Kurt Bühligen was a Luftwaffe wing commander and fighter ace of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was credited with 112 enemy aircraft shot down in over 700 combat missions. His victories were all claimed over the Western Front and included 24 four-engine bombers and 47 Supermarine Spitfire fighters. He rose from an aircraft mechanic to Geschwaderkommodore of the elite Jagdgeschwader 2 Richthofen, earning the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords while leading intense defensive operations against the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces in the skies over France, the English Channel, and North Africa.
Born on 13 December 1917 in Granschütz in the Province of Saxony of the German Empire, Bühligen was the son of a pipefitter. After completing an apprenticeship as a locksmith he volunteered for military service in the Luftwaffe on 13 March 1936 with the Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung in Oschatz. He first served as an aircraft mechanic with Kampfgeschwader 153 from September 1937 until February 1938 and then with Kampfgeschwader 4 until April 1939. When World War II broke out he began pilot training and was posted on 15 June 1940 as an Unteroffizier to the 2. Staffel of I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 2 Richthofen, flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109. His first aerial victory came on 4 September 1940 when he shot down a Hawker Hurricane over Dover during the Battle of Britain. He was soon transferred to 6. Staffel of II. Gruppe where he often flew as wingman and claimed additional Hurricanes and Spitfires in September and October.
In the summer of 1941 II. Gruppe moved to Abbeville-Drucat and faced the RAF Fighter Command's relentless Circus operations over northern France. On 21 June 1941 alone Bühligen claimed three Spitfires in a single afternoon of furious combat over Boulogne and Hardelot, diving through British formations at high speed and using precise cannon bursts to send the fighters spinning down in flames or trailing smoke. He added seven more Spitfires in July and August while flying with 4. Staffel and then six further victories with the Geschwaderstab, including a Hurricane and five Spitfires. These successes, together with fifteen tethered balloons destroyed, brought his total to twenty-one confirmed aerial victories and earned him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 4 September 1941 while still an Oberfeldwebel. He was also awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class on 10 September 1940, the Iron Cross 1st Class on 29 October 1940, and the Luftwaffe Honour Goblet on 1 August 1941.
Promoted to Leutnant on 1 January 1942, Bühligen took command of 4. Staffel of II. Gruppe in April 1942 after the unit converted to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. During the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942 he claimed four Spitfires in one day as the Gruppe scored twenty-six victories overall, weaving through flak and fighter screens at low altitude over the French coast. In November 1942 II. Gruppe was rushed to the Mediterranean Theatre following Operation Torch. Operating from Sicily and Tunisia with the Fw 190 A-3 and A-4, Bühligen claimed his first victory there on 3 December 1942 south of Tebourba and two Lockheed P-38 Lightnings on 26 December during an interception of Boeing B-17 bombers attacking Bizerte. His acting Gruppenkommandeur recommended him for preferential promotion, and on 1 February 1943 he became Oberleutnant after approval by General der Flieger Bruno Loerzer and Field Marshal Albert Kesselring.
In the bitter fighting over Tunisia Bühligen achieved ace-in-a-day status on 2 February 1943 by downing four Curtiss P-40 Warhawks and one Bell P-39 Airacobra near Kairouan in rapid succession, followed by four more Spitfires on 3 February alone. By early February he reached his fiftieth victory amid swirling dogfights against Allied fighter-bombers protecting ground advances. He was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 25 June 1943 as Leutnant and promoted to Hauptmann on 1 May 1943. Returning to the Channel Front in March 1943 he was appointed Kommandeur of II. Gruppe in April 1943. Flying high-altitude intercepts against massive USAAF bomber streams protected by P-47 Thunderbolts, he claimed a series of Herausschuss victories including B-17s and B-24 Liberators, reaching ninety-six confirmed kills by 18 March 1944 when he destroyed a straggling B-24 south-southwest of Forges. This milestone brought him the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves on 2 March 1944, the 413th such award.
On 28 April 1944 Bühligen succeeded Major Kurt Ubben as Geschwaderkommodore of JG 2, initially as Major and soon promoted to Oberstleutnant on 1 October 1944. The Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944 plunged the Geschwader into desperate low-level combat. At 11:57 that day he opened the unit's account by shooting down a P-47 Thunderbolt over the Orne Estuary. On 7 June he claimed two more P-47s north of Caen, the second marking his 100th victory. In the smoke-filled skies over the bocage he added three kills on 5 July near Bernay and Dreux, two Thunderbolts and a North American P-51 Mustang, pushing his score to 104. These actions in swirling, treetop-height dogfights against overwhelming Allied fighter-bombers earned him the Swords to the Knight's Cross on 14 August 1944, the 88th award overall. He was later transferred toward the Eastern Front where engine failure forced an emergency landing behind Soviet lines in May 1945. Taken prisoner, he remained in Soviet captivity until his release in 1950.
After the war Bühligen settled in Nidda, Hesse, where he worked in automotive sales until his death on 11 August 1985. Throughout his career he had been shot down three times and had flown more than 700 missions, ending as one of the last commanders of the legendary Richthofen Geschwader. His record of 112 victories, achieved entirely on the Western and Mediterranean fronts without any claims on the Eastern Front, stood as a testament to his skill in both the Bf 109 and Fw 190 against ever-improving Allied opposition.
