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 pilot training, 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 Bf109G6 '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. He suffered a nervous breakdown and was sent back to Germany to rest.
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 himself. Despite being captured after crash landing he managed to escape, jumping from a lorry, and made it back to 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 Channel in 1940.
Barkhorn achieved his first success during his 120th mission, on 2nd 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 Bf109F4 'White 5'. Barkhorn was awarded the Knights Cross on 23rd 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, 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.

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').