Holding the rank of
Unteroffizier, a
non-commissioned officer similar in rank to
sergeant, on 20 August 1942 Waldmann was tasked with shuttling new
Messerschmitt Bf 109Gs from a factory at
Krakau to units on the
Eastern Front. Along with six other newly trained pilots, he reached
Lemberg where the group was scheduled for a stop over. Bad weather closed in and Waldmann was the only one to take off before the group was grounded. Getting away at 17:55, he headed for
Proskuriv. The next day he continued his journey to
Uman, south of
Kiev in Ukraine. For the next few days, he was sent back and forth until he finally reached the II.
Gruppe (2nd group) of
Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) at Tusow, operating in the combat area of
Stalingrad. On arrival, Waldmann was approached by
Hauptmann (Captain)
Johannes Steinhoff and asked whether he would like to fly as his wingman. Waldmann then conducted six familiarisation flights on the "Gustav", as the Bf 109 G-2 was referred to, on 30 August 1942. Flying a Bf 109 marked with a black "
Chevron-2", indicating an aircraft of the
Stab, he flew his first combat mission on 31 August 1942 in the vicinity of Stalingrad. Steinhoff was impressed by his first performance. At the time, Waldmann was still officially assigned to a transfer squadron, but Steinhoff decided to keep him in his
Stabs-
Schwarm, flight of four. Here his comrades nicknamed Waldmann "
Dackel", an
allusion to his last name. In German, a "
Dackel", or
Dachshund, is often named Waldi, a
hypocoristic form of Waldmann.
War against the Soviet Union In September 1942, II.
Gruppe was ordered into the
Battle of the Caucasus, supporting
Army Group South on the front over the
Caucasus. Opposing it was the 4th and 5th Air Armies of the
Red Air Force. The
Gruppe reached an airfield named Gonschtakowka located north-northeast of
Mozdok on the
Terek on 6 September. There, Waldmann claimed his first aerial victory over a
Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter. On 25 September, Waldmann's Bf 109 G-2 (
Werknummer 13650—factory number) sustained minor damage in combat, resulting in a
forced landing at
Maikop. On 17 April 1943, Waldmann received the
German Cross in Gold (). He made another forced landing on 7 May, this time due to engine failure of his Bf 109 G-4 at
Taman. After 84 victories on 1 September 1943, Waldmann was promoted to
Leutnant (second lieutenant) and assigned to
Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost (Supplementary Fighter Group East). Here he was credited with the destruction of a
B-17 Flying Fortress on 5 January 1944. This victory, his 85th, was actually a separation-shot—a severely damaged
heavy bomber forced to separate from his
combat box—which counted as an aerial victory. Waldmann had attacked a 28-aircraft bomber formation and severely damaged the B-17. The aerial-victory commission of
Luftflotte 3 also credited the Flak-Regiment 45 of
12th Flak Brigade with this victory. Following this aerial victory, he received the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 5 February 1944. The presentation of the award was announced by the Greater German Radio—the official radio station of the
Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda—on the evening of 20 February 1944. In late February 1944 Waldmann was sent back to the
Crimean peninsula on the Eastern Front, where he took command of 4./JG 52 (4th Squadron of the 52nd Fighter Wing) as its
Staffelkapitän (squadron leader). He succeeded
Oberleutnant Heinrich Sturm who had been wounded by bomb debris in an attack on the airfield at
Chersonesus at
Sevastopol on 16 April. He continued his success, claiming eight aerial victories in March, and 16 in April of which eight were claimed from 5–12 April. On 11 April 1944, he claimed three aerial victories. He was the 70th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. On 4 May 1944, 15 Bf 109s from II.
Gruppe intercepted 24
Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft from 8 GShAP (8th Guards Ground-attack Aviation Regiment) and 47 GShAP (47th Ground-attack Aviation Regiment), escorted by 23 fighter aircraft, over the Black Sea. In this encounter, pilots from II.
Gruppe claimed six aerial victories, including an Il-2 and a
Yakovlev Yak-7 by Waldmann, without sustaining any losses. However, Soviet records only document the loss of three Il-2 and one
Yakovlev Yak-9 fighter. Waldmann became an
"ace-in-a-day" on 7 May 1944, claiming six aerial victories over the Sevastopol combat area. Two
Staffeln (squadrons) of the II./JG 52 were transferred to
Huși at the
Prut River on 27 May 1944. Here Waldmann claimed his final four victories on the Eastern Front, taking his total to 125 aerial victories claimed. On 1 June,
Gruppenkommandeur (group commander)
Major Gerhard Barkhorn was ordered to transfer one
Staffel to the west in
Defence of the Reich. Barkhorn selected Waldmann's 4.
Staffel which was officially assigned to the II./
Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing). There, the
Staffel was later renamed and became the 8.
Staffel of JG 3. At the time, II./JG 3 was under the command of
Hauptmann Hans-Ekkehard Bob, and later by
Hauptmann Herbert Kutscha.
