Nickname: Hajo
Date of Birth: 1 August 1913 - Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)
Date of Death: 5 November 2010 - Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany)
Battles and Operations: Spanish Civil War, Polish Campaign, Norwegian Campaign, Western Campaign, Battle of Britain, Mediterranean Campaign, Arctic Convoys (including PQ-17), Defense of the Reich
NSDAP-Number: No information
SS-Number: No information (Luftwaffe officer)
Religion: No information
Parents: No information
Siblings: No information
Spouse: Ingeborg Reichelt (married 1959)
Children: Two sons (Benno and Thilo Martinho)
Promotions:
1 June 1935 Polizei-Leutnant (Hamburg State Police)
1 June 1938 Oberleutnant
1 December 1940 Hauptmann
1 March 1943 Major
1 August 1943 Oberstleutnant
1 December 1943 Oberst
Career:
May 1933 joined Hamburg State Police
1 August 1935 transferred to Luftwaffe
1936-1937 bomber pilot with Condor Legion in Spanish Civil War (flew He 111 with Kampfgruppe 88)
September 1939 transferred to 7. Staffel/KG 4
20 June 1940 Staffelkapitän 7./KG 4 "General Wever"
October 1940 transferred to KG 30
February 1941 operations in Mediterranean with III./KG 30 (Malta, Greece)
1 September 1941 Gruppenkommandeur III./KG 30 (Norway, Arctic convoys)
July 1942 transferred to Luftwaffenführungsstab (OKL staff)
April 1943 formed Nachtjagdversuchskommando and later Geschwaderkommodore JG 300 "Wilde Sau"
December 1943 Inspector of Night Fighters and later Inspector General of Night Fighters
End of 1944 commander 1. Jagddivision and 9. Fliegerdivision
April 1945 led Sonderkommando Elbe (Rammjäger unit)
11 May 1945 captured by Soviet forces, held in captivity until October 1955
1955 studied law
1965 Rechtsanwalt in Düsseldorf
Awards and Decorations:
Spanienkreuz in Bronze mit Schwertern
Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse (October 1939)
Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse (27 May 1940)
Luftwaffe Ehrenpokale für besondere Leistungen im Luftkrieg (28 September 1940)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (13 October 1940) as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 7./Kampfgeschwader 4 "General Wever". Awarded for distinguished service as a bomber pilot (primarily He 111 and later Ju 88). By this point he had flown numerous combat missions across several campaigns. Specific operations highlighted in the award citation include: Attacks on Polish troop concentrations in the Kutno pocket (September 1939), The attack on Fortress Dröbak during the Norwegian campaign (April 1940), Reconnaissance and anti-submarine sorties in the Skagerrak–Kattegat area, Raids on British landing positions at Namsos and Andalsnes (Norway), Attacks on Dutch airfields at Amsterdam-Schiphol and Bergen op Zoom (May 1940), and Mining operations in the mouth of the Thames. He had already participated in the invasion of Poland (first mission on 1 September 1939 bombing railways), operations over Norway, the Battle of Britain (including the first attack on London on the night of 7/8 September 1940 and 21 missions over the city by mid-October), and earlier Condor Legion service in Spain. By the time of the award he had completed dozens of missions and sunk or damaged significant shipping.
