MAJOR ERICH HARTMANN
- 19 April 1922 - Born in Wiessach (near Stuttgart)
- 10 October 1940 - Joined Luftwaffe entering the Ausbildungsregiment 10 in Neukuhrn/Ostpreussen
- 31 March 1942 - Promoted to Leutnant
- October 1942 - Sent to Russian Front to JG52 (7th Staffel)
- 5 November 1942 - Achieved his first aerial victory downing a Soviet Il-2
- May 1943 - Appointed Staffelfuhrer of 7/JG52
- 7 July 1943 - Shot down 11 Soviet aircraft in a day
- August 1943 - Scored 49 kills in a month reaching a total of 90
- August 1943 - Appointed Staffelkäpitan of 9/JG52
- 20 August 1943 - After downing 2 Il-2s crashed behind enemy lines. Captured by Russians, escaped from an enemy truck and reached German lines
- 20 September 1943 - Reached 100 victories
- 29 October 1943 - Decorated with Knight's Cross after 148 kills
- 2 March 1944 - Awarded the Oakleaves to the Knight's Cross after 202 victories
- July 1944 - Awarded the Swords to the Knight's Cross (75th recipient of this decoration) following his 239th kill
- 24 August 1944 - Shot down 11 Soviet aircraft and reached 301 victories (first to pass 300)
- 25 August 1944 - Awarded the Diamonds to the Knight's Cross (17th or 18th recipient of the most coveted decoration) and forbidden combat immediately
- December 1944 - Appointed Gruppenkommandeur I/JG53
- February 1945 - Appointed Gruppenkommandeur I/JG52
- March 1945 - Sent to a four week training at the Versuchsgruppe 262 at Lechfeld
- 17 April 1945 - Reached 350 kills
- 8 May 1945 - Surrendered at Pisek to an American tank division
- 25 May 1945 - Handed over to Russians as prisoner of war
- 15 October 1955 - Released after over 10 years of captivity
VICTORIES
Total 352
Over 1400 combat missions
Home
Aces
Aircraft
Awards
Ranks
Organization
Glossary
History
Links
Bibliography
Written by Gianluca & Raffaello Mazzanti, please send comments to
mazwork@iol.it
This page last modified on October 26, 1997
