World War II aces pilots. Luftwaffe aces

Any war is a terrible grief for any people that it affects in one way or another. Throughout its history, humanity has experienced many wars, two of which were world wars. The First World War almost completely destroyed Europe and led to the fall of some major empires, such as the Russian and Austro-Hungarian ones. But even more terrible in its scale was the Second World War, in which many countries from almost all over the world were involved. Millions of people died, and many more were left homeless. This terrible event still affects us in one way or another modern man. Its echoes can be found everywhere in our lives. This tragedy left behind a lot of mysteries, disputes over which have not subsided for decades. The heaviest burden was assumed in this life-and-death battle by the Soviet Union, which was not yet fully strengthened from the revolution and civil wars and was only expanding its military and peaceful industry. An irreconcilable rage and desire to fight the invaders who encroached on the territorial integrity and freedom of the proletarian state settled in the hearts of people. Many went to the front voluntarily. At the same time, the evacuated industrial facilities were reorganized to produce products for the needs of the front. The struggle has assumed a truly national scale. That is why it is called the Great Patriotic War.

Who are the aces?

Both the German and Soviet armies were well trained and equipped with equipment, aircraft and other weapons. The personnel numbered in the millions. The collision of such two war machines gave birth to its heroes and its traitors. Some of those who can rightfully be considered heroes are the aces of World War II. Who are they and why are they so famous? An ace can be considered a person who has achieved heights in his field of activity that few others have managed to conquer. And even in such a dangerous and terrible matter as the military, there have always been their professionals. Both the USSR and the Allied forces, and Nazi Germany had people who showed the best results in terms of the number of enemy equipment or manpower destroyed. This article will tell about these heroes.

The list of World War II aces is extensive and includes many individuals famous for their exploits. They were an example for an entire people, they were adored and admired.

Aviation is without a doubt one of the most romantic, but at the same time dangerous branches of the military. Since any equipment can fail at any time, the job of a pilot is considered very honorable. It requires iron endurance, discipline, and the ability to control oneself in any situation. Therefore, aviation aces were treated with great respect. After all, to be able to show good results in such conditions when your life depends not only on technology, but also on yourself is the highest degree of military art. So, who are these ace pilots of World War II, and why are their exploits so famous?

One of the most successful Soviet ace pilots was Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub. Officially, during his service on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, he shot down 62 German aircraft, and he is also credited with 2 American fighters, which he destroyed at the end of the war. This record-breaking pilot served in the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment and flew a La-7 aircraft.

The second most productive during the war was Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin (who was awarded the title of Hero three times Soviet Union). He fought in Southern Ukraine, in the Black Sea region, and liberated Europe from the Nazis. During his service he shot down 59 enemy aircraft. He did not stop flying even when he was appointed commander of the 9th Guards Aviation Division, and achieved some of his aerial victories while already in this position.

Nikolai Dmitrievich Gulaev is one of the most famous military pilots, who set a record of 4 flights per destroyed aircraft. In total for your military service destroyed 57 enemy aircraft. Twice awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

He also had a high result. He shot down 55 German aircraft. Kozhedub, who happened to serve for some time with Evstigneev in the same regiment, spoke very respectfully of this pilot.

But, despite the fact that the tank troops were among the most numerous in the Soviet army, tank aces of the Second World War for some reason were not found in the USSR. Why this is so is unknown. It is logical to assume that many personal scores were deliberately inflated or underestimated, so it is not possible to name the exact number of victories of the above-mentioned masters of tank combat.

German tank aces

But the German tank aces of World War II have a much longer track record. This is largely due to the pedantry of the Germans, who strictly documented everything, and they had much more time to fight than their Soviet “colleagues.” The German army began active operations back in 1939.

German tanker No. 1 is Hauptsturmführer Michael Wittmann. He fought with many tanks (Stug III, Tiger I) and destroyed 138 vehicles throughout the war, as well as 132 self-propelled artillery installations from various enemy countries. For his successes he was repeatedly awarded various orders and badges of the Third Reich. Killed in action in 1944 in France.

You can also highlight such a tank ace as For those who are in one way or another interested in the history of the development of the tank forces of the Third Reich, the book of his memoirs “Tigers in the Mud” will be very useful. During the war years, this man destroyed 150 Soviet and American self-propelled guns and tanks.

Kurt Knispel is another record-breaking tanker. During his military service, he knocked out 168 enemy tanks and self-propelled guns. About 30 cars are unconfirmed, which prevents him from matching Wittmann's results. Knispel died in battle near the village of Vostits in Czechoslovakia in 1945.

In addition, Karl Bromann had good results - 66 tanks and self-propelled guns, Ernst Barkmann - 66 tanks and self-propelled guns, Erich Mausberg - 53 tanks and self-propelled guns.

As can be seen from these results, both Soviet and German tank aces of World War II knew how to fight. Of course, the quantity and quality of Soviet combat vehicles was an order of magnitude higher than that of the Germans, however, as practice has shown, both were used quite successfully and became the basis for some post-war tank models.

But the list of military branches in which their masters distinguished themselves does not end there. Let's talk a little about submarine aces.

Masters of Submarine Warfare

Just as in the case of aircraft and tanks, the most successful are the German sailors. Over the years of its existence, Kriegsmarine submariners sank 2,603 ​​ships of allied countries, the total displacement of which reaches 13.5 million tons. This is a truly impressive figure. And the German submarine aces of World War II could also boast of impressive personal accounts.

The most successful German submariner is Otto Kretschmer, who has 44 ships, including 1 destroyer. The total displacement of the ships sunk by him is 266,629 tons.

In second place is Wolfgang Lüth, who sent 43 enemy ships to the bottom (and according to other sources - 47) with a total displacement of 225,712 tons.

He was also a famous naval ace who even managed to sink the British battleship Royal Oak. This was one of the first officers to receive oak leaves; Prien destroyed 30 ships. Killed in 1941 during an attack on a British convoy. He was so popular that his death was hidden from the people for two months. And on the day of his funeral, mourning was declared throughout the country.

Such successes of German sailors are also quite understandable. The fact is that Germany began naval war back in 1940, from the blockade of Britain, thus hoping to undermine its maritime greatness and, taking advantage of this, to carry out a successful seizure of the islands. However, very soon the plans of the Nazis were thwarted, as America entered the war with its large and powerful fleet.

The most famous Soviet sailor submarine fleet- Alexander Marinesko. He sank only 4 ships, but what ones! The heavy passenger liner "Wilhelm Gustloff", the transport "General von Steuben", as well as 2 units of the heavy floating battery "Helene" and "Siegfried". For his exploits, Hitler added the sailor to his list of personal enemies. But Marinesko’s fate did not work out well. He fell out of favor with the Soviet regime and died, and people stopped talking about his exploits. The great sailor received the Hero of the Soviet Union award only posthumously in 1990. Unfortunately, many USSR aces of World War II ended their lives in a similar way.

Also famous submariners of the Soviet Union are Ivan Travkin - he sank 13 ships, Nikolai Lunin - also 13 ships, Valentin Starikov - 14 ships. But Marinesko topped the list of the best submariners of the Soviet Union, as he caused the greatest damage to the German navy.

Accuracy and stealth

Well, how can we not remember such famous fighters as snipers? Here the Soviet Union takes the well-deserved palm from Germany. Soviet sniper aces of World War II had a very high track record. In many ways, such results were achieved thanks to massive government training of the civilian population in shooting from various weapons. About 9 million people were awarded the Voroshilov Shooter badge. So, what are the most famous snipers?

The name of Vasily Zaitsev frightened the Germans and inspired courage in Soviet soldiers. This ordinary guy, a hunter, killed 225 Wehrmacht soldiers with his Mosin rifle in just a month of fighting at Stalingrad. Among the outstanding sniper names are Fedor Okhlopkov, who (during the entire war) accounted for about a thousand Nazis; Semyon Nomokonov, who killed 368 enemy soldiers. There were also women among the snipers. An example of this is the famous Lyudmila Pavlichenko, who fought near Odessa and Sevastopol.

German snipers are less known, although several sniper schools have existed in Germany since 1942, which provided professional training. Among the most successful German shooters are Matthias Hetzenauer (345 killed), (257 killed), Bruno Sutkus (209 soldiers shot). Also a famous sniper from the countries of the Hitler bloc is Simo Haiha - this Finn killed 504 Red Army soldiers during the war years (according to unconfirmed reports).

Thus, the sniper training of the Soviet Union was immeasurably higher than that of the German troops, which allowed Soviet soldiers to bear the proud title of aces of the Second World War.

How did you become aces?

So, the concept of “ace of World War II” is quite broad. As already mentioned, these people achieved truly impressive results in their business. This was achieved not only through good army training, but also through outstanding personal qualities. After all, for a pilot, for example, coordination and quick reaction are very important, for a sniper - the ability to wait for the right moment to sometimes fire a single shot.

Accordingly, it is impossible to determine who had the best aces of World War II. Both sides performed unparalleled heroism, which made it possible to single out individual people from the general mass. But it was possible to become a master only by training hard and improving your combat skills, since war does not tolerate weakness. Of course, dry statistics will not be able to convey to modern people all the hardships and adversities that war professionals experienced during their rise to the honorary pedestal.

We, the generation that lives without knowing such terrible things, should not forget about the exploits of our predecessors. They can become an inspiration, a reminder, a memory. And we must try to do everything to ensure that such terrible events as the past wars do not happen again.

On November 13, 1985, Air Marshal Alexander Pokryshkin passed away. During World War II he was one of the most successful Soviet pilots - according to various sources, Pokryshkin personally shot down from 46 to 59 enemy aircraft. For his exploits, he was awarded the “Gold Star” of the Hero of the Soviet Union three times. LJ magazine has several interesting stories about Pokryshkin and other air aces who fought in the skies over the USSR and occupied Europe.

