Franz Götz (28 January 1913 – 4 May 1980) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator and wing commander during World War II.

Born in Obertsrot, Grand Duchy of Baden, Götz grew up in the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany and volunteered for military service in the Reichswehr.

Götz then fought in the aerial battles of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union and in September 1941, he relocated with his group to the Mediterranean Theater.

Götz was born on 28 January 1913 in Obertsrot, present-day part of Gernsbach, at the time in the Grand Duchy of Baden of the German Empire.

At the time, the Gruppe was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 E.[2] World War II in Europe had begun on Friday, 1 September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland.

[6] The next day, Götz claimed an aerial victory over a M.S.406 shot down 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) south of Creil.

[8] On 5 June, German forced launched Fall Rot (Case Red), the second phase of the conquest of France.

That day, Götz claimed his fourth aerial victory, a Potez 63 destroyed over the Noyon-Compiègne combat area.

[10] In support of this attack, Götz claimed a Curtiss P-36 Hawk fighter shot down near Rethel and Attigny.

There on 11 June, Götz claimed his last aerial victory during the Battle of France when he shot down a MB.152 fighter aircraft.

[13] During the Battle of Britain, Götz claimed his seventh aerial victory on 8 September 1940 after he was promoted to Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) and assigned to the 9.

That day, JG 53 escorted bombers to London and he was credited with shooting down a Royal Air Force (RAF) Hawker Hurricane fighter.

That day, Götz was credited with his ninth aerial victory when he shot down a Supermarine Spitfire fighter.

On 21 June, the Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of JG 53 and its Gruppenkommandeure were summoned to nearby Suwałki, where Generalfeldmarschall (field marshal) Albert Kesselring gave the final instructions for the upcoming attack.

Gruppe had claimed 769 aerial victories for the loss of 6 pilots killed, 7 missing in action, 2 captured and 12 wounded.

[30] Götz claimed his first aerial victory in this theater on 10 June when he shot down a Spitfire in area of Bir Hakeim.

[36] On 22 January 1944, Allied forces launched Operation Shingle, the amphibious landing in the area of Anzio and Nettuno.

There, the Gruppe was assigned a number of inexperienced pilots directly coming from the Ergänungsgruppe, the supplementary training unit of JG 53.

[41] The Gruppe received a full complement of Bf 109 G-6 aircraft, most of them equipped with the 20 mm MG 151/20 underwing gun pod.

Götz ordered these gun pods removed as the additional weight had an adverse effect on the handling qualities, reducing the Bf 109s performance in fighter-versus-fighter combat.

[43] In preparation for Operation Bodenplatte, a failed attempt to gain air superiority during the stagnant stage of the Battle of the Bulge, the bulk of JG 53, with exception of III.

[45] In the vicinity of Kaiserslautern, the Gruppe came under attack by Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters which shot down, or significantly damaged, twelve aircraft so that they had to make a forced landing, none of the pilots were killed in the encounter.

[47] On 28 January 1945, Götz was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 26 (JG 26—26th Fighter Wing), based at Fürstenau.

While half of them chose to remain at Husum and surrendered to the British, approximately ten pilots attempted to fly to Norway.

Squadron Leader Evans approached Major Heinz Lange and asked him to fly a mock combat against one of their pilots.

"Yellow 10" was further subjected to mock combat when on 25 June 1945 Oberleutnant Günther Josten was asked to fly a comparison flight against another Tempest.

[55] This very rare Fw 190 D-13/R11 is now on display at the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum in Everett, Washington, which recently had its Junkers Jumo 213 engine made operable once more.

[56] Following World War II, Götz reentered military service in the Bundeswehr and became an officer in the Bundesluftwaffe.

On 26 October 1963, Oberstleutnant Götz was part of a German delegation headed by the Bishop of Essen, Cardinal Franz Hengsbach, who attended a private audience held by Pope Paul VI.

The alleged seven aerial victories claimed by Götz whilst flying with JG 26 cannot be verified via the German Federal Archives.