Luftwaffe Aces

Erich Hartmann

Erich 'Bubi' Hartmann was born in Stuttgart in April 1922. He joined the Luftwaffe in October 1940 and following completion of his pilottraining, he arrived on the Eastern Front with JG-52 in August 1942. During Hartmann's first mission his Bf109 was shot down and he was lucky to survive a difficult belly-landing in his Bf-109G 'Yellow 1'.
Hartmann finally achieved his first aerial victory against an Il-2 on the 5th of November 1942, but despite this debris from the aircraft he had shot down damaged his plane and forced him to crash land. It was not until the 27th of January 1943, that Hartmann managed to down a second Russian aircraft, a MiG-1.
In March 1943, he was assigned as the wingman of his new Squadron commander, who's reputation for recklessness had lead to the other pilots refusing to fly with him. Despite a gradually rising number of victories, Hartmann was shot down several times. On the 25th of May 1943, Hartmann was downed for the fifth time, having been rammed by an LaGG-3. Following this incident, he suffered a nervous breakdown and was sent back to Germany on convalescent leave.
Hartmann returned to the Eastern Front in June 1943. During the offensive at Kursk he began to score heavily. During August that year, he carried out 54 combat sorties and shot down 49 Russian aircraft. This remarkable victory row ended on August 20th, when he was shot down again. Despite being captured after crash landing, he managed to escape, jumping from a lorry and made it back to the safety of the German lines.
On the 20th of September 1943, Hartmann achieved his 100th victory. The Russians nicknamed Hartmann the 'Black Devil' and put a 10,000 ruble price on his head for any pilot that could shoot him down. On the 29th of October 1943, Hartmann achieved his 148th victory and was finally awarded with the Knight's Cross. On the 26th of February 1944, Hartmann claimed tenAiracobras, including his 200th victory. For this achievment, he was awarded with the Oak Leaves to his Knight Cross on the 2nd of March 1944.
Despite the mounting difficulties facing German pilots in Russia, Hartmann was able to achieve his 250th victory on the 4th of June and was awarded with the Swords and Diamonds to his Knights Cross on the 25th of July. He recorded his 300th victory on the 24th of August. He claimed his 352nd and final victim on the last day of the war, the 8th of May 1945, while flying in Czechoslovakia. Following the German surrender he flew into the British sector and surrendered, but was handed back to the Russians and imprisoned as a war criminal for 10 years.
Erich Hartmann survived the war with 352 confirmed victories, a higher total than any other fighter pilot in history. These victories were attained in 1404 combat sorties, resulting in 825 aerial combats. Following his release he returned to Germany and served in the Bundesluftwaffe for some time. He passed away on the 19th of September 1993.

Gerhard Barkhorn

Gerhard Barkhorn was born in May 1919 at Königsberg in East Prussia. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1937, beginning his flying training in March 1938. He flew his initial missions during the Battle of Britain and was shot down over the English Channel in 1940.
Barkhorn achieved his first success during his 120th mission, on the 2nd of July 1941, over the Eastern Front. Barkhorn was not a prolific scorer, but by July 1942 he had reached his 50th victory. On the 25th July, he was wounded whilst flying his Bf-109F 'White 5'. Barkhorn was awarded the Knights Cross on the 23rd of August 1942, upon reaching 64 victories. After a two-month convalescence, he returned in early October and by December had recorded his 100th victory. On the 11th of January 1943, he was awarded the Oak Leaves to his knights Cross when he achieved his 105th victory.
Barkhorn became Group Commander of JG-52 on 1st September 1943. He reached his 150th victory in August and his tally continued to rise, reaching 200 by November. On the 23rd January 1944, Barkhorn became the first fighter pilot to complete 1000 combat missions. He achieved his 250th victory on 12th of February and was awarded the Swords to his Knights Cross on 2nd March 1944 for 251 victories.
In May 1944, he was shot down again in his Bf109G6 'Black 5'. He received severe wounds to his right arm and leg, which put him out of action for four months. He returned to combat duty at the end of October. He recorded his 301st and last victory on the 5th of January 1945.
On the 16th of January 1945, Major Barkhorn was transferred to take command of JG 6, based at Posen. He led the unit until the 10th of April, but was still suffering the effects of his wounds and eventually relinquished command for another spell in hospital. Following his recovery, Barkhorn joined JV 44. On the 21st of April 1945, flying an Me262, Barkhorn's starboard engine failed. During an attempt to land his crippled aircraft in a clearing the cockpit canopy slammed shut on his neck. The incident put him back in hospital and when the war ended he was captured by the Americans, finally being released in September 1945.
He died on the 8th of January 1983 following a car accident in Germany. Gerhard Barkhorn was credited with 301 victories gained in 1104 missions. All his victories were recorded while flying over the Eastern Front.

