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Erich Hartmann
| Oberst Erich Hartmann (deceased) Erich Hartmann started his career as Paule Rossmans wingman, and it was obvious that here was a very special pilot. Promoted Staffelkapitan of 7/JG52 in July 1943, he was shot down and taken prisoner for four hours before escaping. In September he took over 9/JG52. In March 1944 he reached the 200 victory mark. He later le 4/JG52, then briefly I/JG52, and lastly Gruppenkommandeur of I/JG52. Hartmann scored a total of 352 victories, more than any other pilot in history, and was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. Erich Hartmann is the top-scoring fighter pilot in history. During WWII he shot down the equivalent of almost 15 Allied squadrons in aerial combat. In some 850 aerial combats he shot down 352 Allied planes and was shot down himself 16 times. He was never wounded. Hartmanns mother taught him to fly at age 14 and in 1942 at age 20 he was flying Me109s on the Eastern front. His first combat mission was disastrous. He spoiled his leaders attack by going for the kill himself, then mistook his leaders Me109 for a Russian fighter and fled in panic. Were it not for super ace Walter Krupinski believing in Hartmanns abilities he might well have had his flying career ended. Krupinskis tutoring coupled with the fact that Hartmann was a crack shot, turned him around. He scored his first victory on November 5th 1942 and by September 1943 he had completed 300 missions with 95 victories to his credit. In August 1944 Hartmann was awarded the Diamonds to his Knights Cross - Germanys highest decoration and one that was awarded to only 27 German militar ypersonnel. Hitler made the award personally. Before the award ceremony he was demanded to hand over his sidearm before meeting with Hitler. Hartmann told the generals that if Hitler could not trust his front line officers, he could stuff his Diamonds. After a brief confusion he was allowed to carry his pistol. Hartmanns success resulted from the lessons he learned from Krupinski - do not fire until your enemys plane fills your windscreen. That resulted in a sure kill with a minimum amount of ammunition expended. Almost every kill Hartmann made was a near collision. After the war Hartmann surrendered to the Americans, who turned him over to the Russians. He was singled out for especially brutal treatment and was illegally held by the Russians until 1955 when Chansellor Adenaur personally visited Moscow and arranged for his release. The Russians had used every persuasive device known to convert Hartmann to Communism and get him to join the DDR airforce. Upon his return to Germany, his friend and fellow ace, Walter Krupinski, urged him to join the new German Air Force with other old friends such as Barkhorn and Hrabak. Since he felt he was too old to begin a new career, he did. He was given refresher training in the United States and was selected to command the Richthofen Wing in the new German Air Force, the first fighter wing to be rebuilt since the war. He filled that and other jobs in the new Luftwaffe with great distinction until his retirement. He died 20th September 1993. |
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| Text for the above items : |
Kerr's Last Combat by Ivan Berryman. Spitfire L1000 (DW-R) of No.610 Sqn is terminally damaged by an Me109 over Dunkirk on 29th May 1940. The Spitfire pilot, Flying Officer Gerald Kerr is listed is missing after this combat. |
Gunther Rall - 274th Victory by Ivan Berryman. Gunther Rall claims his 274th victory, a P.38 Lightning on 29th April, 1944 whilst assigned to II/JG II on the Western Front. |
Green Hearts by Ivan Berryman. Situated 40 miles south west of Leningrad, the German occupied airfield at Siverskaya is now home to the famous Grunherz or Green Hearts of Jagdgeschwader 54. The harsh Russian winter of 1941 is starting to take hold as three Messerschmitt Bf109F-4 Friedrichs from III Gruppe take off into early morning sunshine to act as fighter escort to Stuka attacks on the Soviet fleet in Kronstadt Harbour. With its wheel covers removed to prevent snow jamming the undercarriage, lead aircraft Yellow 5 already shows signs of weathering to the partial whitewash hastily applied over summer camouflage. |
