Bio of Major Anton Hackl (1915-1984)

Full name: Anton Hackl  
Nickname: Toni  
Religion : No information

Date of birth: 25.03.1915 - Regensburg, Bayern (German Empire)
Date of death: 10.07.1984 - Regensburg, Bayern (West Germany)

Parents: Sohn eines Schreinermeisters (name unknown) and mother unknown  
Siblings: No information  
Spouse: No information  
Children: No information 

Promotions:
01.09.1939 Feldwebel
01.08.1940 Oberleutnant
23.01.1942 (appointed Staffelkapitän, rank probably still Oberleutnant, later Hauptmann around 1942/43)
01.05.1944 Major

Career:  
1933: Eintritt in das 20. (Bayer.) Infanterie-Regiment, Reichsheer  
1935: Übertritt zur Luftwaffe  
Herbst 1936: Abschluss der Flugausbildung  
01.04.1938: II. Gruppe JG 77 (zuvor JG 333)  
Mai 1940: 5. Staffel JG 77 in Norwegen  
23.01.1942: Staffelkapitän 5./JG 77  
01.10.1943: Gruppenkommandeur III./JG 11  
April 1944: i.V. Geschwaderkommodore JG 11  
Juli 1944: Geschwaderkommodore JG 76  
09.10.1944: Gruppenkommandeur II./JG 26  
30.01.1945: i.V. Kommodore JG 300  
20.02.1945: Kommodore JG 11 bis Kriegsende  

Awards and Decorations:  
Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse (6. März 1940)  
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse (2. Juli 1940)  
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 25 May 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän 5.Staffel / II.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77), after achieving his 51st aerial victory. By the end of 1941 he had already scored 26 confirmed kills on the Eastern Front, but the decisive surge came during the German summer offensive of 1942 in southern Russia. The most striking performance occurred on 19 April 1942 over the Perekop Isthmus in Crimea, while escorting Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers. In a single mission Hackl dove into a large formation of Soviet fighters and light bombers. Flying his Messerschmitt Bf 109 he first shot down two MiG-3 fighters in quick succession with accurate bursts from his 20 mm cannon, then destroyed two Polikarpov R-Z biplane light bombers and finished with an I-153 (reported as I-18 in some early logs). The engagement turned into a chaotic dogfight with tracer rounds crisscrossing the sky, pieces of wings and engines tumbling earthward, and Hackl constantly rolling and climbing to avoid return fire from the Soviet escorts. This “five-in-one-day” haul, together with steady scoring in the preceding weeks, brought him to 51 victories and earned him the 476th Ritterkreuz of the war.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #109 on 9 August 1942 as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän 5.Staffel / II.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77), after his 104th or 106th victory (sources vary slightly on the exact count). The critical period was July 1942 during the ferocious air battles around Voronezh and the Don bend, where JG 77 clashed almost daily with units of the Soviet 2nd Air Army. In that single month Hackl claimed no fewer than 37 victories. On 21 July and again on 23 July he achieved the rare feat of six confirmed kills in one day each time. In these missions he would typically bounce large formations of Yak-1 and LaGG-3 fighters from above or out of the sun, then slice through the enemy groups with high-speed attacks, frequently returning to base with smoke-blackened gun barrels and oil-smeared windscreen from close-range kills. On 3 August 1942 he added a triple victory that pushed his total to exactly 100. Soviet fighter pilot Kapitan Mikhail Avdeev of the 6th Guards IAP later wrote in his memoirs that Hackl became a nightmare for his regiment: “He appeared every day, always covered by his wingmen, chose his targets carefully and very rarely missed. More than once I tried to get on his tail – without success. He robbed us of sleep and openly taunted us. A worthy and very dangerous opponent.” This extraordinary scoring rate during the high summer battles made Hackl one of the leading aces of the Eastern Front.