Otto Schultz
German fighter ace and Knight's Cross recipient (1920–2013)
Otto Schultz (31 May 1920 – 28 July 2013) was a German Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Schultz was credited with 73 aerial victories claimed in approximately 820 combat missions.
Early life and career
Schultz was born on 31 May 1920 in Dannenberg, at the time in the Province of Hanover within the Weimar Republic. Following flight training, Schultz was posted to II. Gruppe (2nd group) of Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing) on 1 April 1940 where he initially served with 4. Staffel (4th squadron) of JG 51. At the time, 4. Staffel was headed by Oberleutnant Josef Fözö and the Gruppe was under command of Hauptmann Günther Matthes which was based at Böblingen Airfield.
World War II
In June 1941, JG 51 and the majority of the Luftwaffe were transferred to the Eastern Front in preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.
II. Gruppe had been withdrawn from the Eastern Front in early October 1942 and sent to Jesau in East Prussia, present day Yushny, Bagrationovsky District, for conversion to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. Conversion training began on 7 October and on 4 November, the unit received the order to convert back to the Bf 109 and to transfer to the Mediterranean theatre. Via various stopovers, II. Gruppe moved to Sidi Ahmed airfield, arriving on 14 November.
“Otto Schultz” enters the record as german fighter ace and Knight's Cross recipient (1920–2013). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Otto, Schultz and German can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Otto Schultz” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.