 |
Franz-Josef Beerenbrock was among the top German fighter aces when he was shot down, he belonged to 10./JG 51. He achieved his first victory on the 24th of June 1941. On the 1st of August 1942 with nine victories he achieved his 100th kill. By then he was the most successful fighter pilot of JG 51. He was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. But during the fall of 1942, he stopped shooting down so many Russian planes (16 more in three months). He completed over 400 combat missions. In air combat with numeralically superior Russian fighters over Welish on November 9th, 1942, he downed three Russian fighters (victories 115.-117.), but his Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter received a hit in the radiator and went down over Russian-held territory. After emergency landing he became a P.O.W.
|