one of the greats of the Luftwaffe
Joachim Müncheberg is one of the friendliest characters in the Luftwaffe and was among the best fighter pilots when he accidentally disappeared in March 1943.
Born on December 31, 1918, at Friedrichshof in Pomerania, he joined the Lutwaffe shortly before the declaration of war. Leut
born at 7. /JG 26, he claimed his first victory on November 7, 1939 by shooting down a Blenheim over the Rhine.
In August 1940, in the heart of the Battle of Britain, he takes in hand the destinies of his Staffe!. He was rewarded on September 14 for his 20th victory and received the famous Ritterkreuz. He then left for the Mediterranean sector and participated very actively with his unit in the incessant attacks on Malta:he shot down 19 Hurricanes there in the space of a month.
On June 1, - he then holds 43 victories, and wears oak leaves on his knight's cross since May 7 - Müncheberg lands with five other Bf. 109E in Gazala to lend a hand to JG 27 in Cyrenaica. During his squadron's first dogfight on June 20, he shot down a Hurricane. He won his 46th victory on July 15, then was credited with two Tomahawks on the 29th, two days before returning to Sicily. His brief stint in the
Libyan desert enabled him to score five victories. He was then appointed Commander of III./JG 26 in September 1941 and remained so until July 1942, when he was transferred to the Russian front. There, in two months, he gleaned 33 additional successes, bringing his prize list to more than 9,100 victories.
The swords were added to his knight's cross on September 9, 1942. He was then Hauptmann and holder of 103 victories. Promoted to Major, 11 was appointed Kommodore of JG 77 on 1 October 1942. This unit fought the Allies in • Libya:Müncheberg therefore returned to the Cyrenaica desert. He arrives for the start of the Battle of El Alamein.
He wins six more victories; his score at the end of November was 122 victories.
On January 14, he knocked down three Kittyhawks in six minutes, two more on March 22 and 23; he is on his 135th success.
It will be the last. Seeing some Spitfires belonging to the American 52nd Fighter Group near Sened, he dived and touched Captain Sweetland's aircraft. What follows is not very clear. Some witnesses claim that the Spitfire exploded and that the Messerschmitt of Müncheberg which was too close was hit by the debris. Others reported that Sweetland intentionally collided with the German ace's plane. Anyway, the two broken wings, the Bf. 109 hit the ground near marker 82 on the Gabès-Gafsa road where its wreckage and the body of Joachim Müncheberg were found a few hundred meters from its last victim.