by William R. Hawkins January 9, 2023. Luftwaffe Aces. While the 200+ kill Luftwaffe experten The Luftwaffe operated with 3,400,000 personnel throughout the war. He was shot down 18 times and was wounded three times and survived. Terms of Use So I picked out the leader, I shot him down. 84, 85) published an article "Sons duty" about Leonid Godovikov's work on the biography of his father, Alexe y Godovikov. So many years after that war, the survivors of that horror and those who fought in it are fewer and fewer and very old. This is an apolitical forum for discussions on the Axis nations and related topics hosted by the Axis History Factbook in cooperation with Christian Ankerstjernes Panzerworld and Christoph Awender's WW2 day by day. Gunther Rall became famous on the Eastern Front, where he often engaged in dogfights with Soviet fighter planes. It is sorted by higest kills still living to lowest Rall, Gnther LAKELAND Any good fighter pilot wanted to be an ace, said Abner Aust Jr., a U.S. Army Air Forces ACE who shot down five enemy aircraft in aerial combat in World War II, and flew more than 300 missions during the Vietnam War. He served in all theaters of war, since the very start in Poland. and much more expensive. himself sixteen times. During the minute or so of a dogfight, most of what we did was due to instinct, reflexes, study of the latest intelligence, and on-the-job training, he says. He's kind of low profile guy which scored most of his 14 + 1 shared . Nikola Budanovic is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE. by Douglas Aguiar Sat Sep 28, 2002 6:11 pm, Post bombers, not to zoom off, hunting down enemy planes to shoot down. Las cookies de preferencias permiten a una web recordar informacin que cambia la forma en que se comporta o se ve la web, como tu idioma preferido o la regin en la que te encuentras. When he acquired the Focke-Wulf Fw190 fighter plane, the number of his aerial victories tripled before the end of the same year. Major Hans Ehlers (1914-1944), Ritterkreuz 09.06.1944 als Oberleutnant und Staffelkapitn 3./Jagdgeschwader 1 "Oesau" 52 Luftsiege. differences, the achievements of the home run hitters remain The top Luftwaffe aces of WW2, with over 170 aerial victories: A fine book on this topic is Bf 109 Aces of the Russian Front (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces series #37) by John Weal. The second semester, I got a job sweeping the library and that paid me $12 a month, said Aust. At that time he was nominated for the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, but, because of the incident, was never awarded it. 109 Aces of the Russian Front (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces Despite being the second most successful ace in the history of aviation, he was not awarded Diamonds in addition to his Knights Cross, after reaching his 300th kill. COVID origins? One Luftwaffe Don't miss the news and content that interest you. Caesar Hull, DFC (1914-1940) and Paterson Hughes, DFC (1917-1940) were Royal Air Force (RAF) flying aces of the Second World War. document.write(d.getFullYear()) victories), the war on the Eastern Front (both on the ground and in the Soon after he was on the Eastern Front where he scored victories on a daily basis. Of that 457 have died, the last in February 2002. Im going to ram this one. Roughly 12,000 German day fighter pilots were killed or are still missing in action, with a further 6,000 being wounded. 21. luftwaffe aces still alive; luftwaffe aces still alive. Despite these assigned bomber escort duty. In the Eastern Front, he claimed 58 victories over the feared armored IL-2 Sturmovik ground attack aircraft. We had a lot of land. All these Luftwaffe officers aces received their Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Oak Leaves or Swords or Diamonds, the highest award made by Nazi Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or outstanding military leadership. Las cookies de anlisis ayudan a los propietarios de las webs a comprender cmo interactan los visitantes con las webs recopilando y facilitando informacin de forma annima. Las cookies son pequeos archivos de texto que los sitios web pueden utilizar para hacer que la experiencia del usuario sea ms eficiente. Wing Commander Paul Farnes was one of the fabled 'Few' and downed at least six German aircraft and . But most of all, I enjoyed being able to sleep until six in the morning. assignments. 