Hubert Zemke

Colonel Hubert Zemke (March 14, 1914 – August 30, 1994) was a career officer in the United States Air Force, a fighter pilot in World War II, and a leading United States Army Air Forces ace.

General Jimmy Doolittle praised Zemke as his "greatest fighter group commander".

Born March 14, 1914, to German immigrant parents, Anna (1889–1972) and Benno Zemke (1882–1967), in Missoula, Montana, Zemke had no desire to fly; he intended to pursue a degree in forestry at the University of Montana in Missoula on football and boxing scholarships.

While at the University of Montana, he was a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity.

He left school in February 1936 to enter Army Flight Training.(Ref )

In 1936 Zemke's friends convinced him to try out for pilot training in the United States Army Air Corps.

He was accepted as an aviation cadet, gained his pilot's wings and commissions at Randolph Field, then attended the pursuit pilot course at Kelly Field, Texas, in 1937, becoming a Curtiss P-40 pilot with the 36th Pursuit Squadron at Langley Field, Virginia.

In 1940, Zemke was sent to England as a combat observer with the Royal Air Force (RAF), studying the tactics of both the RAF and the Luftwaffe, observations that he would use later when the United States entered the war.

In 1941, he was sent to the Soviet Union to instruct Russian pilots in flying lend-lease P-40 Tomahawks.

In February 1942, after the United States' entry into World War II, Zemke desired to join a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) unit and made his way back to the United States through Iran and Egypt.

After several temporary assignments, including tests of the new P-47 Thunderbolt, Zemke, by then a major, became group commander of the 56th Fighter Group—the first fighter group to fly the P-47—on September 16, 1942, preparing it for movement to England.

Not impressed with the performance or maneuverability of the aircraft, Zemke spent much time developing tactics utilizing the Thunderbolt's tremendous dive capability that would make it a successful platform in the European Theater.

In January 1943, the 56th was sent to England in order to participate in the bombing offensive against Germany with the Eighth Air Force.

Zemke's subordinates saw him as being stern but fair, and the 56th Fighter Group's proficiency with the P-47 and "dive, fire, and recover" tactics turned it into the leading air superiority group of VIII Fighter Command by August 1943.

On May 8, 1943, Zemke was promoted to colonel.

On June 13, 1943, while leading the 56th FG Zemke encountered and claimed two German Fw 190s flown by pilots of Jagdgeschwader 54.

On October 4, 1943, Zemke scored his fifth kill, making him an ace.

Zemke obtained assurances that he would be reinstated to command of the 56th when that duty ended (which happened in January 1944).

Zemke hand-picked his replacement, Colonel Robert B. Landry, an older staff officer, to prevent command of the group from permanently going to the deputy commander, Lieutenant Colonel David C. Schilling.

According to Eighth Air Force historian Roger A. Freeman, Zemke harbored misgivings about Schilling's youth and impulsiveness at this early stage of the war.

However, Landry left the actual operational direction of the group to Schilling.

He was twice awarded the Distinguished Service Cross while commanding the 56th in 1944, for the missions of February 11 (bomber escort to Frankfurt) and March 6 (Berlin escort).

On 12 May 1944 Zemke was trying out the "Zemke Fan" tactic while on a bomber escort mission, when the P-47s found themselves isolated and bounced by Günther Rall's JG 11 fighter wing on a Reichsverteidigung defensive patrol.

The ensuing dogfight saw both Zemke's wingmen shot down by Rall himself.

Two P-47s and two North American P-51 Mustangs were lost for four Messerschmitt Bf 109s shot down in that particular action.

On August 12, 1944, Zemke transferred to the 479th Fighter Group, the least experienced in the Eighth Air Force.

After his return to the 56th, Zemke was important in helping turn the tide of the air war in Europe by espousing tactics that allowed U.S. fighters to break from close escort and attack enemy planes before they could get to the bombers, known as the "Zemke Fan", in which fighters rendezvoused at a prominent landmark in their escort zone while flying ahead of the bomber formations, then with the elements of fighters scattering and fanning out by flights in a 180° arc. The Eighth Air Force as a whole adopted a modified "Zemke Fan" in early 1945 for all its groups.

He also pushed other tactical innovations in aircraft markings and weapons employment that developed the P-47 into a superior aerial weapon.

Rather than encouraging discontent with the P-47, as was the case in the other groups but particularly in the 4th, he turned the aircraft into a positive weapon.

He commanded the 56th Fighter Group in England, which came to be known as "Zemke's Wolf Pack".

Once established in England, the 56th began escorting bombers over Europe.

Zemke made progress by stressing flight discipline and teamwork, often implementing ideas of even the lowest ranking man.

Despite obvious problems with the P-47 as an aerial opponent to Luftwaffe fighters—primarily its poor rate of climb, very slow rate of acceleration, and radio problems—Zemke stressed the strengths of the Thunderbolt (its excellent dive performance and superior rate of roll) and conceived tactics to match them.

During that entire month, "Zemke's Wolfpack", (as the 56th had begun to call itself), claimed 39 German aircraft shot down for the loss of only one of their own, including 34 in a 10-day period of intensive bomber escort operations between October 4 and October 14.

His success had what might have been a negative impact on his unit; he was relieved of command to go to Washington, D.C., as part of a team led by Brigadier General Curtis E. LeMay to brief Pentagon superiors and Congress.

While under Zemke's command, the 56th FG claimed over 500 of the eventual 665.5 German aircraft the group was credited with destroying in World War II, and he himself claimed shot down 15.25 of those.

In total the 56th claimed 18 Bf 109s for the loss of three P-47s on this day.

JG 11's records show that 11 Bf 109s were lost that day.

The German pilots suffered five wounded and two killed.

Rall was wounded, his left thumb was shot off, and he was forced to bail out.