Victory
352
Biography
Three hundred and fifty-two planes shot down, such is the feat that realized, during the Second World War, the German fighter pilot Erich Hartmann. The authenticity of this figure - it must be said that almost all of the 352 victories were obtained on the Eastern Front - was sometimes disputed. How can we not be surprised by this unique record, which no American or British hunter has approached? Some have tried to explain the impressive number of these successes by the value of the German pilots against less well prepared opponents. Additionally, the nature of the dogfights over the Soviet Union favored exemplary scores. Flying in small units, the Germans benefited from a certain tactical freedom which allowed them to choose the most favorable conditions for their attack. And no doubt we should not underestimate the qualities of Erich Haitmann, who combined intelligence with audacity, impetuosity with coolness, courage with the will to win.
Erich Hartmann was born on April 19, 1922 in the small town of Weissach and , under the influence of his mother, a licensed pilot and founder of a gliding club in Weil, he nurtured, from an early age, a real passion for aviation, a passion that he never ceased. to achieve, despite the dangers he incurred. Armed with his two gliding pilot's licenses, he became, at the age of fourteen, an instructor in the gliding group of the Hitler Youth.
In 1937, when the European horizon darkened, Hartmann, indifferent to the problems of international politics, thought only of winning sporting victories. Three years later, in April 1940, graduating from Korntal school, he joined the Luftwaffe and asked for his posting in the hunt. Sent five months later to a training group based in Neukuhren, in East Prussia, the future ace joined Berlin-Gattow in March 1941 before going to Zerbst-Anhalt, where he acquired, from Leutnant Hohagen, former champion of aerobatics, the mastery of the plane on which he was to acquire his claims to fame:the Messerschmitt Bf 109.
Then the time to join the front came and, appointed Leutnant on March 31, 1942, Hartmann was called up to Jagdgeschwader 52 stationed in the Soviet Union. The adventure was beginning; it would end some twelve years later. Transiting through Krakow, he disembarked at Maikop, the base of JG 52, and he received from Oberst Hrabak, commander of the unit, the order to go to oldatskaya, where the Ill./JG was located
Transferred to 7. Staffel by Gruppenkommandeur von Bonin, he carried out his first war mission on October 14, 1942 with Sergeant Major Eduard Rossmann. This outing was trying to say the least, but, undeterred, the young pilot listened to those he would later judge as his masters:Rossmann, Major Krupinski, with whom he teamed up from February 1943 , and his Staffelkapitân, the Hauptmann Graf. As the experiences multiplied, Hartmann managed to forge the tactic which would bring him so much success:see, decide, attack or move aside, and he knew that the secret of victory lay in the initial judgment made on the situation. . He won the first of these on November 5, 1942, beating down an 11-2 Stormovik. From then on, the mechanism was engaged and, on October 29, 1943, a year after his arrival at 7. Staffel, the new ace recorded his hundred and fiftieth victory. Aged twenty-one, he was already in command of 9.-/JG 52 and was soon conferred the title of Knight of the Iron Cross. Baptized with the name of Karaya, his plane seemed invincible, and yet he had been seriously injured on August 20, 1943, forcing his pilot to land in the enemy lines. Taken prisoner, Hartmann took advantage of a moment of inattention by his guards to escape and join the German positions.
The "Black Demon of the South", as Soviet pilots dubbed him , continued his dazzling career. Filled with honours, he showered the Reich with his successes. In February 1944, he counted two hundred victories, which earned him the oak leaves and the rank of Oberleutnant (18 March following). Four months later, on the occasion of his two hundred and fiftieth victory, Hitler himself gave him the swords. Finally, in August 1944, while the 111, Reich was collapsing under the blows of the Allied battering, Hartmann, three hundred times winner, was able to add diamonds to his Iron Cross. Blinded by the supremacy he had won in the air, the great German ace had however lost his sense of earthly realities. After a stay of a few months in Lechfeld, where he learned to fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet, Erich Hartmann continued the fight with determination. He won his final victory on May 8, 1945 and fell into American hands.
Delivered by the latter to the Soviets, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment as a war criminal. His captivity, which was often very trying, ended in 1955 thanks to the intervention of Chancellor Adenauer with the Soviet authorities.
Back in Germany, he joined the new Luftwaffe, which, with the blessing of the Americans and NATO, was born in 1956. After undergoing training on T-6, T-33 and F-84 in the United States, Hartmann became Kommodore of the first German fighter jet squadron, JG 71 Richthofen. Having alienated some of his superiors, he was relieved of his duties and ended his career, with the rank of Oberst (colonel), in 1970.
Four numbers - and they are impressive - sum up the life of the pilot of Erich Hartmann fighter:1,400 missions, 800 dogfights, 352 victories and 16 accidents.