At the end of the war, Pokryshkin was not only the most famous pilot in the world, but also the most authoritative figure in Soviet aviation, writes andrey_ka23 , who in 2013 attended the celebrations in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Soviet ace:

“Achtung! Achtung! Pokryshkin is in the air! - the German warning posts shouted, urgently warning - the famous Russian ace was in the air. Which meant - to increase caution, to get out of protracted air battles, for the “hunters” to gain altitude, for young people to return to the airfields.

Generous rewards awaited the one who brought down the Russian ace. There was no shortage of people who wanted to distinguish themselves, but this task turned out to be too tough for the enemy. And it wasn’t just Pokryshkin’s exceptional skill. It is appropriate to remember that in his squadron, and then in the regiment and division, such aces as Rechkalov and the Glinka brothers, Klubov and Babak, Fedorov and Fadeev took place. When such a group fought, it was, at least, imprudent to expect to defeat its commander. And today pilots continue the glorious traditions of the aces of the Great Patriotic War.

The Germans undoubtedly shot down more: Erich Hartmann (352 enemy aircraft shot down), Johan Steinhoff (176), Werner Mölders (115), Adolf Galland (103). Even if you divide it into two, it’s still more. Another thing is that these are hunters whose goal is precisely the maximum number of people shot down. Ours professed a different strategy, which turned out to be more effective and efficient. This allowed us to gain air supremacy. It is worth adding that Hartman shot down not only Soviet planes, but also 7 American ones.

As for quantity, here are a few facts.

Just a few days and heroic victories. Are you winning?
Summer 1944. June 1 6 aircraft shot down (5 Lags and 1 Airacobra). June 2 - 2 Airacobras, June 3 - 4 aircraft (two Lags and two Airacobras each). June 4 - 7 aircraft (all but one are Airacobras). June 5 - 7 aircraft (3 of them “Laga”). And finally, on June 6 - 5 aircraft (2 of them “Lag”). In total, in 6 days of fighting, 32 Soviet aircraft were shot down. And on August 24 of the same year there were 11 planes at once.

But here’s what’s strange: Eric Hartmann shot down 32 planes in the first six days of June, and the entire Luftwaffe by day: 1st - 21, 2nd - 27, 3rd - 33, 4th - 45, 5th - 43, 6th - 12. Total - 181 aircraft. Or an average of more than 30 aircraft per day. How much were the Luftwaffe's losses? Official figures for June 1944 are 312 aircraft, or just over 10 per day. It turns out that our losses are 3 times greater? And if you consider that German losses also include planes shot down by our anti-aircraft artillery, then the loss ratio is even greater!

But it’s not 1941. Plausible?

Let's assume that everything is true. And let’s compare two pilots - the same Hartmann and three times Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Kozhedub. Hartmann flew 1,404 sorties and shot down 352 aircraft, an average of about 4 sorties per aircraft; Kozhedub’s figures are as follows: 330 sorties and 62 enemy aircraft, an average of 5.3 sorties. In terms of numbers, everything seems to correspond...

How were downed planes counted? Below is an excerpt from the book by American researchers R. Toliver and T. Constable about Hartmann:

“The rest of the squadron pilots dragged the happy Blonde Knight into the mess hall. The party was in full swing when Hartmann's technician burst in. The expression on his face instantly extinguished the jubilation of those gathered.
- What happened, Bimmel? - asked Erich.
- Gunsmith, Herr Lieutenant.
- Is there something wrong?
- No, everything is okay. It's just that you only fired 120 shots at 3 downed planes. I think you need to know this.
Whispers of admiration ran through the pilots, and the schnapps flowed like a river again.”

Plausible? If anyone thinks yes, a little information. Hartmann's aircraft (Messerschmitt Bf.109) is equipped with MG-17 machine guns and a 20-mm MG 151/20 cannon. The rate of fire for machine guns is 1200 rounds per minute, for cannons - 700-800 per minute (depending on the type of projectile). Thus, 53 charges are consumed per second. Hartman used up 120 in 2.26 seconds. And he shot down THREE planes. Still plausible?

But we are not talking about bookcases or even plywood Yaks. All three shot down were Il-2.

The most successful fighter pilot of all countries participating in World War II, with the exception of Germany, is considered to be the Finn - Eino Ilmari Juutilainen, who shot down 94 Soviet aircraft. His story is summarized merelana :

Yesterday this name came up by chance - in a conversation about who is from our area and who is not from ours. Eino Ilmari Juutilainen is one of our kind. He spent most of his childhood in Sortavala, beginning his military service at an airfield near Viipuri - while Viipuri was still on the Finnish side.
Eino Ilmari Juutilainen is an ace pilot, one of the best in the Second World War, which the Finns say they call “continental” or “long”, as opposed to the winter war, which is also “short”.
During the Winter War, he conducted 115 combat missions - and there were only two victories. And during the “ongoing” war, he scored 92 victories. With almost five hundred sorties. And none of his planes received a single damage.

Fierce air battles took place not only in the European theater of operations. From the blog litvinenko_ai you can learn about the Imperial pilot aces navy Japan:

The main feature of the Japanese is their collectivism. For many centuries, the main source of food for the Japanese was rice. To grow rice, it had to be constantly watered. In the mountainous regions of the country it is impossible to water rice alone; here people acted as one team. The crop could be grown either by everyone together or by no one. The Japanese had no room for error. There will be no rice, famine will begin. Hence the collectivism of the Japanese. There is a Japanese proverb that goes something like this: “The nail that sticks out gets hammered in first.” That is, don’t stick your head out, don’t stand out from the crowd—the Japanese don’t tolerate white crows. From early childhood, Japanese children were instilled with the skills of collectivism and the desire not to stand out from the rest. This feature of Japanese culture was also reflected in naval aviation pilots during the Great Pacific War or, as we commonly call it, World War II. Instructors at flight schools taught cadets as a whole, without singling out any of them; there was no individual approach at all. In parts of the incentive or penalty, the entire unit usually also received.

Japanese pilots fought in the skies over China long before the start of the Pacific War, they gained experience and became outstanding combat pilots. Japanese pilots swept away everything over Pearl Harbor, sowed death over the Philippines, New Guinea and the islands Pacific Ocean. They were aces. French word as means ace, the first in his field - a master of air combat, it appeared during the First World War and referred to military pilots who were fluent in the art of piloting and air combat and who shot down at least five enemy aircraft. There were aces in World War II, for example, the best Soviet pilot Ivan Kozhedub shot down 62 enemy aircraft, the Finn was credited Eino Ilmari Juutilainen 94 Soviet aircraft. The best pilots of the Imperial Japanese Navy - Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, Saburo Sakai And Shioki Sugita were also aces. For example, Hiroyoshi Nishizawa reported to his family about 147 downed planes, some sources mention 102, according to other sources - 87 planes, which is still much more than the American and British aces, who shot down at most 30 planes.

Luftwaffe Aces

At the suggestion of some Western authors, carefully accepted by domestic compilers, German aces are considered the most effective fighter pilots of the Second World War, and, accordingly, in history, who achieved fabulous success in air battles. Only the aces of Nazi Germany and their Japanese allies are credited with winning accounts containing more than a hundred aircraft. But if the Japanese have only one such pilot - they fought with the Americans, then the Germans have as many as 102 pilots who “won” more than 100 victories in the air. Most German pilots, with the exception of fourteen: Heinrich Baer, ​​Hans-Joachim Marseille, Joachim Münchenberg, Walter Oesau, Werner Mölders, Werner Schroer, Kurt Büligen, Hans Hahn, Adolf Galland, Egon Mayer, Joseph Wurmheller and Joseph Priller, as well as night pilots Hans-Wolfgang Schnaufer and Helmut Lent achieved the bulk of their “victories,” of course, on the Eastern Front, and two of them, Erich Hartmann and Gerhard Barkhorn, recorded more than 300 victories.

The total number of air victories achieved by more than 30 thousand German fighter pilots and their allies is mathematically described by the law of large numbers, more precisely, the “Gauss curve”. If we construct this curve only based on the results of the first hundred of the best German fighters (Germany’s allies will no longer be included there) with a known total number of pilots, then the number of victories declared by them will exceed 300-350 thousand, which is four to five times more than the number of victories declared by the Germans themselves , - 70 thousand shot down, and catastrophically (to the point of losing all objectivity) exceeds the estimate of sober, politically unengaged historians - 51 thousand shot down in air battles, of which 32 thousand were on the Eastern Front. Thus, the reliability coefficient of victories of German aces is in the range of 0.15-0.2.

The order for victories for German aces was dictated by the political leadership of Nazi Germany, intensified as the Wehrmacht collapsed, did not formally require confirmation and did not tolerate the revisions adopted in the Red Army. All the “accuracy” and “objectivity” of German claims for victories, so persistently mentioned in the works of some “researchers”, oddly enough, raised and actively published on the territory of Russia, actually comes down to filling out the columns of lengthy and tastefully laid out standard questionnaires, and the writing , even if calligraphic, even if in Gothic font, is in no way connected with aerial victories.

Luftwaffe aces with over 100 victories recorded

Erich HARTMAN (Erich Alfred Bubi Hartmann) - the first Luftwaffe ace in World War II, 352 victories, colonel, Germany.

Erich Hartmann was born on April 19, 1922 in Weissach in Württenberg. His father is Alfred Erich Hartmann, his mother is Elisabeth Wilhelmina Machtholf. He and his younger brother spent his childhood in China, where his father, under the patronage of his cousin, the German consul in Shanghai, worked as a doctor. In 1929, frightened by the revolutionary events in China, the Hartmans returned to their homeland.

