Aces of the Luftwaffe
At the suggestion of some Western authors, carefully accepted by domestic compilers, German aces are considered the most productive fighter pilots of the Second World War, and, accordingly, in history, who achieved fabulous success in air battles. Only the aces of Nazi Germany and their Japanese allies are charged with victory accounts containing more than a hundred aircraft. But if the Japanese have only one such pilot - they fought with the Americans, then the Germans already had 102 pilots "winning" more than 100 victories in the air. Most of the German pilots, with the exception of fourteen: Heinrich Baer, Hans-Joachim Marseil, Joachim Münchenberg, Walter Oesau, Werner Melders, Werner Schroer, Kurt Buhligen, Hans Hahn, Adolf Galland, Egon Mayer, Josef Wurmheller and Josef Priller, as well as night pilots Hans-Wolfgang Schnaufer and Helmut Lent, the bulk of their "victories" were achieved, of course, on the Eastern Front, and two of them - Erich Hartmann and Gerhard Barkhorn - recorded more than 300 victories.
The total number of victories in the air, won by more than 30 thousand German fighter pilots and their allies, is mathematically described by the law of large numbers, more precisely, the “Gaussian curve”. If we build this curve only on the basis of the results of the first hundred of the best German fighters (Germany's allies will no longer enter there) with a known total number of pilots, then the number of victories declared by them will exceed 300-350 thousand, which is four to five times more than the number of victories declared by the Germans themselves , - 70 thousand shot down, and catastrophically (to the point of losing any objectivity) exceeds the estimate of sober, politically unbiased historians - 51 thousand shot down in air battles, of which 32 thousand on the Eastern Front. Thus, the reliability coefficient of the victories of the German aces is in the range of 0.15-0.2.
The order for victory for the German aces was dictated by the political leadership of Nazi Germany, intensified as the Wehrmacht collapsed, did not formally require confirmation and did not tolerate the revisions adopted in the Red Army. All the "accuracy" and "objectivity" of German claims for victory, so insistently mentioned in the works of some "researchers", oddly enough, grown and actively published in Russia, is actually reduced to filling in the columns of lengthy and tastefully laid out standard questionnaires, and writing , even if it is calligraphic, even if it is in Gothic type, it has nothing to do with air victories.
Aces of the Luftwaffe, who recorded more than 100 victories
Erich Alfred Bubi Hartmann - first Luftwaffe ace in World War II, 352 victories, Colonel, Germany.
Erich Hartmann was born on April 19, 1922 in Weissach in Württemberg. His father is Alfred Erich Hartmann and his mother is Elisabeth Wilhelmina Machtholph. He spent his childhood with his younger brother in China, where his father, under the patronage of his cousin, the German consul in Shanghai, worked as a doctor. In 1929, frightened by the revolutionary events in China, the Hartmans returned to their homeland.
Since 1936, E. Hartman flew gliders in the aviation club under the guidance of his mother, an athlete-pilot. At the age of 14, he received a diploma as a glider pilot. He has been piloting airplanes since the age of 16. Since 1940 he was trained in the 10th training regiment of the Luftwaffe in Neukurn near Koenigsberg, then in the 2nd flight school in the Berlin suburb of Gatow.
After successfully graduating from the aviation school, Hartman was sent to Zerbst - to the 2nd Fighter Aviation School. In November 1941, Hartmann took to the air for the first time in the 109th Messerschmitt, the fighter aircraft with which he made his distinguished flying career.
E. Hartman began combat work in August 1942 as part of the 52nd Fighter Squadron, which fought in the Caucasus.
Hartman was lucky. The 52nd was the best German squadron on the Eastern Front. The best German pilots fought in its composition - Hrabak and von Bonin, Graf and Krupinski, Barkhorn and Rall ...
Erich Hartmann was a man of average height, with rich blond hair and bright blue eyes. His character - cheerful and inexploring, with a good sense of humor, obvious flying skills, the highest art of aerial shooting, perseverance, personal courage and nobility impressed the new comrades.
October 14, 1942 Hartman went on his first sortie to the Grozny region. During this sortie, Hartman made almost all the mistakes that a young combat pilot can make: he broke away from the wingman and could not follow his order, opened fire on his aircraft, he himself fell into the fire zone, lost orientation and landed “on his belly” 30 km from your airport.
The 20-year-old Hartman won his first victory on November 5, 1942, shooting down a single-seat Il-2. During the attack of the Soviet attack aircraft and Hartman's fighter was heavily damaged, but the pilot again managed to land the damaged car on the "belly" in the steppe. The aircraft was not subject to restoration and was decommissioned. Hartman himself immediately "sick with a fever" and ended up in the hospital.
The next victory for Hartman was recorded only on January 27, 1943. The victory was recorded over the MiG-1. It was hardly the MiG-1, which were produced and delivered to the troops even before the war in a small series of 77 vehicles, but there are plenty of such "overexposures" in German documents. Hartman flies wingman with Dammers, Grislavsky, Zwerneman. From each of these strong pilots, he takes something new, replenishing his tactical and flight potential. At the request of sergeant major Rossmann, Hartman becomes the follower of V. Krupinski, an outstanding Luftwaffe ace (197 "victories", the 15th in a row of the best), distinguished, as it seemed to many, by intemperance and stubbornness.
It was Krupinski who nicknamed Hartman Bubi, in English "Baby" - baby, a nickname that remained with him forever.
Hartmann made 1,425 Einsatz and took part in 800 rabarbaras during his career. His 352 victories included many sorties with several enemy aircraft shot down in one day, the best achievement in one sortie was six Soviet aircraft shot down on August 24, 1944. This included three Pe-2s, two Yaks, one Airacobra. The same day turned out to be his best day as well, with 11 victories in two sorties, on his second sortie he became the first person in history to shoot down 300 aircraft in dogfights.
Hartman fought in the sky not only against Soviet aircraft. In the skies of Romania, at the helm of his Bf 109, he also met with American pilots. Hartman has several days on his account when he reported several victories at once: on July 7 - about 7 shot down (2 Il-2 and 5 La-5), on August 1, 4 and 5 - about 5, and on August 7 - again immediately about 7 (2 Pe-2, 2 La-5, 3 Yak-1). January 30, 1944 - about 6 shot down; February 1 - about 5; March 2 - immediately about 10; May 5 about 6; May 7 about 6; June 1st about 6; June 4 - about 7 Yak-9; June 5 about 6; June 6 - about 5; June 24 - about 5 "Mustangs"; August 28 "shot down" 11 "Aircobra" in a day (Hartman's daily record); October 27 - 5; November 22 - 6; November 23 - 5; April 4, 1945 - again 5 victories.
After a dozen "victories" "won" on March 2, 1944, E. Hartmann, and with him Lieutenant V. Krupinski, Hauptmann J. Wiese and G. Barkhorn were summoned to the Führer at the Berghof to present awards. Lieutenant E. Hartman, who by that time had chalked up 202 "downed" Soviet aircraft, was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross.
Hartman himself was shot down more than 10 times. Basically, he "collided with the wreckage of Soviet aircraft shot down by him" (a favorite interpretation of his own losses in the Luftwaffe). On August 20, “flying over the burning Il-2”, he was again shot down and made another forced landing in the area of the Donets River and fell into the hands of the “Asians” - Soviet soldiers. Skillfully feigning an injury and lulling the vigilance of careless soldiers, Hartman fled, jumping out of the body of the "lorry" that was carrying him, and returned to his own on the same day.
As a symbol of the forced separation from his beloved Ursula Petch, Hartman painted a bleeding heart pierced by an arrow on his plane, and drew an "Indian" cry under the cockpit: "Karaya".
Readers of German newspapers knew him as the “Black Devil of Ukraine” (the nickname was invented by the Germans themselves) and read with pleasure or with irritation (against the background of the retreat of the German army) about all the new exploits of this “promoted” pilot.
In total, Hartman recorded 1404 sorties, 825 air battles, 352 victories were counted, of which 345 were Soviet aircraft: 280 were fighters, 15 Il-2s, 10 twin-engine bombers, the rest were U-2 and R-5.
Three times Hartman was also slightly wounded. As the commander of the 1st Squadron of the 52nd Fighter Squadron, which was based at a small airfield near Strakovnice in Czechoslovakia, at the end of the war, Hartman knew (he saw the advancing Soviet units rising into the sky) that the Red Army was about to capture this airfield as well. He gave the order to destroy the remaining aircraft and headed west with all his personnel to surrender to the US Army. But by that time there was an agreement between the allies, according to which all Germans leaving the Russians should be transferred back at the first opportunity.
