Luchtvaartmonument

The 12.Mai 1944 was a beautiful, sunny Friday. On this day, 890 American bombers and 910 escort fighters flew a momentous mission to the German fuel industry. One target was among other things the fuel factories in the central German Leuna, Böhlen, Zeitz, Lützkendorf and Zwickau and Brüx. The German Reich had no oil reserves worth mentioning itself and was therefore dependent on imports - predominantly from allied Romania - and synthetic fuel production. The goal of the 8th US Air Force was to hit or destroy the production sites so hard at the beginning of 5 Mail 1944 that the German fuel production and the replenishment of fuels and oils came to a standstill or was permanently disturbed. In order to protect their valuable production sites, the German air defense brought 16 day hunt groups and 2 destroyer groups with 470 machines on, in order to touch the incoming American bomber federations and their escorts sensitive. Between 12:00 and 13:00, the incoming formations north of Frankfurt, over the Wetterau into the Gießen area. To ward off the incoming US associations start at 11:13 clock, the Einsatzgruppen of the JG 1 from their berths in Störmede, Paderborn and Lippspringe from in the area casting. On board his Fw 190 A-8 with the black 13 is the 22 year old corporal Gerhard Neukötter from Herzebrock. He flies on this day in the second season of the I. Group of JG 1 the defensive deployment against the Americans. Around midday, the German interceptors meet in the area northeast of Marburg on about 50 to 60 P-47 Thunterbolt belonging to the 56th Fighter Group. Immediately it comes to heavy air battles, which shift themselves into the area casting. In the course of these air battles the machine of Uffz. Neukötter is hit hard by an American hunter. The plane is beyond saving and the young pilot decides to leave the plane by parachute. He blows up the aircraft cockpit, which comes down on a field at Rechtenbach and leaves shortly thereafter his Fw 190 by parachute. Although the pilot still succeeds in saving the jump and the parachute opens but on arrival in a forest at Vollnkirchen the unfortunate Neukötter breaks his neck, as he gets stuck in the branch fork of a tree.