Hans Remmer

Hans Remmer (17 August 1920 – 2 April 1944) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a fighter ace credited with 27 aerial victories—that is, 27 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft.

All of his victories were claimed over the Western Allies and eight four-engined heavy bombers.

Remmer was born on 17 August 1920 in Freiburg im Breisgau, at the time in the Republic of Baden of the Weimar Republic.

Staffel (1st squadron) of JG 27.

Staffel (1st squadron) of JG 27 under the command of Oberleutnant Wolfgang Redlich.

The squadron was subordinated to I. Gruppe (1st group) of JG 27 headed by Hauptmann Eduard Neumann.

On 15 June, British forces launched Operation Battleaxe, an offensive to raise the Siege of Tobruk and re-capture eastern Cyrenaica.

On 17 June, the offensive ended with reaching its objectives.

The next day, the Royal Air Force (RAF) attacked the road from Fort Capuzzo to Al Adm and Tobruk.

A flight from 1.

Staffel bounced these aircraft and Remmer claimed his first aerial victory when he shot down a Brewster F2A Buffalo east of Sallum.

On 26 August, he claimed his second aerial victory over a Hawker Hurricane north of Sidi Barrani

In late October, I. Gruppe was reequipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4/trop.

To retain operation status, 1.

and 3.

Staffel left North Africa on 22 October while 2.

Staffel stayed.

In Italy they handed over their Bf 109 E variants and continued the journey back home by train.

The pilots were sent on a short home-leave before returning to Ayn al-Ġazāla on 10 November.

Following the reequipment, Remmer claimed a Vickers Wellington bomber shot down on 21 November east of Sidi Omar, his third aerial victory.

He then claimed a Hurricane south of Al Adm on 27 November and a Bristol Blenheim bomber east of Ayn al-Ġazāla the following day.

On 5 December, 1.

Staffel was placed under the command of Oberleutnant Ludwig Franzisket when Redlich was transferred.

Two days later, I. Gruppe had to withdraw and relocated to an airfield at Timimi.

That day, Remmer claimed a Douglas A-20 Havoc bomber, also known as "Boston", south of Al Adm.

Born in Freiburg im Breisgau, Remmer was trained as a fighter pilot and posted to Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing) in early 1941.

His fought in the North African Campaign where he claimed his first aerial victory on 17 June 1941 during the Siege of Tobruk.

Following flight training, he was transferred to the Ergänzungsstaffel (Training/Supplement Squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing) on 2 January 1941.

Following Operation Marita, the German invasion of Greece, the air elements of JG 27 briefly moved to Munich-Riem Airfield before they transferred to North Africa, arriving in Ayn al-Ġazāla between 18 and 22 April 1941.

Remmer became a member of 1.

In November 1942, Remmer was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 1.

Remmer claimed his first aerial victory in 1942, his ninth in total, on 13 June when he shot down a Hurricane northeast of Al Adm. He was credited with his tenth aerial victory on 10 August when he claimed a Blenheim southeast of Abu Dweis.

That day, Remmer and his wingman escorted a Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighter on an aerial reconnaissance mission when they encountered a single aircraft near Abu Dweis.

It is assumed that the aircraft was misidentified and may have been the Martin Baltimore AG737 bomber from the RAF No. 1437 (Strategic Reconnaissance) Flight.

On 1 November, Remmer was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 1.

Staffel of JG 27.

In early 1943, his unit was relocated to the Western Front in France.

He then fought in defense of the Reich against the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) heavy bombers.

On 2 April 1944, Remmer was killed in action near Graz when his parachute failed to open after he was shot down by USAAF fighters.

Posthumously, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 June 1944.