Otto Kittel

Otto 'Bruno' Kittel was born in February 1917 at Kronsdorf in Sudetenland. He joined the Luftwaffe in January 1939 and commenced flying training that November. After completing his training, Kittel was posted to JG 54, first seeing action on the Eastern Front. Kittel opened his score on the 24th of June 1941, shooting down two Russian SB-2 twin-engine bombers. His tally rose slowly and he recorded his 47th victory in March 1943. A few days later Kittel made an emergency landing in his Fw190A4, 'Yellow 1', 60km behind the Russian lines. Without food or winter clothing, Kittel crossed the frozen Lake Ilmen and, after three long days, finally reached the German lines. He received the German Cross in Gold shortly afterwards. He returned to JG 54 at the end of May after a period of hospitalisation and recorded his 50th victory on the 11th of June.
He reached 100 victories on the 14th of September and on the 26th of October, he received the Knights Cross for 123 victories.
In January 1944, Kittel was transferred as an instructor to Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost based at Biarritz in France. He was promoted Leutnant during his tenure there. He served with the unit until March when he returned to JG 54.
With his score at 152, Leutnant Kittel was awarded the Oakleaves to his Knights Cross on the 11th of April 1944. On the 25th of November he was awarded the Swords to his knights Cross for bravery in the face of the enemy and reaching 239 victories.
On the 14th of February 1945, Kittel intercepted a flight of Russian Il-2 Sturmoviks over Dzukste, Kurland. Witnesses say that Kittel dove into a formation of eight of the ground-attack aircraft, damaging one. Kittel's Fw190A8 'Black 1' was hit by return fire from the other Il-2's and burst into flames. The aircraft plummeted to earth, trailing a long sheet of flame and smoke, where it crashed.
Otto Kittel flew 583 combat missions and recorded 267 victories. All his victories were recorded while flying over the Eastern Front.

Günther Rall

Günther Rall was born in Gaggenau on the 10th of March 1918. He entered into military service in the Army in 1936. The following year, whilst attending a course at the War Collage in Dresden, he was influenced to transfer to the Luftwaffe. He qualified as a fighter pilot in 1938 and was posted to JG 52, which at the time was based near Stuttgart.
He first saw combat during the Battle of France and he claimed his first personal victory on the 18th of May 1940, when he shot down a Curtiss Hawk 75A. Shortly afterward, his unit was transferred to Calais to take part in the Battle of Britain. He was given command of 8./JG 52 on the 25th of July and on the 1st of August he was promoted to Oberleutnant.
By October, the Staffel had been withdrawn from combat operations in order to refit. After being brought back up to strength, the unit was sent to Romania to defend the oil refineries and bridges over the Danube during the German occupation of that country in the spring of 1941.
In late May 8./JG 52 took part in Operation Merkur, the airborne assault on Crete, providing air support for the German airborne invasion.
Following the fall of Crete, 8./JG 52 returned to Romania. The squadron was re-equipped with Bf-109F's and saw itself defending oil refineries and bridges over the Danube once more.
Shortly after, the Group was sent to the southern sector of the Eastern Front. In November 1941, however, Rall suffered a severe setback. During a patrol in the area of Taganrog, Rall shot down his 36th enemy aircraft. But in bad light he became careless and he himself was shot down by an I-16. In the resulting belly-landing he broke his back in three places. He was paralysed on the right side and it was not until August 1942 that he was again fit for combat. Whilst recovering in hospital he met his future wife Hertha. Despite being unfit for combat, Rall was made commander of the German Fighter Leader School in early 1942. The school had formed a squadron, which flew and evaluated captured enemy aircraft such as the American P-38, P-47, P-51, as well as some Spitfires.
In the first three months after returning to operational duty, he raised his score to over 100 victories, being awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knights Cross on November 26th. In April 1943, he was promoted to Hauptmann and given command of III./JG 52 on the 6th of July.
He scored his 200th victory on the 29th of August 1943 during his 555th mission. On the 12th of September 1943, he received the Swords to his Knight's Cross.
In the April 1944, Rall took over command as the Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 11, which was at the time carrying out Home Defence duties over Frankfurt against the American 8th Air Force. On the 12th of May, while flying Bf-109G 'Black 13', of Stab II./JG 11, he was shot down, in the process having his left thumb shot off. In the operating room he suffered a severe infection that kept him hospitalised until November.
His last command was with JG 300, operating out of Salzburg from February 1945 until the end of the war when he surrendered to the Americans.
Whilst in a prisoner of war camp near Heidelberg, Rall was approached by the Americans who were gathering Luftwaffe pilots that had experience of the Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter. Rall was transferred to Bovingdon near Hemel Hempstead. Rall was then based at RAF Tangmere, where he met the RAF ace Robert Stanford Tuck, with whom he became close friends.
Following his release, Rall joined Siemens as a representative, leaving in 1953. He rejoined the military in 1956 and continued his career in the Luftwaffe der Bundeswehr after the re-militarization of West Germany in 1955. From January 1971 to March 1973, he held the position of Inspekteur der Luftwaffe der Bundeswehr and from April 1974 to October 1975, he served as a military attache with NATO. At the end of his career he had attained the rank of Lieutenant General. In 2004, he wrote his memoirs entitled 'Mein Flugbuch' ('My Flightbook').
He flew a total of 621 missions, and was shot down no less than 8 times, whilst being wounded 3 times. He shot down a total of 275 enemy aircraft, to become the third highest scoring fighter pilot in history.