Since 1936, E. Hartman flew gliders in an aviation club under the guidance of his mother, an athlete pilot. At the age of 14 he received his glider pilot diploma. He piloted airplanes from the age of 16. Since 1940, he trained at the 10th Luftwaffe training regiment in Neukurn near Königsberg, then at the 2nd flight school in the Berlin suburb of Gatow.

After successfully completing the aviation school, Hartman was sent to Zerbst - to the 2nd Fighter Aviation School. In November 1941, Hartmann flew for the first time in the 109 Messerschmitt, the fighter with which he completed his distinguished flying career.

E. Hartman began combat work in August 1942 as part of the 52nd Fighter Squadron, which fought in the Caucasus.

Hartman was lucky. The 52nd was the best German squadron on the Eastern Front. The best German pilots fought in it - Hrabak and von Bonin, Graf and Krupinski, Barkhorn and Rall...

Erich Hartmann was a man of average height, with rich blond hair and bright blue eyes. His character - cheerful and unquestioning, with a good sense of humor, obvious flying skill, the highest art of aerial shooting, perseverance, personal courage and nobility impressed his new comrades.

On October 14, 1942, Hartman went on his first combat mission to the Grozny area. During this flight, Hartman made almost all the mistakes that a young combat pilot can make: he broke away from his wingman and was unable to carry out his orders, opened fire on his planes, got into the fire zone, lost his orientation and landed “on his belly” 30 km away. from your airfield.

20-year-old Hartman scored his first victory on November 5, 1942, shooting down a single-seat Il-2. During the attack by the Soviet attack aircraft, Hartman's fighter was seriously damaged, but the pilot again managed to land the damaged aircraft on its “belly” in the steppe. The plane could not be restored and was written off. Hartman himself immediately “fell ill with a fever” and was admitted to the hospital.

Hartman's next victory was recorded only on January 27, 1943. The victory was recorded over the MiG-1. It was hardly the MiG-1, which were produced and delivered to the troops before the war in a small series of 77 vehicles, but there are plenty of such “overexposures” in German documents. Hartman flies wingman with Dammers, Grislavski, Zwerneman. From each of these strong pilots he takes something new, adding to his tactical and flight potential. At the request of Sergeant Major Rossmann, Hartman becomes the wingman of V. Krupinski, an outstanding Luftwaffe ace (197 “victories”, 15th best), distinguished, as it seemed to many, by intemperance and stubbornness.

It was Krupinski who nicknamed Hartman Bubi, in English “Baby” - baby, a nickname that remained with him forever.

Hartmann completed 1,425 Einsatzes and took part in 800 Rabarbars during his career. His 352 victories included many missions with multiple kills of enemy aircraft in one day, his best being six Soviet aircraft shot down on August 24, 1944. This included three Pe-2s, two Yaks, and one Airacobra. The same day turned out to be his best day with 11 victories in two combat missions, during the second mission he became the first person in history to shoot down 300 aircraft in dogfights.

Hartman fought in the skies not only against Soviet aircraft. In the skies of Romania, at the controls of his Bf 109, he also met American pilots. Hartman has several days on his account when he reported several victories at once: on July 7 - about 7 shot down (2 Il-2 and 5 La-5), on August 1, 4 and 5 - about 5, and on August 7 - again about 7 at once (2 Pe-2, 2 La-5, 3 Yak-1). January 30, 1944 - about 6 shot down; February 1 - about 5; March 2 - immediately after 10; May 5 about 6; May 7 about 6; June 1 about 6; June 4 - about 7 Yak-9; June 5 about 6; June 6 - about 5; June 24 - about 5 Mustangs; On August 28, he “shot down” 11 Airacobras in a day (Hartman’s daily record); October 27 - 5; November 22 - 6; November 23 - 5; April 4, 1945 - again 5 victories.

After a dozen “victories” “won” on March 2, 1944, E. Hartmann, and with him Chief Lieutenant W. Krupinski, Hauptmann J. Wiese and G. Barkhorn were summoned to the Fuhrer at Berghof to present awards. Lieutenant E. Hartman, who by that time had chalked up 202 “downed” Soviet aircraft, was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight’s Cross.

Hartman himself was shot down more than 10 times. Basically, he “faced the wreckage of Soviet planes that he shot down” (a favorite interpretation of his own losses in the Luftwaffe). On August 20, “flying over the burning Il-2,” he was shot down again and made another emergency landing in the Donets River area and fell into the hands of “Asians” - Soviet soldiers. Skillfully feigning injury and lulling the vigilance of careless soldiers, Hartman fled, jumping out of the back of the semi-truck that was carrying him, and returned to his own people that same day.

As a symbol of the forced separation from his beloved Ursula, Petch Hartman painted a bleeding heart pierced by an arrow on his plane and inscribed an “Indian” cry under the cockpit: “Karaya.”

Readers of German newspapers knew him as the “Black Devil of Ukraine” (the nickname was invented by the Germans themselves) and with pleasure or irritation (against the backdrop of the retreat of the German army) read about the ever-new exploits of this “promoted” pilot.

In total, Hartman was recorded 1404 sorties, 825 air battles, 352 victories were counted, of which 345 were Soviet aircraft: 280 fighters, 15 Il-2, 10 twin-engine bombers, the rest - U-2 and R-5.

Hartman was lightly wounded three times. As the commander of the 1st Squadron of the 52nd Fighter Squadron, which was based at a small airfield near Strakovnice in Czechoslovakia, at the end of the war Hartman knew (he saw the advancing Soviet units rising into the sky) that the Red Army was about to capture this airfield. He ordered the destruction of the remaining aircraft and headed west with all his personnel to surrender to the US Army. But by that time there was an agreement between the allies, according to which all Germans leaving the Russians should be transferred back at the first opportunity.

In May 1945, Major Hartman was handed over to the Soviet occupation authorities. At the trial, Hartmann insisted on his 352 victories, with emphatic respect, and defiantly recalled his comrades and the Fuhrer. The progress of this trial was reported to Stalin, who spoke of the German pilot with satirical contempt. Hartman's self-confident position, of course, irritated the Soviet judges (the year was 1945), and he was sentenced to 25 years in the camps. The sentence under the laws of Soviet justice was commuted, and Hartman was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison camps. He was released in 1955.

Returning to his wife in West Germany, he immediately returned to aviation. He successfully and quickly completed a course of training on jet aircraft, and this time his teachers were Americans. Hartman flew the F-86 Saber jets and the F-104 Starfighter. The last aircraft during active operation in Germany turned out to be extremely unsuccessful and brought death to 115 German pilots in peacetime! Hartmann spoke disapprovingly and harshly of this jet fighter (which was completely fair), prevented its adoption by Germany and upset his relations with both the command of the Bundes-Luftwaffe and high-ranking American military officials. He was transferred to the reserve with the rank of colonel in 1970.

After being transferred to the reserve, he worked as an instructor pilot in Hangelaer, near Bonn, and performed in the aerobatic team of Adolf Galland “Dolfo”. In 1980, he became seriously ill and had to part with aviation.

It is interesting that the commander-in-chief of the Soviet and then Russian Air Force, Army General P. S. Deinekin, taking advantage of the warming of international relations in the late 80s - early 90s, several times persistently expressed his desire to meet with Hartman, but did not find mutual understanding with the German military officials.

Colonel Hartmann was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class, and the German Cross in Gold.

Gerhard Gerd Barkhorn, second Luftwaffe ace (Germany) - 301 air victories.

Gerhard Barkhorn was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, on March 20, 1919. In 1937, Barkhorn was accepted into the Luftwaffe as a fanen-junker (officer candidate rank) and began his flight training in March 1938. After completing his flight training, he was selected as a lieutenant and at the beginning of 1940 accepted into the 2nd Fighter Squadron "Richthofen", known for its old combat traditions, formed in the battles of the First World War.

Gerhard Barkhorn's combat debut in the Battle of Britain was unsuccessful. He did not shoot down a single enemy aircraft, but he himself twice left a burning car with a parachute, and once right over the English Channel. Only during the 120th flight (!), which took place on July 2, 1941, Barkhorn managed to open his account of his victories. But after that, his successes gained enviable stability. The hundredth victory came to him on December 19, 1942. On the same day, Barkhorn shot down 6 planes, and on July 20, 1942 - 5. He also shot down 5 planes before that, on June 22, 1942. Then the pilot’s performance decreased slightly - and he reached the two hundredth mark only on November 30, 1943.

Here's how Barkhorn comments on the enemy's actions:

“Some Russian pilots didn’t even look around and rarely looked back.

I shot down many who didn't even know I was there. Only a few of them were a match for European pilots; the rest did not have the necessary flexibility in air combat.”

Although it is not explicitly stated, from what we have read we can conclude that Barkhorn was a master of surprise attacks. He preferred dive attacks from the direction of the sun or approached from below from behind the tail of the enemy aircraft. At the same time, he did not avoid classic combat on turns, especially when he piloted his beloved Me-109F, even that version that was equipped with only one 15-mm cannon. But not all Russians succumbed so easily to the German ace: “Once in 1943, I endured a forty-minute battle with a stubborn Russian pilot and was unable to achieve any results. I was so wet with sweat, as if I had just stepped out of the shower. I wonder if it was as difficult for him as it was for me. The Russian flew a LaGG-3, and both of us performed all conceivable and inconceivable aerobatic maneuvers in the air. I couldn't reach him, and he couldn't reach me. This pilot belonged to one of the guards air regiments, which brought together the best Soviet aces.”

It should be noted that a one-on-one air battle lasting forty minutes was almost a record. There were usually other fighters nearby ready to intervene, or on those rare occasions when two enemy aircraft actually met in the sky, one of them usually already had the advantage in position. In the battle described above, both pilots fought, avoiding unfavorable positions for themselves. Barkhorn was wary of enemy actions (perhaps his experience in combat with RAF fighters had a strong influence here), and the reasons for this were as follows: firstly, he achieved his many victories by flying more sorties than many other experts; secondly, during 1,104 combat missions, with 2,000 flying hours, his plane was shot down nine times.