In May 1945, Major Hartman was handed over to the Soviet occupation authorities. At the trial, Hartman insisted on his 352 victories, with emphatic respect, recalling his comrades-in-arms and the Fuhrer with defiance. The course of this trial was reported to Stalin, who spoke of the German pilot with satirical contempt. Hartman's self-confident position, of course, irritated the Soviet judges (the year was 1945), and he was sentenced to 25 years in the camps. The sentence under the laws of Soviet justice was commuted, and Hartman was sentenced to ten and a half years in prisoner of war camps. He was released in 1955.
Returning to his wife in West Germany, he immediately returned to aviation. He successfully and quickly completed a training course on jet aircraft, and this time the Americans became his teachers. Hartman flew F-86 Sabers and F-104 Starfighters. The last machine, during active operation in Germany, turned out to be extremely unsuccessful and brought death to 115 German pilots in peacetime! Hartmann spoke disapprovingly and harshly of this jet fighter (which was quite right), prevented its adoption by Germany and upset his relations with both the Bundes-Luftwaffe command and with the high American military. He was retired with the rank of colonel in 1970.
After being transferred to the reserve, he worked as an instructor pilot in Hangelare, near Bonn, and performed in the aerobatic team of Adolf Galland "Dolfo". In 1980, he fell seriously ill, and had to part with aviation.
It is interesting that the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet and then Russian Air Force, General of the Army P.S. Deinekin, taking advantage of the warming of international relations in the late 80s and early 90s, several times persistently expressed his wish to meet with Hartman, but did not find mutual understanding among the German military officials.
Colonel Hartman was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class, the German Cross in Gold.
Gerhard Gerd Barkhorn, second Luftwaffe ace (Germany) - 301 air victories.
Gerhard Barkhorn was born in Königsberg, East Prussia on March 20, 1919. In 1937, Barkhorn was accepted into the Luftwaffe as a Fanenjunker (officer candidate rank) and began his flight training in March 1938. After graduating from flight training, he was selected as a lieutenant and at the beginning of 1940 was accepted into the 2nd Fighter Squadron "Richthofen", known for old combat traditions that had been formed in the battles of the First World War.
The combat debut of Gerhard Barkhorn in the Battle of England was not very successful. He did not shoot down a single enemy aircraft, but he himself twice left a burning car with a parachute, and once right over the English Channel. Only during the 120th sortie (!), Which took place on July 2, 1941, Barkhorn managed to open an account with his victories. But after that, his successes gained an enviable stability. The hundredth victory came to him on December 19, 1942. On the same day, Barkhorn shot down 6 planes, and on July 20, 1942 - 5. He also shot down 5 planes before that, on June 22, 1942. Then the pilot's performance decreased slightly - and he reached the two hundredth mark only on November 30, 1943.
Here is how Barkhorn comments on the actions of the enemy:
“Some Russian pilots didn’t even look around and rarely looked back.
I shot down a lot of those who were not even aware of my presence. Only a few of them were a match for European pilots, the rest did not have the necessary flexibility in air combat.
Although it is not explicitly expressed, it can be inferred from reading that Barkhorn was a master of surprise attacks. He preferred dive attacks from the direction of the sun or came from below behind the tail of an enemy aircraft. At the same time, he did not shy away from classic turning combat, especially when he piloted his beloved Me-109F, even the version that was equipped with only one 15-mm cannon. But not all Russians succumbed to the German ace so easily: “Once in 1943, I withstood a forty-minute battle with a stubborn Russian pilot and could not achieve any results. I was so wet with sweat, as if I had just stepped out of the shower. I wonder if it was as difficult for him as it was for me. The Russian flew the LaGG-3, and both of us performed all conceivable and inconceivable aerobatic maneuvers in the air. I couldn't get him, and he couldn't get me. This pilot belonged to one of the guards aviation regiments, in which the best Soviet aces were assembled.
It should be noted that a one-on-one dogfight lasting forty minutes was almost a record. There were usually other fighters nearby, ready to intervene, or on the rare occasions when two enemy aircraft actually met in the sky, one of them, as a rule, already had an advantage in position. In the battle described above, both pilots fought, avoiding unfavorable positions for themselves. Barkhorn was wary of enemy actions (probably because of his experience with RAF fighters), and the reasons for this were as follows: firstly, he achieved his numerous victories by flying more sorties than many other experts; secondly, in 1104 sorties, with a flight time of 2000 hours, his plane was shot down nine times.
On May 31, 1944, with 273 victories on his account, Barkhorn returned to his airfield after completing a combat mission. In this sortie, he was hit by a Soviet Airacobra, was shot down and wounded in his right leg. Apparently, the pilot who shot down Barkhorn was the outstanding Soviet ace Captain F. F. Arkhipenko (30 personal and 14 group victories), later Hero of the Soviet Union, who on that day was recorded the victory over the Me-109 in the fourth sortie. Barkhorn, making his 6th sortie of the day, managed to escape, but was out of action for four long months. After returning to JG 52, he brought the score of personal victories to 301, and then was transferred to the Western Front and appointed commander of JG 6 "Horst Wessel". Since then, he no longer had success in air battles. Enlisted soon in the Galland strike group JV 44, Barkhorn learned to fly the jet Me-262. But already in the second sortie, the plane was hit, lost traction, and Barkhorn was seriously injured during an emergency landing.
In total, during the Second World War, Major G. Barkhorn made 1104 sorties.
Some researchers note that Barkhorn was 5 cm taller than Hartman (about 177 cm tall) and 7-10 kg heavier.
He called the Me-109 G-1 with the lightest possible weapons: two MG-17 (7.92 mm) and one MG-151 (15 mm) his favorite car, preferring the lightness and, consequently, the maneuverability of his car, the power of its weapons.
After the war, German ace No. 2 returned to flying as part of the new West German Air Force. In the mid-60s, while testing a VTOL aircraft, he "dropped" and crashed his Kestrel. When the wounded Barkhorn was slowly and with difficulty pulled out of the wrecked car, he, despite the most severe injuries, did not lose his sense of humor and muttered through his strength: "Three hundred and second ..."
In 1975, G. Barkhorn retired with the rank of major general.
In winter, in a snowstorm, near Cologne on January 6, 1983, together with his wife, Gerhard Barkhorn got into a severe car accident. His wife died immediately, and he himself died in the hospital two days later - on January 8, 1983.
He was buried at the Durnbach Military Cemetery in Tegernsee, Upper Bavaria.
Major of the Luftwaffe G. Barkhorn was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class, the German Cross in Gold.
Gunter Rall - third ace of the Luftwaffe, 275 victories.
The third ace of the Luftwaffe in terms of the number of victories counted is Gunther Rall - 275 enemy aircraft shot down.
Rall fought against France and England in 1939–1940, then in Romania, Greece and Crete in 1941. From 1941 to 1944 he fought on the Eastern Front. In 1944, he returns to the skies of Germany and fights against the aviation of the Western Allies. All his rich combat experience was gained as a result of more than 800 "rabarbars" (air battles) carried out on the Me-109 of various modifications - from Bf 109 B-2 to Bf 109 G -14. Rall was badly wounded three times and shot down eight times. On November 28, 1941, in a tense air battle, his plane was so badly damaged that during an emergency landing "on its belly" the car simply fell apart, and Rall broke his spine in three places. There was no hope of a return to duty. But after ten months of treatment in the hospital, where he met his future wife, he was nevertheless restored to health and recognized as fit for flight work. At the end of July 1942, Rall again took off his plane, and on August 15 over the Kuban he won his 50th victory. On September 22, 1942, he chalked up his 100th victory. Subsequently, Rall fought over the Kuban, over the Kursk Bulge, over the Dnieper and Zaporozhye. In March 1944, he exceeded the achievement of V. Novotny, having chalked up 255 air victories and, until August 20, 1944, topped the list of Luftwaffe aces. On April 16, 1944, Rall won his last, 273rd, victory on the Eastern Front.
As the best German ace of that time, he was appointed commander of II by Göring. / JG 11, which was part of the Reich air defense and armed with the "109" new modification - G-5. Defending Berlin in 1944 from attacks by the British and Americans, Rall fought more than once with US Air Force aircraft. Once, the Thunderbolts tightly clamped his plane over the capital of the Third Reich, damaging his control, and one of the bursts given through the cockpit cut off the thumb on his right hand. Rall was shell-shocked, but returned to service a few weeks later. In December 1944, he became head of the Luftwaffe fighter aviation commander training school. In January 1945, Major G. Rall was appointed commander of the 300th Fighter Air Group (JG 300), armed with the FV-190D, but he no longer won victories. It was difficult to come up with a victory over the Reich - downed planes fell over German territory and only then received confirmation. Not at all like in the Don or Kuban steppes, where it was enough to report on the victory, confirm the wingman and the statement on several printed forms.
