Erich Mix

Erich Mix
Born	27 June 1898
Died	9 April 1971 (aged 72)
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Luftstreitkräfte Luftwaffe
Rank	Oberstleutnant
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Other work	Mayor of Wiesbaden

Erich Mix, born 27 June 1898 in Labuhnken (now Trzcińsk, Poland) in West Prussia (now Starogard Gdański) – died 9 April 1971 in Wiesbaden, was a German politician, member of the Nazi Party, later a member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Flying ace during World War II.

Mix fought as an infantryman in World War I before he trained as a fighter pilot and posted to Jagdstaffel 54, where, as an Unteroffizer from June 1918 until the end of the war, he scored three aerial victories (and one unconfirmed balloon) of Jasta 54's total of 22 victories, for which he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross.^[1]

After the war, he studied law at the University of Greifswald and made a career as a leading administrative official. In 1934, he became Mayor of Tilsit (now Sovetsk, Russia) in 1934-37, later of Wiesbaden in 1937-45 and 1954-60. In his first term as Mayor of Wiesbaden, most of the Jewish community of Wiesbaden, some 2,700 people in 1933, was murdered and their synagogues were burned, under Mix's leadership. However, he was again elected mayor in 1954, and he is buried in the honorary section of the Wiesbaden graveyard. In 1935 he started flying again, training as an observer and then as a fighter pilot in 1937.

Serving as technical officer with I./JG 53 at the outbreak of World War II, Mix claimed three French Morane fighters over Saargemünd (now Sarreguemines, France) on 21 September 1939, and four more on 22 November 1939 over Saarbrücken.

Appointed to command III./JG 2 in March 1940, he claimed three more Moranes on 21 May 1940, although Mix was shot down and forced to land in a field near Roye on 21 May in Bf 109E-3 W.Nr.1526.

After being hospitalized, Mix returned to III./JG 2 on 19 June. He left France with his unit and relocated to Frankfurt/Rhein-Main on 1 July. On 27 July, the unit returned to Évreux-West until 4 August. Mix claimed a Hawker Hurricane on 4 September. Mix remained Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 2 until 24 September 1940, when he became one of the older commanders dismissed by a frustrated Goering in favour of the younger, up-and-coming aces of 1940; in Mix's case, Hpt. Otto Bertram.^[2] Mix's final claim was a Bristol Blenheim over The Hague (den Haag) in July 1941, while commanding JG 1.

He later served as Jafü Bretagne ( Fighter Leader, Brittany) from April 1943 onwards.

During World War II, he claimed eight (potentially 13) aerial victories.

References

1. Prien 1997, p. 43.
2. John Weal, 'JG 2 Richthofen', page 64

• Prien, Jochen (1997). Jagdgeschwader 53 A History of the "Pik As" Geschwader March 1937 - May 1942. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Military History. ISBN 0-7643-0175-6.

External links

• Erich Mix in the German National Library catalogue
• "Wiesbaden Landeshauptstadt". Die Wiesbadener Oberbürgermeister seit dem Bau des neuen Rathauses (1886). Retrieved 2 December 2007.