On May 31, 1944, with 273 victories to his name, Barkhorn was returning to his airfield after completing a combat mission. During this flight, he came under attack from a Soviet Airacobra, was shot down and wounded in the right leg. Apparently, the pilot who shot down Barkhorn was the outstanding Soviet ace Captain F. F. Arkhipenko (30 personal and 14 group victories), later Hero of the Soviet Union, who on that day was credited with victory over the Me-109 in his fourth combat mission. Barkhorn, who was making his 6th sortie of the day, managed to escape, but was out of action for four long months. After returning to service with JG 52, he brought his personal victories to 301, and was then transferred to the Western Front and appointed commander of JG 6 Horst Wessel. Since then, he has had no more success in air battles. Soon enlisted in Galland's strike group JV 44, Barkhorn learned to fly Me-262 jets. But already on the second combat mission, the plane was hit, lost thrust, and Barkhorn was seriously injured during a forced landing.

In total, during the Second World War, Major G. Barkhorn flew 1,104 combat missions.

Some researchers note that Barkhorn was 5 cm taller than Hartmann (about 177 cm tall) and 7-10 kg heavier.

He called his favorite machine the Me-109 G-1 with the lightest possible weapons: two MG-17 (7.92 mm) and one MG-151 (15 mm), preferring the lightness, and therefore the maneuverability of his vehicle, over the power of its weapons.

After the war, Germany's No. 2 ace returned to flying with the new West German Air Force. In the mid-60s, while testing a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, he “dropped” and crashed his Kestrel. When the wounded Barkhorn was slowly and laboriously pulled out of the wrecked car, despite his severe injuries, he did not lose his sense of humor and muttered with force: “Three hundred and two...”

In 1975, G. Barkhorn retired with the rank of major general.

In winter, in a snowstorm, near Cologne on January 6, 1983, Gerhard Barkhorn and his wife were involved in a serious car accident. His wife died immediately, and he himself died in the hospital two days later - on January 8, 1983.

He was buried in the Durnbach War Cemetery in Tegernsee, Upper Bavaria.

Luftwaffe Major G. Barkhorn was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class, and the German Cross in Gold.

Gunter Rall - third Luftwaffe ace, 275 victories.

The third Luftwaffe ace in terms of the number of victories counted is Gunther Rall - 275 enemy aircraft shot down.

Rall fought against France and England in 1939–1940, then in Romania, Greece and Crete in 1941. From 1941 to 1944 he fought on the Eastern Front. In 1944, he returned to the skies of Germany and fought against the aircraft of the Western Allies. All his rich combat experience was gained as a result of more than 800 “rabarbars” (air battles) carried out on the Me-109 of various modifications - from Bf 109 B-2 to Bf 109 G-14. Rall was seriously wounded three times and shot down eight times. On November 28, 1941, in an intense air battle, his plane was so badly damaged that during an emergency belly landing, the car simply fell apart, and Rall broke his spine in three places. There was no hope left for returning to duty. But after ten months of treatment in the hospital, where he met his future wife, he was finally restored to health and declared fit for flying work. At the end of July 1942, Rall took his plane into the air again, and on August 15 he scored his 50th victory over Kuban. On September 22, 1942, he chalked up his 100th victory. Subsequently, Rall fought over the Kuban, over the Kursk Bulge, over the Dnieper and Zaporozhye. In March 1944, he surpassed the achievement of V. Novotny, chalking up 255 aerial victories and leading the list of Luftwaffe aces until August 20, 1944. On April 16, 1944, Rall won his last, 273rd, victory on the Eastern Front.

As the best German ace of the time, he was appointed commander of II by Goering. / JG 11, which was part of the Reich air defense and armed with the “109” new modification - G-5. Defending Berlin in 1944 from British and American raids, Rall more than once came into conflict with US Air Force aircraft. One day, the Thunderbolts tightly pinned his plane over the capital of the Third Reich, damaging his control, and one of the bursts fired into the cockpit cut off the thumb on his right hand. Rall was shell-shocked, but returned to duty a few weeks later. In December 1944, he headed the training school for Luftwaffe fighter commanders. In January 1945, Major G. Rall was appointed commander of the 300th Fighter Group (JG 300), armed with the FV-190D, but he did not win any more victories. It was difficult to imagine a victory over the Reich - downed planes fell over German territory and only then received confirmation. It’s not at all like in the Don or Kuban steppes, where a report of victory, confirmation from a wingman and a statement on several printed forms was enough.

For my combat career Major Rall flew 621 combat missions and recorded 275 “downed” aircraft, of which only three were shot down over the Reich.

After the war, when the new German army, the Bundeswehr, was created, G. Rall, who did not think of himself as anything other than a military pilot, joined the Bundes-Luftwaffe. Here he immediately returned to flying work and mastered the F-84 Thunderjet and several modifications of the F-86 Saber. The skill of Major and then Oberst-Lieutenant Rall was highly appreciated by American military experts. At the end of the 50s he was appointed to the Bundes-Luftwaffe Art. an inspector supervising the retraining of German pilots for the new supersonic fighter F-104 Starfighter. The retraining was successfully carried out. In September 1966, G. Rall was awarded the rank of brigadier general, and a year later - major general. At that time, Rall led the fighter division of the Bundes-Luftwaffe. In the late 1980s, Lieutenant General Rall was dismissed from the Bundes-Luftwaffe as Inspector General.

G. Rall came to Russia several times and communicated with Soviet aces. To the Hero of the Soviet Union, Aviation Major General G. A. Baevsky, who knew well German and communicated with Rall at an aircraft show in Kubinka, this communication made a positive impression. Georgy Arturovich found Rall’s personal position to be quite modest, including regarding his three-digit account, and as an interlocutor, he was an interesting person who deeply understood the concerns and needs of pilots and aviation.

Günther Rall died on October 4, 2009. Lieutenant General G. Rall was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class, the German Cross in gold; Great Federal Cross of the Worthy with Star (cross of the VI degree from the VIII degrees); Order of the Legion of Worth (USA).

Adolf GALLAND - outstanding organizer of the Luftwaffe, recording 104 victories on the Western Front, Lieutenant General.

Gently bourgeois in his refined habits and actions, he was a versatile and courageous man, an exceptionally gifted pilot and tactician, enjoyed the favor of political leaders and the highest authority among German pilots, who left their bright mark on the history of the world wars of the 20th century.

Adolf Galland was born into the family of a manager in the town of Westerholt (now within the boundaries of Duisburg) on ​​March 19, 1912. Galland, like Marseille, had French roots: his Huguenot ancestors fled France in the 18th century and settled on the estate of Count von Westerholt. Galland was the second oldest of his four brothers. Upbringing in the family was based on strict religious principles, while the severity of the father significantly softened the mother. WITH early years Adolf became a hunter, catching his first trophy - a hare - at the age of 6 years. An early passion for hunting and hunting successes are also characteristic of some other outstanding fighter pilots, in particular A.V. Vorozheikin and E.G. Pepelyaev, who found in hunting not only entertainment, but also a significant help for their meager diet. Of course, the acquired hunting skills - the ability to hide, shoot accurately, follow the scent - had a beneficial effect on the formation of the character and tactics of future aces.

In addition to hunting, the energetic young Galland was actively interested in technology. This interest led him to the Gelsenkirchen gliding school in 1927. Graduating from gliding school and acquiring the ability to soar, find and select air currents was very useful for the future pilot. In 1932, after graduating from high school, Adolf Galland entered the German Air Transport School in Braunschweig, from which he graduated in 1933. Soon after graduating from school, Galland received an invitation to short-term courses for military pilots, secret in Germany at that time. After completing the courses, Galland was sent to Italy for an internship. Since the fall of 1934, Galland flew as co-pilot on the passenger Junkers G-24. In February 1934, Galland was drafted into the army, in October he was awarded the rank of lieutenant and sent to instructor service in Schleichsheim. When the creation of the Luftwaffe was announced on March 1, 1935, Galland was transferred to the 2nd Group of the 1st Fighter Squadron. Possessing an excellent vestibular apparatus and impeccable vasomotor skills, he quickly became an excellent aerobatic pilot. During those years, he suffered several accidents that almost cost him his life. Only exceptional persistence, and sometimes cunning, allowed Galland to remain in aviation.

In 1937, he was sent to Spain, where he flew 187 attack missions in a Xe-51B biplane. He had no aerial victories. For battles in Spain he was awarded the German Spanish Cross in gold with Swords and Diamonds.

In November 1938, upon returning from Spain, Galland became a commander of JG433, re-equipped with the Me-109, but before the outbreak of hostilities in Poland he was sent to another group armed with XSh-123 biplanes. In Poland, Galland flew 87 combat missions and received the rank of captain.

On May 12, 1940, Captain Galland won his first victories, shooting down three British Hurricanes at once on the Me-109. By June 6, 1940, when he was appointed commander of the 3rd Group of the 26th Fighter Squadron (III./JG 26), Galland had 12 victories to his name. On 22 May he shot down the first Spitfire. On August 17, 1940, at a meeting at Goering's Karinhalle estate, Major Galland was appointed commander of the 26th squadron. On September 7, 1940, he took part in a massive Luftwaffe raid on London, consisting of 648 fighters covering 625 bombers. For the Me-109, this was a flight almost to the maximum range; more than two dozen Messerschmitts on the way back, over Calais, ran out of fuel, and their planes fell into the water. Galland also had problems with fuel, but his car was saved by the skill of the glider pilot sitting in it, who reached the French coast.