Invasion of Normandy The
Invasion of Normandy, which started on the early morning of 6 June 1944, was in full swing by the time Waldmann's
Staffel arrived in France in early July. The
Western Allies were already breaking out of Normandy in what was codenamed
Operation Cobra. II./JG 3 "Udet" (2nd Group of the 3rd Fighter Wing) was stationed at
Nogent-le-Roi, roughly southwest of Paris. The
Gruppe was tasked with
ground support missions. In one of these missions against the Allied invasion forces, Waldmann claimed to have damaged a
P-51 Mustang on 31 July 1944. He was credited with the destruction of numerous trucks during ground support missions over the period of 2–5 August 1944. Waldmann claimed his first aerial victory in the west, his 126th in total, over a
B-24 Liberator on 6 August 1944. Waldmann had taken off at 11:43 on a
free-fighter sweep mission against heavy bombers. His unit spotted a formation of B-24s after 45 minutes flying time. Waldmann attacked and with his first pass at an altitude of had hit one of the B-24 between the two starboard engines, which immediately set the bomber on fire. The B-24 was observed to crash southeast of Méry. His final tally for August was seven Allied planes, including the B-24, one
Auster on 7 August, and five
P-47 Thunderbolts (two on 14 August, two on 18 August and one on 19 August). This took his total to 132 aerial victory claims.
Flying the Messerschmitt Me 262 and death On 25 November 1944, II.
Gruppe was detached from JG 3. The
Gruppe was converted to fly the
Messerschmitt Me 262 "Stormbird" jet fighter and became the I.
Gruppe of
Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7—7th Fighter Wing), the first operational jet fighter wing. Conversion training was held at
Landsberg-Lech Airfield and
Kaltenkirchen in December 1944. The pilots first learned to fly the
Siebel Si 204 and
Messerschmitt Bf 110 to familiarize themselves with the characteristics of a twin-engine aircraft. In consequence, Waldmann was transferred to 3./JG 7, now flying the "Stormbird", as its
Staffelführer (squadron leader on probation). Together with his wingman‚
Oberfähnrich Günter Schrey, Waldmann took off at 11:39 on 22 February 1945 from
Oranienburg on an
offensive counter-air mission against inbound Allied heavy bombers. The Anglo-American attack was codenamed
Operation Clarion. About 20 minutes into the flight, roughly west of Berlin, they spotted an American P-51 Mustang flying at . Closing fast, Waldmann shot down the Mustang at 12:02 before proceeding west for
Magdeburg. Near
Oschersleben they spotted another Mustang at . Waldmann shot it down at 12:17, achieving his 134th and final aerial victory. The Mustang was observed crashing into a forest northeast of the
Brocken, the highest peak of the
Harz mountain range. On Sunday, 18 March 1945, the lower cloud ceiling at Kaltenkirchen was less than and most of the time between , while the upper cloud ceiling was at , rendering flight conditions outside the official operational specification for the Me 262. The jet was not fully cleared for
instrument flight, mandating a lower cloud ceiling of more than .
Major Erich Rudorffer,
Gruppenkommandeur of the I./JG 7, was attending a meeting at the
Luftgaukommando in
Hamburg-
Blankenese, when
Oberleutnant Hans Grünberg, the most senior officer on duty and
Staffelkapitän of the 1st
Staffel, received the order from
Major Richter, the Ia (operations officer), to engage inbound heavy bombers. Grünberg initially argued that weather conditions prohibited a safe takeoff but
Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring intervened and ordered the jets to engage the enemy. The order resulted in the death of both Waldmann and his wingman Schrey on the following mission. Waldmann was killed following a mid-air collision with
Leutnant Hans-Dieter Weihs shortly after takeoff, and Schrey was killed in combat with US fighters. Mindful of the direct order of the
Reichsmarschall,
Oberleutnant Grünberg (1st
Staffel),
Oberleutnant Fritz Stehle (2nd
Staffel) and Waldmann (3rd
Staffel) had decided that each of them would lead a flight of four Me 262s, taking off and flying around for an hour before returning without trying to engage the enemy. Grünberg's
Schwarm took off first followed by Stehle's
Schwarm. Waldmann chose Weihs, as the most experienced pilot trained in instrument flight, to lead the
Schwarm, while Schrey once again served as Waldmann's wingman. Waldmann's Me 262 A-1 "Yellow 3" (
Werknummer 117097—factory number) took off at 12:24 and Weihs ordered the
Schwarm to form a close formation, flying wing tip to wing tip. Only three Me 262s took off;
Flieger Gerhard Reiher's Me 262 had experienced engine failure. Four minutes into the flight, having travelled roughly and flying at less than above the ground, Weihs' aircraft experienced a heavy blow from below after Waldmann collided with him. His jet in an unrecoverable spin, Weihs bailed out and came down near the Hamburg-Berlin railroad tracks. The airfield at Kaltenkirchen was immediately informed. Waldmann and Schrey were initially believed missing. Waldmann's body was recovered the next day near
Schwarzenbek, roughly away from the crash site of his Me 262. Apparently he had managed to bail out but failed to deploy his parachute in time, although the injuries sustained during the crash with Weihs' aircraft may have already been fatal as the recovery party found Waldmann with his upper forehead smashed. Schrey was also found dead. He had bailed out with his parachute, but his body was found riddled by machine-gun bullets. The airmen were buried with full
military honours, including a Me 262
flypast, at the cemetery in Kaltenkirchen. Waldmann's successor as
Staffelkapitän,
Oberleutnant Walter Wagner, accompanied Waldmann's mother from Braunschweig to Kaltenkirchen for the funeral. A number of wreaths were laid on his grave, the largest sent by the
Reichsmarschall. Waldmann was recommended for the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross, but the recommendation was either not approved or not finalized before the end of the war. ==Summary of career==