Gunther Rall - Black 13 by Ivan Berryman. Bf 109G-2s of III/JG 52 leave their dispersal on the Eastern Front in 1943. Nearest aircraft is Black 13 of Gruppenkommandeur Gunther Rall, then fast approaching his 150th victory. |
Anton Hafner by Ivan Berryman. The top scoring ace of JG.51, Anton Hafner is credited with 204 confirmed victories. A prolific scorer, on 8th August 1944, he shot down no fewer than seven Russian Sturmoviks and, by October of that year, his overall tally had exceeded 200. He died in combat with a Yak 7, his 204th victim, when his aircraft hit a tree. He is shown here in Messerschmitt Bf.109G-6 442013 Black 1. |
Tribute to Erich Hartmann by Graeme Lothian. No text for this item |
Greenheart Warrior by Ivan Berryman. Bf109Fs of the Green Heart Warriors. |
Snow Warriors by Ivan Berryman. Gunther Rall in his Me109G Black 13 about to set off with the rest of III./JG52 from a snow covered eastern front airstrip in 1943. |
Alpine Scramble by Nicolas Trudgian. No text for this item |
Gunther Rall - on the Tail of a Yak by Ivan Berryman. Gunther Rall in action on the Eastern Front in 1944 with III/JG 52, attacking a Yak 4. |
No Escape by David Pentland. Bf109 G2 of Major Gunther Rall pursues and downs an unidentified Soviet aircraft over the Caucasus, Russia, early Autumn 1943. Rall went on to become the third highest scoring ace of all time, with 275 victories in only 621 missions. |
Morning Chorus by Gerald Coulson. The roar of Daimler-Benz engines at full power awakens the day as Gunther Lutzow, his aircraft still in the markings of his previous unit JG51, leads his Me109Fs of JG3 into combat from a snow covered airfield at Schatalowka on the Russian Front, in December 1941. With prints signed by no less than four veteran Me109 pilots who fought on the cruel Eastern Front, this is sure to be a valuable addition to any aviation art collection. |
Coastal Command - Avro Anson Mk.I by Ivan Berryman. An Avro Anson Mk.I from Coastal Command is attacked by an Me109. |
Defenders of the Reich by Graeme Lothian. Major Rudolf Rudi Sinner of STAB.III/JG7 attacking B-17s of 91st Bomb Group during March 1945. Attacking in a Kette of three aircraft from behind and below targeting the tailenders and rising over the B-17s. Avoiding any debris and evading the incoming fighter escort, who are dropping down from their top cover positions. Rudolf Sinner acheived a total of 39 victories, including two in the Me262. |
Gunther Rall - Me109 Ace by Ivan Berryman. With 275 victories, Gunther Rall was one of the top Luftwaffe Aces of the second world war. Here, he is depicted in his Me109 Black 13 of JG52. |
Taran over the Kuban by David Pentland. Crimea, 7th August 1943. While flying a late afternoon combat patrol with Otto Fonnekolds schwarm, from 5 staffel, JG52, Willi Batz witnessed a taran or ramming attack by a soviet fighter on a Luftwaffe Fw189 artillery spotter. Then a second Spitfire, which Batz mistook for an Aircobra attempted to finish off the crew which had just bailed out. At this point Batz was able to intervene and opened fire on the Spitfire forcing the Russian to take to his own parachute. This was to be his 12th victory, his final tally would be 237. Unfortunately for the German crew they were all captured on landing. |
Eagle in the Snow, Petsamo, Finland, January 1943 by David Pentland. Walter Schuck of JG5 Eismeer prepares to take off on patrol in his Me109F. Schuck served with this unit from December 1942 to April 1945, and in that time claimed 198 victories. |
Early Risers by David Pentland. Gramatikovo, Russia, 19th March 1944. Oberleutnant Walter Wolfrum (Black 15) and wingman of 5 Staffel JG52 take off on a dawn patrol. By the end of the day Oberleutnant Wolfrum would have accounted for 5 Soviet aircraft. |
The Last Patrol by David Pentland. A pair of ME109 G-14s of 9th Staffel, Jagdgeswader 54 (Greenheart Wing) make a final sortie during the last days of March 1945. |
JG2 - Gunther Rall and his Wingman by Ivan Berryman. Gunther Rall and his wingman on patrol in the skies above the Western Front in April 1944 whilst serving with II/JG II. |
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