On September 25, 1940, Galland was summoned to Berlin, where Hitler presented him with the third ever Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross. Galland, in his words, asked the Fuhrer not to “belittle the dignity of the British pilots.” Hitler unexpectedly immediately agreed with him, saying that he regretted that England and Germany did not act together as allies. Galland fell into the hands of German journalists and quickly became one of the most “promoted” figures in Germany.

Adolf Galland was an avid cigar smoker, consuming up to twenty cigars daily. Even Mickey Mouse, who invariably adorned the sides of all his combat vehicles, was invariably depicted with a cigar in his mouth. In the cockpit of his fighter there was a lighter and a cigar holder.

On the evening of October 30, having declared the destruction of two Spitfires, Galland chalked up his 50th victory. On November 17, having shot down three Hurricanes over Calais, Galland took first place among the Luftwaffe aces with 56 victories. After his 50th claimed victory, Galland was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. A creative man, he proposed several tactical innovations, which were subsequently adopted by most armies of the world. Thus, he considered the most successful option for escorting bombers, despite the protests of the “bombers,” to be a free “hunt” along their flight route. Another of his innovations was the use of a headquarters air unit, staffed by a commander and the most experienced pilots.

After May 19, 1941, when Hess flew to England, raids on the island practically ceased.

On June 21, 1941, the day before the attack on the Soviet Union, Galland's Messerschmitt, which had been staring at the Spitfire it had shot down, was shot down in a frontal attack from above by another Spitfire. Galland was wounded in the side and arm. With difficulty he managed to open the jammed canopy, unhook the parachute from the antenna post and land relatively safely. It is interesting that on the same day, at about 12.40, Galland’s Me-109 was already shot down by the British, and they crash-landed it “on its belly” in the Calais area.

When Galland was taken to the hospital in the evening of the same day, a telegram arrived from Hitler, saying that Lieutenant Colonel Galland was the first in the Wehrmacht to be awarded the Swords to the Knight's Cross, and an order containing a ban on Galland's participation in combat missions. Galland did everything possible and impossible to circumvent this order. On August 7, 1941, Lieutenant Colonel Galland scored his 75th victory. On November 18, he announced his next, already 96th, victory. On November 28, 1941, after the death of Mölders, Goering appointed Galland to the post of inspector of fighter aircraft of the Luftwaffe, and he was awarded the rank of colonel.

On January 28, 1942, Hitler presented Galland with the Diamonds for his Knight's Cross with Swords. He became the second recipient of this highest award in Nazi Germany. On December 19, 1942, he was awarded the rank of major general.

On May 22, 1943, Galland flew the Me-262 for the first time and was amazed by the emerging capabilities of the turbojet. He insisted on the speedy combat use of this aircraft, assuring that one Me-262 squadron was equal in strength to 10 conventional ones.

With the inclusion of US aircraft in the air war and the defeat in the Battle of Kursk, Germany's position became desperate. On June 15, 1943, Galland, despite strong objections, was appointed commander of the fighter aircraft of the Sicily group. They tried to save the situation in Southern Italy with Galland's energy and talent. But on July 16, about a hundred American bombers attacked the Vibo Valentia airfield and destroyed Luftwaffe fighter aircraft. Galland, having surrendered command, returned to Berlin.

The fate of Germany was sealed, and neither the dedication of the best German pilots nor the talent of outstanding designers could save it.

Galland was one of the most talented and sensible generals of the Luftwaffe. He tried not to expose his subordinates to unjustified risks and soberly assessed the developing situation. Thanks to the accumulated experience, Galland managed to avoid major losses in the squadron entrusted to him. An outstanding pilot and commander, Galland had a rare talent for analyzing all the strategic and tactical features of a situation.

Under the command of Galland, the Luftwaffe carried out one of the most brilliant operations to provide air cover for ships, codenamed “Thunderstrike”. A fighter squadron under the direct command of Galland covered the exit from encirclement from the air. German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, as well as the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. Having successfully carried out the operation, the Luftwaffe and the fleet destroyed 30 British aircraft, losing 7 aircraft. Galland called this operation the "finest hour" of his career.

In the fall of 1943 - spring of 1944, Galland secretly flew more than 10 combat missions on the FV-190 A-6, chalking up two American bombers. On December 1, 1944, Galland was awarded the rank of lieutenant general.

After the failure of Operation Bodenplatte, when about 300 Luftwaffe fighters were lost, at the cost of 144 British and 84 American aircraft, Goering removed Galland from his post as inspector of fighter aircraft on January 12, 1945. This caused the so-called fighter mutiny. As a result, several German aces were demoted, and Galland was placed under house arrest. But soon a bell rang in Galland’s house: Hitler’s adjutant von Belof told him: “The Fuhrer still loves you, General Galland.”

In the conditions of a disintegrating defense, Lieutenant General Galland was instructed to form a new fighter group from the best aces of Germany and fight enemy bombers on the Me-262. The group received the semi-mystical name JV44 (44 as half of the number 88, which designated the number of the group that successfully fought in Spain) and entered combat in early April 1945. As part of JV44, Galland scored 6 victories, was shot down (landed across the runway) and wounded on April 25, 1945.

In total, Lieutenant General Galland flew 425 combat missions and chalked up 104 victories.

On May 1, 1945, Galland and his pilots surrendered to the Americans. In 1946–1947, Galland was recruited by the Americans to work in the historical department of the American Air Force in Europe. Later, in the 60s, Galland gave lectures in the United States on the actions of German aviation. In the spring of 1947, Galland was released from captivity. Galland whiled away this difficult time for many Germans on the estate of his old admirer, the widowed Baroness von Donner. He divided it between household chores, wine, cigars and hunting, which was illegal at that time.

During the Nuremberg trials, when Goering's defenders drew up a lengthy document and, trying to sign it from the leading figures of the Luftwaffe, brought it to Galland, he carefully read the paper and then decisively tore it from top to bottom.

“I personally welcome this trial because this is the only way we can find out who is responsible for all of this,” Galland allegedly said at the time.

In 1948, he met with his old acquaintance - the German aircraft designer Kurt Tank, who created the Focke-Wulf fighters and, perhaps, the best piston fighter in history - the Ta-152. Tank was about to sail to Argentina, where a big contract awaited him, and invited Galland to go with him. He agreed and, having received an invitation from President Juan Peron himself, soon sailed. Argentina, like the United States, emerged from the war incredibly rich. Galland received a three-year contract to reorganize the Argentine Air Force under the direction of Argentine Commander-in-Chief Juan Fabri. The flexible Galland managed to find full contact with the Argentines and gladly passed on knowledge to pilots and their commanders who had no combat experience. In Argentina, Galland flew almost every day on every type of aircraft he saw there, maintaining his flying shape. Soon Baroness von Donner and her children came to Galland. It was in Argentina that Galland began working on a book of memoirs, later called The First and the Last. A few years later, the Baroness left Galland and Argentina when he became involved with Sylvinia von Donhoff. In February 1954, Adolf and Sylvinia got married. For Galland, who was already 42 years old at that time, this was his first marriage. In 1955, Galland left Argentina and competed in aviation competitions in Italy, where he took an honorable second place. In Germany, the Minister of Defense invited Galland to retake the post of inspector - commander of the BundesLuftwaffe fighter aircraft. Galland asked for time to think it over. At this time, there was a change of power in Germany, the pro-American Franz Josef Strauss became Minister of Defense, who appointed General Kummhuber, an old enemy of Galland, to the post of inspector.

Galland moved to Bonn and went into business. He divorced Sylvinia von Donhoff and married his young secretary, Hannelise Ladwein. Soon Galland had children - a son, and three years later a daughter.

All his life, until the age of 75, Galland flew actively. When military aviation was no longer available to him, he found himself in light-engine and sport aviation. As Galland grew older, he devoted more and more time to meetings with his old comrades, with veterans. His authority among German pilots of all times was exceptional: he was an honorary leader of several aviation societies, president of the Association of German Fighter Pilots, and a member of dozens of flying clubs. In 1969, Galland saw and “attacked” the spectacular pilot Heidi Horn, who at the same time was the head of a successful company, and started a “fight” according to all the rules. He soon divorced his wife, and Heidi, unable to withstand the “dizzying attacks of the old ace,” agreed to marry 72-year-old Galland.

Adolf Galland, one of seven German fighter pilots awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, as well as all the lower awards required by statute.

Otto Bruno Kittel - Luftwaffe ace No. 4, 267 victories, Germany.

This outstanding fighter pilot was nothing like, say, the arrogant and glamorous Hans Philipp, that is, he did not at all correspond to the image of an ace pilot created by the German Reich Ministry of Propaganda. A short, quiet and modest man with a slight stutter.

He was born in Kronsdorf (now Korunov in the Czech Republic) in the Sudetenland, then in Austria-Hungary, on February 21, 1917. Note that on February 17, 1917, the outstanding Soviet ace K. A. Evstigneev was born.

In 1939, Kittel was accepted into the Luftwaffe and was soon assigned to the 54th Squadron (JG 54).

Kitel announced his first victories on June 22, 1941, but in comparison with other Luftwaffe experts his start was modest. By the end of 1941, he had chalked up only 17 victories. At first, Kittel showed poor aerial shooting abilities. Then his senior comrades took over his training: Hannes Trauloft, Hans Philipp, Walter Nowotny and other pilots of the Green Heart air group. They didn't give up until their patience was rewarded. By 1943, Kittel had gained an eye and with enviable consistency began to record victories over Soviet aircraft one after another. His 39th victory, won on February 19, 1943, was the 4,000th victory claimed by the pilots of the 54th Squadron during the war.

When, under the crushing blows of the Red Army, German troops began to roll back to the west, German journalists found a source of inspiration in the modest but exceptionally gifted pilot Lieutenant Otto Kittel. Until mid-February 1945, his name did not leave the pages of German periodicals and regularly appears in military chronicles.

