Date: 28th August 1941
Unit: Stab I./Jagdgeschwader 51
Type: Messerschmitt Bf 109F-2
Werke/Nr.9670
Coded: << + (Black)
Location: Yelnya, SW of Bryansk, Soviet Union, (Russia).
Pilot: Hauptmann. Hermann-Friedrich Joppien (Knights Cross with Oak leaves) – Killed. Born 19.07.1912 in Bochum.
REASON FOR LOSS:
Joppien engaged in combat with Russian fighters and bombers near Yelnya southwest of Bryansk. In the subsequent action Joppien was shot down and killed in his Bf 109F by a Russian MiG-3 fighter. "Jupp" Joppien was officially credited with 70 victories and the fourth highest scoring fighter pilot at the time of his death. His victory total included 42 aerial victories claimed over the Western front among them 23 Spitfires
An early photo of “Jupp” Joppien in the cockpit of a Bf 109E (Jeckel)
Joppien pictured here in the centre wearing his Knights Cross to his right, Werner Mölders (Jeckel)
German Wehrmachtbericht 29.08.1941 Reported;
Hauptmann Joppien, recipient of the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, group commander in a fighter wing, did not return from a combat mission after his 70th aerial victory. With him the Luftwaffe loses one of their most daring and successful fighter pilots.
Burial detail: None found on VDK website.
Researched and compiled by Melvin Brownless with special thanks to Horst Jeckel, August 2013.
