Defending Arnhem © 2006

		Name	Gerhard Vogt			i	i
		Rank	Oberleutnant	Units	JG 26
		Awards	i	i		i	i
				Deutsches Kreuz in Gold		5 May 1944	i
				Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes		25 Nov 1944	i
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		Victories	48	Combat Missions	174	Pilot status	KIA (†14.01.1945)
Combat Victories and details during Operation ‘Market Garden'
Victory No	Date	Time	Aircraft Type	Unit	Location of Kill	Comments
37.	17.9.1944	18:00	Mustang	5./JG 26	Bocholt	Mustang of 19 or 65 Sqn, RAF
38.	18.9.1944	13:25	Mustang	5./JG 26	Luxembourg	Mustang of 19, RAF
39.	19.9.1944	18:03	P-51	5./JG 26	Emmerich	P-51 of 357 FG, USAAF
40.	21.9.1944	17:17	C-47	5./JG 26	Nijmegen	Dakota of 38 or 46 Grp, RAF
41.	23.9.1944	17:33	P-51	5./JG 26	Goch	P-51 of 352 FG, USAAF
42.	23.9.1944	17:35	P-51	5./JG 26	Goch	P-51 of 352 FG, USAAF
43.	25.9.1944	17:54	Spitfire	5./JG 26	Arnhem	Spitfire of 416 or 441 Sqn, RAF

Gerhard Vogt completed his flying training during the first years of the war and was assigned to Adolf Galland's Squadron, JG 26, during the last month of the Battle of Britain. His first two kills were in November 1941 over Calais and Dunkirk where he shot down two spitfires on the 6th and the 23rd. The following year in March he was wounded during an engagement with a spitfire and was forced to land back at his airbase. Back in the air one week later he shot down another spitfire near Watten. The following month he ventured over England and shot down his 4th Spitfire over Dover. By the end of 1942, Unteroffizier Gerhard Vogt has 11 confirmed kills, all of them spitfires.

His first victory in 1943 didn't come until June of that year when he shot down a B-17 west of Dunkirk. However the first 6 months of 1943 had been eventful for Vogt being wounded for a second time when his Bf 109 was hit by a spitfire. He just managed to bail out of his plane which was spiraling into a vertical dive. Gerhard Vogt was hospitalised for four months in Arras. One month later in July 1943, Gerhard was wounded for a third time engaging a B-17.


Engaged and shot down Australian Ace - Sqn Leader 'Tony' Gaze DFC and 2 bars (Shot down 4.9.1943)	Engaged and shot down over France Canadian Ace - Pilot Officer Claude Weaver DFC, DFM. (Shot down & KIA 28.1.44)

The next 6 kills were Spitfires which unknown to Gerhard included two Allied Aces. The first was Sqn Leader 'Tony' Gaze DFC** (12.5/4/5 victories) who was shot down over S Le Tréport. He managed to survive, evade capture and returned to allied lines the following year. In early 1944 3 spitfires were jumped upon by Gerhard and his wing and Gerhard managed to shoot down the leader Pilot Officer Claude Weaver DFC, DFM (12.5/3/0 victories). Pilot Officer Weaver did not survive and was killed in action.

Gerhard had his most successful year in 1944 shooting down a total of 30 aircraft which included Spitfires, P-47s, Mustangs, B17s and B24s to name a few. For the first 6 months Vogt shot down on average 2 aircraft a month until the Allied Invasion of Normandy. With plenty of Allied aircraft in the sky, Gerhard had a number of opportunities. In June 1944, Gerhard Vogt shot down 4 planes in 4 days which included 3 fighters. In August 1944 Gerhard went on to score another five victories which included Auster reconnaissance aircraft.

September 1944 was Gerhard's most successful month with a total of 8 victories. 7 of them were during Operation 'Market Garden' which included a C-47 Transport plane over Nijmegen and a Spitfire over Arnhem. In October of 1944, Leutnant Vogt engaged Typhoons over the Venlo-Kempen area. Just after he had scored his 45th victories his aircraft was hit by another Typhoon wounding Gerhard for the 6th time and forcing him to crash land his aircraft. Back in the air one month later he shot down another Spitfire. Gerhard scored a further two victories during the Battle of the Bulge with his last victory, another Auster, over Bastogne.