In the summer of 1941 II. Gruppe moved to Abbeville-Drucat and faced the RAF Fighter Command's relentless Circus operations over northern France. On 21 June 1941 alone Bühligen claimed three Spitfires in a single afternoon of furious combat over Boulogne and Hardelot, diving through British formations at high speed and using precise cannon bursts to send the fighters spinning down in flames or trailing smoke. He added seven more Spitfires in July and August while flying with 4. Staffel and then six further victories with the Geschwaderstab, including a Hurricane and five Spitfires. These successes, together with fifteen tethered balloons destroyed, brought his total to twenty-one confirmed aerial victories and earned him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 4 September 1941 while still an Oberfeldwebel. He was also awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class on 10 September 1940, the Iron Cross 1st Class on 29 October 1940, and the Luftwaffe Honour Goblet on 1 August 1941.
Promoted to Leutnant on 1 January 1942, Bühligen took command of 4. Staffel of II. Gruppe in April 1942 after the unit converted to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. During the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942 he claimed four Spitfires in one day as the Gruppe scored twenty-six victories overall, weaving through flak and fighter screens at low altitude over the French coast. In November 1942 II. Gruppe was rushed to the Mediterranean Theatre following Operation Torch. Operating from Sicily and Tunisia with the Fw 190 A-3 and A-4, Bühligen claimed his first victory there on 3 December 1942 south of Tebourba and two Lockheed P-38 Lightnings on 26 December during an interception of Boeing B-17 bombers attacking Bizerte. His acting Gruppenkommandeur recommended him for preferential promotion, and on 1 February 1943 he became Oberleutnant after approval by General der Flieger Bruno Loerzer and Field Marshal Albert Kesselring.
In the bitter fighting over Tunisia Bühligen achieved ace-in-a-day status on 2 February 1943 by downing four Curtiss P-40 Warhawks and one Bell P-39 Airacobra near Kairouan in rapid succession, followed by four more Spitfires on 3 February alone. By early February he reached his fiftieth victory amid swirling dogfights against Allied fighter-bombers protecting ground advances. He was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 25 June 1943 as Leutnant and promoted to Hauptmann on 1 May 1943. Returning to the Channel Front in March 1943 he was appointed Kommandeur of II. Gruppe in April 1943. Flying high-altitude intercepts against massive USAAF bomber streams protected by P-47 Thunderbolts, he claimed a series of Herausschuss victories including B-17s and B-24 Liberators, reaching ninety-six confirmed kills by 18 March 1944 when he destroyed a straggling B-24 south-southwest of Forges. This milestone brought him the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves on 2 March 1944, the 413th such award.
On 28 April 1944 Bühligen succeeded Major Kurt Ubben as Geschwaderkommodore of JG 2, initially as Major and soon promoted to Oberstleutnant on 1 October 1944. The Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944 plunged the Geschwader into desperate low-level combat. At 11:57 that day he opened the unit's account by shooting down a P-47 Thunderbolt over the Orne Estuary. On 7 June he claimed two more P-47s north of Caen, the second marking his 100th victory. In the smoke-filled skies over the bocage he added three kills on 5 July near Bernay and Dreux, two Thunderbolts and a North American P-51 Mustang, pushing his score to 104. These actions in swirling, treetop-height dogfights against overwhelming Allied fighter-bombers earned him the Swords to the Knight's Cross on 14 August 1944, the 88th award overall. He was later transferred toward the Eastern Front where engine failure forced an emergency landing behind Soviet lines in May 1945. Taken prisoner, he remained in Soviet captivity until his release in 1950.
After the war Bühligen settled in Nidda, Hesse, where he worked in automotive sales until his death on 11 August 1985. Throughout his career he had been shot down three times and had flown more than 700 missions, ending as one of the last commanders of the legendary Richthofen Geschwader. His record of 112 victories, achieved entirely on the Western and Mediterranean fronts without any claims on the Eastern Front, stood as a testament to his skill in both the Bf 109 and Fw 190 against ever-improving Allied opposition.
Sources:
W. P. Fellgiebel, Elite of the Third Reich, Helion & Company Limited, Solihull, 2003.
F. Kurowski, Knight's Cross Holders of the Afrikakorps, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Atglen, 1996.
E. Obermaier, Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe, Hoffmann, 1989.
K. Patzwall & V. Scherzer, Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941-1945, Band II, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt, 2001.
A. Kwasny & G. Kwasny, Die Eichenlaubträger 1940-1945 (CD), Deutsches Wehrkundearchiv, Lage-Waddenhausen, 2001.
F. Berger, Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern, Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges, Selbstverlag Florian Berger, 2006.
Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht (CD), VMD-Verlag GmbH, Osnabrück, 2002.
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://en.wikipedia.org/
https://www.tracesofwar.com/
https://grokipedia.com/
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.bundesarchiv.de/en/
https://www.geni.com/
https://books.google.com/
W. P. Fellgiebel, Elite of the Third Reich, Helion & Company Limited, Solihull, 2003.
F. Kurowski, Knight's Cross Holders of the Afrikakorps, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Atglen, 1996.
E. Obermaier, Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe, Hoffmann, 1989.
K. Patzwall & V. Scherzer, Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941-1945, Band II, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt, 2001.
A. Kwasny & G. Kwasny, Die Eichenlaubträger 1940-1945 (CD), Deutsches Wehrkundearchiv, Lage-Waddenhausen, 2001.
F. Berger, Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern, Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges, Selbstverlag Florian Berger, 2006.
Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht (CD), VMD-Verlag GmbH, Osnabrück, 2002.
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://en.wikipedia.org/
https://www.tracesofwar.com/
https://grokipedia.com/
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.bundesarchiv.de/en/
https://www.geni.com/
https://books.google.com/
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