German Air Force

Colonel WERNER BAUMBACH (1916-1953)

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Colonel WERNER BAUMBACH (1916-1953) - most successful bomber pilot of WW2. 'General der Kampfflieger' (inspector of bombers; the bomber equivalent to Mölders, Galland and Gollob), bearer of the Knight's Cross with oakleaves and swords, commander of KG 200 and inventor of the 'Mistel' (mistletoe) programme. Altogether he sank about 300,000 gross register tons of allied shipping. Baumbach survived the war and went to Argentina as a test pilot. Aged 36 in 1953 he crashed during a test flight with a British Lancaster over the river La Plata near Buenos Aires.