During his combat career, Major Rall made 621 sorties, chalked up 275 “downed” aircraft, of which only three were shot down over the Reich.
After the war, when a new German army was created - the Bundeswehr, G. Rall, who did not think of himself otherwise than as a military pilot, joined the Bundes-Luftwaffe. Here he immediately returned to flight work and mastered the F-84 Thunderjet and several modifications of the F-86 Saber. The skill of the major, and then Oberst Lieutenant Rall, was highly appreciated by American military experts. In the late 50s, he was appointed to the Bundes-Luftwaffe Art. inspector supervising the retraining of German pilots for the new F-104 Starfighter supersonic fighter. Retraining was successfully carried out. In September 1966, G. Rall was awarded the rank of brigadier general, and a year later - major general. At that time, Rall led the Bundes-Luftwaffe fighter division. In the late 80s, Lieutenant General Rall was dismissed from the Bundes-Luftwaffe from the post of inspector general.
G. Rall came to Russia several times, talked with Soviet aces. On the Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General of Aviation G. A. Baevsky, who knew German well and communicated with Rall at the demonstration of aircraft in Kubinka, this communication made a positive impression. Georgy Arturovich found Rall's personal position rather modest, including regarding his three-digit account, but as an interlocutor - an interesting person who deeply understands the concerns and needs of pilots and aviation.
Gunther Rall died on October 4, 2009. Lieutenant General G. Rall was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class, the German Cross in Gold; Grand Federal Cross of the Worthy with a Star (a cross of the VI degree from the VIII degrees); Order of the Legion of the Worthy (USA).
Adolf GALLAND - an outstanding organizer of the Luftwaffe, who recorded 104 victories on the Western Front, lieutenant general.
Mildly bourgeois in his refined habits and deeds, he was a versatile and courageous man, an exceptionally gifted pilot and tactician, enjoyed the favor of political leaders and the highest authority among German pilots, and yet they left their bright mark on the history of the world wars of the 20th century.
Adolf Galland was born into the family of a manager in the town of Westerholt (now within the boundaries of Duisburg) on March 19, 1912. Galland, like Marseille, had French roots: his Huguenot ancestors fled France in the 18th century and settled on the estate of Count von Westerholt. Galland was the second oldest of his four brothers. The upbringing in the family was based on strict religious principles, while the strictness of the father significantly softened the mother. From an early age, Adolf became a hunter, getting his first trophy - a hare - at the age of 6 years. An early passion for hunting and hunting successes are also characteristic of some other outstanding fighter pilots, in particular for A. V. Vorozheikin and E. G. Pepelyaev, who found not only entertainment in hunting, but also a significant help for their meager diet. Of course, the acquired hunting skills - the ability to hide, shoot accurately, follow the trail - had a beneficial effect on the formation of the character and tactics of future aces.
In addition to hunting, the energetic young Galland was actively interested in technology. This interest led him in 1927 to the glider school in Gelsenkirchen. Graduation from the glider school, the acquired ability to soar, find and select air currents was very useful for the future pilot. In 1932, after graduating from high school, Adolf Galland entered the German School of Air Communications in Braunschweig, from which he graduated in 1933. Shortly after leaving school, Galland received an invitation to short-term courses for military pilots, secret in Germany at that time. After completing the courses, Galland was sent to Italy for an internship. From the autumn of 1934, Galland flew as a co-pilot on the passenger Junkers G-24. In February 1934, Galland was drafted into the army, in October he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and sent to instructor service in Schleichsheim. When the creation of the Luftwaffe was announced on March 1, 1935, Galland was transferred to the 2nd Group of the 1st Fighter Squadron. Possessing an excellent vestibular apparatus and impeccable vasomotor skills, he quickly became an excellent aerobatic pilot. In those years, he suffered several accidents that almost cost him his life. Only exceptional perseverance, and sometimes cunning, allowed Galland to stay in aviation.
In 1937, he was sent to Spain, where he made 187 sorties for attack on the Xe-51B biplane. He had no air victories. For fights in Spain he was awarded the German Spanish Cross in gold with Swords and Diamonds.
In November 1938, upon his return from Spain, Galland became commander of JG433, re-equipped with Me-109, but before the start of hostilities in Poland, he was sent to another group armed with XSh-123 biplanes. In Poland, Galland made 87 sorties, received the rank of captain.
On May 12, 1940, Captain Galland won his first victories, shooting down three English Hurricanes at once on the Me-109. By June 6, 1940, when he was appointed commander of the 3rd Group of the 26th Fighter Squadron (III. / JG 26), Galland had 12 victories. On May 22, he shot down the first Spitfire. On August 17, 1940, at a meeting at the Goering estate of Karinhalle, Major Galland was appointed commander of the 26th squadron. On September 7, 1940, he participated in a massive Luftwaffe raid on London, consisting of 648 fighters covering 625 bombers. For the Me-109, this was a flight almost to the maximum range, more than two dozen Messerschmitts on the way back, over Calais, ran out of fuel, and their planes fell into the water. Galland also had problems with fuel, but his car was saved by the skill of the glider pilot sitting in it, who reached the French coast.
On September 25, 1940, Galland was summoned to Berlin, where Hitler presented him with the third Oak Leaves in history to the Knight's Cross. Galland, in his words, asked the Fuhrer not to "belittle the dignity of English pilots." Hitler unexpectedly immediately agreed with him, declaring that he regretted that England and Germany did not work together as allies. Galland fell into the hands of German journalists and quickly became one of the most "promoted" figures in Germany.
Adolf Galland was an avid cigar smoker, consuming up to twenty cigars daily. Even Mickey Mouse, invariably adorning the sides of all his fighting vehicles, was invariably portrayed with a cigar in his mouth. In the cockpit of his fighter was a lighter and a cigar holder.
On the evening of October 30, announcing the destruction of two Spitfires, Galland chalked up his 50th victory. On November 17, having shot down three Hurricanes over Calais, Galland with 56 victories came out on top among the aces of the Luftwaffe. After his 50th claimed victory, Galland was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. A creative person, he proposed several tactical innovations, subsequently adopted by most armies in the world. So, despite the protests of the "bombers", he considered the most successful option for escorting the bombers to be free "hunting" along the route of their flight. Another of his innovations was the use of a headquarters air unit, staffed by a commander and the most experienced pilots.
After May 19, 1941, when Hess flew to England, the raids on the island practically ceased.
On June 21, 1941, the day before the attack on the Soviet Union, Galland's Messerschmitt, staring at the Spitfire he shot down, was shot down in a frontal attack from above by another Spitfire. Galland was wounded in the side and in the arm. With difficulty, he managed to open the jammed lantern, unhook the parachute from the antenna rack and land relatively safely. It is interesting that on the same day, around 12.40 Galland's Me-109 was already shot down by the British, and he landed it in an emergency "on his belly" in the Calais area.
When Galland was taken to the hospital in the evening of the same day, a telegram arrived from Hitler saying that Lieutenant Colonel Galland was the first in the Wehrmacht to be awarded the Swords to the Knight's Cross, and an order containing a ban on Galland's participation in sorties. Galland did everything possible and impossible to circumvent this order. On August 7, 1941, Lieutenant Colonel Galland scored his 75th victory. On November 18, he announced his next, already 96th, victory. On November 28, 1941, after the death of Melders, Goering appointed Galland to the post of inspector of fighter aircraft of the Luftwaffe, he was awarded the rank of colonel.
On January 28, 1942, Hitler presented Galland with the Diamonds to his Knight's Cross with Swords. He became the second holder of this highest award of Nazi Germany. December 19, 1942 he was awarded the rank of major general.
On May 22, 1943, Galland flew the Me-262 for the first time and was amazed at the opening possibilities of a turbojet. He insisted on the speedy combat use of this aircraft, assuring that one Me-262 squadron was equal in strength to 10 ordinary ones.
With the inclusion of US aviation in the air war and the defeat at the Battle of Kursk, Germany's position became desperate. On June 15, 1943, Galland, despite strong objections, was appointed commander of the fighter aircraft of the Sicily group. With the energy and talent of Galland, they tried to save the situation in southern Italy. But on July 16, about a hundred American bombers attacked the Vibo-Valentia airfield and destroyed the Luftwaffe fighter aircraft. Galland, having surrendered command, returned to Berlin.