On March 15, 1943, after the 47th victory, Kittel was shot down and landed 60 km from the front line. In three days, without food or fire, he covered this distance (crossed Lake Ilmen at night) and returned to his unit. Kittel was awarded the German Cross in gold and the rank of chief sergeant major. On October 6, 1943, Oberfeldwebel Kittel was awarded the Knight's Cross, received officer's buttonholes, shoulder straps and the entire 2nd Squadron of the 54th Fighter Group under his command. He was later promoted to chief lieutenant and awarded the Oak Leaves, and then the Swords for the Knight's Cross, which, as in most other cases, were presented to him by the Fuhrer. From November 1943 to January 1944 he was an instructor at the Luftwaffe flying school in Biarritz, France. In March 1944, he returned to his squadron, to the Russian front. Successes did not go to Kittel’s head: until the end of his life he remained a modest, hardworking and unassuming person.

Since the autumn of 1944, Kittel's squadron fought in the Courland "pocket" in Western Latvia. On February 14, 1945, on his 583rd combat mission, he attacked an Il-2 group, but was shot down, probably from cannons. On that day, victories over the FV-190 were recorded by the pilots who piloted the Il-2 - the deputy squadron commander of the 806th attack air regiment, Lieutenant V. Karaman, and the lieutenant of the 502nd Guards Air Regiment, V. Komendat.

By the time of his death, Otto Kittel had 267 victories (of which 94 were IL-2), and he was fourth on the list of the most successful air aces in Germany and the most successful pilot who fought on the FV-190 fighter.

Captain Kittel was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class, and the German Cross in Gold.

Walter Nowi Novotny - Luftwaffe ace No. 5, 258 victories.

Although Major Walter Nowotny is considered the fifth-highest Luftwaffe ace in kills, he was the most famous ace of World War II during the war. Novotny ranked with Galland, Mölders and Graf in popularity abroad, his name was one of the few that became known behind the front lines during the war and was discussed by the Allied public, just as it was with Boelcke, Udet and Richthofen during the war. during the First World War.

Novotny enjoyed fame and respect among German pilots like no other pilot. For all his courage and obsession in the air, he was a charming and friendly man on the ground.

Walter Nowotny was born in northern Austria in the town of Gmünd on December 7, 1920. His father was a railway worker, his two brothers were Wehrmacht officers. One of them was killed at Stalingrad.

Walter Nowotny grew up exceptionally gifted in sports: he won running, javelin throwing, and sports competitions. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1939 at the age of 18 and attended fighter pilot school in Schwechat near Vienna. Like Otto Kittel, he was assigned to JG54 and flew dozens of combat missions before he managed to overcome the disturbing feverish excitement and acquire the “handwriting of a fighter.”

On July 19, 1941, he scored his first victories in the skies over the island of Ezel in the Gulf of Riga, chalking up three “downed” Soviet I-153 fighters. At the same time, Novotny learned the other side of the coin, when a skillful and determined Russian pilot shot him down and sent him “to drink water.” It was already night when Novotny rowed a rubber raft to the shore.

On August 4, 1942, having re-equipped with the Gustav (Me-109G-2), Novotny immediately chalked up 4 Soviet aircraft and a month later was awarded the Knight's Cross. On October 25, 1942, V. Novotny was appointed commander of the 1st detachment of the 1st group of the 54th fighter squadron. Gradually, the group was re-equipped with relatively new vehicles - FV-190A and A-2. On June 24, 1943, he chalked up the 120th “shot down”, which was the basis for awarding the Oak Leaves to the Knight’s Cross. On September 1, 1943, Novotny immediately chalked up 10 “downed” Soviet aircraft. This is far from the limit for Luftwaffe pilots.

Emil Lang filled out forms for as many as 18 Soviet aircraft shot down in one day (at the end of October 1943 in the Kiev area - a fairly expected response from an irritated German ace to the defeat of the Wehrmacht on the Dnieper, and the Luftwaffe over the Dnieper), and Erich Rüdorfer “shot down”

13 Soviet aircraft on November 13, 1943. Note that for Soviet aces, 4 enemy aircraft shot down in a day was an extremely rare, exceptional victory. This speaks only of one thing - the reliability of victories on one side and the other: the calculated reliability of victories among Soviet pilots is 4-6 times higher than the reliability of the “victories” recorded by the Luftwaffe aces.

In September 1943, with 207 “victories”, Lieutenant V. Novotny became the most successful pilot of the Luftwaffe. On October 10, 1943, he chalked up his 250th “victory.” There was real hysteria in the German press of that time about this. On November 15, 1943, Novotny recorded his last, 255th, victory on the Eastern Front.

He continued his combat work almost a year later, already on the Western Front, on the Me-262 jet. On November 8, 1944, taking off at the head of a trio to intercept American bombers, he shot down a Liberator and a Mustang fighter, which became his last, 257th, victory. Novotny's Me-262 was damaged and, on the approach to its own airfield, was shot down either by a Mustang or by fire from its own anti-aircraft artillery. Major V. Novotny died.

Novi, as his comrades called him, became a Luftwaffe legend during his lifetime. He was the first to record 250 aerial victories.

Novotny became the eighth German officer to receive the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. He was also awarded the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class, the German Cross in gold; Order of the Cross of Liberty (Finland), medals.

Wilhelm "Willi" Batz - sixth Luftwaffe ace, 237 victories.

Butz was born on May 21, 1916 in Bamberg. After recruit training and a meticulous medical examination, on November 1, 1935, he was sent to the Luftwaffe.

After completing his initial fighter pilot training, Butz was transferred as an instructor to the flight school in Bad Eilbing. He was distinguished by his tirelessness and a real passion for flying. In total, during training and instructor service he had flown 5240 hours!

From the end of 1942 he served in the reserve unit of JG52 2./ErgGr "Ost". From February 1, 1943, he held the position of adjutant in II. /JG52. The first aircraft shot down - LaGG-3 - was recorded to him on March 11, 1943. In May 1943 he was appointed commander of 5./JG52. Butz achieved significant success only during the Battle of Kursk. Until September 9, 1943, he was credited with 20 victories, and until the end of November 1943 - another 50.

Then Butz's career went as well as the career of a famous fighter pilot on the Eastern Front often developed. In March 1944, Butz shot down his 101st plane. At the end of May 1944, during seven combat missions, he shot down as many as 15 aircraft. On March 26, 1944, Butz received the Knight's Cross, and on July 20, 1944, the Oak Leaves to it.

In July 1944, he fought over Romania, where he shot down a B-24 Liberator bomber and two P-51B Mustang fighters. By the end of 1944, Butz already had 224 aerial victories. In 1945 he became commander of II. /JG52. On April 21, 1945 he was awarded.

In total, during the war years, Butz carried out 445 (according to other sources - 451) combat sorties and shot down 237 aircraft: 232 on the Eastern Front and, modestly, 5 on the Western Front, among the latter two four-engine bombers. He flew on Me-109G and Me-109K aircraft. During the battles, Butz was wounded three times and shot down four times.

He died at the Mauschendorf Clinic on September 11, 1988. Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (No. 145, 04/21/1945), German Cross in gold, Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class.

Hermann Graf - 212 officially counted victories, ninth Luftwaffe ace, colonel.

Hermann Graf was born in Engen, near Lake Baden, on October 24, 1912. The son of a simple blacksmith, due to his origin and poor education, he could not make a quick and successful military career. After graduating from college and working for some time in a locksmith's shop, he went into bureaucratic service in a municipal office. In this case, the primary role was played by the fact that Herman was an excellent football player, and the first rays of fame gilded him as a forward of the local football team. Herman began his journey into the sky as a glider pilot in 1932, and in 1935 he was accepted into the Luftwaffe. In 1936 he was accepted into the flight school in Karlsruhe and graduated on September 25, 1936. In May 1938, he improved his qualifications as a pilot and, having avoided being sent for retraining on multi-engine aircraft, with the rank of non-commissioned officer, he insisted on being assigned to the second detachment of JG51, armed with Me-109 E-1 fighters.

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The collapse of the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe The number of combat sorties from the Sprottau airfield was significantly reduced compared to our previous stay in February at this airfield. In April, instead of the Il-2, we are accompanying the new Il-10 attack aircraft with more

author Karashchuk Andrey

Volunteers in the Luftwaffe. In the summer of 1941, during the retreat of the Red Army, all the material of the former Estonian Air Force was destroyed or taken to the east. Only four Estonian-made RTO-4 monoplanes remained on the territory of Estonia, which were the property of

From the book Eastern Volunteers in the Wehrmacht, Police and SS author Karashchuk Andrey

Volunteers in the Luftwaffe. While in Estonia the air legion had actually existed since 1941, in Latvia the decision to create a similar formation was made only in July 1943, when Lieutenant Colonel of the Latvian Air Force J. Rusels came into contact with representatives

Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe (ObdL), Commander-in-Chief of the German Air Force. This post belonged to Herman

From the book The Greatest Air Aces of the 20th Century author Bodrikhin Nikolay Georgievich

Luftwaffe Aces At the suggestion of some Western authors, carefully accepted by domestic compilers, German aces are considered the most effective fighter pilots of the Second World War, and accordingly, in history, who achieved fabulous results in air battles

From the book The Big Show. World War II through the eyes of a French pilot author Klosterman Pierre

The last push of the Luftwaffe on January 1, 1945. On that day, the state of the German armed forces was not entirely clear. When the Rundstedt offensive failed, the Nazis, who had taken a position on the banks of the Rhine and were pretty much crushed by Russian troops in Poland and Czechoslovakia,

From the book “Air Bridges” of the Third Reich author Zablotsky Alexander Nikolaevich

THE IRON “AUNT” OF THE LUFTWAFFE AND OTHERS... The main type of aircraft of the German military transport aviation was the bulky and angular, unsightly three-engine Ju-52/3m, better known in the Luftwaffe and the Wehrmacht under the nickname “Auntie Yu”. By the beginning of World War II it seemed

From the book Aviation of the Red Army author Kozyrev Mikhail Egorovich

From the book World War II at sea and in the air. Reasons for the defeat of the naval and air force Germany author Marshall Wilhelm

The Luftwaffe in the War with Russia In the early autumn of 1940, the Luftwaffe began an air war against England. At the same time, preparations for war with Russia began. Even in the days when decisions were made regarding Russia, it became obvious that England’s defense capability was much higher, and

I offer my colleagues to read the introductory part from my book “The Devil's Dozen Luftwaffe Aces.” Sergei Sidorenko Jr. wrote this material in the book at my request.

