Erich Hartmann

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Erich Alfred "Bubi" Hartmann (April 19, 1922 - September 20, 1993), also nicknamed "The Blond Knight Of Germany" by friends and "the Black Devil" by his enemies, was the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial combat. He claimed 352 enemy aircraft shot down (of which 350 were Soviet) in 825 combat sorties while serving with the Luftwaffe, Germany's air force, in World War II. Hartmann was forced to crash land his damaged fighter 14 times.

Contents

1 Early Life
2 Career in the Luftwaffe

2.1 See - Decide - Attack - Coffee Break

3 After the war
4 Notes
5 Reference
6 External Links

Early Life

Hartmann was born in Weissach in Württemberg. Most of his childhood was spent in the Far East, as his father was a doctor working in China. Hartmann returned to Germany in 1928, and as many youths he joined the sailplane training programme of the fledgling Luftwaffe. He got his pilot's license in 1939, and started his education in Luftkriegsschule II in late 1940.

Career in the Luftwaffe

Hartmann got his 'wings' in 1941 and was assigned to the fighter wing Jagdgeschwader 52 in October 1942. JG 52 was stationed on the Eastern Front in the Soviet Union and was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf-109G.

III./JG 52's commander, Major Hubertus von Bonin, placed Hartmann under the experienced Oberfeldwebel Alfred Grislawski. After a few days of intensive mock combats and practice flights, Grislawski admitted that although Hartmann had much to learn regarding combat tactics, he was a quite talented pilot.

Hartmann shot down his first Soviet plane on 5 November, 1942, against an Il-2 from 7 GShAP. At year end he had added only one more kill, and as with many top aces took some time to gradually establish himself as a consistently scoring fighter pilot.

On July 7, 1943, he shot down seven planes in a single day during the massive air dogfights in the Battle of Kursk. He had reached 50 kills by August 1943, and in that month claimed another 48 kills. He was then promoted to Staffelkapitän of 9./JG 52^{[#endnote_Luftwaffe]} in September 1943. He was shot down and captured after 90 victory claims in late August 1943, but managed to escape his Russian captors and make his way back to the German lines. October 1943 saw another 33 kills claimed, Hartmann being awarded the Ritterkreuz on 29 October 1943, after 148 kills. At the end of the year his toll stood at 159.

In 1944 Hartmann continued scoring at an even greater pace. In March he reached 202 kills. By this time the Soviet pilots were familiar with Hartmann's radio call-sign of 'Karaya One' and the Soviet Command had put a price on the German pilot's head. For a while Hartmann added a black 'tulip' design around the spinner of his aircraft, though once this was recognised as Hartman's fighter by his opponents they were often reluctant to stay and fight. Therefore this aircraft was often allocated to novices to fly in relative safety.

His 300th kill came on 24 August, 1944, a day he shot down 11 aircraft. After reaching 300 victories he was then grounded by Luftwaffe chief of staff Hermann Göring, who was fearful of the effect on German morale should such a hero be lost. However, Hartmann successfully lobbied to be reinstated as a combat pilot. For having achieved over 300 kills, Hartmann became one of only 27 German soldiers in WWII to receive the diamonds to his Knight's Cross.

Throughout 1944 Hartmann claimed 172 victories, an all-time record for one year. That June he had engaged American aircraft for the first time, downing a P-51 Mustang over Romania, but the next month he had to bail out when other Mustangs ran him out of fuel. (Contrary to many accounts, Hartmann only claimed two P-51s rather than seven, the second coming in March 1945.)

In early 1945 Hartmann was asked by Genlt. Adolf Galland to join the Me-262 units forming to fly the new jet fighter. Hartmann however declined the offer, preferring to remain with JG52. At war's end Hartmann (as Gruppenkommandeur or CO of I./JG 52) and his unit surrendered to the 90th US Infantry Division.

See - Decide - Attack - Coffee Break

Hartmann slowly developed his fighting technique to maximise his shooting accuracy, and he would close to extremely close range and use the minimum of ammunition to make sure of his kill. If it was dangerous to dog-fight further he would break off and content himself with one victory. His careful approach was described by himself by the line "See - Decide - Attack - Coffee Break.". Observe the enemy, decide how to proceed with the attack, make the attack and then disengage to re-evaluate the situation.

After the war

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oakleaves, Swords, and Diamonds, awarded to Hartmann after his 300th victory.

After his capture the US Army handed both him, his pilots and groundcrew over to the Soviet Union, where he was imprisoned. Hartmann was charged with war crimes (specifically, deliberate shooting of Russian civilians) and was subjected to harsh treatment during the early years of his imprisonment, including solitary confinement in total darkness. Despite this Hartmann refused to confess to these charges-which were later dropped, and more subtle efforts by the Soviet authorities to convert Hartmann to Communism also failed. During his long imprisonment Hartmann's 3 year-old son, whom he had never seen, died. After spending ten and a half years in Soviet POW camps, he was among the last batch of POW's to be released in 1955 and returned to West Germany, where he was reunited with his wife, to whom he had written every day of the war.

When he returned to West Germany, he became an officer in the West German Air Force where he commanded West Germany’s first all jet unit, the Jagdgeschwader 71, equipped with US made Lockheed F-104 Starfighters. He also made several trips to the USA where he was trained on US Air Force equipment. He retired in 1970.

Erich Hartmann died on September 20, 1993 at the age of 71[link]. Russia exonerated Erich Hartmann in January 1997. It was stated that his conviction had not been lawful.

Hartmann's kill tally included some 200 LaGG-3 fighters, more than 80 American-built P-39s, 15 Il-2 ground attack aircraft, and 10 twin-engined medium bombers. He often said that he was more proud of the fact that he had never lost a wingman in combat than he was about his rate of kills.

Notes

↑ For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organization

Reference

The Blond Knight of Germany by Raymond F. Toliver and Trevor J. Constable, McGraw-Hill, 1986. ISBN 0830681892

External Links

Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds during World War II

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