The fate of Germany was sealed, and neither the dedication of the best German pilots, nor the talent of outstanding designers could save it.
Galland was one of the most talented and sensible generals in the Luftwaffe. He tried not to expose his subordinates to unjustified risk, soberly assessed the current situation. Thanks to the accumulated experience, Galland managed to avoid major losses in the squadron entrusted to him. An outstanding pilot and commander, Galland had a rare talent for analyzing all the strategic and tactical features of the situation.
Under the command of Galland, the Luftwaffe conducted one of the most brilliant air cover operations for ships, code-named "Thunderbolt". The fighter squadron under the direct command of Galland covered from the air the exit from the encirclement of the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, as well as the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Having successfully carried out the operation, the Luftwaffe and the fleet destroyed 30 British aircraft, losing 7 vehicles. Galland called this operation the "finest hour" of his career.
In the autumn of 1943 - in the spring of 1944, Galland secretly flew more than 10 sorties on the FV-190 A-6, chalking up two American bombers. On December 1, 1944, Galland was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general.
After the failure of the Bodenplatte operation, when about 300 Luftwaffe fighters were lost, at the cost of 144 British and 84 American aircraft, Goering removed Galland from the post of fighter aviation inspector on January 12, 1945. This caused the so-called fighter mutiny. As a result, several German aces were demoted, and Galland was placed under house arrest. But soon a bell rang in Galland's house: Hitler's adjutant von Belof told him: "The Fuhrer still loves you, General Galland."
In the face of a disintegrating defense, Lieutenant General Galland was instructed to form a new fighter group from the best German aces and fight enemy bombers on the Me-262. The group received the semi-mystical name JV44 (44 as half of the number 88, indicating the number of the group that fought successfully in Spain) and entered the battle in early April 1945. As part of JV44, Galland scored 6 victories, was shot down (landed across the strip) and wounded on April 25, 1945.
In total, Lieutenant General Galland made 425 sorties, chalked up 104 victories.
On May 1, 1945, Galland, along with his pilots, surrendered to the Americans. In 1946-1947, Galland was recruited by the Americans to work in the historical department of the US Air Force in Europe. Later, in the 60s, Galland lectured in the United States on the actions of German aviation. In the spring of 1947, Galland was released from captivity. Galland passed this difficult time for many Germans on the estate of his old admirer, the widowed Baroness von Donner. He divided it between household chores, wine, cigars and illegal hunting at that time.
During the Nuremberg trials, when Goering's defenders drew up a lengthy document and, trying to sign it with the leading figures of the Luftwaffe, brought it to Galland, he carefully read the paper, and then resolutely tore it from top to bottom.
“I personally welcome this trial, because only in this way can we find out who is responsible for all this,” Galland allegedly said at the time.
In 1948, he met his old acquaintance, the German aircraft designer Kurt Tank, who created the Focke-Wulf fighters and, perhaps, the best piston fighter in history, the Ta-152. The tank was about to sail to Argentina, where a big contract awaited him, and invited Galland to go with him. He agreed and, having received an invitation from President Juan Peron himself, soon set sail. Argentina, like the United States, emerged from the war incredibly rich. Galland received a three-year contract for the reorganization of the Argentine Air Force, carried out under the leadership of the Argentine commander-in-chief Juan Fabri. The flexible Galland managed to find full contact with the Argentines and was happy to pass on knowledge to pilots and their commanders who had no combat experience. In Argentina, Galland flew every type of aircraft he saw there almost daily, maintaining his flying form. Soon Baroness von Donner came to Galland with her children. It was in Argentina that Galland began to work on a book of memoirs, later called The First and Last. A few years later, the baroness left Galland and Argentina when he became friends with Sylvinia von Donhoff. In February 1954, Adolf and Silvinia got married. For Galland, and he was already 42 years old at that time, this is the first marriage. In 1955, Galland left Argentina and took part in aviation competitions in Italy, where he took an honorable second place. In Germany, the Minister of Defense invited Galland to retake the post of inspector - commander of the fighter aircraft of the Bundes Luftwaffe. Galland asked for time to think. At this time, power changed in the FRG, the pro-American-minded Franz-Josef Strauss became Minister of Defense, who appointed General Kummhuber, an old opponent of Galland, to the post of inspector.
Galland moved to Bonn and went into business. He divorced Sylvinia von Donhoff and married his young secretary, Hannelise Ladwein. Soon Galland had children - a son, and three years later a daughter.
Throughout his life, until the age of 75, Galland flew actively. When there was no military aviation for him, he found himself in light and sports aviation. With age, Galland devoted more and more time to meetings with his old associates, with veterans. His authority among German pilots of all times was exceptional: he was the honorary leader of several aviation societies, president of the Association of German Fighter Pilots, and a member of dozens of flying clubs. In 1969, Galland saw and "attacked" the spectacular pilot Heidi Horn, at the same time the former head of a successful company, and started a "fight" according to all the rules. Soon he divorced his wife, and Heidi, unable to withstand the "dizzying attacks of the old ace," agreed to marry the 72-year-old Galland.
Adolf Galland, one of seven German fighter pilots awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, and all other statutory awards.
Otto Bruno Kittel - Luftwaffe No. 4 ace, 267 victories, Germany.
This outstanding fighter pilot was nothing like, say, the arrogant and spectacular Hans Philipp, that is, he did not at all correspond to the image of an ace pilot created by the German imperial propaganda ministry. A short, quiet and modest man with a slight stutter.
He was born in Kronsdorf (now Korunov in the Czech Republic) in the Sudetes, then in Austria-Hungary, on February 21, 1917. Note that on February 17, 1917, the outstanding Soviet ace K. A. Evstigneev was born.
In 1939, Kittel was accepted into the Luftwaffe and was soon assigned to the 54th squadron (JG 54).
Kitel announced his first victories already on June 22, 1941, but in comparison with other Luftwaffe experts, his start was modest. By the end of 1941, he had only 17 victories to his credit. At first, Kittel showed unimportant ability in aerial shooting. Then senior comrades took up his training: Hannes Trauloft, Hans Philipp, Walter Novotny and other pilots of the Green Heart air group. They did not give up until their patience was rewarded. By 1943, Kittel had filled his eyes and, with enviable constancy, began to record his victories over Soviet aircraft one after another. His 39th victory, won on February 19, 1943, was the 4,000th victory claimed by the pilots of the 54th squadron during the war years.
When under the crushing blows of the Red Army, the German troops began to roll back to the west, German journalists found a source of inspiration in a modest but exceptionally gifted pilot, Lieutenant Otto Kittel. Until mid-February 1945, his name does not leave the pages of German periodicals, regularly appears in the footage of the military chronicle.
On March 15, 1943, after the 47th victory, Kittel was shot down and landed 60 km from the front line. In three days, without food and fire, he covered this distance (crossed Lake Ilmen at night) and returned to the unit. Kittel was awarded the German Cross in Gold and the title of Chief Sergeant Major. On October 6, 1943, Chief Sergeant Major Kittel was awarded the Knight's Cross, received officer's buttonholes, shoulder straps and the entire 2nd Squadron of the 54th Fighter Group under his command. Later, he was promoted to lieutenant and awarded the Oak Leaves, and then the Swords to the Knight's Cross, which, as in most other cases, he was given by the Fuhrer. From November 1943 to January 1944 he was an instructor at the Luftwaffe flying school in Biarritz, France. In March 1944, he returned to his squadron, to the Russian front. Success did not turn Kittel's head: until the end of his life he remained a modest, hardworking and unpretentious person.
From the autumn of 1944, Kittel's squadron fought in the Courland "cauldron" in Western Latvia. On February 14, 1945, while making the 583rd sortie, he attacked an Il-2 group, but was shot down, probably from cannons. On that day, the victories over the FV-190 were recorded for the pilots piloting the Il-2 - the deputy squadron commander of the 806th assault aviation regiment, Lieutenant V. Karaman and the lieutenant of the 502nd Guards Aviation Regiment, V. Komendat.
By the time of his death, Otto Kittel had 267 victories (of which 94 were Il-2), and he was the fourth in the list of the most successful air aces in Germany and the most successful pilot of those who fought on the FV-190 fighter.
Captain Kittel was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class, the German Cross in Gold.
Walter Nowi Novotny - Luftwaffe No. 5 ace, 258 victories.
Although Major Walter Nowotny is considered the fifth ace of the Luftwaffe in terms of the number of downed vehicles, during the war he was the most famous ace of the Second World War. Nowotny occupied an honorable place along with Galland, Melders and Graf in popularity abroad, his name was one of the few that became known behind the front lines during the war and was discussed by the Allied public, just as it was with Boelcke, Udet and Richthofen in time of the First World War.