On the 14th January 1945, JG 26 was ordered to engage Allied fighter-bombers harassing German ground troops in the Ardennes region when Oberleutnant Gerhard Vogt's unit was attacked by the American 78th Fighter Group. Oberleutnant Gerhard Vogt with 13 of his comrades became victims that day to this American fighter unit. Vogt's luck had run out and was shot down and killed in the crash of his FW 190 D-9 (W.Nr. 210 176) “White 13” near Köln.

Oberleutnant Gerhard Vogt was wounded 6 times during the war.
Date	Name	Rank	i	Staffel	Town	Plane Type
24.3.42	Vogt, Gerhard	Uffz.	WIA	6th	Abbeville	Spitfire
2.2.43	Vogt, Gerhard	Uffz.	WIA	6th	W of Ypres	Spitfire
30.7.43	Vogt, Gerhard	Fw.	WIA	6th	NE of Duisburg	B-17
3.9.43	Vogt, Gerhard	Fw.	WIA	6th	Romilly-sur-Seine	B-17/P-47
5.7.44	Vogt, Gerhard	Lt.	WIA	7th CO	Buré-Mêle sur Sarthe	Spitfire
28.10.44	Vogt, Gerhard	Lt.	WIA	5th CO	Venlo-Orsay	Typhoon
14.1.45	Vogt, Gerhard	Oblt.	KIA	5th CO	Köln	P-51

"WHO DONE IT ?? - TWO 78TH PILOTS COULD CLAIM THE DOWNING OF LUFTWAFFE "ACE ", GERHARD VOGT, JG 26"

It was determined via 78th Fighter Group Victory Claim Reports that one of two 82nd Fighter Squadron pilots could have been responsible for Vogt's demise. The kill of Oblt. Vogt was from either one of the two following pilots:

1st Lt. Willard E. "Skip" Warren reports:

"I was flying Rainbow White 3 when, in the Cologne area, I sighted 15 plus bogies on the deck. We were at 26,000 feet at the time and could not identify them, so Rainbow Leader gave me permission to investigate them. I dropped my tanks and dove to the deck. I ran right through and broke up a gaggle of 15 Fw-190s, going to fast to shoot and continued on down to bounce the original bogies I had seen from altitude. I singled out three( two Fw-190s and one Me-109 ) and started pursuit. I got dead astern of the Fw-190s and opened fire, observing hits in both wings and cockpit. He fell off on the left wing and crashed. The pilot did not get out. My wingman, Lt. DeGain( 1st. Lt William DeGain ) gave me excellent cover while I was firing. He then jumped the 109, getting many strikes. I saw another e/a, but as I turned to attack it, I spotted another Fw-190 getting into position on my wingman. I pulled over and up and gave this e/a about a two second burst, firing from 30 degrees left, to dead astern and to 30 degrees right. I observed many hits and the canopy was jettisoned and the plane crashed and exploded. The pilot was unable to get out. I claim 2 Fw-190s. "

1st. Lt. Robert E. Smith reports:

"I flew Rainbow Yellow 2. Bogies were called out at 1210 hours below us when we were flying at 26,000 feet over Cologne. My flight circled and lost altitude. I called out one bogie going north over Cologne and my flight leader told me to go down. I did and closed rapidly and began to fire at 700 yards. The e/a, a Fw-190, ducked into the fog bank and we began a merry chase on the deck, playing hide and seek. We pulled up for churches and tall buildings and every time the e/a appeared I fired. Finally, I tagged him and saw hits on the tail and then on the left wing and left side of the fuselage. We were about 50 ft. over the north edge of Cologne when the Fw-190's left wing went down and he crashed and exploded in what looked like a three-gun heavy flak position. I claim 1 Fw-190 destroyed and throw in the flak position for good measure. "

This was a banner day for the 78th Fighter Group. With a second Group mission flown the afternoon of that same day, the final score ran up to14 confirmed victories and no losses. It was a bad day for the Luftwaffe, in particular for Oblt. Vogt and 13 of his comrades.

Source: http://www.78thfightergroup.com/history/78thFGassncheckerboard.html

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