By 1939, Germany was fully prepared for revenge for the shame of the First World War. Aviation was especially proud, as it demonstrated convincing superiority over any enemy. The pilots - heirs to the traditions of the best aces of the last war - after the "Spanish triumph" and the victorious European "blitzkriegs" were surrounded by an aura of universal admiration and glory.
The definition of “ace” first appeared during the First World War - then an ace was called a pilot with five confirmed victories. This standard has been adopted by most states, except Germany. German pilots were considered aces only in overcoming the threshold of 10 enemy aircraft shot down. During World War II, Germany replaced the term "ace" with "expert". To gain the right to be called an “expert,” the pilot, first of all, had to demonstrate his professionalism in battle, and not shoot down as many enemy aircraft as possible. In terms of Allied standards, the Luftwaffe gave the world about 2,500 aces. The number of “experts” was much smaller - about 500.
What distinguished German pilots from pilots of other countries? Why is the number of their air victories disproportionately greater?

In past years, many materials have been published in foreign literature about the victories of the best Luftwaffe fighter pilots in the period 1939-1945. The much larger number of planes shot down by German pilots compared to Allied aviation pilots gave rise to persistent distrust of this fact not only on the part of aviation historians, but also by the participants in air battles themselves. At the end of the Second World War, a large number of Luftwaffe “experts” were taken to England, where specialists carefully compared their testimony about personal victories with the data and circumstances of their own losses. Until now, these protocols are classified.
As a result of the research carried out, especially in Lately, a significant portion of aviation historians, even among former opponents of Nazi Germany, are becoming more and more convinced of the reality and plausibility of the victories of German fighter pilots. The British are known for their pedantic attitude towards recording victories and dividing them into half, quarter and even eighth. However, there is no reason to believe that if the allied aviation aces do not have such a number of downed aircraft to their credit, then the Germans cannot have this either.

The technical equipment, training and fighting spirit attributed to the Luftwaffe "experts" cannot sufficiently explain the huge number of their victories. One of the main factors that makes it possible to clarify this confusing problem can be the significant number of combat missions that German pilots made during the war, compared to Allied aviation pilots. The number of combat sorties, for example, that of Erich Hartmann, among allied aviation pilots has no analogues at all. He flew 1,400 combat missions and fought 800 air battles. Gerhard Barkhorn fought 1,100 fights. Günter Rall scored his 200th victory in his 555th combat mission. The result of Wilhelm Butz, who achieved 237 victories in his 455th combat mission, was surprising.
On the Allied side, the most active fighter pilots flew between 250 and 400 combat missions. Based on this fact alone, German pilots had a much better chance of winning (and being defeated!) in battle.
These data alone show that German “experts” spent tens of times more time in the air than their rivals on the other side of the front. They could not be recalled from the front after achieving a certain number of sorties, as was the case in American aviation. German ace pilots moved up the hierarchy very slowly, which meant that the war was long and difficult for them, so the more and more they flew, the better and better they became and, as a result, achieved a high level of professionalism inaccessible to others. In the Luftwaffe, the division of pilots into two categories was clearly visible: aces, making up 15-20% of the total number, and middle-class pilots, who were also very strong and practically not inferior in skill to the pilots of the allied aviation. There was also the “old guard of the Luftwaffe,” which had been forged for a long time in the crucible of the European sky, bombarded pilots, each of whom had 3-4 thousand flight hours. Most of them went through the school of war in Spain and consistently participated in all European conflicts. They knew the war down to the last detail and were in absolute command of their machines, so meeting them in the air was extremely dangerous for any enemy.

Due to their national mentality, the Germans strictly and unquestioningly carried out the orders of the command - zeal, multiplied by skill, made them the most dangerous rivals. Their motto is "victory or death." However, not everyone could obtain the right to be called an “expert”. Experienced fighter pilots, “experts,” generally have a special combination of personal qualities. He must have extraordinary endurance and excellent vision. The ability to accurately fire at an enemy indicates his training and sniper qualities. Only quick reaction and a sense of danger developed at the level of instinct can guarantee life in an air battle. Fluency in an aircraft helps you gain self-confidence in a combat situation and focus on the enemy's actions. The courage characteristic of infantry soldiers and officers is replaced in aviation by a more important quality - self-control. And although aggressiveness is an important character trait for a fighter pilot, it should not be allowed to prevail over vigilance. However, it cannot be said that these qualities were characteristic only of German pilots. The main differences were in tactics, techniques and methods of conducting air combat, the system for counting air victories, the number of sorties and the theater of operations. “It was easier to fight in the East. When the war began, the Russians were not ready for it either technically or psychologically. They did not have such effective fighters as ours, our advantage was especially great in 1941-42. Closer to the middle of the Second World War war, in 1943-44, the Russians accumulated extensive experience in combat operations and they had vehicles that met the requirements of those days" (Günter Rall).

A very strong point of the German Air Force was tactics. Such recognized “experts” as Galland and Mölders have been working on its improvement since the Spanish War. They resolutely fought against outdated tactical installations of the period of the First World War and developed new techniques for conducting group and individual air combat that corresponded to technical capabilities aviation technology of its time. Unsurpassed individual combat tactician, Erich Hartmann. said: “In an air battle, you should remain unnoticed by the enemy for as long as possible. It is advisable to start an attack from the direction of the sun. After a rapid dive, you need to be behind and slightly below the enemy, so that he cannot see your plane from the cockpit. When approaching the enemy, you need to be extremely "Attentive, especially when attacking a bomber, fearing the tail gunner. It is important to be the first to open fire - this will give a huge psychological advantage over the enemy. It is better to shoot in short bursts and preferably for sure." And one more thing: “...the attack should be carried out in four stages: be the first to detect the enemy, assess the situation and take an advantageous position for a surprise attack, carry out the attack itself and try to quickly leave “... for a cup of coffee.” If the enemy is the first to find you, it is necessary to break away from him and (or) take a wait-and-see position, or even leave the battle."

After the war, the German aces themselves were looking for an answer to this complex issue: Why did the pilots of the allied aviation have a significant lag in the number of victories won? “The Americans, for example, considered an ace to be a pilot who had five downed planes in his combat account. Just think - five! For us, such a number, to put it mildly, was not a source of pride. How did German pilots manage to shoot down a hundred or more planes? "The fact is that we were looking for the enemy, and not he for us. It was a risky endeavor, but the end often justified the means. Many Americans flew fifty or more combat missions over German territory, but never shot down a single one of our aircraft. Moreover, they couldn't even detect us. So the first thing is to find the enemy. Constant combat sorties allowed us to maintain our skills, and this was also the key to the success of the Luftwaffe. We often lacked experienced pilots, and therefore the number of sorties was much more than planned. The same Americans, having completed fifty flights, were sent back to the states as heroes.The British, after several combat missions, returned home either for retraining or for examination in a hospital. But we were placed in more stringent conditions, and we had to take risks" (Günter Rall).
Walter Krupinski also recalled on this occasion: “American and English pilots, after completing their missions, returned to their homeland. Their lives were not exposed to the same danger that we or the Russians had to experience. Having completed a hundred flights, I only had to my credit two downed enemy planes. This suggests that I learned the basics of air combat rather slowly, but at the same time, accumulated the necessary experience. After all, one does not become an ace right away, but gradually acquires combat skills in war... Later, I trained myself fighter pilot training, which consisted of simply taking with me on a mission one of the newcomers who arrived. One of my students was Hartman, who later became a famous ace... Experience is of paramount importance for a fighter pilot...".

What prompted me to choose this topic?
War is a time of testing, where everyone shows their true essence. Someone betrays and sells loved ones, their ideals and values ​​in order to save their miserable life, which is essentially worthless.
But there is another group of people who place saving their lives on the “scale” of values, if not the last, then not the first place. Combat pilots also belong to this group of people.
I do not single out pilots based on their affiliation with one or another warring side. I don't draw any conclusions. Let everyone, after reading the material I provide, draw conclusions for themselves. I simply wrote about brave people who were, are and will be in history. And I set these people as an example for myself.

Ace(French as - ace; first in his field) - master of air combat. For the first time this word was applied in the First World War to military pilots who were fluent in the art of piloting and air combat and who shot down at least 5 enemy aircraft.
In World War II, the best ace of the USSR and allies was Ivan Kozhedub, who shot down 62 aircraft. Among the aces (experts) of Nazi Germany who fought on the Eastern Front, there were those whose combat count numbered in the hundreds. The absolute record for the number of confirmed victories in the history of aviation - 352 enemy aircraft - belongs to Luftwaffe pilot Erich Hartmann. Among the aces of other countries, the leadership belongs to the Finn Eino Ilmari Juutilainen, who accounted for 94 enemy aircraft.
After the end of World War II and the advent of jet aviation, the number of aircraft shot down per pilot fell, which was caused by the comparative limited nature of local conflicts. The appearance of new aces was noted only in the Korean, Vietnamese, Iran-Iraq, Arab-Israeli and Indo-Pakistan wars. A record number of victories on a jet aircraft were achieved by Soviet pilots Evgeniy Pepelyaev and Nikolai Sutyagin during the Korean War - 23 and 21 enemy aircraft, respectively. The third place in the number of aircraft shot down in the history of jet aviation is taken by Israeli Air Force Colonel Giora Epstein - 17 aircraft, and 9 of them in two days.

