Otto Schulz (pilot)

A Bf 109 F-4 in the Canada Aviation Museum, similar to those flown by Schulz

Following the withdrawal from the Eastern Front, II. Gruppe arrived in Döberitz on 24 July 1941. The entire personnel then went on vacation, returning to Döberitz on 18 August. Over the next three weeks, the Gruppe converted to the Bf 109 F-4 fighter. Relocation to the North African Theater began on 7 September, with 4. Staffel transferring south on 16 September and was based at an airfield in Ain el Gazala.[13] There, II. Gruppe joined I. Gruppe of JG 27 which was already based in North Africa.[12] On 26 September, II. Gruppe flew its first combat missions in North Africa, a combat air patrol to Sollum.[14]

On 6 October 1941, 30 October and 28 November, he recorded three victories on each day. On 6 October Lieutenants Miller or Neville McGarr from 2 Squadron SAAF were one other those claims—Rödel downed one of them.[15] On the latter date he downed Lieutenant Palm, Pilot Officer Muhart and Flying Officer Vos. Muhart was hospitalised with burns but the other pilots failed to return.[16]

Schulz's score-sheet is slightly unusual in that many of his victories can be positively identified with specific Allied pilots: On 30 November 1941, his 23rd and 24th victims were aces Sergeant Alan Cameron (6.5 victories) and Pilot Officer Neville Duke (27 victories).[17] Cameron was rescued by Wing Commander Peter Jeffrey and flown to base.[18] Schulz claimed his 30th victory on 15 December, when he shot down and killed Pilot Officer Geoffrey Ranger (5 victories) of No. 250 Squadron.[19] This was followed by downing the Australian ace Nicky Barr on 11 January 1942.[20] On 25 January 1942, Schulz claimed two Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters for his 34th and 35th victories.[21] This put him two aerial victories ahead of Rödel and made him the top scorer in II./JG 27 at the time.[22]

On 8 February 1942, Schulz engaged 1 SAAF Hurricanes. He shot down Lieutenants Finney and Biden and then damaged Lieutenant Powell's aircraft in the tail. Each time Schulz descended to strafe and destroy the crash landed fighters from combat altitude of 9,000 feet (2,700 metres).[23] On 15 February 1942, he took off on his own and chased after 20 aircraft of No. 94 and No. 112 Squadron that had just strafed his airfield at Martuba.[24] He shot down five P-40 Kittyhawks in ten minutes, including the top 17-victory RAF ace Ernest "Imshi" Mason, making him an "ace-in-a-day".[25][26] Schulz was credited with five, the last was Sergeant McQueen's P-40. McQueen was wounded but limped back to base—an Italian 6°Gruppo pilot also claimed a P-40 and may have attacked McQueen.[27] The remaining pilots, Pilot Officer John Robert Vernall Marshall, Sergeant Charles Belcher, and Edward Weightman were killed.[28] Schulz was given credit in part due to the witness report of a German tank commander.[29]

This put him on 44 victories, just behind the 48 of the then top-scorer in the Desert, Hans-Joachim Marseille. In recognition of this success, they were both awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on the same day - 22 February - the first such awards for JG 27 since arriving in North Africa.[26] After this his scoring slowed down to only three victories in March. On 15 March Schulz downed Sergeant Rozanski, No. 112 Squadron.[30] Sent to officer-training school,[26] he was promoted to Leutnant in April. At the end of May, now an Oberleutnant and assigned to the Stab (headquarters unit) flight of II. Gruppe as Technical Officer,[24] he had another quick flurry of four victories including his 50th on 31 May: a P-40 flown by South African ace Major Andrew Duncan (5.5 victories) of No. 5 Squadron SAAF, who was killed.[31]

On 17 June 1942, after claiming his 51st and last victory (Canadian ace Flight Lieutenant Walter "Wally" Conrad (6.5 victories) of No. 274 Squadron, Schulz himself was shot down and killed in his Bf 109 F-4trop (Werknummer 10 271—factory number) by RAF Kittyhawks near Sidi Rezegh.[24][25][32] Schulz descended to low level to strafe Conrad's P-40 when he was caught by an Allied fighter.[33] Research suggests the victory should be credited to Canadian ace James "Stocky" Edwards of No. 260 Squadron RAF.[34] At the time of his death, behind Marseille and Günther Freiherr von Maltzahn, Schulz was in third place with respect to the number of aerial victories claimed in the North African Theater.[35]

According to Obermaier, Schulz was credited with 51 aerial victories claimed in approximately 400 combat missions, including three victories on the Eastern Front and 42 in North Africa.[2] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for more than 50 aerial victory claims, plus one further unconfirmed claim. This number includes three claims on the Eastern Front and 47 on the Western Front.[36]

• Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 5 January 1942 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot[52][Note 4]
• German Cross in Gold on 14 February 1942 as Oberfeldwebel in the 4./Jagdgeschwader 27[53]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 22 February 1942 as Oberfeldwebel in the II./Jagdgeschwader 27[54][55]

• Ring, Hans; Girbig, Werner (1994) [1971]. Jagdgeschwader 27 Die Dokumentation über den Einsatz an allen Fronten 1939–1945 [Jagdgeschwader 27 The Documentation on the Deployment on all Fronts from 1939 to 1945] (in German) (8th ed.). Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-87943-215-8.
• Shores, Christopher & Massimello, Giovanni. A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940-1945 Vol 2 London: Grub Street Publishing (2014). ISBN 978-1909166127 has day-by-day combat analysis
• Smith, J.Richard & Pegg, Martin. Jagdwaffe Vol 3, Sec3: War over the Desert June1940 - June1942 Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, 2003 ISBN 1-903223-22-9
• Weal, John. Bf109D/E Aces 1939-41. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1996. ISBN 1-85532-487-3.