Nickname: Pritzl
Date of Birth: 25 May 1913 - Sommerfeld, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire
Date of Death: 28 April 1957 - near Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Battles and Operations: Polish Campaign, Western Campaign, Battle of Britain, Operation Barbarossa, Eastern Front operations 1941-1942, Mediterranean Theatre including Malta, North African Campaign and Tunisia, Defence of the Reich, Western Front 1943-1945 including Operation Bodenplatte
NSDAP-Number: No information
SS-Number: No information
Religion: No information
Parents: Father (farmer, name unknown, killed in action 1916 on the Western Front during World War I), Mother (name unknown, farmer)
Siblings: No information
Spouse: Elfriede Jäger (married 1 December 1939 in Mannheim)
Children: No information
Promotions:
4 April 1934 Gefreiter
1 October 1939 Feldwebel
1 August 1940 Leutnant (rank seniority dated 1 May 1940)
14 August 1941 Oberleutnant (rank seniority dated 1 August 1941)
1 December 1941 Hauptmann (rank seniority dated 1 September 1941)
1 March 1943 Major (rank seniority dated 1 September 1942)
1 January 1945 Oberstleutnant
Career:
1934 joined Reichswehr as mechanic with 3. Kompanie, Kraftfahrabteilung 4
1935 transferred to Luftwaffe, served initially as aircraft mechanic then trained as transport pilot
1 September 1938 posted to I./Jagdgeschwader 135 (redesignated I./JG 51 in May 1939) initially flying Ju 86 transports before fighter conversion
1939-1940 fighter pilot with 1./JG 51 participating in Polish Campaign, Battle of France and Battle of Britain
20 July 1941 Staffelkapitän of 12./JG 51 on Eastern Front
January 1942 Gruppenkommandeur of IV./JG 51
11 May 1942 Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 77
1943 various staff and training roles including JGr Süd after temporary relief from command
15 March 1944 Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 1
June 1944 Geschwaderkommodore of JG 3 "Udet"
14 February 1945 transferred to III./EJG 2 for jet training
23 April 1945 transferred to JV 44, assumed command 26 April 1945
Awards and Decorations:
Iron Cross 2nd Class (29 September 1939)
Iron Cross 1st Class (6 July 1940)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 2 July 1941 as pilot and Leutnant in the 1./JG 51
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #31 on 14 August 1941 as Leutnant and pilot in the 1./JG 51
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #7 on 16 February 1942 as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän of the 1./JG 51
German Cross in Gold (27 May 1942)
Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (8 June 1942)
Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds
Wound Badge in Silver
Frontflugspange for Fighters in Gold with pendant and "1000" numeral
Africa Cuff Title
Mentioned three times in the Wehrmachtbericht (12 February 1942, 20 May 1942, 24 April 1944)
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Oskar-Heinrich "Pritzl" Bär was born on 25 May 1913 in the small Saxon village of Sommerfeld to farming parents. His father was killed in action on the Western Front in 1916 during World War I, leaving his mother to raise the family amid the hardships of the postwar years. Bär attended local Volksschule, helped on the family farm in Engelsdorf and studied agriculture in Wurzen, but his true passion emerged early when he joined a glider club at age 15 and began flying from the Schwarzer Berg near Taucha. Inspired by a Junkers transport aircraft, he dreamed of becoming a civilian airline pilot with Deutsche Luft Hansa, yet the economic constraints of the Great Depression blocked the path to the required licenses. In late 1933 he volunteered for the Reichswehr, serving as a mechanic, before transferring to the newly formed Luftwaffe in summer 1935 where he continued in ground roles before pilot training on transports and informal fighter instruction. He completed advanced training including blind flying and earned his C-certificate by mid-1938, arriving at I./JG 135 (soon JG 51) in September 1938. His commanding officer recognised his natural talent after an unauthorised aerobatic display in a Ju 86 led to an engine failure, and Bär transitioned fully to fighters.
Bär flew his first combat sorties in the Polish Campaign of 1939, claiming his initial victory on 25 September against a Curtiss Hawk 75 near the French border during the Phoney War. He added two more during the Battle of France in May-June 1940 and reached 17 victories by the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940-early 1941 while serving with 1./JG 51, earning the Iron Cross 2nd Class in September 1939 and 1st Class in July 1940 along with promotion to Feldwebel and then Leutnant. Transferred east for Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, Bär exploded onto the scene against the Soviet Air Force. In the opening phase of the invasion, operating in intense air combat over advancing German ground forces, he claimed 27 victories within roughly two weeks through aggressive low-level and high-altitude engagements against a mix of fighters, bombers and ground-attack aircraft. These rapid successes, achieved while flying the Bf 109 and demonstrating superior marksmanship and situational awareness despite the vast front and numerical Soviet superiority, directly led to the award of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 2 July 1941 as Leutnant and pilot in 1./JG 51. Promotion to Oberleutnant followed on 14 August.
