130 (JG 130—130th Fighter Wing) which then became the I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1—1st Fighter Wing) on 1 May 1939.^[2]

With this unit he participated in the invasion of Poland in 1939. He surrender command of the Gruppe on 1 February 1940 and was transferred to the Reichsluftfahrtministerium. He briefly led Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing) on the Channel Front from 11 October to 22 October 1940, replacing Oberst Max Ibel before handing over command to Major Wolfgang Schellmann.^[3] He was then made Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) on 2 January 1941.^[4] Under this command, JG 77 participated in the Balkans Campaign and invasion of Crete. JG 77 claimed 50 aerial victories.

Awards and recognition

Woldenga received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He commanded of JG 27 on 21 June 1941 during the invasion of the Soviet Union and claimed 4 aerial victories. He relocated the Geschwaderstab to North Africa in December 1941. He was appointed Fliegerführer Balkan on 10 June 1942. His last service position of the war was commander of the Luftkriegschule 10 in Fürstenwalde near Berlin.^[5] He is credited with three aerial victories of which two were claimed on the Eastern Front.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st class
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 5 July 1941 as Major and Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 77^[6][7]

References

Citations

1. Prien et al. 2000, p. 94.
2. Prien et al. 2000, p. 87.
3. Prien, Rodeike & Stemmer 1998, p. 524.
4. Prien 1995, p. 2370.
5. Obermaier 1989, p. 226.
6. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 451.
7. Scherzer 2007, p. 794.

Bibliography

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer [in German] (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1939 – 1945] (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7.
• Prien, Jochen (1995). Geschichte des Jagdgeschwaders 77—Teil 4—1944–1945 [History of Jagdgeschwader 77—Volume 4—1944–1945] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-29-8.
• Prien, Jochen; Rodeike, Peter; Stemmer, Gerhard (1998). Messerschmitt Bf 109 im Einsatz bei Stab und I./Jagdgeschwader 27 1939 – 1945 [Messerschmitt Bf 109 in Action with the Headquarters Unit and I./Jagdgeschwader 27 in 1939 – 1945] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-46-5.
• Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2000). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 1—Vorkriegszeit und Einsatz über Polen—1934 bis 1939 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 1—Pre-War Period and Action over Poland—1934 to 1939] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-54-0.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.

Military offices
Preceded by Oberstleutnant Max Ibel	Acting Commander of Jagdgeschwader 27 Afrika October 11, 1940 – October 22, 1940	Succeeded by Major Wolfgang Schellmann
Preceded by Major Wolfgang Schellmann	Commander of Jagdgeschwader 27 Afrika June 21, 1941 – April 10, 1942	Succeeded by Oberstleutnant Eduard Neumann
Preceded by Oberstleutnant Eitel Roediger von Manteuffel	Commander of Jagdgeschwader 77 Herz As December 22, 1940 – June 23, 1941	Succeeded by Major Gotthard Handrick
Preceded by none	Commander of Jagdfliegerführer Rumänien July, 1943 – June, 1944	Succeeded by Hauptmann Wolfgang Falck