Novotny enjoyed fame and respect among German pilots like no other pilot. For all his courage and obsession in the air, he was a charming and friendly man on the ground.
Walter Nowotny was born in the north of Austria in the town of Gmünde on December 7, 1920. My father was a railway worker, two brothers were officers of the Wehrmacht. One of them was killed near Stalingrad.
Walter Nowotny grew up exceptionally gifted in terms of sports: he won in running, javelin throwing, and sports competitions. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1939 at the age of 18 and attended a fighter pilot school in Schwechat near Vienna. Like Otto Kittel, he was assigned to JG54 and made dozens of sorties before he managed to overcome the interfering feverish excitement and acquire the "handwriting of a fighter."
On July 19, 1941, he won the first victories in the sky over Ezel Island in the Gulf of Riga, chalking up three “downed” Soviet I-153 fighters. At the same time, Novotny also learned the other side of the coin, when a skillful and determined Russian pilot shot him down and sent him to "drink water." It was already night when Novotny paddled on a rubber raft to the shore.
On August 4, 1942, having re-equipped with the Gustav (Me-109G-2), Novotny chalked up 4 Soviet aircraft at once and a month later was awarded the Knight's Cross. On October 25, 1942, V. Novotny was appointed commander of the 1st detachment of the 1st group of the 54th fighter squadron. Gradually, the group was re-equipped with relatively new vehicles - FV-190A and A-2. On June 24, 1943, he chalked up the 120th "shot down", which was the basis for awarding the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross. On September 1, 1943, Novotny chalked up 10 "downed" Soviet aircraft at once. This is far from the limit for Luftwaffe pilots.
Emil Lang filled out his forms for as many as 18 Soviet aircraft shot down in one day (at the end of October 1943 in the Kyiv region - a rather expected response of an annoyed German ace to the defeat of the Wehrmacht on the Dnieper, and the Luftwaffe - over the Dnieper), and Erich Rudorfer "shot down"
13 Soviet aircraft for November 13, 1943. Note that for the Soviet aces and 4 enemy aircraft shot down per day were an extremely rare, exceptional victory. This says only one thing - about the reliability of victories on the one hand and on the other: the calculated reliability of victories among Soviet pilots is 4–6 times higher than the reliability of the “victories” recorded by the aces of the Luftwaffe.
In September 1943, with 207 "victories", Lieutenant V. Novotny became the most productive Luftwaffe pilot. On October 10, 1943, he chalked up his 250th "victory". In the German press of that time, a real hysteria arose about this. On November 15, 1943, Novotny recorded his last, 255th, victory on the Eastern Front.
He continued combat work almost a year later, already on the Western Front, on the jet Me-262. On November 8, 1944, taking off at the head of the troika to intercept American bombers, he shot down a Liberator and a Mustang fighter, which became his last, 257th, victory. Me-262 Novotny was damaged and on the way to his own airfield was shot down either by the Mustang or by the fire of his own anti-aircraft artillery. Major V. Novotny died.
Novi, as his comrades were called, became a Luftwaffe legend during his lifetime. He was the first to chalk up 250 aerial victories.
Nowotny became the eighth German officer to receive the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. He was also awarded the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class, the German Cross in Gold; Order of the Cross of Liberty (Finland), medals.
Wilhelm "Willi" Batz - the sixth ace of the Luftwaffe, 237 victories.
Butz was born on May 21, 1916 in Bamberg. After recruit training and a meticulous medical examination, on November 1, 1935, he was assigned to the Luftwaffe.
After completing his initial fighter pilot course, Batz was transferred as an instructor to a flight school in Bad Eilbing. He was distinguished by tirelessness and a real passion for flying. In total, during the training and instructor service, he flew 5240 hours!
From the end of 1942 he served in the spare part of JG52 2./ ErgGr "Ost". From February 1, 1943, he served as adjutant in the II. /JG52. The first downed aircraft - LaGG-3 - was recorded to him on March 11, 1943. In May 1943 he was appointed commander of 5./JG52. Butz achieved significant success only during the Battle of Kursk. Until September 9, 1943, 20 victories were recorded for him, and by the end of November 1943 - another 50.
Then Batz's career went as well as the career of a famous fighter pilot on the Eastern Front often developed. In March 1944, Batz shoots down his 101st aircraft. At the end of May 1944, during seven sorties, he shot down as many as 15 aircraft. On March 26, 1944, Batz received the Knight's Cross, and on July 20, 1944, the Oak Leaves to him.
In July 1944, he fought over Romania, where he shot down a B-24 Liberator bomber and two R-51V Mustang fighters. By the end of 1944, Batz already had 224 air victories on his combat account. In 1945 he became commander of the II. /JG52. April 21, 1945 was awarded.
In total, during the war years, Batz made 445 (according to other sources - 451) sorties and shot down 237 aircraft: 232 on the Eastern Front and, modestly, 5 on the Western, among the last two four-engine bombers. He flew on Me-109G and Me-109K aircraft. In battles, Batz was wounded three times and shot down four times.
He died at the Mauschendorf clinic on September 11, 1988. Cavalier of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (No. 145, 04/21/1945), the German Cross in Gold, the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class.
Hermann Graf - 212 officially counted victories, ninth Luftwaffe ace, colonel.
Hermann Graf was born in Engen, near Lake Baden, on October 24, 1912. The son of a simple blacksmith, he, due to his origin and poor education, could not make a quick and successful military career. After graduating from college and working for some time in the lock shop, he went to the official service in the municipal office. At the same time, the fact that Herman was an excellent football player played a primary role, and the first rays of glory gilded him as a forward of the local football team. Herman began his journey into the sky as a glider pilot in 1932, and in 1935 he was accepted into the Luftwaffe. In 1936 he was accepted into the flying school in Karlsruhe and graduated on September 25, 1936. In May 1938, he improved his qualifications as a pilot and, having evaded being sent for retraining on multi-engine vehicles, as a non-commissioned officer, he insisted on being assigned to the second detachment of JG51, armed with Me-109 E-1 fighters.
From the book Foreign Volunteers in the Wehrmacht. 1941-1945 author Yurado Carlos CaballeroBaltic Volunteers: The Luftwaffe In June 1942, the unit known as the Buschmann Naval Reconnaissance Squadron began recruiting Estonian volunteers. The following month it became the 15th Naval Air Reconnaissance Squadron of the 127th
author Zefirov Mikhail VadimovichAces of the Luftwaffe attack aircraft The replicated view of the Ju-87 attack aircraft diving with a terrible howl at its target - the famous "Stuck" - over the years has become a household name, personifying the offensive power of the Luftwaffe. So it was in practice. Effective
From the book of Asa Luftwaffe. Who is who. Endurance, power, attention author Zefirov Mikhail VadimovichAces of the Luftwaffe Bomber Aviation The words "restraint" and "power" in the titles of the two previous chapters can be fully attributed to the actions of the Luftwaffe bomber aviation. Although formally it was not strategic, its crews sometimes had to carry out in the air
From the book "Stalin's Falcons" against the aces of the Luftwaffe author Baevsky Georgy ArturovichThe collapse of the Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe The number of sorties from the Sprottau airfield has significantly decreased compared to our previous stay in February at this airfield. In April, instead of IL-2, we accompany new Il-10 attack aircraft with more than
the author Karashchuk AndreyVolunteers in the Luftwaffe. In the summer of 1941, during the retreat of the Red Army, all materiel of the former Estonian Air Force was destroyed or taken to the east. Only four Estonian-made RTO-4 monoplanes remained on the territory of Estonia, which were the property of
From the book Eastern Volunteers in the Wehrmacht, Police and SS the author Karashchuk AndreyVolunteers in the Luftwaffe. While in Estonia the air legion actually existed since 1941, in Latvia the decision to create a similar formation was taken only in July 1943, when Lieutenant Colonel of the Latvian Air Force J. Rusels got into contact with representatives
Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe (Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe; ObdL), Commander-in-Chief of the German Air Force. This post belonged to Herman
From the book The Greatest Air Aces of the 20th Century author Bodrikhin Nikolay GeorgievichAces of the Luftwaffe At the suggestion of some Western authors, carefully accepted by domestic compilers, German aces are considered the most productive fighter pilots of the Second World War, and, accordingly, in history, who achieved fabulous
From the book The Big Show. World War II through the eyes of a French pilot author Klosterman PierreThe last push of the Luftwaffe on January 1, 1945. On that day, the state of the German armed forces was not entirely clear. When the offensive in Rundstedt failed, the Nazis, who took up position on the banks of the Rhine and were pretty crushed by Russian troops in Poland and Czechoslovakia,
From the book "Air Bridges" of the Third Reich author Zablotsky Alexander NikolaevichTHE IRON "Aunt" OF THE LUFTWAFFE AND OTHERS ... The bulky and angular, unsightly three-engine Ju-52 / 3m, better known in the Luftwaffe and in the Wehrmacht under the nickname "Aunt Yu", became the main type of aircraft of the German military transport aviation. By the start of World War II, it seemed
From the book Aviation of the Red Army author Kozyrev Mikhail Egorovich From the book World War II at sea and in the air. Causes of the defeat of the naval and air forces of Germany author Marshall WilhelmLuftwaffe in the war with Russia In the early autumn of 1940, the Luftwaffe began an air war against England. At the same time, preparations for war with Russia also unfolded. Even in the days of the decision-making regarding Russia, it became obvious that the defense capability of England is much higher, and
... the squadron lost 80 pilots in a fairly short period of time,
of which 60 never shot down a single Russian aircraft
/Mike Speke "Aces of the Luftwaffe"/
With a deafening roar, the Iron Curtain collapsed, and a storm of exposés of Soviet myths arose in the media of independent Russia. The theme of the Great Patriotic War became the most popular - an inexperienced Soviet person was shocked by the results of German aces - tankers, submariners and, especially, Luftwaffe pilots.
