Oskar Romm

Oskar "Ossi" Romm (18 December 1919 – 1 May 1993) was a Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II.

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

During his career he was credited with 92 aerial victories, 82 on the Eastern Front and 10 on the Western Front.

The Germans claimed 28 USAAF 2nd Air Division B-24 bombers that day and were credited with at least 21.

The majority to the Sturmgruppe attack.

This figure includes one B-24 bomber claimed shot down by Romm.

In total, Luftwaffe pilots claimed the destruction of 60 bombers while actual losses were 28 bombers destroyed and further bombers returned with various levels of combat damage.

The authors Prien, Stemmer and Bock state that the consolidated attack flown in close formation by the Sturmgruppe resulted in overclaiming of aerial victories caused by the confusing combat situation.

During these attacks, multiple pilots may have simultaneously fired at the same bomber.

It was therefore unclear who was responsible for the destruction of the bomber.

On 18 July, the USAAF Fifteenth Air Force attacked the Luftwaffe Memmingen Airfield.

The Sturmgruppe intercepted the bombers and following the mission, the pilots claimed 36 heavy bombers shot down, including three Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers by Romm.

Two days later, the Sturmgruppe moved to an airfield at Schwaighofen near Neu-Ulm where they stayed until 30 July.

The Sturmgruppe then moved to Schongau.

There, 12.

Sturmstaffel was renamed to 15.

Sturmstaffel on 10 August.

On 22 November 1942, Romm made an emergency landing in his Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-3 (Werknummer 0291—factory number) due to engine failure 5 km north of Sychyovka.

In September 1943, Romm was transferred to Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost, specialized training unit for new fighter pilots destined for the Eastern Front, as an instructor.

During this assignment, he was awarded the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) on 17 October.

Despite being half Jewish, or Mischling under the Nuremberg Laws, Romm enlisted in the Luftwaffe and served with distinction.

He was awarded his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 29 February 1944 when his victory score stood at 76.

By late May 1944, 2.

Sturmstaffel of JG 3 on 7 July 1944.

He replaced Oberleutnant Hans Rachner who had been killed in action that day.

On 7 July, a force of 1,129 B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force had set out from England to bomb aircraft factories in the Leipzig area and the synthetic oil plants at Boehlen, Leuna-Merseburg and Lützkendorf.

This formation was intercepted by a German Gefechtsverband (combat formation) consisting of IV.

In October 1944, Romm was transferred to I. Gruppe of JG 3 where he was tasked with the creation of a newly formed 4.

Staffel.

Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing) had been staffed with a full complement of 16 pilots, including Romm.

The Staffel was ordered to relocate to the Western Front where it was attached to IV.

Sturmgruppe of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing) as fourth squadron fighting in Defense of the Reich.

There, the Staffel was underwent conversion training to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 radial engine powered fighter aircraft.

At the time, IV.

Sturmgruppe was based at Salzwedel and commanded by Hauptmann Wilhelm Moritz.

Romm was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 12.

Sturmgruppe of JG 3, led by Moritz, escorted by two Gruppen of Bf 109s from Jagdgeschwader 300 (JG 300—300th Fighter Wing) led by Major Walther Dahl.

Dahl and Moritz drove the attack to point-blank range behind the Liberators of the 492d Bombardment Group before opening fire.

492d Bombardment Group was temporarily without fighter cover.

Within about a minute the entire squadron of twelve B-24s had been annihilated.