Anton Resch (26 November 1921 – 16 July 1975) was a former Luftwaffe fighter 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. Resch was credited with 91 victories, becoming an "ace-in-a-day" on three separate occasions.
Resch was born 26 November 1921 in Stolberg, at the time in the Rhine Province the westernmost province of the Free State of Prussia, which at the time was in the British occupied territory of the Rhineland.[1] In mid-1943, Resch who had previously served as transport aviator, was posted to 3. Staffel (3rd squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing). This Staffel was part of I. Gruppe (1st group) of JG 52 headed by Hauptmann Helmut Bennemann and then by Major Johannes Wiese.[2]
On 11 October 1943, the Gruppe moved to an airfield at Nove Zaporizhzhya located approximately 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) west of Zaporizhzhia on the western bank of the Dnieper. The Gruppe supported the 1st Panzer Army fighting in the Battle of the Dnieper on the Eastern Front.[3] Resch claimed his first aerial victory on 21 October over an Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft. That day the Gruppe operated over the left wing of the 1st Panzer Army up to Dnipropetrovsk and on the right wing to Bolschoj Tokmak.[4]
On 27 January 1944, Resch and his wingman Leutnant Franz Schall flew a combat air patrol in the area of Kerch. On this mission, they engaged in aerial combat with six Bell P-39 Airacobra fighters and Resch was shot down in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 20581—factory number).[5] Severely wounded, he did not return until May 1944.[1][6] Following his return to combat, Resch claimed two P-39s from 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (16 GvIAP—Gvardeyskiy Istrebitelny Aviatsionny Polk) on 31 May.[7] On 22 June, Soviet forces launched Operation Bagration, attacking Army Group Centre in Byelorussia, with the objective of encircling and destroying its main component armies.[8] On 24 June, the Gruppe transferred to Galați and again to Peloniczna.[9] The Gruppe reached Grabowiec in eastern Poland on 27 July and Kraków on 1 August. On 12 August they were again relocated and moved to Mzurowa.[10]
On 26 August, Resch became an "ace-in-a-day" for the second time when he claimed seven aerial victories, taking his total to 44.[11] On 31 August, he again claimed seven aerial victories, his third "ace-in-a-day" achievement.[12] On 10 September 1944, he was again wounded when he was shot down in his Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 166490) by anti-aircraft artillery 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of Altsohl, present-day Zvolen.[13]
In late 1944, Resch and Oberleutnant Heinrich Füllgrabe were transferred to the Geschwaderstab (headquarters unit) of JG 52. The request was made by Oberst Hermann Graf who had been appointed Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of JG 52 in September 1944. At the time, the Geschwaderstab was based at Krakau, present-day Kraków.[14] Here on 1 January 1945, Resch was awarded the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold).[15] On 6 February 1945, the Geschwaderstab moved to an airfield at Weidengut, present-day Wierzbie. Here Resch claimed four aircraft of unknown type taking his total to 72.[16] On 7 April, Resch was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) for 91 aerial victories.[17][18]
On 1 May, the Geschwaderstab deployed to Deutsch Brod, present-day Havlíčkův Brod, approximately halfway between Brno and Prague, where they were united with I. and III. Gruppe. Resch and other soldiers of JG 52 surrendered to the 90th US Infantry Division near Písek on 8 May 1945 and became a prisoner of war (POW). The soldiers were initially interned at a POW camp at Strakonice. On 16 May, Resch and most of the JG 52 personnel were handed over by the American forces to the Soviet Union.[19]
According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Resch was credited with 91 aerial victories.[20] Spick also lists him with 91 aerial victories claimed in 210 combat missions.[21] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and also state that he was credited with 91 aerial victories, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.[22]
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 34 Ost 58739". 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.[23]
