Emil Clade
| Emil Josef Clade | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
26 February 1916 Hambach, Neustadt an der Weinstraße |
| Died | May 2010 (aged 94) |
| Allegiance |
 Nazi Germany
|
| Service/branch |
 Luftwaffe
|
| Years of service | 1936–1945 |
| Rank | Hauptmann |
| Unit | JG 27 |
| Commands held | I./JG 27 |
| Battles/wars |
Battle of France Mediterranean Theatre Operation Bodenplatte |
Emil Josef Clade (26 February 1916 – May 2010) was a Luftwaffe fighter ace in World War II, and figured in German civilian aviation after the war.
Clade was born in Hambach, now part of Neustadt an der Weinstraße in Rheinland-Pfalz. After completing his schooling, he originally trained to become a merchant. However, he became interested in aviation in 1934, and became a glider pilot, participating in the German national civilian aviator’s competition.
Joining the Luftwaffe in April 1937, Clade was initially certified to fly the Junkers Ju 52. However, he quickly moved to become a fighter pilot.
Clade served with 1./JG 1, flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109. He scored his first kill on 11 May 1940 near Maastricht, Netherlands against a Belgian Air Force Gloster Gladiator biplane of 1/I/2. On the evening of the same day, he claimed a French LeO 451 twin-engine bomber of GB I/12 or GB II/12, also in the Maastricht area. Victories over an RAF Spitfire and Morane MS.406 followed in May and June 1940.
In March 1941, Clade was made an instructor attached to Jagdgeschwader 27 into which 1./JG 1 had been merged, and stayed with this fighter unit for essentially all his remaining wartime career.
By now an oberfeldwebel, Clade was assigned to the Mediterranean theatre with 5./JG 27, operating from bases in North Africa. On 7 August 1942, he indirectly made a potentially decisive impact on the future course of the African campaign, although he was most likely unaware of the fact at the time. Airborne over the desert south of Alexandria in Egypt, he chanced upon a Bristol Bombay transport of No. 216 Squadron RAF, flown by 19-year-old Sergeant Pilot H.E. 'Jimmy' James, who was flying Lieutenant General William Gott, the newly appointed Commander of the British 8th Army, to a staff meeting in Cairo. The plane was also carrying a number of wounded British soldiers. Clade’s attack forced the transport to crash land and the subsequent strafing run by fellow JG 27 pilot Bernd Schneider killed Gott and most other British troops inside the wreckage on the ground. (In March 2005, the 89-year-old Clade and the 81-year-old James would have an emotional meeting in Bonn, compare their accounts of the incident, and then take to the skies together.) Gott’s replacement as commander of the 8th Army was Bernard Law Montgomery.
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