Wernicke was born on 17 October 1920 in
Berlin of the
Weimar Republic. He joined the 3.
Staffel (3rd squadron) of
Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing) in early 1942 as an
Unteroffizier (non-commissioned officer). JG 54 at the time was stationed at the
Eastern Front. In the fall of 1942, he was transferred to
Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost (Supplementary Fighter Group East) and then to 6.
Staffel (6th squadron) of JG 54 in early 1943. There, he claimed his first aerial victory on 7 March 1943 over an
Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft in aerial combat south of
Lake Ilmen. At the time, II.
Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 54 was based at Rjelbitzi, an airfield south of
Leningrad. On 11 March, II.
Gruppe under the command of
Hauptmann (Captain)
Heinrich Jung, relocated to
Gatchina for combat in the
Siege of Leningrad and east in the vicinity of the
Volkhov River. In this combat area, Wernicke claimed a
Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter on 19 March, a
Yakovlev Yak-4 light bomber one day later, and another LaGG-3 plus a
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter on 27 March, taking his total to five aerial victories. Following five further victories in June 1943, Wernicke became a fighter pilot instructor and underwent officer training courses. On 4 July 1943,
Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant)
Horst Ademeit, his
Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of the 6.
Staffel, assessed Wernicke concluding that at the time Wernicke required further training to become an officer. In October 1943, he was back to front line service and claimed his 88th aerial victory on 3 August 1944, and surpassed the century mark—100 aerial victories—in mid-September 1944. He was the 91st Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century-mark. On 22 February 1944, Wernicke and
Oberfeldwebel Fritz Harder suffered
carbon monoxide poisoning in their accommodations at the
Uman airfield. Wernicke was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 30 September 1944 after 112 victories. The presentation was made by General
Kurt Pflugbeil.
Squadron leader and death On 1 October 1944, Wernicke was appointed
Staffelkapitän of the 1.
Staffel of JG 54, succeeding
Oberleutnant Helmut Wettstein in this capacity. On 27 December, he and his wingman
Unteroffizier Gerhard Wollien were killed in a
mid-air collision during aerial combat with
Yakovlev Yak-9 fighters north of
Doblen, present-day Dobele. Command of 1.
Staffel then went to
Oberleutnant Josef Heinzeller. ==Summary of career==