Date of birth:

August 17th, 1917 (Panitzsch-Leipzig/Saxony, Germany)

Date of death:

July 23rd, 2006 (Jever-Friesland/Lower Saxony, Germany)

Nationality:

German

Erhard Jähnert flew over 622 combat sorties with Stuka-Geschwader 3, achieving the following successes in addition to those achieved prior to receiving the Knight's Cross…

- Destroying 32 trucks at the Perekop isthmus during 2 ground attack sorties.
- Destroying a wreck off the coast of the Kuban bridgehead (25.09.1943), which was occupied by 40 Soviets. In doing this he helped secure the German withdrawal from the bridgehead.
- Participating in the destruction of 3 Soviet destroyers (‘Besposcadnyj’, ‘Kharkov’ and ‘Sposobnyj’) on the 06.10.1943 in the area southwest of the Crimea.
- Destroying/damaging at least 80 tanks, of which 25 were hit by rockets in the Latvian battle area.

He finally reached the rank of Major. According to his own words, he was awarded the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz on April 30th, 1945. However no evidence has been found yet.

Promotions:
October 1st, 1936: Gefreiter;
January 1st, 1939: Unteroffizier;
August 1st, 1940: Feldwebel;
December 1st, 1940: Oberfeldwebel;
December 1st, 1942: Leutnant;
June 1st, 1943: Oberleutnant;
February 1st, 1944: Hauptmann;
May 1945: Major.

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Unteroffizier

Awarded on:

October 20th, 1939

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Unteroffizier

Awarded on:

July 2nd, 1940

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Oberfeldwebel (Flight Sergeant)

Awarded on:

August 4th, 1941

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Oberfeldwebel (Flight Sergeant)

Awarded on:

August 25th, 1941

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Oberfeldwebel (Flight Sergeant)

Awarded on:

December 6th, 1941

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Oberfeldwebel (Flight Sergeant)

Unit:

Flugzeugführer

Awarded on:

March 18th, 1942

Published in the Ehrenliste der Deutschen Luftwaffe on March 23rd, 1942.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Oberfeldwebel (Flight Sergeant)

Awarded on:

June 11th, 1942

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Oberfeldwebel (Flight Sergeant)

Unit:

9. Staffel, III. Gruppe, Sturzkampfgeschwader 3, Luftwaffe

Awarded on:

June 17th, 1942

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Leutnant (Pilot Officer)

Unit:

Flugzeugführer, III. Gruppe, Sturzkampfgeschwader 3, Luftwaffe

Awarded on:

May 18th, 1943

Awarded for his successes achieved over the course of 300 ground attack sorties. These included the following…

- Assisting in the destruction of the Vistula bridges at Modlin and Radom during the Polish campaign.
- Striking the British aircraft carrier ‘Illustrious’ with two direct hits (each a 1000 kg bomb) over the course of 4 sorties.
- Sinking a light cruiser and a water tanker off the coast of Tobruk.
- Setting a large fuel depot near Alexandria on fire during a nocturnal sortie.
- Sinking a British fast attack boat off the coast of El Quasaba, also in a nocturnal attack.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

• Photo 1: Willi Schumacher Collection
• - FELLGIEBEL, W.P., Elite of theThird Reich, Helion & Company Limited, Solihull, 2003.
  - JÄHNERT, E., Mal Oben, Mal Unten, Flechsig, Deutschland, 2009.
  - KUROWSKI, F., Knight's Cross Holders of the Afrikakorps, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Atglen, United States, 1996.
  - PATZWALL, K. & SCHERZER, V., Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941-1945, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt, 2001.
  - PATZWALL, K. D., Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt, 2008.
  - SCHINDLER, MICHAEL G., Ritterkreuzträger aus Sachsen 1939-1945, libergraphix.
  - THOMAS, FRANZ & WEGMANN, GÜNTER, Die Eichenlaubträger 1940-1945, Biblio-Verlag, 1997.
  - Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht (CD), VMD-Verlag GmbH, Osnabrück, 2002
  - Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945