Adolf Borchers
Encyclopedia
Adolf Borchers was a German
former Luftwaffe
fighter ace
and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
during World War II
. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator
credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft
during aerial combat. His brother, Major
Walter Borchers
received the Knight's Cross on 29 October 1944 as Gruppenkommandeur
of III./Nachtjagdgeschwader 5
(NJG 5). A second brother, SS-Hauptsturmführer
Hermann Borchers
received the Knight's Cross on 16 October 1944 as commander of the I. Battalion of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 19.
. He joined the Condor Legion
in the fall of 1938 and participated as a Unteroffizier
in the Spanish Civil War
. After the Spanish Civil War he was transferred to 2./Jagdgeschwader 77
(JG 77) which later became 11./Jagdgeschwader 51
(JG 51). In this unit he fought in the Invasion of Poland, Battle of France
and Battle of Britain
, claiming 5 kills in the west. During Operation Barbarossa
he accumulated further victories and by the end of 1941 his score had increased to 23 aerial victories. After being promoted to an Officers
rank he was made Staffelkapitän
of 11./JG 51 on 8 October 1942. By the end of 1942 his score stood at 38 aerial victories.
In 1943 Borchers married the famed skier Christl Cranz
.
For 78 aerial victories he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
. On 11 June 1944 he was put in charge of I./JG 52. He claimed his 100 aerial victory on 24 July 1944. His 118th victory claimed on 2 September 1944 is also noted for claiming Jagdgeschwader 52
(JG 52) 10,000th kill. Gruppenkommandeur
Borchers was transferred to III./JG 52 on 1 February 1945. Together with his fellow comrades he surrendered to US force only to be turned over to Soviet forces.
Borchers was officially credited with shooting down 132 enemy aircraft in more than 800 combat missions, the majority were claimed on the Eastern front
and five were claimed in the Battle of France
and Battle of Britain
together.
After World War II
he and his wife, Christl Cranz, found a Ski school
which she led until 1987.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
former Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
fighter ace
Fighter Ace
Fighter Ace was a massively multiplayer online computer game in which one flies World War II fighter and bomber planes in combat against other players and virtual pilots...
and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator
Military aviation
Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Air power includes the national means of conducting such...
credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
during aerial combat. His brother, Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Walter Borchers
Walter Borchers
Walter Borchers was a Luftwaffe night fighter flying ace of World War II. Borchers was credited with 59 aerial victories, including 43 nocturnal victories, 10 as a destroyer pilot and 6 four-engined bombers at day time, claimed in roughly 300 combat missions.For a list of Luftwaffe night fighter...
received the Knight's Cross on 29 October 1944 as Gruppenkommandeur
Gruppenkommandeur
Gruppenkommandeur is a Luftwaffe position , that is the equivalent of a commander of a group or wing in other air forces. Gruppenkommandeur usually has the rank of Hauptmann or Major, and commands a Gruppe, which is a sub-division of a Geschwader. A Gruppe usually consists of three or four...
of III./Nachtjagdgeschwader 5
Nachtjagdgeschwader 5
Nachtjagdgeschwader 5 was a Luftwaffe night fighter-wing of World War II. NJG 5 was formed on 30 September 1942 in Döberitz.-Kommodore:*Major Fritz Schaffer, 30 September 1942*Oberst Günther Radusch, 2 August 1943...
(NJG 5). A second brother, SS-Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
Hermann Borchers
Hermann Borchers
Hermann Borchers was a Sturmbannführer in the Waffen SS during World War II. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II...
received the Knight's Cross on 16 October 1944 as commander of the I. Battalion of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 19.
Biography
He was born in Wendhausen near LüneburgLüneburg
Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
. He joined the Condor Legion
Condor Legion
The Condor Legion was a unit composed of volunteers from the German Air Force and from the German Army which served with the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War of July 1936 to March 1939. The Condor Legion developed methods of terror bombing which were used widely in the Second World War...
in the fall of 1938 and participated as a Unteroffizier
Unteroffizier
Unteroffizier is both a specific military rank as well as a collective term for non-commissioned officers of the German military that has existed since the 19th century. The rank existed as a title as early as the 17th century with the first widespread usage occurring in the Bavarian Army of the...
in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. After the Spanish Civil War he was transferred to 2./Jagdgeschwader 77
Jagdgeschwader 77
Jagdgeschwader 77 Herz As was a Luftwaffe fighter Geschwader during World War II. It served in all the German theaters of war, from Western Europe to the Eastern Front, and from the high north in Norway to the Mediterranean.All three gruppen within the Geschwader operated variants of the...
