Commands held 12./JG 3 | Years of service 1939–45 Name Eberhard Boremski | |
Battles/wars World War IIDefense of the Reich Battles and wars Defence of the Reich, World War II | ||
Eberhard von Boremski (24 September 1914 – 16 December 1963) was a Luftwaffe flying ace of World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Von Boremski was credited with 104 aerial victories—that is, 104 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft—claimed in roughly 630 combat missions. He was killed in an accident in Hamburg on 16 December 1963.
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Career
Von Boremski was born 24 September 1914 in Conow, Pomerania. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1939 and served initially in 5 Staffel, Tragergruppe 186, which became II./Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing). On 1 March 1940, holding the rank of Unteroffizier (corporal), he was transferred to the 7th Staffel, Jagdgeschwader 3 (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing). He claimed his first aerial victories on 13 June 1940 when he shot down two French Potez 63 bombers. Von Boremski shot down the Bristol Blenheim bomber T1794 of No. 139 Squadron RAF on 24 September 1940. The Blenheim was on a mission against E-boats and fell into the English Channel. Squadron Leader M. F. Hendry, Sergeant P. M. Davidson and Sergeant V. Arrowsmith were killed in action.
By the start of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, Von Boremski had accumulated four aerial victories claimed in 120 combat missions. Over the Soviet Union in 1941, von Boremski scored heavily, and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for achieving 43 victories in May 1942. After serving as an instructor in mid 1942, he returned to JG 3. In February 1943 he was made Staffelkapitan (squadron leader), 7./JG 3, serving in this role until May 1943, when he was wounded. In early 1944 he was made commanding officer of Deutsch-Koniglich Rumanischen Jagdverband/Luftflotte 4 before moving to command of 12./JG 3 until April 1944, when he was again wounded.
From September 1944 to November 1944 von Boremski led 1./Jagdgruppe Ost and then 9./Erganzungs-Jagdgeschwader 1. In January 1945, von Boremski was credited with his 100th aerial victory. He was the 97th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. By the end of the war, von Boremski had been credited with 104 victories, with all but four of his victories claimed over the Soviet Air Forces in about 630 combat missions.
After the German surrender, von Boremski was handed over by U.S. troops in Czechoslovakia to the Soviet armed forces, and he remained a Prisoner of War until 1955. He died in a flying accident in Hamburg in December 1963.