Actually, the problem is this: 104 German pilots have an account of 100 or more downed aircraft. Among them are Erich Hartmann (352 wins) and Gerhard Barkhorn (301), who showed absolutely phenomenal results. Moreover, Harmann and Barkhorn won all their victories on the Eastern Front. And they were no exception - Gunther Rall (275 victories), Otto Kittel (267), Walter Novotny (258) - also fought on the Soviet-German front.
At the same time, the 7 best Soviet aces: Kozhedub, Pokryshkin, Gulaev, Rechkalov, Evstigneev, Vorozheikin, Glinka were able to overcome the bar of 50 downed enemy aircraft. For example, Three times Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Kozhedub destroyed 64 German aircraft in air battles (plus 2 American Mustangs shot down by mistake). Alexander Pokryshkin is a pilot about whom, according to legend, the Germans warned by radio: “Akhtung! Pokryshkin in der Luft!”, chalked up “only” 59 air victories. The little-known Romanian ace Constantin Contacuzino has about the same number of victories (according to various sources, from 60 to 69). Another Romanian, Alexandru Serbanescu, shot down 47 aircraft on the Eastern Front (another 8 victories remained “unconfirmed”).
The situation is much worse for the Anglo-Saxons. The best aces were Marmaduke Pettle (about 50 wins, South Africa) and Richard Bong (40 wins, USA). In total, 19 British and American pilots managed to shoot down more than 30 enemy aircraft, while the British and Americans fought on the best fighters in the world: the inimitable P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightning or the legendary Supermarine Spitfire! On the other hand, the best ace of the Royal Air Force did not have a chance to fight on such wonderful aircraft - Marmaduke Pettle won all his fifty victories, flying first on the old Gladiator biplane, and then on the clumsy Hurricane.
Against this background, the results of the Finnish fighter aces look completely paradoxical: Ilmari Yutilainen shot down 94 aircraft, and Hans Wind - 75.
What conclusion can be drawn from all these figures? What is the secret of the incredible performance of the Luftwaffe fighters? Maybe the Germans just didn't know how to count?
The only thing that can be asserted with a high degree of certainty is that the accounts of all aces without exception are overstated. To extol the successes of the best fighters is a standard practice of state propaganda, which, by definition, cannot be honest.
German Meresyev and his "Thing"
As an interesting example, I propose to consider the incredible bomber pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel. This ace is less known than the legendary Erich Hartmann. Rudel practically did not participate in air battles, you will not find his name in the lists of the best fighters.
Rudel is famous for having made 2530 sorties. He piloted the Junkers-87 dive bomber, at the end of the war he moved to the helm of the Focke-Wulf 190. During his combat career, he destroyed 519 tanks, 150 self-propelled guns, 4 armored trains, 800 trucks and cars, two cruisers, a destroyer and heavily damaged the battleship Marat. In the air he shot down two Il-2 attack aircraft and seven fighters. He landed six times on enemy territory to save the crews of wrecked Junkers. The Soviet Union placed a reward of 100,000 rubles on the head of Hans-Ulrich Rudel.
Just the epitome of a fascist
He was shot down 32 times by return fire from the ground. In the end, Rudel's leg was torn off, but the pilot continued to fly on a crutch until the end of the war. In 1948, he fled to Argentina, where he became friends with the dictator Peron and organized a mountaineering circle. He climbed the highest peak of the Andes - the city of Aconcagua (7 kilometers). In 1953 he returned to Europe and settled in Switzerland, continuing to talk nonsense about the revival of the Third Reich.
Without a doubt, this outstanding and controversial pilot was a tough ace. But for any person accustomed to thoughtfully analyze events, one important question should arise: how was it established that Rudel destroyed precisely 519 tanks?
Of course, there were no camera guns or cameras on the Junkers. The maximum that Rudel or his gunner-radio operator could notice was the covering of a column of armored vehicles, i.e. possible damage to tanks. The exit speed of the Yu-87 from a dive is more than 600 km / h, while overloads can reach 5g, in such conditions it is unrealistic to see anything accurately on the ground.
Since 1943, Rudel moved to the Yu-87G anti-tank attack aircraft. The characteristics of this "lappet" are simply disgusting: max. speed in level flight - 370 km / h, rate of climb - about 4 m / s. Two VK37 cannons (caliber 37 mm, rate of fire 160 rds / min) became the main aircraft, with only 12 (!) shells per gun. Powerful guns mounted in the wings, when firing, created a large turning moment and rocked the light aircraft so that firing in bursts was pointless - only single sniper shots.
And here is a funny report on the results of field tests of the VYa-23 aircraft gun: in 6 sorties on the IL-2, the pilots of the 245th assault aviation regiment, with a total consumption of 435 shells, achieved 46 hits in the tank column (10.6%). It must be assumed that in real combat conditions, under intense anti-aircraft fire, the results will be much worse. Where is the German ace with 24 shells on board the Stukka!
Further, hitting a tank does not guarantee its defeat. An armor-piercing projectile (685 grams, 770 m/s) fired from the VK37 cannon pierced 25 mm of armor at an angle of 30° from the normal. When using sub-caliber ammunition, armor penetration increased by 1.5 times. Also, due to the aircraft's own speed, armor penetration in reality was about 5 mm more. On the other hand, the thickness of the armored hull of Soviet tanks was less than 30-40 mm only in some projections, and there was nothing to dream of hitting a KV, IS or heavy self-propelled gun in the forehead or side.
In addition, breaking through the armor does not always lead to the destruction of the tank. Echelons with damaged armored vehicles regularly arrived in Tankograd and Nizhny Tagil, which were restored in a short time and sent back to the front. And the repair of damaged rollers and chassis was carried out right on the spot. At this time, Hans-Ulrich Rudel drew himself another cross for the "destroyed" tank.
Another question for Rudel is related to his 2530 sorties. According to some reports, in the German bomber squadrons it was accepted as an encouragement to count a difficult sortie for several sorties. For example, the captured captain Helmut Putz, commander of the 4th detachment of the 2nd group of the 27th bomber squadron, explained the following during interrogation: “... in combat conditions, I managed to make 130-140 night sorties, and a number of sorties with a complex combat mission were credited to me , like others, for 2-3 departures. (protocol of interrogation dated 06/17/1943). Although it is possible that Helmut Putz, having been captured, lied, trying to reduce his contribution to attacks on Soviet cities.
Hartmann vs everyone
There is an opinion that aces-pilots filled their bills uncontrollably and fought "on their own", being an exception to the rule. And the main work at the front was carried out by pilots of medium qualification. This is a profound misconception: in a general sense, pilots of "medium qualification" do not exist. There are either aces or their prey.
For example, let's take the legendary Normandy-Neman air regiment, which fought on Yak-3 fighters. Of the 98 French pilots, 60 did not win a single victory, but the “selected” 17 pilots shot down 200 German aircraft in air battles (in total, the French regiment drove 273 aircraft with a swastika into the ground).
A similar pattern was observed in the 8th US Air Force, where out of 5,000 fighter pilots, 2,900 did not win a single victory. Only 318 people chalked up 5 or more downed aircraft.
