World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. On 23 September 1939, Losigkeit was appointed
Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 2.
Staffel of JG 26, replacing Kienitz who was transferred. He claimed his first victory on 28 May 1940 during the
Battle of Dunkirk, as part of the
Battle of France, over a
Royal Air Force (RAF)
Supermarine Spitfire between
Dover and
Ostend. On 1 June, the fighting over the beachhead at
Dunkirk continued. In combat with RAF fighters from
No. 19 Squadron,
No. 222 Squadron and
No. 616 Squadron, Losigkeit shot down a Spitfire near Dunkirk, his last during the Battle of France. The
Armistice of 22 June 1940 ended the Battle of France and JG 26 began its relocation back to Germany for a period of rest and replenishment. Two days later, Handrick was appointed
Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of JG 26 while command of I.
Gruppe was handed to
Hauptmann Kurt Fischer. On 26 June, the
Gruppe arrived at
Bönninghardt. As the air war turned to England, I.
Gruppe was moved to France again on 15 July and subordinated to
Luftflotte 2 (Air Fleet 2). Losigkeit claimed his first aerial victory during the
Battle of Britain on 28 August. On a bomber escort mission, he shot down a
Hawker Hurricane from
No. 79 Squadron north of
Folkestone. Two days later, on a mission attacking
11 Group airfields, he claimed a Spitfire shot down southeast of
Littlestone. On 15 September, on a mission to
London, Losigkeit claimed his fifth aerial victory of the war and last during the Battle of Britain. Southeast of London, he claimed a
No. 92 Squadron Spitfire destroyed. On 17 June 1941, Losigkeit was replaced by
Oberleutnant Martin Rysavy as
Staffelkapitän of 2.
Staffel of JG 26. Losigkeit had been transferred to take a position with the staff of the
military attaché in
Japan. Until January 1942 he advised on German air combat tactics with
Imperial Japanese Army Air Service pilots flying the
Nakajima Ki-44 against several examples of the
Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter shipped to Japan for evaluation. Wanting to rejoin the European war, he made the voyage back to Germany via the German
blockade runner MSS Elsa Essberger. In January 1942,
Elsa Essberger and the escorting came under attack by British aircraft flying from
Gibraltar, forcing
Elsa Essberger to make for repairs at
Ferrol in Spain.
Jagdgruppe Losigkeit Following his return from Japan, Losigkeit joined the staff with the
General der Jagdflieger (Inspector of Fighters), an office held by
Oberst Adolf Galland. Fearing a British invasion of Norway,
Adolf Hitler had ordered the
Oberkommando der Marine (OKM—German Navy high command) to return the German
battleships and and the
heavy cruiser from
Brest in
Brittany to German bases. The
Kriegsmarine transferred the ships on 11–13 February 1942 in
Operation Cerberus, also known as the Channel Dash. Further
Kriegsmarine vessels were ordered to Norway to combat the
convoys heading to the Soviet Union. To protect these naval units from aerial attacks, Galland instructed Losigkeit with the creation of a fighter unit on 14 February. This unit, dubbed
Jagdgruppe Losigkeit (Fighter Group Losigkeit), was made up of three
Staffeln. 1.
Staffel was created from 8.
Staffel of
Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1–1st Fighter Wing) and commanded by
Hauptmann Rolf Strössner. 2.
Staffel was based on 2.
Staffel of JG 1 and led by
Hauptmann Werner Dolenga. The
Einsatzstaffel of
Jagdfliegerschule 1 under
Oberleutnant Friedrich Eberle formed 3.
Staffel of
Jagdgruppe Losigkeit. Losigkeit chose
Leutnant Heinz Knoke from 2.
Staffel of JG 1 as his adjutant. On 15 February, the unit began relocating north, at first to
Esbjerg in Denmark. The following day, 3.
Staffel reached
Aalborg. Weather conditions initially affected the transfer.
Jagdgruppe Losigkeit reached the
Gardemoen Airfield, approximately north of
Oslo, on 20 February and further to
Trondheim on 24 February, one day after the
Kriegsmarine vessels. At Trondheim, the unit was subordinated to the
Jagdfliegerführer Norwegen, an office held by
Oberst Carl-Alfred Schumacher. On 25 February,
Jagdgruppe Losigkeit provided fighter protection for
Prinz Eugen, which had been damaged in the Channel Dash. In March, the unit was ordered back to Germany, arriving in
Jever on 20 March where it was disbanded. During its existence,
Jagdgruppe Losigkeit claimed one aerial victory, a Spitfire flown by
Flight Lieutenant Sandy Gunn shot down by
Leutnant Dieter Gerhard on 5 March.
With Jagdgeschwader 1 In March 1942, IV.
Gruppe of JG 1 was re-named III.
Gruppe of
Jagdgeschwader 5 (JG 5—5th Fighter Wing). In consequence, Losigkeit was charged with the creation of a new IV.
Gruppe which was initially based at
Werneuchen near
Berlin.
Oberleutnant Friedrich Eberle headed 10.
Staffel which had already served as 3.
Staffel of
Jagdgruppe Losigkeit. The
Einsatzstaffel of
Jagdfliegerschule 4 under
Oberleutnant Wilhelm Moritz formed 11.
Staffel.
