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Aces of the Luftwaffe

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Aces of the Luftwaffe Aces of the Luftwaffe Below are profiles of some of the Luftwaffe’s greatest pilots. Germany had the top 108 scoring aces of the Second World War, with scores ranging from 352 to 99 kills (for the top 108). The term ace can mean different things for different countries. Wikipedia puts it as this: “In World War II, many air forces credited fractional shares of aerial victories, resulting in fractions or decimal scores, such as 11½ or 26.83. Some U.S. commands also credited aircraft destroyed on the ground as equal to aerial victories. The Soviets distinguished between solo and group kills, as did the Japanese, though the IJN stopped crediting individual victories in 1943. The Luftwaffe continued the tradition of "one pilot, one kill", and now referred to top scorers as experten.” So German pilots got a kill for every aircraft they shot down. Name: Erich Hartmann Life: April 19, 1922 – September 20, 1993 Kills: 352 Notes: Erich Hartmann is the top scoring ace of all time, of any country. His 352 kills are 51 more than that of his closest rival, Gerhard Barkhorn. 345 of his kills were against the Soviets, as he fought mainly on the Ostfront (Eastern Front), and 260 of these were fighters. He also won the Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, Schwerten und Brillianten (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds), the second highest award in the German forces. He was imprisoned by the Soviets for 10 and a half years, and once released, went to West Germany and was put in charge of the post war JG 71 “Richtofen”, and retired in 1970. Name: Hans-Joachim Marseille Life: December 13, 1919 – September 30, 1942 Kills: 158 Notes: Hans-Joachim Marseill was considered the best pilot of the Luftwaffe by many, including Adolf Galland who said, "Marseille was the unrivalled virtuoso among the fighter pilots of World War 2. His achievements had previously been regarded as impossible and they were never excelled by anyone after his death.” He showed good flying abilities in the Battle of Britain, but was rather rebellious and was reprimanded several times. Because of this, he was transferred to JG 27, which was quickly moved to Africa where his abilities truly began to shine. From Spetember 24th, 1941 to September 30th, 1942 he went on a rampage, destroying 54 enemy aircraft in the month of Spetember 1942 alone. 17 of these kills were on the first of the month. His wingman, commenting on a battle in which, according to Wikipedia, he shot down five aircraft in six minutes, that “His expenditure of ammunition in this air battle was 360 rounds (60 per kill)”. Marseille was killed on September 30th, 1942 when his Bf 109G suffered engine failure (not during battle) and when he bailed out, struck the tailplane. Name: Hans-Ulrich Rudel Life: July 2, 1916 – December 18, 1982 Kills: At least 9 (there are varying claims of how many he actually got) +519 tanks Notes: While not achieving that many aerial kills, the ones he did get are very remarkable in that he attained a number of his kills in a Stuka, which was not designed for air to air combat, including a 65 kill Soviet ace. Of his 9 kills, seven were fighters and two were Il-2 Sturmoviks. Among his ground kills, there were, according to Wikipedia, 800 vehicles, 519 tanks, 150 artillery guns, a destroyer, two cruisers, and a battleship. He was also the record holder for number of sorties flown with 2,530. Holding the Ritterkreuz mit Goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillianten (Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds) he was the most highly decorated German soldier of the war. Rudel was an ardent Nazi and supported many of their policies, so there are some debates as to whether some of his claims are true or not, but regradless, he was one of the greatest pilots of all time. Name: Adolf Galland Life: March 19, 1912 – February 9, 1996 Kills: 103 Notes: Adolf Galland began his career in 1935 and saw his first combat in 1937 in the Spanish civil war. He was the first person to develop gasoline bombs, and flew 300 missions in Spain. During the Battle of Britain he is well known for saying to Hermann Göring when asked what German pilots need to win, "Please equip my squadrons with Spitfires." Galland was known to be careful with what resources he was allocated, and was an excellent leader, eventually attaining the rank General der Jagdflieger (General of Fighters) as the leader of all Luftwaffe fighter aircraft. He was in this position until January 1945, when he created JV 44 to fly the new Me 262 and got 7 kills in the jet. He was often brash, and was never afraid to speak his mind, but was a great commander. Aircraft of the Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe employed a large number of planes, all of which played an important role. Here are