Bernhard Jope
German bomber pilot during WWII
title: "Bernhard Jope" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1914-births", "1995-deaths", "military-personnel-from-leipzig", "military-personnel-of-the-kingdom-of-saxony", "lufthansa-people", "german-world-war-ii-bomber-pilots", "recipients-of-the-gold-german-cross", "recipients-of-the-knight's-cross-of-the-iron-cross-with-oak-leaves", "condor-legion-personnel", "gdańsk-university-of-technology-alumni"] description: "German bomber pilot during WWII" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Jope" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary German bomber pilot during WWII ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox military person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Bernhard Jope |
| birth_date | |
| death_date | |
| image | Bernhard Jope.jpg |
| image_size | 200 |
| birth_place | Leipzig |
| death_place | Königstein im Taunus |
| allegiance | Nazi Germany |
| branch | Luftwaffe |
| serviceyears | 1935–45 |
| rank | Oberstleutnant |
| commands | KG 40, KG 100 |
| awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves |
| laterwork | Deutsche Luft Hansa pilot |
| :: |
|name=Bernhard Jope |birth_date= |death_date= |image=Bernhard Jope.jpg |image_size=200 |caption= |nickname= |birth_place=Leipzig |death_place=Königstein im Taunus |placeofburial= |allegiance=Nazi Germany |branch=Luftwaffe |serviceyears=1935–45 |rank=Oberstleutnant |commands=KG 40, KG 100 |unit= |battles=
- World War II
- :Battle of France
- :Battle of Britain |awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves |laterwork=Deutsche Luft Hansa pilot}}
Bernhard Jope (10 May 1914 – 31 July 1995) was a German bomber pilot during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. As part of Kampfgeschwader 40 (bomber wing), Jope flew missions across the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean in support of the German navy, damaging in October 1940 the . In 1943, he led Kampfgeschwader 100 in the attacks on the , the British battleship and cruiser , and the US cruiser .
Biography
Bernhard Jope joined the military service of the Luftwaffe on 1 April 1935 after graduating from the Königliche Technische Hochschule zu Danzig (technical university in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz) in aircraft construction. Prior to joining the military service he had already almost completed his flight training at the Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule (German Air Transport School).
In support of the Kriegsmarine, Jope flew the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor on experimental missions across the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean on behalf of Deutsche Luft Hansa. On 26 October 1940 he spotted the troop transport which he strafed three times and severely damaged her with two 250 kg bombs, setting the ship on fire. The Empress of Britain was subsequently sunk by , commanded by Hans Jenisch, on 28 October 1940.
During his time at Kampfgeschwader 100 (KG 100) Jope led an attack on 9 September 1943 on the Italian battle fleet that was sailing from La Spezia en route to Malta, to surrender to the Allies. Jope led a formation of eleven Dornier Do 217 bombers armed with the Fritz X radio controlled glide bomb and in the ensuing action the 45,000 ton was hit twice and sank. The Roma's sister ship, , was hit by a single Fritz and seriously damaged, but was able to make it to Malta. In later action, Jope and KG 100 scored hits with the Fritz on the British battleship and cruiser , and the US cruiser .
After the war
After the war, Jope worked until his retirement as a pilot for Lufthansa. Jope died on 31 July 1995, in Königstein.
Awards
- Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (27 September 1939) & 1st Class (12 September 1940)
- German Cross in Gold on 5 February 1942 as Hauptmann in the I./KG 40
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
- Knight's Cross on 30 December 1940 as Oberleutnant and pilot in the 2./KG 40
- Oak Leaves on 24 March 1944 as Major and Geschwaderkommodore of KG 100
Notes
References
Citations
Bibliography
- {{Cite book |last=Fellgiebel |first=Walther-Peer |year=2000 |orig-date=1986 |title=Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile |trans-title=The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches |language=German |location=Friedberg, Germany |publisher=Podzun-Pallas |isbn=978-3-7909-0284-6
- {{Cite book |last=Kaiser |first=Jochen |year=2010 |title=Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kampfflieger—Band 1 |trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Bomber Fliers—Volume 1 |language=German, English |location=Bad Zwischenahn, Germany |publisher=Luftfahrtverlag-Start |isbn=978-3-941437-07-4
- {{Cite book |last1=Patzwall |first1=Klaus D. |last2=Scherzer |first2=Veit |year=2001 |title=Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II |trans-title=The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2 |language=German |location=Norderstedt, Germany |publisher=Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall |isbn=978-3-931533-45-8
- {{Cite book |last=Scherzer |first=Veit |year=2007 |title=Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives |trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives |language=German |location=Jena, Germany |publisher=Scherzers Militaer-Verlag |isbn=978-3-938845-17-2
- {{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=Franz |year=1997 |title=Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 1: A–K |trans-title=The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 1: A–K |language=German |location=Osnabrück, Germany |publisher=Biblio-Verlag |isbn=978-3-7648-2299-6
| before = Major Fritz Auffhammer | after = None | title = Geschwaderkommodore of Kampfgeschwader 100 | years = 10 September 1943 – 8 August 1944
| portal1=Aviation | portal2=Biography
References
- de Zeng ''et al'' 2007 Vol. 1, p. 129.
- de Zeng ''et al'' 2007 Vol. 2, p. 275.
- Kaiser 2010, p. 44.
- Thomas 1997, p. 330.
- Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 212.
- Scherzer 2007, p. 423.
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