Bär continued his scoring pace through July and early August 1941 on the central sector of the Eastern Front, often flying multiple sorties daily in support of Army Group Centre operations toward Smolensk and beyond. By mid-August his total reached 60 confirmed aerial victories, including several multi-claim days against VVS units equipped with I-16s, MiG-3s and SB bombers. This sustained performance, marked by his ability to engage larger formations and return with multiple kills while protecting his own formation, earned him the Eichenlaub to the Knight's Cross on 14 August 1941 as the 31st recipient overall. Later that month on 30 August he achieved ace-in-a-day status with six Soviet aircraft downed in a single mission, further underscoring his exceptional combat effectiveness during the summer offensive phase.
In late 1941 and early 1942, despite the brutal Russian winter, supply difficulties and increasing Soviet resistance during the Moscow counteroffensive, Bär assumed leadership roles, becoming Staffelkapitän of 12./JG 51 and later elements of IV./JG 51. He adapted to harsh conditions, continued offensive and escort missions, and pushed his score steadily higher through determined hunting of Soviet fighters and ground-attack types. By mid-February 1942 he had accumulated 90 victories, a milestone reached amid defensive fighting and limited opportunities. His leadership in maintaining high morale and operational tempo for his unit, combined with personal claims that included key victories over modern Soviet types during critical phases of the winter battles, resulted in the Schwerter to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves on 16 February 1942 as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 51, making him the 7th Luftwaffe recipient of the Swords. He was mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht the same period.
Bär transferred to I./JG 77 in May 1942 as Gruppenkommandeur, moving with the unit to the Mediterranean in June for operations over Malta, Sicily and then North Africa and Tunisia, where he added dozens more victories including against RAF Spitfires, Hurricanes and US types. He received the German Cross in Gold and Honor Goblet in 1942. Later assignments included defensive roles over France and Germany with JG 1 and command of JG 3 "Udet" in 1944, during which he transitioned to the Me 262 jet fighter in 1945 with JV 44 under Adolf Galland, claiming 16 of his final victories in the revolutionary aircraft. Overall Bär flew more than 1,000 combat sorties, was shot down 18 times, wounded three times and credited with 220 (or up to 221-228 depending on source) aerial victories, with 96 on the Eastern Front and the remainder primarily on the Western and Mediterranean theatres, including at least 21 four-engined bombers and 16 in the Me 262. He never received the Diamonds despite the total, reportedly denied three times by Reichsmarschall Göring due to personal animosity over Bär's outspoken nature and Upper Saxon dialect.
After the German surrender Bär did not return to his Saxon homeland. He settled in Braunschweig, worked as a consultant and test pilot in the emerging West German sports aviation scene, and served as a leading figure in the Deutscher Aero Club for powered flight. On 28 April 1957, while conducting a routine test flight in a light LF-1 Zaunkönig aircraft near Braunschweig, the machine entered a flat spin at low altitude from which he could not recover, resulting in his death at age 43. Bär remains remembered as one of the most versatile and successful Luftwaffe aces, effective on every front and aircraft type he flew, noted by comrades for his honesty, tactical skill and disregard for authority.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Bär
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/1131/Bär-Heinrich-Pritzel-Heinz.htm
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/B/BarH.htm
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://grokipedia.com/page/Heinrich_Bär
https://aircrewremembered.com/KrackerDatabase/?q=units
https://www.ww2.dk/lwoffz.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/
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https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html
Spick, Mike. Luftwaffe Fighter Aces: The Luftwaffe's Greatest Fighter Pilots of World War II (1996)
Obermaier, Ernst. Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe 1939-1945, Band I: Jagdflieger (various editions)
Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945 (2000)
Morgan, Hugh & Weal, John. German Aces of World War 2 (1998)
Aders, Gebhard & Held, Werner. Stuka Pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel and Other Biographies (related Luftwaffe ace compilations)
Zabecki, David T. (editor). World War II in Europe: An Encyclopedia (entries on Luftwaffe aces)
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