KITS 11/2023

Fw. Klaus Dietrich, Führerjägerstaffel, Rastenburg, Germany, August 1944

This unusual aircraft was the personal machine

of Klaus Dietrich, who was a member of the

fighter unit that was used to escort Adolf Hitler’s

flights, state visits and to provide fighter cover

for the Wolf’s lair in Rastenburg, Germany (now

Kętrzyn, Poland). The fighter unit (Jagdstaffel)

was formed as part of the Führer-Kurierstaffel

in the summer of 1944 and its commander was

Oblt. Klenk. In June 1944, Klaus Dietrich was

assigned to it, having achieved 17 victories during

his previous service with 2./JG 51 Mölders. His

career with the JG 51 was ended by a dogfight

with a La-5 pilot on August 19, 1943. Severely

wounded, Dietrich landed at his own airfield

with 121 bullet holes in his Fw 190 and had to be

airlifted to the rear for surgery. While serving

with the Führerjägerstaffel, Dietrich witnessed

the arrival and departure of von Stauffenberg

during the fateful July 20, 1944. While covering

the Wolf’s lair, Dietrich managed to shoot down

a Soviet Pe-2 reconnaissance aircraft around

noon of August 26, 1944. In January 1945 the

unit was disbanded, and Dietrich then tested the

freshly produced Me 262.

WNr. 642962, Maj. Hans-Günther von Kornatzki, CO of Sturmstaffel 1,

Dortmund/Salzwedel, Germany, early 1944

Hans-Günther von Kornatzki was born in Liegnitz

in Lower Silesia (today Legnica, Poland) on June

22, 1906. In 1928, he first joined the army, and

transferred to the Luftwaffe on its formation in

1933. In May 1941, he married Goering's secretary

Ursula Grundtmann. After she became a victim

of an Allied bomber raid on Berlin, he became

a supporter, and later a leader, of units tasked

November 2023

with intercepting the heavy bombers with heavily

armed fighters from as close a range as possible.

The first such unit was Sturmstaffel 1, which was

deemed combat ready on January 1, 1944. With

his personal mount White 20 fell on March 6,

1944, in a dogfight with two Mustangs Lt. Gerhard

Dost. Sturmstaffel 1 was disbanded in May 1944

and Kornatzki took command of II.(Sturm)/JG 4.

The black-white-black bands as a quick

identification element of Sturmstaffel 1 were

taken over by JG 4. On September 12, 1944, he

led an attack against a B-17 formation near

Magdeburg. After destroying one of the bombers,

he was engaged by escort fighters and was shot

down. In his attempt to belly in, he hit high-power

lines and died in the crash.

INFO Eduard

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