(JG 77) which later became 11./Jagdgeschwader 51
Jagdgeschwader 51
Jagdgeschwader 51 Mölders was a Luftwaffe fighter wing during World War II, named after the fighter ace Werner Mölders in 1942. JG 51's pilots won more Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes than any other Jagdgeschwader, and flew combat from 1939 in all major theatres of war. Flying Bf 109s and then...
(JG 51). In this unit he fought in the Invasion of Poland, Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
and Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
, claiming 5 kills in the west. During Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
he accumulated further victories and by the end of 1941 his score had increased to 23 aerial victories. After being promoted to an Officers
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
rank he was made Staffelkapitän
Staffelkapitän
Staffelkapitän is a position in flying units of the German Luftwaffe that is the equivalent of RAF/USAF Squadron Commander. Usually today a Staffelkapitän is of Oberstleutnant or Major rank....
of 11./JG 51 on 8 October 1942. By the end of 1942 his score stood at 38 aerial victories.
In 1943 Borchers married the famed skier Christl Cranz
Christl Cranz
Christl Franziska Antonia Cranz-Borchers was a German alpine skier. Crantz was the dominating skier of the 1930s winning twelve world championship titles between 1934 and 1939. At the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen she won the Alpine skiing combined competition .Cranz was born 1914...
.
For 78 aerial victories he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
. On 11 June 1944 he was put in charge of I./JG 52. He claimed his 100 aerial victory on 24 July 1944. His 118th victory claimed on 2 September 1944 is also noted for claiming Jagdgeschwader 52
Jagdgeschwader 52
Jagdgeschwader 52 of the Luftwaffe, was the most successful fighter-wing of all time, with a claimed total of more than 10,000 victories over enemy aircraft during World War II. It was the unit of the top three scoring Fighter aces of all time, Erich Hartmann, Gerhard Barkhorn and Günther Rall...
(JG 52) 10,000th kill. Gruppenkommandeur
Gruppenkommandeur
Gruppenkommandeur is a Luftwaffe position , that is the equivalent of a commander of a group or wing in other air forces. Gruppenkommandeur usually has the rank of Hauptmann or Major, and commands a Gruppe, which is a sub-division of a Geschwader. A Gruppe usually consists of three or four...
Borchers was transferred to III./JG 52 on 1 February 1945. Together with his fellow comrades he surrendered to US force only to be turned over to Soviet forces.
Borchers was officially credited with shooting down 132 enemy aircraft in more than 800 combat missions, the majority were claimed on the Eastern front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
and five were claimed in the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
and Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
together.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he and his wife, Christl Cranz, found a Ski school
Ski school
A ski school is an establishment that trains skiers. The modern version of the ski school was invented by the Austrian ski pioneer Hannes Schneider in the early 1920s when he formalized instruction methods and established these methods as teaching principles for all ski instructors at his school.In...
which she led until 1987.
Awards
- Ehrenpokal der LuftwaffeEhrenpokal der LuftwaffeThe Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe was a Luftwaffe award established on February 27, 1940 by Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, the Reich Minister of Aviation and Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe. It was officially known as the Ehrenpokal "für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg", or Honor Goblet "For...
(13 October 1941) - German CrossGerman CrossThe German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit...
in Gold (15 October 1942) - Iron CrossIron CrossThe Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
(1939) 2nd and 1st class - Knight's Cross of the Iron CrossKnight's Cross of the Iron CrossThe Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
on 22 November 1943 as HauptmannHauptmannHauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the dated meaning of "head", i.e...
and StaffelkapitänStaffelkapitänStaffelkapitän is a position in flying units of the German Luftwaffe that is the equivalent of RAF/USAF Squadron Commander. Usually today a Staffelkapitän is of Oberstleutnant or Major rank....
of the 11./JG 51 "Mölders"