103 German fighter pilots each shot down 100 or more enemy aircraft, for a total of approximately 15,400 victories. Well see each other in Valhalla. Theo refers toTheodor Weissenberger, the number ten on our list. On one of his flights, he was once again shot down. Over the years there has been controversy, much of it ill informed, concerning the validity of German fighter aces victory claims. Great book covering the top aces of the Luftwaffe with an overview and personal stories of pilots such as Rall, Barkhorn, Marseille and Hartman. : GermanWW2photos - FELLGIEBEL, W.P., Elite of theThird Reich, Helion In his dramatic wartime career he sank ship After serving with the Navy for 11 years (five years of active duty and six in the reserves), Pool left military life and started a printing businessfirst in Tulsa, Oklahoma, then in Houston. Individual German officers, soldiers and award holders. He retired in 1972 as a U.S. Air Force Colonel. A tribute to one of the top fighter aces of the World War II, this new full length biography appears here in its first edition. Pilots with more than 100 aerial victory claims. Para todos los dems tipos de cookies necesitamos su permiso. World War II air war companion to Panzer Aces and Panzer Aces IIIn-the-cockpit accounts of aerial dogfights by some of Germany's deadliest pilots ever to take to the skiesThis exciting book tells the combat biographies of seven Luftwaffe aces: three day-fighter pilots, one night-fighter pilot, one close-support pilot, and two . Weissenbergers military career began in 1936, when he volunteered in the Luftwaffe, after gaining experience as a civilian glider pilot. In combat flying, fancy precision aerobatic work is really not of much use. And Stalin was Spaniards pay homage in Warsaw to the heroes of the 1944 Uprising. He holds the seventh place on an internationally recognized list of best pilots in the history of aerial warfare. The first came on June 22, 1941, during the opening of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. XCLOSE. A while ago I saw this video by Mark Felton, published this Friday, in which he talks about Hugo Broch, the last German ace of World War II who is still alive. Our intention is not to glorify war; we know exactly how terrible war is, Galland told the crowd. But theyve hit a snag, Spain approves menstrual leave, teen abortion and trans laws. There were 1,439 aces in four wars, and less than 30 left living right now, Aust said at Saturdays Sun 'n Fun, where he was on hand for media interviews about his military career that spanned decades. Ritchie is also quick to credit others: I would not be a fighter ace had it not been for tens of thousands of military and civilian personnel in the entire support community. Since retiring in 1999, Ritchie has traveled the world, giving lectures on how to succeed. WANTED: Uniforms attributed to Knights Cross or German Cross recipients. It's a very fun game, guys. All rights reserved. by Ron Klages Sat Sep 28, 2002 1:45 pm, Post Once we got the runway ready, theyd bring the airplanes over every morning for the training.. I really dont know, he laughs. Perhaps it is a respect for courageous acts no matter the cause that was the basis of his celebrity. Whoever you heard that from did not know what they were talking about. In this book, the story of each of the Luftwaffe's 204 Messerschmitt Bf 109 'aces' from the summer of 1940 is examined, with all of the individual biographies, detailing individual fates during. Here you can consult our privacy policy. I think that my training had a lot to do with my success. Good bye. I felt very much at home and in command in the cockpit., Laird is the only U.S. Navy ace to have scored combat victories in both the European and the Pacific theaters of World War II. The Ace Fighter cult came to prominence during the First World War, which was the first conflict that utilized the use of aircraft in a larger scale. And, no fighter pilot will ever shoot such large "Double aces," i.e. analogy, because, in fact, the Luftwaffe pilots were using the same During the occupation of Crete, he supported the ground forces in the final stages of invasion. He himself ended his life by ramming into an American bomber. The conditions of their achievements remained tecken p att hon inte lskar dig lngre. Erich Hartmann scored 352; Gerhard Their responsibility was to protect the Luftwaffe Aces Wilhelm-Ferdinand "Wutz" Galland (23 October 1914 - 17 August 1943) of JG 26. flew on the Eastern Front, many of their Western Front comrades scored over 100 Many, many poorly In July 1945, Aust was flying the P51 fighter when he ran into six Japanese airplanes. He was attached to the heavy fighter squadron Jagdgeschwader 77 in 1941, just after finishing his training. I thought that 10 was the required number to be considered an expert? All rights reserved. Hopefully episodes like that flight in a Spitfire will serve to remember those who died, close old wounds and that this terrible historical event will never be repeated. duty and rotated home for training, command, or flight test Such has been the sentiment at similar gatherings around the country put on since 1978 by Virginia Bader, a Virginia-based aviation art dealer whose second cousin, Sir Douglas Bader, was a famous British flier. The Zerstrer (destroyer) pilots suffered about 2,800 casualties, either killed or missing in action, plus another 900 wounded in action. The vast majority (234) of his victories were achieved on the Eastern Front, where he battled Sturmoviks and four-engine bombers on the regular basis. [3], German losses, on the other hand, were very high as well. So they admit to being both flattered and mystified by the fascination that American audiences continue to have with them. Honors to fallen enemies: when war is not at odds with chivalry, Spaniards pay homage in Warsaw to the heroes of the 1944 Uprising, the flight that Broch made in a British Spitfire fighter at 