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold #1/61 (5 June 1942)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #269 (2 August 1943) as Major and Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 300. The award recognised a mix of an earlier spectacular success as a bomber pilot, the creation of a revolutionary night-fighting tactic, and his first personal aerial victories: On the night of 6/7 April 1941 (while operating from Sicily/Greece with KG 4 or KG 30), Herrmann scored a direct hit on the British ammunition ship Clan Fraser in Piraeus harbour (Greece). The resulting explosion destroyed or damaged 11 other ships (total ~41,942 GRT) and closed the port for months. (Note: Some secondary sources incorrectly list the location as Malta; the decisive strike occurred in Piraeus during support of the Greek campaign). Development of “Wilde Sau” single-engined night-fighter tactics. In 1942–43 he recognised the limitations of the rigid Kammhuber Line (“Himmelbett”) system against RAF bomber streams. He proposed using day fighters (Bf 109 and Fw 190) at night, illuminated by the fires of the target cities. After initial rejection, he gained approval in March 1943, formed the experimental Nachtjagdversuchskommando, and established JG 300 in mid-1943. The tactic dramatically improved the defence against night raids. By the award date he had achieved at least 6 (of his eventual 9) nocturnal victories against four-engined bombers while flying Wilde Sau missions himself (he was forced to bail out twice). The combination of the earlier shipping destruction, the new tactic that was already proving effective, and his personal score earned him the Eichenlaub.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #43 (23 January 1944) as Oberst and Inspekteur der Deutschen Luftverteidigung. The award recognised his continued outstanding leadership in the defence of the Reich and the full success of his innovations: He had by then personally claimed a total of 9 aerial victories against RAF four-engined bombers (Lancasters and Halifaxes) while flying Wilde Sau sorties with JG 300 and the 30. Jagd-Division (confirmed claims include victories on 4 July, 26/28/31 July, 3 August, 24 August 1943, and two on 3 January 1944 over Berlin). The “Wilde Sau” tactic (and its further development) had become a key element of German night defence. JG 300 and follow-on units inflicted heavy losses on RAF Bomber Command during the Battle of Berlin and other raids. As Inspector General he oversaw the broader integration of single-engine night fighters and continued to fly operational missions. The award specifically cited the 9 bomber victories plus his “development of innovative fighter tactics.” By this stage he had also flown ~320 bomber missions earlier in the war and was one of the most influential tactical thinkers in the Luftwaffe’s night-fighter arm.
Gemeinsames Flugzeugfuhrer-Beobachter Abzeichen mit Brillianten
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Hans-Joachim Herrmann, often affectionately called Hajo by his comrades, was a highly decorated Luftwaffe bomber and night fighter pilot who flew more than 320 combat missions and later became a key innovator in the defense of the Reich. Starting his career in the Hamburg State Police in 1933, he transferred to the Luftwaffe in 1935 and gained early combat experience in the Spanish Civil War and the early campaigns of World War II. As Staffelkapitän of 7./KG 4 he led daring raids over Poland, Norway, the Low Countries and Britain, sinking or damaging significant shipping and earning rapid recognition for his leadership and precision bombing.
Transferred to KG 30, Herrmann continued his successes in the Mediterranean, most notably striking the ammunition ship Clan Fraser in Piraeus harbor on 6/7 April 1941, an explosion that destroyed eleven vessels and rendered the port unusable for months. By 1942 he had moved to staff duties but soon proposed revolutionary single-engine night-fighting tactics using day fighters in illuminated skies over German cities. Authorized in 1943, these "Wilde Sau" operations with JG 300 allowed him to claim several victories himself while greatly improving the effectiveness of night defenses against Allied bomber streams.
Appointed Inspector of Night Fighters and later commander of the 1. Jagddivision, Herrmann oversaw critical phases of the Reich air defense and in the final months of the war directed the experimental Rammjäger unit Sonderkommando Elbe. Captured by Soviet forces in May 1945, he endured ten years of harsh captivity before returning to Germany in 1955. He studied law, qualified as a Rechtsanwalt in Düsseldorf in 1965 and maintained a public profile into his later years. Herrmann is remembered as both a skilled aviator who sank approximately 65,000 tons of Allied shipping and a pioneering tactician whose ideas shaped late-war Luftwaffe night operations.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajo_Herrmann
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Joachim_Herrmann_(Flieger)
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/34538/Herrmann-Hans-Joachim-Hajo.htm
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://aircrewremembered.com/KrackerDatabase/?q=units
https://www.ww2.dk/lwoffz.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/
Scherzer, Veit. Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939-1945. Jena 2007.
Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945. Friedberg 2000.
Stockert, Franz. Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe. Band 3. Bad Friedrichshall 2012.
Bundesarchiv personnel files references.
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