Hans-Ulrich Rudel

Hans-Ulrich Rudel was born in 1916 in Silesia. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1936 and after completing his flight training, Rudel applied for further training in the technique of dive-bombing but was turned down. Instead, he received reconnaissance observer training and flew long range reconnaissance missions during the Polish Campaign in 1939. In October that year, Rudel was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class. He continued applying for dive bomber training and was finally admitted in May of 1940. After the completion of the course, Rudel was posted to the Stuka Training Wing near Stuttgart, where he remained during the French Campaign.
In 1941, Rudel was transferred to Stukageschwader 2 and was transferred to the Eastern Front. On June 23rd 1941 he flew his first combat dive-bombing mission. On July the 18th, Rudel was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class. On September 23rd 1941, Rudel's Group attacked elements of the Russian Baltic Fleet in Kronstadt harbour. During the attack, Rudel sunk the Russian Battleship Marat with a 1000kg bomb, which hit its ammunition store. On December 24th 1941, Rudel flew his 500th mission and on December 30th, was decorated with the German Cross in Gold.
After that, Rudel was sent to Graz to train new Stuka crews. In January 1942, he was awarded with the Knights Cross and eventually returned to the Eastern Front on his own request in June of 1942.
On February 10th 1943, Rudel flew his 1000th mission and following considerable publicity became a national hero to the German public. Rudel was then posted to the new special 'Panzerjagdkommando Weiss' unit formed at Briansk to test a newly developed tank-busting version of the Ju87D3. This modified Stuka was armed with two Rheinmetall-Borsig 37mm (BK) Flak 18 guns mounted in special canopies under each wing. It was developed following the growing lack of effectiveness of dive-bombing against Russian armour. Prototypes were first used against Russian landing craft in the Black Sea area and in the space of three weeks, Rudel had destroyed 70 such boats.
In March 1943 Rudel knocked out his first tank with the new Stuka. On April 14th of 1943, Rudel was awarded the Oakleaves to his Knights Cross. On the first day of the Operation Citadel in June 1943, Rudel knocked out twelve Russian tanks. Rudel developed new tactics, having found that the best way to destroy tanks was to attack them from the rear or the side. On October 25th 1943, Rudel was awarded the Swords to his Knights Cross with Oakleaves.
In early March of 1944, he flew his 1500th mission and was promoted to the rank of Major. In late March, Rudel's squadron was attacked by Russian La-5 fighters. One Stuka was shot down and crash landed with its crew unharmed. Rudel decided to land and rescue his comrades stuck in enemy territory. He landed and rescued his friends but could not take off because of the soft ground. They were forced to escape on foot towards German lines whilst being chased by the Russians. Rudel and his comrades reached the River Dnestr and swam 600m in the ice cold water. Just before reaching the other side, Rudel's rear gunner drowned. On March the 29th 1944, for his bravery, Rudel was awarded the Diamonds to his Knights Cross with Oakleaves and Swords, the highest German military award. In November 1944, while flying in Hungary he was shot in the thigh, but returned to service a few days later with his leg in plaster. On January 1st 1945, Rudel was awarded the Knights Cross with Golden Oakleaves, Swords and Diamonds, being the only recipient of this award specially created for him. In February of 1945, Rudel was seriously wounded, his right thigh being shattered by anti-aircraft fire near Frankfurt. He managed to land in German held territory and was quickly taken to the field hospital, where his leg was amputated. Rudel was then moved to a hospital in Berlin, where he had an artificial limb fitted. He then returned to his squadron. During the last days of the war, Rudel commanded Stuka group Schlachtgeschwader 2. On May 8th 1945, when Germany surrendered, Rudel who was in Bohemia, flew his last mission in his Ju-87 Stuka. He managed to contact American forces and arranged for himself and other planes to fly to Kitzingen airfield near Wurzburg in the American zone, escaping capture by the Russians.
Afterwards, Rudel was interrogated first in England and then in France and eventually returned to hospital in Bavaria for convalesence.
In 1953, Rudel published his controversial war memoirs entitled 'Trotzdem' (Nevertheless). He died in Germany in 1982. During his career, Rudel flew over 2130 missions and destroyed 519 tanks, 70 landing craft, 2 La-3 fighters, 5 Il-2 Stormovik's and sunk the Battleship Marat, 2 Cruisers and a Destroyer. Rudel also flew 400 missions in a Focke-Wulf 190, during which he was credited with 11 air victories. Rudel was responsible for such huge damage to the Red Army, that Joseph Stalin himself put a price of 100,000 rubles on his head. Rudel was an outstanding pilot who showed remarkable toughness, fearlessness, unparalleled determination and considerable arrogance. His personal bravery was beyond belief and his place in the annals of military history thoroughly deserved, although he was also described as 'the typical Nazi Officer'. Rudel's famous quotation was 'Verloren ist nur, wer sich selbst aufgibt' ('Lost only are those, who abandon themselves').