The American historian Mike Spike describes the same episode related to the actions of the Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front: "... the squadron lost 80 pilots in a fairly short period of time, of which 60 did not shoot down a single Russian aircraft."
So, we found out that aces pilots are the main force of the Air Force. But the question remains: what is the reason for that huge gap between the performance of the aces of the Luftwaffe and the pilots of the Anti-Hitler coalition? Even if you divide the incredible accounts of the Germans in half?
One of the legends about the failure of large accounts of German aces is associated with an unusual system for counting downed aircraft: by the number of engines. Single-engine fighter - one downed aircraft. Four-engine bomber - four downed aircraft. Indeed, for the pilots who fought in the West, a parallel offset was introduced, in which for the destruction of the “Flying Fortress” flying in battle formation, the pilot was credited with 4 points, for the damaged bomber, which “fell out” of the battle formation and became easy prey other fighters, the pilot was recorded 3 points, because. he did most of the work - breaking through the hurricane fire of the Flying Fortresses is much more difficult than shooting a damaged single plane. And so on: depending on the degree of participation of the pilot in the destruction of the 4-engine monster, he was awarded 1 or 2 points. What happened then with these reward points? They must have been converted into Reichsmarks somehow. But all this had nothing to do with the list of downed aircraft.
The most prosaic explanation for the Luftwaffe phenomenon is that the Germans had no shortage of targets. Germany fought on all fronts with the numerical superiority of the enemy. The Germans had 2 main types of fighters: Messerschmitt-109 (34 thousand were produced from 1934 to 1945) and Focke-Wulf 190 (13 thousand were produced in the fighter version and 6.5 thousand in the attack aircraft version) - a total of 48 thousand fighters.
At the same time, about 70 thousand Yaks, Lavochkins, I-16s and MiG-3s passed through the Red Army Air Force during the war years (excluding 10 thousand fighters supplied under Lend-Lease).
In the Western European theater of operations, Luftwaffe fighters were opposed by about 20 thousand Spitfires and 13 thousand Hurricanes and Tempests (this is how many aircraft visited the Royal Air Force from 1939 to 1945). And how many more fighters did Britain get under Lend-Lease?
Since 1943, American fighters have appeared over Europe - thousands of Mustangs, P-38s and P-47s plowed the skies of the Reich, escorting strategic bombers during raids. In 1944, during the landings in Normandy, the Allied aviation had a sixfold numerical superiority. “If there are camouflage planes in the sky, this is the Royal Air Force, if there are silver ones, the US Air Force. If there are no planes in the sky, it is the Luftwaffe,” the German soldiers joked sadly. How could British and American pilots have big bills under such conditions?
Another example - the Il-2 attack aircraft became the most massive combat aircraft in the history of aviation. During the war years, 36154 attack aircraft were produced, of which 33920 Ils entered the army. By May 1945, the Red Army Air Force included 3585 Il-2 and Il-10, another 200 Il-2 were part of naval aviation.
In a word, the Luftwaffe pilots did not have any superpowers. All their achievements are explained only by the fact that there were many enemy aircraft in the air. The allied fighter aces, on the contrary, needed time to detect the enemy - according to statistics, even the best Soviet pilots had an average of 1 air battle for 8 sorties: they simply could not meet the enemy in the sky!
On a cloudless day, from a distance of 5 km, a WWII fighter is visible like a fly on a window pane from the far corner of the room. In the absence of radars on aircraft, air combat was more of an unexpected coincidence than a regular event.
It is more objective to count the number of downed aircraft, taking into account the number of pilot sorties. Viewed from this angle, Erich Hartmann's achievement pales in comparison: 1,400 sorties, 825 dogfights, and "only" 352 aircraft shot down. This figure is much better for Walter Novotny: 442 sorties and 258 victories.
Friends congratulate Alexander Pokryshkin (far right) on receiving the third star of the Hero of the Soviet Union
It is very interesting to trace how aces pilots began their careers. The legendary Pokryshkin in the very first sorties demonstrated piloting skills, audacity, flight intuition and sniper shooting. And the phenomenal ace Gerhard Barkhorn did not win a single victory in the first 119 sorties, but he himself was shot down twice! Although there is an opinion that Pokryshkin also did not go smoothly: the Soviet Su-2 became his first downed plane.
In any case, Pokryshkin has his own advantage over the best German aces. Hartman was shot down fourteen times. Barkhorn - 9 times. Pokryshkin was never shot down! Another advantage of the Russian miracle hero: he won most of his victories in 1943. In 1944-45. Pokryshkin shot down only 6 German aircraft, focusing on training young personnel and managing the 9th Guards Air Division.
In conclusion, it should be said that one should not be so afraid of the high scores of the Luftwaffe pilots. This, on the contrary, shows what a formidable enemy the Soviet Union defeated, and why the Victory is of such high value.
Aces Luftwaffe World War II
The film tells about the famous German aces pilots: Erich Hartmann (352 downed enemy aircraft), Johan Steinhoff (176), Werner Mölders (115), Adolf Galland (103) and others. Rare shots of interviews with Hartman and Galland are presented, as well as unique newsreel of air battles.
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Aircraft of aces-attack aircraft of the Red Army during the Second World War. May 22nd, 2018
Hello dear.
Here in this post I talked about Soviet fighter pilots and their winged machines. And in the comments, they rightly noted to me that almost always special glory and honor goes exclusively to fighters, while other pilots are somehow slightly deprived. Let's at least partially restore justice and remember today some very famous attack aircraft pilots. Only a few... All Heroes of the Soviet Union. Subsequently, twice.
As in the first case, data for May 2, 1945.
So...
guard captain Vladimir Aleksenko
squadron commander of the 15th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment (277th Assault Aviation Division, 1st Air Army, 3rd Belorussian Front)
292 successful sorties. On his account, dozens of aircraft shot down and destroyed at airfields, 33 tanks, 118 vehicles, 53 railway cars, 85 wagons, 15 armored personnel carriers, 10 ammunition depots, 27 artillery pieces, 54 anti-aircraft guns, 12 mortars and hundreds of destroyed enemy soldiers and officers. 
Begeldinov Talgat. Guard Captain.
squadron commander of the 144th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment (9th Guards Assault Aviation Division, 1st Guards Assault Aviation Corps, 2nd Air Army, 1st Ukrainian Front).
305 sorties to attack enemy ground forces, shot down 7 aircraft in air battles
destroyed 21 tanks, five self-propelled guns, 37 vehicles, two locomotives, seven railway wagons and five aircraft,
guard captain Anatoly Brandys squadron commander of the 75th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment of the 1st Guards Assault Aviation Division of the 1st Air Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front. 227 sorties, destroyed 24 enemy aircraft on the ground.
Musa Gareev
Major, navigator of the 76th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment of the 1st Guards Assault Aviation Division of the 1st Air Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front
Alexander Efimov
Guard captain squadron commander of the 10th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 270th Bomber Aviation Division of the 8th Air Army of the Southern Front.
In total, during the war years, Efimov made 288 sorties on the Il-2 attack aircraft, during which he personally and as part of a group destroyed 85 enemy aircraft at airfields (which is the highest achievement among Soviet pilots of all types of aviation) and 8 aircraft were shot down in air battles, a large number of manpower and equipment of the enemy was destroyed.
Strelchenko Vladimir
Navigator of the 948th Assault Aviation Regiment (308th Assault Aviation Division, 3rd Assault Aviation Corps, 15th Air Army, Bryansk Front) Major V.I. in a group of 12 enemy aircraft. 
captain Vasily Mykhlyk
navigator of the 566th Assault Aviation Regiment. During the war, he made 188 sorties on the Il-2 attack aircraft to strike at enemy manpower and equipment.
And this is only a small part of the heroes ....
Have a nice time of the day.
Every war is a terrible grief for any people that it affects in one way or another. Throughout its history, mankind has known many wars, two of which were world wars. The First World War almost completely destroyed Europe and led to the fall of some large empires, such as the Russian and Austro-Hungarian. But even more terrible in its scale was the Second World War, in which many countries from almost all over the world were involved. Millions of people died, and even more were left without a roof over their heads. This terrible event still affects modern man in one way or another. Its echoes can be found throughout our lives. This tragedy left behind a lot of mysteries, disputes over which have not subsided for decades. The Soviet Union, which was not yet fully strengthened from the revolution and civil wars and was only building up its military and civilian industry, took on the heaviest burden in this battle not for life, but for death. Irreconcilable rage and a desire to fight the invaders who encroached on the territorial integrity and freedom of the proletarian state settled in the hearts of people. Many went to the front voluntarily. At the same time, the evacuated industrial capacities were reorganized for the production of products for the needs of the front. The struggle took on the scale of a truly popular one. That is why it is called the Great Patriotic War.