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #78 on 9 July 1944 as Major and Gruppenkommandeur III.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 11 (JG 11). The award were conferred on Hackl while he was recovering from a severe wound, in recognition of his 162nd confirmed victory. By this stage he had transferred to the Defence of the Reich with JG 11 (from October 1943 onward) and specialised in attacking the heavy four-engine American bombers. He eventually claimed 32 four-motored bombers (mostly B-17s and B-24s) in total. One of the most memorable actions took place on 6 March 1944 during the USAAF's first large-scale daylight raid on Berlin. Flying an Fw 190A, Hackl led elements of III./JG 11 against the massed bomber stream protected by swarms of P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs. Despite intense fighter opposition he closed to very short range, launched under-wing rockets into the tight combat box formations, then followed up with 20 mm and 30 mm cannon fire. Two B-17 Flying Fortresses erupted in bright fireballs; burning fuel and debris rained down as the stricken bombers rolled over and fell out of formation. Another highlight was 11 January 1944 over Oschersleben, where Hackl destroyed two B-17s from the 381st Bomb Group (the group lost eight Fortresses that day) in a head-on attack through heavy defensive fire. Similar double successes followed in May 1944. These missions were fought at altitudes between 20,000 and 30,000 feet against overwhelming numerical superiority, with constant threat from escort fighters and the concentrated firepower of dozens of .50-calibre turrets. Hackl was shot down or forced to bail out eight times during the war and wounded four times (including serious injuries in Tunisia in 1943 and again in 1944), yet he continued flying combat sorties until the final days of May 1945. His tactical skill, iron determination, and willingness to press home attacks against the heaviest defended targets earned him the Schwerter.
Verwundetenabzeichen in Gold  
Frontflugspange in Gold mit Anhänger "1000"  
Flugzeugführer- und Beobachterabzeichen  
Krimschild  
Afrikafeldzeichen (Ärmelband Afrika)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anton Hackl, nicknamed 'Toni', was a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot and flying ace during World War II who claimed a total of one hundred ninety two confirmed aerial victories in more than one thousand combat missions making him one of the most successful and enduring aces of the conflict. Born on twenty five March nineteen fifteen in Regensburg in the Upper Palatinate region of the Kingdom of Bavaria as the son of a master joiner he volunteered for military service in the Reichsheer in nineteen thirty three initially serving with the twentieth Bavarian Infantry Regiment. He transferred to the newly formed Luftwaffe in nineteen thirty five beginning as a driver before undergoing flight training in nineteen thirty seven at Halberstadt where he earned his pilot license and specialized in aerobatics. Promoted through the ranks from Obergefreiter to Unteroffizier he completed fighter pilot instruction and joined the second Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader seventy seven in April nineteen thirty eight. His career spanned every major theater from the invasion of Norway through the Eastern Front the Mediterranean and the desperate Defense of the Reich until the final days of the war during which he was shot down eight times and wounded four times yet continued flying until May nineteen forty five.

