Werner Baumbach

Werner Baumbach
220px Werner Baumbach
Born	(1916-12-27)27 December 1916 Cloppenburg, Lower Saxony
Died	La Plata, Argentina
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Luftwaffe
Years of service	1936–45
Rank	Oberst
Unit	KG 30, KG 200
Commands held	5./KG 30, I./KG 30, KG 200
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
Other work	Test pilot

Werner Baumbach (27 December 1916 – 20 October 1953) was a bomber pilot in the German Luftwaffe during World War II and commander of the secret bomber wing Kampfgeschwader 200 (KG 200). He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) for the destruction of over 300,000 gross register tons (GRT) of allied shipping.

Career

Born on 27 December 1916 in Cloppenburg, Baumbach entered the Luftwaffe in 1936 and after first training at the 2nd Air Warfare School (Luftkriegsschule 2) at Gatow, on the south-western outskirts of Berlin, was trained as a bomber pilot. He was one of the first pilots to fly the Junkers Ju 88 bomber and flew various bombing missions with Kampfgeschwader 30 (KG 30). On 19 April 1940 he bombed and damaged the French cruiser Émile Bertin for which he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class. In 1942, Baumbach was removed from active pilot duty and started working on new bomber designs; among others, he helped design the composite bomber system Mistel. In 1944, he was placed in command of the newly formed Kampfgeschwader 200 (KG 200) and was in charge of all Luftwaffe special missions. Baumbach was promoted to Oberstleutnant on 15 November 1944 and was tasked with leading the affairs of the General der Kampfflieger.

After the war, Baumbach spent three years as a prisoner of war before he moved to Argentina where he worked as a test pilot. He died in a plane crash on 20 October 1953 while evaluating a British Lancaster bomber. He was interred in his hometown Cloppenburg.

Baumbach released his memoirs, Zu spät: Aufstieg und Untergang der deutschen Luftwaffe (English title: "Broken Swastika"), in the late 1940s. The book demonstrates that even after Germany's defeat, Baumbach still believed to a very large extent in the National Socialist ideology. The fact that Baumbach's time as commander of KG 200 is not mentioned with a single word highlights the extreme secrecy of Germany's special missions program.

Awards

• Narvik Shield
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Bomber Pilots in Gold with Pennant "200"
  • in Silver (22 March 1941)
  • in Gold (1942)
• Pilot/Observer Badge in Gold with Diamonds (14 July 1941)
• Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (28 September 1939)
  • 1st Class (4 May 1940)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
  • Knight's Cross on 8 May 1940 as Leutnant and pilot in the 5./KG 30
  • 20th Oak Leaves on 14 July 1941 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 1./KG 30
  • 16th Swords on 17 August 1942 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the I./KG 30
• Mentioned twice in the Wehrmachtbericht on 14 February and 28 February 1941

Wehrmachtbericht references

The daily Wehrmachtbericht (Wehrmacht propaganda report) noted the following:

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
Friday, 14 February 1941	Bei dem erfolgreichen Angriff im Seegebiet ostwärts Harwich zeichnete sich die Besatzung des Kampfflugzeuges Kommandant und Flugzeugführer Oberleutnant Baumbach, Bombenschütze Unteroffizier Menz, Funker Feldwebel Thieß und Bordschütze Unteroffizier Greifmühlen besonders aus.	In the successful attack in the sea area east of Harwich, the crew of the combat aircraft commander and pilot Lieutenant Baumbach, bombardier Corporal Menz, radio operator Sergeant Thiess and aerial gunner Corporal Greifmühlen especially distinguished themselves.
Friday, 28 February 1941	Die Besatzung eines Kampfflugzeuges, Oberleutnant Baumbach, Feldwebel Erkens und Unteroffizier Stahl, vernichteten bis zum 27, Februar insgesamt 240 000 Tonnen feindlichen Schiffraums.	The crew of a combat aircraft, Lieutenant Baumbach, Sergeant Erkens and Corporal Stahl, destroyed a total of 240 000 tons of enemy shipping until 27 February.

References

Bibliography

• Schumann, Ralf (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 des LG 1 (in German). Zweibrücken, Germany: VDM Heinz Nickel. ISBN 978-3-86619-013-9.
• Frey, Gerhard; Herrmann, Hajo: Helden der Wehrmacht - Unsterbliche deutsche Soldaten (in German). München, Germany: FZ-Verlag GmbH, 2004. ISBN 3-924309-53-1.

External links

• Werner Baumbach in the German National Library catalogue

Military offices
Preceded by Oberst Heinz Heigl	Commander of Kampfgeschwader 200 15 November 1944 – 6 March 1945	Succeeded by Major Adolf von Hernier