Rollwage was born on 24 September 1916 in
Gielde, at the time in the
Province of Hanover within the
German Empire, present-day part of the
Schladen-Werla municipality. He was the son of a
shunter who joined the military service of the
Luftwaffe as an
Unteroffizier (non-commissioned officer) candidate in 1936. Following flight training, Rollwage was posted to 4.
Staffel (4th squadron) of
Jagdgeschwader 53 (JG 53—53rd Fighter Wing) in 1941 holding the rank of
Feldwebel (platoon sergeant).
Operation Barbarossa On 8 June 1941, the bulk of JG 53's air elements moved via
Jever, in northern Germany, to
Mannheim-Sandhofen. There the aircraft were given a maintenance overhaul prior to moving east. The II.
Gruppe was transferred to Neusiedel in
East Prussia, present-day Malomožaiskojė in
Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia, between 12 and 14 June. On 22 June, the
Geschwader crossed into Soviet airspace in support of
Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union which opened the
Eastern Front. That day, Rollwage claimed his first aerial victory when he shot down a Soviet
Tupolev SB-2 bomber. On 5 July 1941, he was awarded the
Iron Cross 2nd Class () followed by the Iron Cross 1st Class () on 16 September. On 5 October, Rollwage claimed his last aerial victory on the Eastern Front, his eleventh in total, when he shot down a
Polikarpov I-16 fighter. That day, his unit flew its final missions in the area of
Shlisselburg. The
Gruppe then relocated to the
Western Front where it arrived at
Leeuwarden Air Base in the Netherlands on 12 October. On 2 December 1941, II.
Gruppe moved to the
Mediterranean theater and where then based at
Comiso airfield during the
siege of Malta.
Mediterranean theater Rollwage was credited with his first aerial victory in the Mediterranean theater on 4 January 1942, claiming
Royal Air Force (RAF)
Hawker Hurricane fighter shot down. On 14 April, he claimed his 13th and 14th aerial victories when he shot down two
Bristol Beaufort bombers south of
Qrendi. Two
Supermarine Spitfire fighters claimed on 10 May near
Valletta took his total to 18 aerial victories. Three days later, he claimed another Spitfire shot down near
Luqa. On 14 July, Rollwage participated in mission which escorted 15
Junkers Ju 88 bombers from
Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54—54th Bomber Wing) to the RAF
Luqa airfield. On this mission, he claimed a Spitfire fighter shot down. On 8 August 1942, Rollwage flew his 300th combat mission and claimed a Spitfire fighter shot down. His opponent may have been the Canadian fighter pilot
George Beurling who managed to land his damaged aircraft. For his achievements to date, Rollwage was awarded the
Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe () on 10 August followed by the
German Cross in Gold () two days later. Following the
Allied invasion of
French North Africa in
Operation Torch, II.
Gruppe relocated to
Tunis on 9 November. On 30 December, a number of
United States Army Air Forces (USAAF)
Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters escorted twelve
Douglas A-20 Havoc bombers on their bombing mission to
Gabès. 5.
Staffel intercepted the formation and Rollwage claimed one of the P-38 fighters shot down, his 35th aerial victory. His opponent may have been Virgil Smith of the
14th Fighter Group, who was killed in the
crash landing. On 8 July 1943, the USAAF attacked
Ramacca with 24
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. Elements of II.
Gruppe intercepted the bombers. During this aerial battle, Rollwage claimed a B-17 bomber shot down approximately southwest of
Capo Scaramia. The next day, the USAAF attacked the Luftwaffe airfield at
Trapani with a formation of
Martin B-26 Marauder bombers escorted by
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters. The formation was intercepted at 10:53. In this encounter, Luftwaffe pilots claimed seven aerial victories including a P-40 shot down by Rollwage northwest of
Cape San Vito. On 10 July during the
Allied invasion of Sicily, Rollwage claimed two aerial victories, a P-38 fighter and a
Ryan YO-51 Dragonfly observation aircraft. The YO-51 was likely misidentified and could have been a
Vought OS2U Kingfisher observation
floatplane launched form and piloted by Lieutenant McGuiness. Following this encounter, he was shot down and wounded in his
Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (
Werknummer 18242—factory number) near San Pietro.
Defense of the Reich In mid-October 1943, II.
Gruppe of JG 53 was withdrawn Italy and ordered to relocate to Wien-Seyring near
Vienna for combat in
defense of the Reich. In Wien-Seyring, the
Gruppe received a full complement of factory new Bf 109 G-6 aircraft. Here, Rollwage returned to his unit in November after a period of convalescence following his injuries sustained on 10 July. On 7 January 1944, the USAAF targeted Vienna. The
heavy bombers were escorted by P-38 fighters. II.
Gruppe was
scrambled at 10:41 and engaged the escorting P-38 fighters. In this 40 minute aerial battle, Luftwaffe pilots claimed 15 P-38s shot down, including two by Rollwage, taking his total to 49 aerial victories claimed. On 25 February during Operation Argument, also known as
Big Week, the USAAF
Fifteenth Air Force attacked the
ball bearing factories at
Steyr. Defending against this attack, Rollwage shot down a B-17 bomber near
Gmunden. On 5 April, Rollwage was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () for 53 aerial victories. He received the award from
Generalleutnant Joseph Schmid, commanding
1. Jagdkorps. Rollwage was promoted to
Leutnant (second lieutenant) on 1 May 1944. On 27 May, the USAAF
3rd Bombardment Division sent 102 B-17 bombers to
Strasbourg and further 98 B-17 bombers to the
marshalling yard at
Karlsruhe. Defending against attack, Rollwage claimed a B-17 bomber and an escorting
North American P-51 Mustang fighter shot down. On 15 August, Rollwage was appointed
Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 5.
Staffel of JG 53. He succeeded
Oberleutnant Karl Paashaus who was transferred. In December 1944, Rollwage was transferred to II.
Gruppe of
Jagdgeschwader 106 (JG 106—106th Fighter Wing), a fighter pilot training unit, where he served as an instructor. On 21 January 1945, Rollwagen, who was en route to the
Führerbunker in Berlin to be awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves () by
Adolf Hitler, visited II.
Gruppe of JG 53 then based at
Rutesheim. The
Gruppenkommandeur (group commander),
Major Julius Meimberg, advised Rollwage to be at his best behavior when meeting with Hitler. Apparently, Rollwage had a problem with military discipline. The Oak Leaves were awarded to him on 24 January, the 713th member of the German armed forces to be so honored. Rollwage claimed his last documented aerial victory on 5 April. At the time both II.
Gruppe of JG 106 and II.
Gruppe of JG 53 were both based at
Rißtissen, located approximately southwest of
Ulm. That day, Rollwage shot down a
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter. ==Later life==