• Junker Ju 88

Date of birth:

July 15th, 1918 (Hadersdorf-Waitlingen/Lower Austria, Austria)

Date of death:

February 28th, 2004 (Henstedt-Ulzburg, Germany)

Nationality:

Austrian

Dieter Lukesch before World War Two was a pilot with the Austrian Luftwaffe. He has mainly flown the Junkers Ju 88. In 1944 he became the Geschwader Kommandeur of the first jet engine powered Arado Ar 234 Geschwader. A group of 8 Ar 234`s under his command flew the first mission on Christmas 1944 against Liege/Belgium . This was the first bombing mission with jet powered airplanes in the history of aviation. On New Year’s day 1945 he also led the first jet-engined night bomber attack, in an attack at Brussels and Liege. At the end of the war he became POW to the U.S. Forces and was released on July 27th, 1945.

In total he flew 436 bomber sorties during WWII, during which he and his crew shot down 5 enemy aircraft.

After the Second World War he was trained by the KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) as pilot for Air Austria. In 1959 he went to Germany and became a flight captain with Lufthansa. He flew with the Convair 340/440, followed by Vickers Viscount, Boeing 727 and finally Boeing 707 until his retirement.

Promotions:
?: Leutnant;
September 28th, 1942: Oberleutnant;
?: Hauptmann.

Career:
1938: Kampfgeschwader 158;
May 1st, 1939: Kampfgeschwader 76;
August 1940: Technischer Offizier Stabstaffel / Stab III. Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 76;
?: 7. Staffel / III. Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 76;
?: Staffelführer 9. Staffel / III. Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 76;
February 1945: Kommandeur IV. Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 76;
May 1945 – July 27th, 1945: POW U.S. Forces.

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Leutnant (Pilot Officer)

Unit:

Flugzeugführer, 7. Staffel, III. Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 76, Luftwaffe

Awarded on:

December 8th, 1941

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Leutnant (Pilot Officer)

Unit:

Flugzeugführer, 7. Staffel, III. Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 76, Luftwaffe

Awarded on:

December 20th, 1941

Awarded for his successes as a bomber pilot over England and the Soviet Union. In the latter campaign he gave a good account of himself striking enemy supply lines and installations in the rear. Especially noteworthy were his night attacks on the Rybinsk aircraft factory and the destruction of an oil tank farm near the same city.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

February 1942

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Oberleutnant (Flying Officer)

Unit:

III. Staffel, Kampfgeschwader 76, Luftwaffe

Awarded on:

December 23rd, 1942

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Hauptmann (Flight Lieutenant)

Unit:

Staffelkapitän, 9. Staffel, III. Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 76, Luftwaffe

Awarded on:

October 10th, 1944

Awarded for his successes as a bomber pilot on the southern sector of the Eastern front, the Mediterranean and in Italy. By this time he had flown over 400 combat sorties and sunk a total of 12 tankers and 2 freighters on the Volga.

620th Award.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

July 20th, 1941

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

June 15th, 1941

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

• Photo 1: Willi Schumacher Collection
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  - PATZWALL, K. D., Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt, 2008.
  - THOMAS, FRANZ & WEGMANN, GÜNTER, Die Eichenlaubträger 1940-1945, Biblio-Verlag, 1998.
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  - Lexikon der Wehrmacht