some of the most successful and important planes that the Luftwaffe used. All performance values are for the newest version to see extended service. Most German fighters, like other European aircraft had both machine gun and cannon armament. Machine gun rounds simply punch holes in what they were shooting at, while cannon shells actually explode on impact, causing much greater damage, but had a slower rate of fire. Focke-Wulf Fw 190 “Würger” (Shrike) The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was a single engined fighter employed by the Luftwaffe beginning in September 1941. Its life began as an aircraft that would fight alongside the famed Bf 109, as RLM chiefs were concerned that newer fighter aircraft of the future would be able to out-fly the Messerschmitt airplane. A competition took place with the winning contract went to the Focke-Wulf company and the plane designed by their head designer, Kurt Tank. Part of the reason it was chosen was the fact that it used a BMW air-cooled radial engine. The Bf 109 was still a priority to the RLM, so therefore its Daimler-Benz liquid- cooled in-line engine was in short supply. The radial engine of the Fw 190 did not interfere with Bf 109 production, so it was very appealing to the RLM. Radial engines are also more durable than in-line engines due to the lack of coolant fluid being needed to operate. Another bonus that the Fw 190 had, though unrelated to the engine, was its wide track landing gear, which made the aircraft easier to land and harder to roll over. The canopy shape also allowed for excellent rearward visibility, something rare in fighters of that time. Armament of the ultimate Fw 190A-9 consisted of 2 machine guns firing through the propeller arc and four cannons in the wings. The first Fw 190s entered service in September 1941 and according to reports of a new fighter being used by the Luftwaffe, were captured French Curtiss P-36 Hawks (small US made radial engined fighters). However, when it was discovered that the mystery plane could outperform even the then best Spitfire, the Spitfire V, in all aspects save for turning, RAF leaders realized that the planes their pilots were facing were different aircraft than Hawks, and far better. This was confirmed when an Fw 190 pilot accidentally landed at a British airfield. While an excellent fighter, the Fw 190 could also carry a heavy bomb load, and that coupled with its durable radial engine and sturdy construction made it an excellent ground attack aircraft as well. It proved better at the job than the Ju 87 Stuka of fame because, unlike the dive-bomber, the Fw 190 could defend itself from intercepting enemy fighters. In the summer of 1943 the first purpose built ground attack Fw 190Fs started entering service and would actually eventually completely replace the Stuka, although both were used until the end of the war. The one issue with the Fw 190 was that its performance dropped off at around 20 000 ft, so there were discussions about how to improve high-altitude performance. With this, the Fw 190D was born, but it was not a replacement for the radial-engined A models, but rather it was a complimentary aircraft as the As still remained in production. It had an in-line engine (still not the same one as the Bf 109) which allowed for better performance values at higher altitude. The nose and tail sections were lengthened and the outboard wing cannons were deleted. This was because most combat was done against aerial targets, as opposed to the mix of aerial and ground targets the earlier versions encountered. The Fw 190D-9s (or “Dora Neuns”) entered service in November 1944 and proved to be a match, with a skilled pilot, for the American P-51 Mustangs and British Spitfire XIVs, though according to Wikipedia its performance still suffered a drop-off above 20 000 ft. All in all, the Fw 190 ended up being the Luftwaffe’s best piston engined fighter aircraft and is in contention along with the Junkers Ju 88 as the most versatile airplane in Germany’s air force. 18 000 airframes were built of all models, however many old airframes were rebuilt and returned to service. These rebuilt airframes retained their original Werknummers (serial numbers) making the number of airframes seeing service seem lower than those actually produced. Specifications (According to Grinsell): Fw 190A-8 (Anton Acht) Max Speed: 570 km/h at sea level and 656 km/h at 6300 m Range (internal fuel): 1035 km Armament: 2 x 13 mm MG 131 machineguns 4 x 20 mm MG 151 cannons Fw 190 D-9 (Dora Neun) Max Speed: 575 km/h at sea level and 686 km/h at 6600 m Range (internal fuel): 837 km Armament: 2 x 13 mm MG 131 machineguns 2 x 20 mm MG 151 cannons Operators: Germany, Hungary, Turkey, Romania Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109’s life began as a requirement put out by the RLM for a single seat fighter in 1933 to replace the aging biplanes then in service.
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