95 years of age, The Russian and Ukrainian tank losses compared to their pre-invasion forces, Russian losses in Ukraine already exceed 6,000 vehicles: these are the most damaged, Orlik, the Pole who destroyed ten German tanks using a tiny tankette, Spanish and Italian Harrier II fighters fly with the most famous squadron of the US Navy, The atypical repair in Spain of a C-5M Super Galaxy, the largest aircraft in the US Air Force, E-4B Nightwatch: this is the inside of the 'Doomsday Plane' of the US Air Force, Hugo Broch, the last German ace of the World War II who is still alive, Spanish Marine Infantry: the units that make it up and their material resources, The Leopardos 2E of the Spanish Army show us their high-explosive shells, This is how air operations are conducted on one of the large US aircraft carriers. The High Command later called him to fill in the ranks, for the war was rapidly approaching its end. by Jaap Woortman Wed Jun 18, 2003 3:18 am, Post On one occasion, in 1941, he claimed that he had sunk a British submarine near the Isle of Portland, but the Royal Navy claimed otherwise. After he found his shooting eye, as he himself called it, his tally began to constantly rise. This is a list of fighter aces in World War II from Germany. Does Ohlrogge, Werner live in Bremen, Germany? It was just a business your people and our people had to do, said Obleser, 64, who downed 120 airplanes during the war, most of them on the Russian Front. He first saw action during the Battle of France in May 1940, when he successfully defended a reconnaissance plane from three French P-36 Hawk fighter planes. On the Eastern Front alone, he achieved 272 of them and 241 were against other fighter planes. The Luftwaffe's Otto Kittel flew his first combat mission in 1941, against the Soviet Air Force. Game and Legal Info. Once you have entered your email in this box and press the "Click to subscribe" black button, you will receive a confirmation email in your mailbox to activate your subscription. The frequency of contests? Graf flew 830 combat missions and won 10 more aerial victories on the Western Front, which includes six four-engine bombers and one Mosquito. This is a list of fighter aces in World War II from Germany. "playing by the same rules.". I found both German and Japanese [pilots] to be well trained, says Laird. In total, he flew 583 combat missions with a score of 267 victories. The subscriptions of this blog can only be accessed by its author. Last May, as president of the American Fighter Aces Association, retired Lieutenant General Charles Cleveland received a Congressional Gold Medal from U.S. House and Senate leaders on behalf of. The fact that members of your squadron get sick, fall asleep and flip out takes a few levels to get used to, but it's fine. Like many U.S. Air Force pilots, Cleveland loved flying North Americans F-86 Sabre. Aust graduated from high school in 1940 and attended Sunflower Junior College in Moorhead, Mississippi, where he joined the Civilian Pilot Training Program. profile illustrations of the planes, as flown by individual pilots at You have to stay focused. Any help would be much appreciated, Jeff, Thankyou HT & Ingo for the information, its much appreciated, whilst im on here do you know of any websites that list the aces victories from all sides in both 1st and 2nd WW, thanks Jeff, The Dieter Zinke Axis Biographical Research Section, Life in the Third Reich & Weimar Republic, Kriegsmarine surface ships and Kriegsmarine in general, Luftwaffe air units and Luftwaffe in general, German Strategy & General German Military Discussion, NSDAP, other party organizations & Government, The Dieter Zinke Axis Biographical Research Section, The Ron Klages Panzer & other vehicles Section, Panzer & other vehicles - Photo threads, Axis Documents, Feldpost numbers, Postcards & Other Paper Items, The United Kingdom & its Empire and Commonwealth 1919-45, The Allies and the Neutral States in general, German Colonies and Overseas Expeditions, The end of the Ottoman Empire 1908-1923, Translation help: Breaking the Sound Barrier, http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/aces.html, http://users.accesscomm.ca/magnusfamily/airaces1.htm. Some immediately "re-upped" for more combat, but they were 2022. Now they are relics, aging men holding tight to their medals and to their memories of glorious missions and close calls. My pilot pushed it up, and we broke out over probably 30,000 feet, these P51s, running together and spinning, he said. Spaniards pay homage in Warsaw to the heroes of the 1944 Uprising A while ago I saw this video by Mark Felton, published this Friday, in which he talks about Hugo Broch, the last German ace of World War II who is still alive. During his Navy career, Hardy flew the Grumman F6F Hellcat, but its not his favorite airplane. It cost $16 a month, room and board, no tuition, because our county owned part of the college. Two aircraft were the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter force . Also chronicled is the combat life of JG 27, Marseilles' unit, and the various personalities throughout the North African campaign. 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