Erich Hartmann
Full name: Erich Alfred Hartmann
Date of Birth: 19.04.1922 - Weissach, Württemberg (Weimar Republic)
Date of Death: 20.09.1993 - Weil im Schönbuch, Baden-Württemberg (Federal Republic of Germany)
Battles and Operations: Eastern Front, Caucasus Campaign, Kuban Bridgehead, Battle of Kursk, Belgorod-Kharkov offensive operations, Crimean Offensive, First Jassy-Kishinev Offensive, Romanian border defense, Siege of Budapest
NSDAP-Number: No information
Religion: No information
Parents: Dr. Alfred Erich Hartmann (physician) and Elisabeth Wilhelmine Machtholf (licensed glider pilot)
Siblings: one younger brother Alfred Hartmann (Stuka gunner in North Africa, later physician)
Spouse: Ursula Elisabeth Therese Auguste "Usch" Paetsch (married 10.09.1944 in Bad Wiessee)
Children: Erich-Peter Hartmann (born 21.05.1945, died 1948), Ursula Isabel Hartmann (born 23.02.1957)
Promotions:
00.00.1940 Offizieranwärter
31.03.1942 Leutnant
01.07.1944 Oberleutnant
01.09.1944 Hauptmann
08.05.1945 Major
12.12.1960 Oberstleutnant (Bundeswehr)
26.07.1967 Oberst (Bundeswehr)
Career:
00.04.1928-00.04.1932 Volksschule Weil im Schönbuch
00.04.1932-00.04.1936 Gymnasium Böblingen
00.04.1936-00.04.1937 Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt Rottweil
00.04.1937-00.04.1940 Gymnasium Korntal
1937 Segelfluglehrer in Flieger-Hitlerjugend (taught by his mother)
01.10.1940-00.02.1941 Ausbildungsregiment 10 Neukuhren East Prussia
01.03.1941-00.10.1941 Luftkriegsschule 2 Berlin-Gatow
01.11.1941-31.01.1942 Fliegerschule Lachen-Speyerdorf
01.03.1942-20.08.1942 Jagdfliegerschule 2 Zerbst/Anhalt (Bf 109 training)
21.08.1942-10.10.1942 Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost Gleiwitz/Kraków
10.10.1942-01.09.1943 Flugzeugführer 7. and 9. Staffel III./Jagdgeschwader 52 (Eastern Front, initially wingman)
02.09.1943-00.09.1944 Staffelkapitän 9./Jagdgeschwader 52
01.10.1944-31.01.1945 Staffelkapitän (temporary assignments in JG 52)
01.02.1945-14.02.1945 Kommandeur I./Jagdgeschwader 53 (Veszprém, Hungary)
16.01.1945-08.05.1945 Gruppenkommandeur I./Jagdgeschwader 52
08.05.1945 surrendered to US forces near Pisek, handed over to Soviet forces 14.05.1945
24.05.1945-10.1955 Soviet captivity (various camps and gulags, convicted of fabricated war crimes 1949/1951, released as one of the last Heimkehrer)
1956 joined Bundeswehr Luftwaffe, Ausbildungsleiter Waffenschule der Luftwaffe 10 Oldenburg
06.06.1959-29.05.1962 Geschwaderkommodore Jagdgeschwader 71 "Richthofen" (first all-jet Geschwader, Sabre then Starfighter)
30.09.1970 retirement from Bundeswehr
1971-1974 civilian flight instructor Flugplatz Hangelar near Bonn
Awards and Decorations:
Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse (17.12.1942)
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse (07.03.1943)
Luftwaffe Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistungen im Luftkrieg (13.09.1943 as Leutnant)
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (17.10.1943 as Leutnant in III./JG 52)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 29 October 1943 as Leutnant and Flugzeugführer in 9.Staffel / III.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52), after 148 victories
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #420 on 2 March 1944 as Leutnant and Staffelkapitän 9.Staffel / III.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52), after 202 victories
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #75 on 2 July 1944 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän 9.Staffel / III.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52), after 268 victories
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten #18 on 25 August 1944 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän 9.Staffel / III.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52), after 301 victories
Gemeinsames Flugzeugführer- und Beobachter-Abzeichen in Gold mit Brillanten (25.08.1944)
Frontflugspange für Jäger in Gold mit Anhänger "1300" (for over 1,300 combat sorties)
Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42
Mentioned in Wehrmachtbericht (24.08.1944 and 25.08.1944)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Erich Alfred Hartmann, affectionately known as "Bubi" to his comrades and "Der Schwarze Teufel" (Black Devil) to his Soviet opponents, remains the most successful fighter pilot in the history of aerial warfare with 352 confirmed victories (345 Soviet, 7 American) achieved in 1,404 combat missions and 825 air combats. Never shot down by enemy fire despite 16 forced landings due to damage or mechanical issues, he developed his signature "see-decide-attack-break" tactic of closing to point-blank range (often under 20 meters) before firing, learned under the mentorship of veterans like Edmund Roßmann and Walter Krupinski in JG 52. His distinctive black tulip nose marking on his Bf 109 became a feared sight on the Eastern Front. Hartmann refused transfers to the Me 262 jet program on two occasions, preferring to stay with his comrades in JG 52 until the final days. Captured hours after his 352nd victory on 8 May 1945, he endured over ten years of brutal Soviet imprisonment, including show trials on fabricated charges, solitary confinement, hunger strikes, and forced labor, before release in 1955. Post-war he helped rebuild the Bundeswehr Luftwaffe as the first commander of JG 71 "Richthofen," where he painted the black tulip on Sabres and Starfighters, but resigned in protest over the unsafe F-104 Starfighter program after repeated warnings that proved tragically correct. In retirement he continued flying as a civilian instructor and remained a modest, approachable figure who often downplayed his legendary status. His son Erich-Peter was born during his captivity and died at age three without ever meeting his father; Hartmann was posthumously exonerated by Russia in 1997. He flew his last sortie in a historical aircraft in the early 1990s and passed away from a heart attack in 1993 at age 71.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Hartmann
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/1041/Hartmann-Erich-Alfred-Bubi-Jagdgeschwader-52.htm
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/H/HartmannE.htm
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://www.geni.com/people/Erich-Hartmann/6000000185645944166
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.bundesarchiv.de/en/
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html
https://grokipedia.com/
https://www.unithistories.com/
Toliver, Raymond F. & Constable, Trevor J. - The Blond Knight of Germany: The Story of Erich Hartmann (1970)
Stockert, Franz - Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945 (2007 edition)
Prien, Jochen et al. - Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945 (multiple volumes on JG 52)
Scherzer, Veit - Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939-1945 (2007)
Patzwall, Klaus D. & Scherzer, Veit - Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941-1945 (2001)
Bergström, Christer - Black Cross / Red Star: Air War over the Eastern Front (various volumes)
Fraschka, Günther - Knights of the Reich (2002)
Kaplan, Philip - Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe (2007)
Mathews, Andrew & Foreman, John - Luftwaffe Aces (2015)
No comments:
Post a Comment