Hackl began his combat flying during the Phoney War conducting patrols along Germany's western border with second Gruppe Jagdgeschwader seventy seven earning the Iron Cross second class on six March nineteen forty. The Norwegian Campaign marked his first aerial successes when based at Stavanger Sola in May nineteen forty he claimed two Lockheed Hudsons of No two hundred thirty three Squadron Royal Air Force on fifteen June followed by a Bristol Beaufort while escorting the battleship Scharnhorst on twenty one June and another Hudson on twenty five June sustaining slight wounds from defensive fire. These early victories brought him the Iron Cross first class on two July nineteen forty and he was promoted to Feldwebel on the first day of the Polish Campaign though he missed that fighting while attending officers training. By one August nineteen forty he advanced to Oberleutnant skipping the Leutnant rank entirely due to his demonstrated skill and he later flew missions on the Channel Front after the Battle of Britain. In July nineteen forty one his unit transferred to the Eastern Front supporting Army Group South's advance into Ukraine and on twenty nine July he was appointed Staffelkapitän of the fifth Staffel replacing Hauptmann Erich Friedrich.

On the Eastern Front Hackl rapidly accumulated victories reaching twenty six confirmed kills by the end of nineteen forty one. His breakthrough came in the spring of nineteen forty two during the Crimean operations where on nineteen April over the Isthmus of Perekop while escorting Stuka dive bombers he achieved an ace in a day performance destroying two MiG three fighters two Polikarpov R Z biplane light bombers and one I eighteen in a single chaotic mission filled with rolling dogfights tracer streams and exploding wreckage that helped secure local air superiority. By twenty five May nineteen forty two after his fifty first victory he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of fifth Staffel Jagdgeschwader seventy seven becoming the four hundred seventy sixth recipient. The summer battles around Voronezh proved even more decisive as he claimed thirty seven aircraft in July alone including six confirmed kills each on twenty one July and twenty three July by repeatedly bouncing formations of Yak one and LaGG three fighters from superior altitude and slicing through them with high speed cannon attacks. Soviet fighter ace Kapitan Mikhail Avdeev of the sixth Guards IAP later recalled in his memoirs that Hackl appeared every day always covered by wingmen chose targets carefully and rarely missed an attack proving impossible to trap despite repeated attempts from above below clouds or the sun robbing Soviet pilots of sleep and earning respect as a truly dangerous opponent. On three August nineteen forty two Hackl reached his one hundredth victory with a triple kill becoming only the sixteenth Luftwaffe pilot to achieve this milestone and shortly afterward on nine August after his one hundred sixth success he was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves the one hundred ninth such decoration.

Transferred to the Mediterranean theater in November nineteen forty two Hackl participated in the Tunisia Campaign arriving in North Africa on five December and basing at Zazur airfield west of Tripoli. On twenty December he claimed two Curtiss P forty Kittyhawks during a ground attack mission contributing to his Staffel's five victories that day but on four February nineteen forty three while engaging P thirty eight Lightnings escorting Boeing B seventeen bombers he suffered severe wounds to his head and right hand in his Messerschmitt Bf one hundred nine G two trop forcing months of hospitalization in Rome. Returning to duty in September nineteen forty three he joined third Gruppe Jagdgeschwader eleven for Reich defense duties and on one October became Gruppenkommandeur succeeding Hauptmann Ernst Günther Heinze. Specializing against heavy American bombers he downed twenty five four engined aircraft including three Consolidated B twenty four Liberators on eighteen March nineteen forty four raising his total to one hundred thirty nine. Briefly commanding Jagdgeschwader eleven in April nineteen forty four after Hermann Graf's wounding he was himself shot down again on fifteen April by P forty seven Thunderbolts but recovered and was promoted to Major on one May. After advanced training he took command of Jagdgeschwader seventy six where his aggressive tactics were noted including orders to attack bombers from the rear at point blank range under threat of court martial for hesitation.

Following his one hundred sixty second victory Hackl received the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords on nine July nineteen forty four as Major and Gruppenkommandeur of third Gruppe Jagdgeschwader eleven the seventy eighth award of its kind. He later commanded elements of Jagdgeschwader seventy six during the retreat through France in August nineteen forty four re equipping with Focke Wulf Fw one hundred ninety A eights before transferring on eight October to lead second Gruppe Jagdgeschwader twenty six converting to the advanced Fw one hundred ninety D nine Dora. In late nineteen forty four and early nineteen forty five he successively commanded Jagdgeschwader three hundred and then Jagdgeschwader eleven until the end of the war claiming his final victories including his one hundred sixty seventh against Avro Lancasters on twenty three December. Overall he achieved one hundred five victories on the Eastern Front eighty seven in the West including at least thirty two four engined bombers and recorded twenty four unconfirmed claims while flying more than one thousand missions. After the war Hackl returned to civilian life in his native Regensburg where he lived quietly until his death on ten July nineteen eighty four at the age of sixty nine. His extraordinary record of endurance from the first to the last day of the conflict combined with his tactical skill against overwhelming odds in both the East and the desperate skies over Germany cemented his place among the Luftwaffe's elite aces.

Source:  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Hackl  
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/H/HacklA.htm  
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/34546/Hackl-Anton.htm  
https://grokipedia.com/page/anton_hackl  
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300  
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html  
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html  
https://forum.axishistory.com/  
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/  
https://www.bundesarchiv.de/en/  
https://www.geni.com/  
https://books.google.com/  
https://aircrewremembered.com/KrackerDatabase/?q=units  
https://www.ww2.dk/lwoffz.html  
Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. Elite of the Third Reich. Helion & Company, 2003.  
Obermaier, Ernst. Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe. Hoffmann, 1989.  
Scherzer, Veit. Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939-1945. Jena 2007.  
Kwasny, A. und G. Die Eichenlaubträger 1940-1945. Deutsches Wehrkundearchiv, 2001.  
Mathews, Johannes und Foreman, John. Luftwaffe Aces – Biographies and Victory Claims.