Franz Eisenach

Franz Eisenach (11 August 1918 – 21 August 1998) was a German fighter ace during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. He was credited with 129 aerial victories claimed in 319 combat missions, all on the Eastern front of the Second World War.

In March 1942, IV. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1–1st Fighter Wing) was re-designated and became the III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 5 (JG 5—5th Fighter Wing). In consequence, Hauptmann Fritz Losigkeit was charged with the creation of a new IV. Gruppe which was initially based at Werneuchen near Berlin. Oberleutnant Friedrich Eberle headed 10. Staffel which had already served as 3. Staffel of Jagdgruppe Losigkeit. The Einsatzstaffel of Jagdfliegerschule 4 under Oberleutnant Wilhelm Moritz formed 11. Staffel on 3 April. Eisenach initially led 12. Staffel created from some pilots of the former IV. Gruppe. Command of 12. Staffel then passed on to Oberleutnant Heinz Stöcker in October.

Eisenach was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 3. Staffel (3rd squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing) on 17 April 1943. He replaced Hauptmann Gerhard Koall in this function who was transferred. On 8 July 1943, Eisenach was wounded in his Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-5 (Werknummer 1503—factory number) during combat with Douglas A-20 Havoc bombers northeast of Panino. During his convalescence, he was temporarily replaced by Oberleutnant Robert Weiß as Staffelkapitän. On 18 December, he was again injured and shot down. On this occurrence, his Fw 190 A-6 (Werknummer 530391) was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) northwest of Gorodok, south of Nevel.

In July 1944, Eisenach was given command of 4. Staffel of JG 54, succeeding Hauptmann Herbert Aloé who had been killed in action on 21 June. At the time, II. Gruppe of JG 54, to which his Staffel was subordinated, was based at Immola Airfield. On 10 June, Soviet forces had launched the Karelian offensive against Finland on the Karelian Isthmus as part of the Continuation War. In response to the Finnish ask for assistance, the Luftwaffe had formed Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey (Detachment Kuhlmey) on 12 June, named after Oberstleutnant Kurt Kuhlmey, the commander of Schlachtgeschwader 3 (SG 3—3rd Combat Wing). Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey was made up of the Stab and I. Gruppe of SG 3, I. Gruppe of Schlachtgeschwader 5 (SG 5—5th Combat Wing), elements of Nahaufklärungsgruppe 5, a reconnaissance unit, and II. Gruppe of JG 54.

On 8 August 1944, Eisennach was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) on I. Gruppe of JG 54. He succeeded Hauptmann Horst Ademeit who was killed in action the day before. Command of 4. Staffel was then temporarily given to Leutnant Hermann Schleinhege before the Staffel was renamed 7. Staffel and command was given to Leutnant Gerhard Thyben in September.

Soviet forces launched the Baltic Offensive on 14 September 1944. Thad day, Eisenach claimed his 100th victory on 14 September 1944 by shooting down an IL-2 Sturmovik. That day, he became an "ace-in-a-day" claiming nine aerial victories, include five Ilyushin Il-2 ground attach aircraft and four Petlyakov Pe-2 twin-engined dive bombers. He was the 90th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. Eisenach was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 10 October for 107 aerial victories.

Eisenach re-joined the military service of the Bundeswehr in 1956. He left the service in 1974 with the rank of Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel). He died on 21 August 1998 at the age of 80 in Ottobrunn, Germany.

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Eisenach was credited with 129 aerial victories. Spick also lists him with 129 aerial victories claimed in 319 combat missions, all of which on the Eastern Front, and a mission-to-claim ratio of 2.47. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and also found confirmed records for 129 aerial victories for 154 claims filed.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 00253". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km²). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 13 September 1943 as Oberleutnant and pilot
• German Cross in Gold on 16 January 1944 as Oberleutnant in the I./Jagdgeschwader 54
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 10 October 1944 as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän of the 3./Jagdgeschwader 54