Trying to tell the story of Erich Hartmann without praising him is mission impossible. We are talking about a man who enjoyed the respect of his enemies, who had every right to hate him.

Gifted with an innate talent as a pilot, he who was affectionately nicknamed “Booby” by his friends for his baby face, scored no fewer than 352 aerial victories at the end of the Second World War, being the ace with the most number of planes shot down. in history

But he had to pay a price for his success, spending at least ten years in the Soviet Gulag after the war.

The art of flight is a family heirloom

Born in 1922 in the town of Weissach, Hartmann would spend his childhood in China, where his family would move in the years after World War I due to the poor economic situation in Germany. They will live here until 1928, when due to the civil war in China, they will return to their homeland.

Although his father would have liked little Erich to become a doctor, continuing the family tradition, he was drawn to flying from an early age. This aspect was certainly influenced by his mother, one of the first female pilots in Germany.

Hartmann will open a pilot school, where he will become an instructor. Given his training, he joined the Luftwaffe in 1940 at the start of World War II.

Instructors will notice his unique talent and direct him towards fighter aviation. After completing his specialization, Hartmann joined the 3rd fighter group (Jagdgeschwader 52 III -JG 52), where he flew the emblematic aircraft of the German air force at that time, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 (Hartmann flew the G version of this model).

In November 1942, he shot down the first enemy plane – the Soviet “Sturmovik”. In the summer of the same year, Hartman was forced to land behind enemy lines, being captured by two Russian soldiers. Simulating injuries, he will take advantage of their inattention and manage to escape.

In 1943, “Bubi” passed 150 downed Soviet planes, for this success he was awarded the Iron Cross in the rank of knight.

This was not the only award Hartmann received during the war, he was awarded the Knight’s Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords after crossing the 250th milestone.

He will be rewarded with diamonds for shooting down enemy aircraft #300. He was already the commander of JG-52. The fighter group, originally assigned to the Caucasus, would take part in the bloody Battle of Kursk-Orel, virtually the last German attempt to take the initiative on the eastern front.

Struggle for the defense of Ploiesti / Great reward for his head

In 1944, Hartman takes part in the defense of the oil zone around Ploiesti. Germany was interested in protecting the wells in Ploiesti, the oil that was there provided them with much of the fuel needed to run their war machine.

During this period, Hartmann participated in missions with Romanian pilots, whose courage and skill he praised in an interview given after the war. He is already a star, the Russians put a reward of 10 thousand rubles on his head, a huge amount at that time.

In the same year 1944, he will marry Ursula Petsch, whose name will appear on the fuselage of his plane under the abbreviation “Usch”. In addition, according to the drawing made on the fuselage of the plane, Russian aviators nicknamed it “Black Tulip”. But these distinctive markings made the plane easily recognizable, and the Russian pilots avoided engaging him in battle, because of which he later wiped them from the plane.

In Romania, he has the only encounters with American aviators, shooting down two P-51 Mustangs in the Ploiesti area. He will go to the Wolf’s Den (Führer’s headquarters) in Rustenburg, the latter wants to meet him.

In his post-war interview, Hartmann said that he found Adolf Hitler a dull, insipid man, refusing his offer to join a group of pilots experimenting on the prototype Messerschmitt Me 262 jet aircraft.

Erich Hartmann, 1955 Photo: akg-images / akg-images / Profimedia

Transferred by the Americans to the Soviets

The end of the war would find his fighter group in the Czech Republic, at that time the German army was retreating on all fronts.

On the last day of the war, he would score his last aerial victory of his career. Having met two Soviet Yaks on the ground, which were performing tricks for the entertainment of the troops, he shot down one of them.

Returning from the mission, Hartmann finds the airfield already under fire from Russian artillery, so he orders his subordinates to head west to surrender to the Americans, thus trying to avoid Soviet capture.

His men surrendered to the US 90th Infantry Division and were captured. Unfortunately, as often happened, Erich Hartmann will be handed over to the Soviet authorities.

Soviet capture and refusal to cooperate

Once under Soviet custody, Hartman will be sent to the Gulag, like hundreds of thousands of other German prisoners. Evidently, the Russians immediately understood what prize they got and tried to use it to the maximum, causing an image blow. The German ace is under pressure to agree to cooperate and join the newly formed East German Air Force.

Hartman stubbornly refused this. Not being a Nazi, he had no intention of becoming the toy of his former enemies. Taking full advantage of his status as a public figure, he constantly protested against the abuse of German prisoners. His measures were extreme, even resorting to starvation and force-feeding.

He will stand trial for crimes against humanity, charges of which he was not guilty and which, moreover, he has consistently denied. He will be transferred from camp to camp, spend at least 10 years in captivity, and will be released only in 1955.

Life after captivity and the legacy of Erich Hartmann

After returning from captivity, Hartmann will join the Federal Air Force of Germany, where he will fully demonstrate his knowledge acquired during the war years. In the 1960s, he was embroiled in a dispute over the German Air Force’s purchase of Lockheed F-104 Starfighter aircraft.

Studying the model, he discovered that the plane is dangerous, accidents are inevitable. He made his findings public, which drew reprimands from his superiors, forcing him to leave the military service.

It would later prove that his observations were as correct as possible. The plane was unreliable, prone to breakdowns, more than a hundred pilots died during training. Until the end of his life, Hartmann worked as a civilian instructor.

But what made Erich Hartmann so special among the flying aces of World War II? How did he reach the impressive number of 352 wins? How did he manage to complete over 1,400 missions without ever getting shot down?

When asked after the war how he had achieved these amazing figures, Hartmann replied:

“Well, you may not believe me, but the Russian Stormtroopers, which were basically attack planes, flew like B-17 bombers, in formation, and they didn’t try to do any maneuvers. And all they had was a machine gun behind each plane. There were also women among the pilots.

Their machine guns posed no danger unless they were unlucky enough to hit you. I didn’t open fire until I got close enough that the enemy planes filled my entire windshield, and then I fired all the guns. If I could do it, I’d knock one down every time.”

In addition to his impressive results (more than 1,400 missions flown and 352 aerial victories), the legacy left by the German ace means much more.

Its success had a significant impact on air combat tactics and influenced the further development of military aviation.

Literature:

– Erich Hartmann, Erich “Booby” Hartmann. The last interview

– Will. So, “The best ace of the air war”. WWII Air Warfare, Men, Machines, Missions

– Ursula Hartmann and Manfred Jaeger. German ace fighter Erich Hartmann

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