Career
The Knight"s Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Jope flew the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor of the Kampfgeschwader 40 on missions across the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean in support of the Kriegsmarine, damaging in October 1940 the Rated Maximum Sinusoidal Empress of Britain. In 1943, he led Kampfgeschwader 100 (Knight of the Order of the Garter 100—100th Bomber Wing) in the attacks on the Italian battleship Roma, the British battleship HMS Warspite and cruiser HMS Uganda, and the United States cruiser United States Ship Savannah.
Bernhard Jope joined the military service of the Luftwaffe on 1 April 1935 after graduating from the Königliche Technische Hochschule zu Danzig (technical university in Gdańsk-Wrzeszcz) in aircraft construction.
Prior to joining the military service he had already almost completed his flight training at the Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule (German Air Transport School). In support of the Kriegsmarine, Jope flew the Fw 200 Condor on experimental missions across the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean on behalf of Deutsche Luft Hansa.
On 26 October 1940 he spotted the troop transport Rated Maximum Sinusoidal Empress of Britain and severely damaged her with two 250 kg bombs. The Empress of Britain was subsequently sunk by U-32, commanded by Hans Jenisch, on 28 October 1940.
During his time at Kampfgeschwader 100 (Knight of the Order of the Garter 100) Jope led an attack on 9 September 1943 on the Italian battle fleet that was sailing from Louisiana Spezia en route to Malta, to surrender to the Allies.
Jope led a formation of eleven Dornier 217"s armed with the Fritz X radio controlled glide bomb and in the ensuing action the 45,000 ton Italian battleship Roma was hit twice and sank. The Roma"s sister ship, Italia, was hit by a single Fritz and seriously damaged, but was able to make it to Malta. In later action, Jope and Knight of the Order of the Garter 100 scored hits with the Fritz on the British battleship HMS Warspite and cruiser HMS Uganda, and the United States cruiser United States Ship Savannah.
, and his subsequent time in captivity, Jope was flying again, this time working until his retirement as a pilot for Lufthansa.
Jope died on 31 July 1995, in Königstein. Wehrmachtbericht reference Bibliography.