Resch was born 26 November 1921 in
Stolberg, at the time in the
Rhine Province the westernmost
province of the
Free State of Prussia, which at the time was in the British
occupied territory of the Rhineland. In mid-1943, Resch who had previously served as transport aviator, was posted to 3.
Staffel (3rd squadron) of
Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing). This
Staffel was part of I.
Gruppe (1st group) of JG 52 headed by
Hauptmann Helmut Bennemann and then by
Major Johannes Wiese.
World War II World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. Germany had launched
Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. On 11 October 1943, I.
Gruppe of JG 52 moved to an airfield at
Nove Zaporizhzhya located approximately west of
Zaporizhzhia on the western bank of the
Dnieper of the
Eastern Front. The
Gruppe supported the
1st Panzer Army fighting in the
Battle of the Dnieper on the
Eastern Front. Resch claimed his first aerial victory on 21 October over an
Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft. That day the
Gruppe operated over the left wing of the 1st Panzer Army up to
Dnipropetrovsk and on the right wing to
Bolschoj Tokmak. While based at Nove Zaporizhzhya, Resch claimed four further aerial victories, making him a
flying ace. On 23 October, he claimed two
Yakovlev Yak-1 fighters, the next day an Il-2 ground-attack aircraft and a
Douglas A-20 Havoc, also referred to as a Boston, on 27 October. On 27 January 1944, Resch and his
wingman Leutnant Franz Schall flew a
combat air patrol in the area of
Kerch. On this mission, they engaged in aerial combat with six
Bell P-39 Airacobra fighters and Resch was shot down in his
Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (
Werknummer 20581—factory number). Severely wounded, he did not return until May 1944. At the time of his return to combat, I.
Gruppe at the time was based at
Leipzig, present-day Serpneve. Resch claimed two P-39s from 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (16 GvIAP—Gvardeyskiy Istrebitelny Aviatsionny Polk) on 31 May. On 22 June, Soviet forces launched
Operation Bagration, attacking
Army Group Centre in
Byelorussia, with the objective of encircling and destroying its main component armies. On 24 June, the
Gruppe transferred to
Galați and again to Peloniczna. The
Gruppe reached
Grabowiec in eastern Poland on 27 July and
Kraków on 1 August. On 12 August they were again relocated and moved to
Mzurowa. The
Gruppe reached
Grabowiec in eastern Poland on 27 July and
Kraków on 1 August. On 12 August they were again relocated and moved to
Mzurowa. Here on 26 August, Resch became an "
ace-in-a-day" for the second time when he claimed seven aerial victories, taking his total to 44. On 31 August, he again claimed seven aerial victories, his third "ace-in-a-day" achievement. On 10 September 1944, he was again wounded when he was shot down in his Bf 109 G-6 (
Werknummer 166490) by
anti-aircraft artillery west of
Altsohl, present-day Zvolen. At the time, Resch was credited with 63 aerial victories, making him the fourth most successful active fighter pilot of I.
Gruppe.
With the headquarters unit of JG 52 In late 1944, Resch and
Oberleutnant Heinrich Füllgrabe were transferred to the
Geschwaderstab (headquarters unit) of JG 52. The request was made by
Oberst Hermann Graf who had been appointed
Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of JG 52 in September 1944. At the time, the
Geschwaderstab was based at
Krakau, present-day Kraków. Here on 1 January 1945, Resch was awarded the
German Cross in Gold (). On 6 February 1945, the
Geschwaderstab moved to an airfield at
Weidengut, present-day Wierzbie. Here Resch claimed four aircraft of unknown type taking his total to 72. On 7 April, Resch was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () for 91 aerial victories. On 1 May, the
Geschwaderstab deployed to
Deutsch Brod, present-day Havlíčkův Brod, approximately halfway between
Brno and
Prague, where they were united with I. and III.
Gruppe. Resch and other soldiers of JG 52 surrendered to the
90th US Infantry Division near
Písek on 8 May 1945 and became a
prisoner of war (POW). The soldiers were initially interned at a POW camp at
Strakonice. On 16 May, Resch and most of the JG 52 personnel were handed over by the American forces to the Soviet Union. ==Later life==