Who are the aces?
Both the German and Soviet armies were well trained and equipped with equipment, aircraft and other weapons. The personnel numbered in the millions. The collision of these two war machines gave birth to its heroes and its traitors. One of those who can rightfully be considered heroes are the aces of World War II. Who are they and why are they so famous? An ace can be considered a person who has achieved such heights in his field of activity that few people managed to conquer. And even in such a dangerous and terrible business as the military, there have always been professionals. Both the USSR and the allied forces, and Nazi Germany, had people who showed the best results in terms of the number of destroyed enemy equipment or manpower. This article will tell about these heroes.
The list of aces of World War II is extensive and includes many personalities famous for their exploits. They were an example for a whole nation, they were adored, admired.
Aviation is without a doubt one of the most romantic, but at the same time dangerous branches of the military. Since any technique can fail at any moment, the pilot's work is considered very honorable. It requires iron restraint, discipline, the ability to control oneself in any situation. Therefore, aviation aces were treated with great respect. After all, to be able to show a good result in such conditions, when your life depends not only on technology, but also on yourself, is the highest degree of military art. So, who are they - the aces of the Second World War, and why are their exploits so famous?
One of the most productive Soviet aces pilots was Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub. Officially, during his service on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, he shot down 62 German aircraft, and he is also credited with 2 American fighters, which he destroyed at the end of the war. This record-breaking pilot served in the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment and flew a La-7 aircraft.
The second most successful during the war was Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin (who was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union three times). He fought in southern Ukraine, in the Black Sea region, liberated Europe from the Nazis. During his service he shot down 59 enemy aircraft. He did not stop flying even when he was appointed commander of the 9th Guards Aviation Division, and won some of his air victories while already in this position.
Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev is one of the most famous military pilots, who set a record - 4 sorties for one destroyed aircraft. In total, during his military service, he destroyed 57 enemy aircraft. Awarded twice the honorary title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
He also shot down 55 German aircraft. Kozhedub, who happened to serve for some time with Evstigneev in the same regiment, spoke very respectfully about this pilot.
But, despite the fact that the tank troops were among the most numerous in the Soviet army, for some reason the USSR did not have aces tankers of the Second World War. Why this is so is unknown. It is logical to assume that many personal scores were deliberately overestimated or underestimated, so it is not possible to name the exact number of victories of the aforementioned tank battle masters.
German tank aces
But the German tank aces of World War II have a much longer track record. This is largely due to the pedantry of the Germans, who strictly documented everything, and they had much more time to fight than their Soviet "colleagues". The German army began active operations in 1939.
German tankman number 1 is Hauptsturmführer Michael Wittmann. He fought on many tanks (Stug III, Tiger I) and destroyed 138 vehicles during the entire war, as well as 132 self-propelled artillery installations of various enemy countries. For his successes he was repeatedly awarded various orders and signs of the Third Reich. Killed in action in 1944 in France.
You can also single out such a tank ace as For those who are somehow interested in the history of the development of the tank forces of the Third Reich, the book of his memoirs "Tigers in the Mud" will be very useful. During the war years, this man destroyed 150 Soviet and American self-propelled guns and tanks.
Kurt Knispel is another record holder tanker. He knocked out 168 tanks and self-propelled guns of the enemy for his military service. About 30 cars are unconfirmed, which does not allow him to catch up with Wittmann in terms of results. Knispel was killed in battle near the village of Vostits in Czechoslovakia, in 1945.
In addition, Karl Bromann had good results - 66 tanks and self-propelled guns, Ernst Barkmann - 66 tanks and self-propelled guns, Erich Mausberg - 53 tanks and self-propelled guns.
As can be seen from these results, both the Soviet and German tank aces of World War II knew how to fight. Of course, the quantity and quality of Soviet combat vehicles was an order of magnitude higher than that of the Germans, however, as practice has shown, both of them were used quite successfully and became the basis for some post-war tank models.
But the list of military branches in which their masters distinguished themselves does not end there. Let's talk a little about aces-submariners.
Submarine Warfare Masters
Just as in the case of aircraft and tanks, the most successful are the German sailors. During the years of its existence, the Kriegsmarine submariners sank 2603 ships of the allied countries, the total displacement of which reaches 13.5 million tons. This is a truly impressive number. And the German submarine aces of World War II could also boast of impressive personal scores.
The most productive German submariner is Otto Kretschmer, who has 44 ships, including 1 destroyer. The total displacement of the ships sunk by him is 266629 tons.
In second place is Wolfgang Luth, who sent 43 enemy ships to the bottom (and according to other sources - 47) with a total displacement of 225,712 tons.
He was also a famous sea ace who even managed to sink the British battleship Royal Oak. It was one of the first officers to receive oak leaves for Prien and destroyed 30 ships. Killed in 1941 during an attack on a British convoy. He was so popular that his death was hidden from the people for two months. And on the day of his funeral, mourning was declared throughout the country.
Such successes of the German sailors are also quite understandable. The fact is that Germany started a naval war back in 1940, with a blockade of Britain, thus hoping to undermine its maritime greatness and, taking advantage of this, to carry out a successful capture of the islands. However, very soon the plans of the Nazis were frustrated, as America entered the war with its large and powerful fleet.
The most famous Soviet sailor of the submarine fleet is Alexander Marinesko. He sank only 4 ships, but what! Heavy passenger liner "Wilhelm Gustloff", transport "General von Steuben", as well as 2 units of heavy floating batteries "Helene" and "Siegfried". For his exploits, Hitler put the sailor on the list of personal enemies. But the fate of Marinesko did not work out well. He fell out of favor with the Soviet authorities and died, and his exploits were no longer talked about. The great sailor received the Hero of the Soviet Union award only posthumously in 1990. Unfortunately, many aces of the USSR of the Second World War ended their lives in a similar way.
Also famous submariners of the Soviet Union are Ivan Travkin - sank 13 ships, Nikolai Lunin - also 13 ships, Valentin Starikov - 14 ships. But Marinesko topped the list of the best submariners of the Soviet Union, as he caused the greatest damage to the German navy.
Accuracy and Stealth
Well, how can one not remember such famous fighters as snipers? Here the Soviet Union takes the well-deserved palm from Germany. Soviet sniper aces of World War II had very high service records. In many respects, such results were achieved thanks to the mass state training of the civilian population in shooting from various weapons. About 9 million people were awarded the Voroshilovsky shooter badge. So, what are the most famous snipers?
The name of Vasily Zaitsev frightened the Germans and inspired courage in the Soviet soldiers. This ordinary guy, a hunter, killed 225 Wehrmacht soldiers from his Mosin rifle in just a month of fighting near Stalingrad. Among the outstanding sniper names are Fedor Okhlopkov, who (for the entire war) accounted for about a thousand Nazis; Semyon Nomokonov, who killed 368 enemy soldiers. There were also women among the snipers. An example of this is the famous Lyudmila Pavlichenko, who fought near Odessa and Sevastopol.
German snipers are less known, although in Germany since 1942 there were several sniper schools that were engaged in professional training. Among the most successful German shooters are Matthias Hetzenauer (345 killed), (257 destroyed), Bruno Sutkus (209 soldiers shot dead). Also a famous sniper from the countries of the Hitlerite bloc is Simo Hayha - this Finn killed 504 Red Army soldiers during the war years (according to unconfirmed reports).
Thus, the sniper training of the Soviet Union was immeasurably higher than that of the German troops, which allowed the Soviet soldiers to wear the proud title of aces of World War II.
How did they become aces?
So, the concept of "ace of the Second World War" is quite extensive. As already mentioned, these people achieved truly impressive results in their work. This was achieved not only due to good army training, but also due to outstanding personal qualities. After all, for a pilot, for example, coordination and quick reaction are very important, for a sniper - the ability to wait for the right moment to sometimes fire a single shot.
Accordingly, it is impossible to determine who had the best aces of the Second World War. Both sides committed unparalleled heroism, which made it possible to single out individuals from the general mass. But one could become a master only by training hard and improving one's combat skills, since war does not tolerate weakness. Of course, the dry lines of statistics will not be able to convey to the modern person all the hardships and hardships experienced by war professionals during their establishment on an honorary pedestal.
We, the generation that lives without knowing such terrible things, should not forget about the exploits of our predecessors. They can become an inspiration, a reminder, a memory. And we must try to do everything to ensure that such terrible events as past wars do not happen again.