Oberleutnant Franz Eisenach initially led 12.
Staffel created from some pilots of the former IV.
Gruppe. Command of 12.
Staffel then passed on to
Oberleutnant Heinz Stöcker. In late April, Losigkeit reported the combat readiness of IV.
Gruppe which then moved to airfields at
Leeuwarden and
Düsseldorf on 27 April. IV.
Gruppe was withdrawn from combat operations in July 1942 and re-equipped with the
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft. On 1 April 1943, I.
Gruppe of JG 1 became the II.
Gruppe of
Jagdgeschwader 11 (JG 11—11th Fighter Wing). In consequence, IV.
Gruppe of JG 1 became the new I.
Gruppe of JG 1. On 17 April, the
United States Army Air Forces (USAAF)
VIII Bomber Command attacked the
Focke-Wulf factories at Bremen, causing significant damage. During the attack, Losigkeit shot down a
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. On 2 May, 25 RAF Spitfires escorted 18
Lockheed Ventura bombers which were intercepted by fighters from I. and II.
Gruppe of JG 1 east of
Vlissingen. For the loss of two Fw 190s, pilots of JG 1 claimed nine aerial victories, including a Ventura claimed by Losigkeit.
Eastern Front On 20 May, Losigkeit was transferred upon his own request. He was given command of I.
Gruppe of JG 26 on the
Eastern Front. The former commander of I.
Gruppe of JG 26,
Major Johannes Seifert, had been taken off combat duty after his brother was
killed in action. Losigkeit had made his request for transfer because of substantial differences with the
Jafü (
Jagdfliegerführer—the commander of the fighter forces) of the
3. Jagd-Division. Apparently the commanding officer of the 3.
Jagd-Division,
Generalleutnant Werner Junck, had accused the fighter pilots of
cowardice in combating the B-17 bombers. On 4 June, he flew his first mission on the Eastern Front, flying a fighter sweep into Soviet airspace from
Shatalovka. On 6 June, I.
Gruppe began its return to Germany while Losigkeit remained on the Eastern Front. On 26 June, he took over command of III.
Gruppe of
Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing) from
Hauptmann Herbert Wehnelt who had briefly led the
Gruppe after
Hauptmann Karl-Heinz Schnell was transferred. III.
Gruppe was also based Shatalovka, flying combat missions in the vicinity of
Mtsensk and
Oryol. On 5 July, III.
Gruppe began flying missions in support of
Operation Citadel, as part of the
Battle of Kursk. The
Gruppe supported the
9th Army, attacking the salient from the north. That day, Losigkeit claimed two
Lavochkin La-5 fighters shot down. The following day, in aerial combat near
Maloarkhangelsk, he claimed another La-5 destroyed. Later that day, he was credited with shooting down a
Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter. On 7 July, III.
Gruppe again fought in the vicinity of Maloarkhangelsk where they claimed 17 aerial victories, including a
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 by Losigkeit, for the loss of one severely shot up Fw 190 from 8.
Staffel. Losigkeit was awarded the
German Cross in Gold () on 17 October 1943.
Wing commander On 1 April 1944, Losigkeit was appointed
Geschwaderkommodore of JG 51. He succeeded
Oberstleutnant Karl-Gottfried Nordmann who was transferred. Command of III.
Gruppe of JG 51 was handed to
Hauptmann Diethelm von Eichel-Streiber. The Stab of JG 51 was based at
Terespol in the combat area of
Army Group Centre. On 21 June, bombers of the Eighth Air Force, formerly VIII Bomber Command, on a
shuttle bombing mission of
Operation Frantic, attacked oil refineries south of Berlin before heading for the
Poltava Air Base. The bombers were intercepted by elements of JG 51 led by Losigkeit. In this encounter, two of the escorting
North American P-51 Mustang fighters were shot down. One of the P-51 fighters crashed near the Luftwaffe airfield at
Babruysk where III.
Gruppe of JG 51 was based. In its cockpit, a map of the Poltava Air Base was found. The commander of III.
Gruppe, Eichel-Streiber, sent the map to the headquarters of
Luftflotte 6 (6th Air Fleet). This intelligence led to an attack by Luftwaffe bombers which destroyed 44 parked B-17 bombers and damaged further 26. Losigkeit flew to
Danzig-Langfuhr, present-day Wrzeszcz, in a
Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun in late March 1945 to assist the retreat west. There, he was handed a
teleprinter message by
Oberst Herbert Ihlefeld that he was ordered to
Ostrau, present-day Ostrava, to take command of
Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) on 1 April 1945. He succeeded
Major Siegfried Freytag in this capacity who had temporarily assumed this office after
Oberstleutnant Erich Leie was killed in action on 7 March. That day, he took command of JG 77 at
Beneschau, present-day Benešov, in the Czech Republic. With the arrival of Losigkeit, Freytag resumed command of II.
Gruppe of JG 77. Command of JG 51 was passed on to
Major Heinz Lange. Losigkeit was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 28 April 1945. The
Geschwaderstab and II.
Gruppe were based at
Skutsch (Skuteč) on 8 May. Losigkeit ordered the destruction of all remaining aircraft before boarding a
Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft, filled up with fuel from salvaged aircraft, heading west to avoid capture by the Red Army. ==Later life==