Aces of the USSR

27 Soviet fighter pilots, awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union three times and twice for their military exploits, scored from 22 to 62 victories, in total they shot down 1044 enemy aircraft (plus 184 in the group). Over 800 pilots have 16 or more victories. Our aces (3% of all pilots) destroyed 30% of enemy aircraft.

Kozhedub, Ivan Nikitovich

Figure 1 - Three times Hero of the Soviet Union, Air Marshal Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub

Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub (June 8, 1920, Obrazhievka village, Glukhov district, Chernigov province, Ukrainian SSR - August 8, 1991, Moscow) - Soviet military leader, ace pilot during the Great Patriotic War, the most successful fighter pilot in Allied aviation (64 personal victories ). Three times Hero of the Soviet Union. Air Marshal (6 May 1985).
Ivan Kozhedub was born in Ukraine into a peasant family. He took his first steps in aviation while studying at the Shostka flying club. Since 1940 - in the ranks of the Red Army. In 1941 he graduated from the Chuguev Military Aviation Pilot School, where he began serving as an instructor.
After the start of the war, he was evacuated to Central Asia along with the aviation school. In November 1942, Kozhedub was seconded to the 240th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 302nd Fighter Aviation Division, which was being formed in Ivanovo. In March 1943, as part of the division, he flew to the Voronezh Front.

Figure 2 - Ivan Kozhedub against the background of La-5FN (side number 14)


Figure 3 - La-7 I.N. Kozhedub, 176th GvIAP, spring 1945

The first air battle ended in failure for Kozhedub and almost became the last - his La-5 was damaged by a cannon fire from a Messerschmitt-109, the armored back saved him from an incendiary shell, and upon returning he was fired upon by Soviet anti-aircraft gunners and the plane was hit by 2 anti-aircraft shells. Despite the fact that he managed to land the plane, it was not subject to full restoration, and Kozhedub had to fly on the “remnants” - the available aircraft in the squadron. Soon they wanted to take him to the warning post, but the regiment commander stood up for him. On July 6, 1943, on the Kursk Bulge during his fortieth combat mission, Kozhedub shot down his first German aircraft - a Junkers 87 bomber. The very next day he shot down the second, and on July 9 he shot down 2 Bf-109 fighters at once. The first title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to Kozhedub on February 4, 1944 for 146 combat missions and 20 downed enemy aircraft.
Since May 1944, Ivan Kozhedub fought on the La-5FN (side number 14), built at the expense of the collective farmer-beekeeper of the Stalingrad region V.V. Konev. In August 1944, he was appointed deputy commander of the 176th Guards Regiment and began to fight on the new La-7 fighter. Kozhedub was awarded the second Gold Star medal on August 19, 1944 for 256 combat missions and 48 downed enemy aircraft.

Figure 4 - La-7 early series
Figure 5 - La-7 cockpit

By the end of the war, Ivan Kozhedub, by that time a guard major, flew the La-7, made 330 combat missions, shot down 62 enemy aircraft in 120 air battles, including 17 Ju-87 dive bombers, 2 Ju-88 and He bombers each -111, 16 Bf-109 and 21 Fw-190 fighters, 3 Hs-129 attack aircraft and 1 Me-262 jet fighter. Kozhedub fought his last battle in the Great Patriotic War, in which he shot down 2 FW-190s, in the skies over Berlin. Throughout the war, Kozhedub was never shot down. Kozhedub received the third Gold Star medal on August 18, 1945 for high military skill, personal courage and bravery shown on the war fronts. He was an excellent shooter and preferred to open fire at a distance of 200-300 meters, rarely approaching at a shorter distance.

Figure 6 - Medal “Gold Star” - attribute of the Hero of the Soviet Union

In addition to A.I. Pokryshkin and I.N. Kozhedub three times Hero of the USSR was S.M. Budyonny. More stars (four) had L.I. Brezhnev and G.K. Zhukov.
Kozhedub’s flight biography also includes two US Air Force P-51 Mustangs shot down in 1945, which attacked him, mistaking him for a German plane.
At the end of the war, Kozhedub continued to serve in the Air Force. In 1949 he graduated from the Red Banner Air Force Academy, in 1956 - from the Military Academy of the General Staff. During the Korean War, he commanded the 324th Fighter Division as part of the 64th Fighter Corps. From April 1951 to January 1952, the division's pilots scored 216 aerial victories, losing only 27 aircraft (9 pilots died).
In 1964-1971 - Deputy Commander of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District. Since 1971 he served in the central apparatus of the Air Force, and since 1978 - in the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In 1985, I. N. Kozhedub was awarded the military rank of Air Marshal. He was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd-5th convocations, and a people's deputy of the USSR.
Died on August 8, 1991. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow. A bronze bust was installed in his homeland in the village of Obrazhievka. His La-7 (board number 27) is on display at the Air Force Museum in Monino. Also, a park in the city of Sumy (Ukraine) is named after Ivan Kozhedub; a monument to the pilot is erected near the entrance.

Pokryshkin, Alexander Ivanovich

Figure 7 - Three times Hero of the Soviet Union, Air Marshal Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin

Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin is a Soviet ace pilot, the second most successful Soviet fighter pilot of the Great Patriotic War. First three times Hero of the Soviet Union. Air Marshal (1972). Honorary citizen of Mariupol and Novosibirsk.
Pokryshkin was born in Novosibirsk, the son of a factory worker. Grew up in poverty. But unlike his peers, he was more interested in studying than in fights and petty crimes. In his youth he had the nickname Engineer. He became interested in aviation at the age of 12 at a local air show and the dream of becoming a pilot never left him after that. In 1928, after graduating from seven-year school, he went to work in construction. In 1930, despite his father's protests, he left home and entered a local technical school, where he studied for 18 months. Then he voluntarily joined the army and was sent to aviation school. His dream seemed about to come true. Unfortunately, the profile of the school was suddenly changed and I had to study as an aviation mechanic. Official requests for transfer to the flight department received the standard answer “Soviet aviation needs technicians.” Having graduated from the Perm Military-Technical School in 1933, he quickly rose in rank. In December 1934, he became senior aviation mechanic of the 74th Infantry Division. He remained in this position until November 1938. During this period, his creative nature began to emerge: he proposed a number of improvements to the ShKAS machine gun and a number of other things.
In the end, Pokryshkin outwitted his superiors: during his vacation in the winter of 1938, he completed a one-year program civil pilot in 17 days. This automatically made him eligible for admission to flight school. Without even packing his suitcase, he boarded the train. He graduated with top marks in 1939, and with the rank of first lieutenant was assigned to the 55th Fighter Regiment.
He was in Moldova in June 1941, close to the border, and his airfield was bombed on June 22, 1941, the first day of the war. His first dogfight was a disaster. He shot down a Soviet plane. It was a Su-2, a light bomber, its pilot survived, but its gunner was killed.
He scored his first victory against the famed Bf-109 the next day while he and his wingman were conducting reconnaissance. On July 3, having won several more victories, he was hit by a German anti-aircraft gun behind the front line and spent four days making his way to his unit. During the first weeks of the war, Pokryshkin clearly saw how outdated Soviet military doctrine was, and began to little by little write down his ideas in a notebook. He carefully recorded all the details of the air battles in which he and his friends participated and made a detailed analysis. He had to fight in extremely difficult conditions of constant retreat. Later he said “those who did not fight in 1941-1942 do not know the real war.”
Pokryshkin was close to death several times. The machine gun round went through his seat on the right side, damaged his shoulder strap, ricocheted off the left side and grazed his chin, covering his dashboard with blood.

Figure 8 - MiG-3 fighter by A.I. Pokryshkin, 55th IAP, summer 1941.

In the winter of 1941, Pokryshkin, flying a MiG-3, took off despite mud and rain after two other pilots crashed trying to take off. His mission was to locate von Kleist's tanks, which had been stopped in front of the town of Shakhty and then lost to Soviet troops. After he, despite running out of fuel and terrible weather conditions, was able to return and report this important information, he was awarded the Order of Lenin.
In the late winter of 1942, his regiment was recalled from the front to master a new type of fighter, the P-39 Airacobra. During training, Pokryshkin often disagreed with the new regiment commander, who did not accept Pokryshkin's criticism of Soviet military aviation doctrine. The commander fabricated a case against Pokryshkin in a field court, accusing him of cowardice, lack of subordination and disobedience to orders. However, the highest authority acquitted him. In 1943, Pokryshkin fought in the Kuban against the famous German fighter aircraft formations. His new tactics for air policing, and the use of ground-based radars and advanced ground control systems, brought the Soviet Air Force its first major victory over the Luftwaffe.
In January 1943, the 16th Guards Aviation Regiment was sent to the border with Iran to receive new equipment and new pilots. The regiment returned to the front on April 8, 1943. During this period, Pokryshkin recorded ten Bf-109s shot down during his first flight in an Airacobra. The next day, April 9, he was able to confirm 2 of the 7 aircraft he shot down. Pokryshkin received his first title of Hero of the Soviet Union on April 24, 1943, he was awarded the rank of major in June.
In most sorties, Pokryshkin took on the most difficult task of shooting down the leader. As he understood from the experience of 1941-1942, knocking out a leader meant demoralizing the enemy and often thereby forcing him to return to his airfield. Pokryshkin received the second Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union on August 24, 1943 after the special investigation.

Figure 9 - Mig-3 at a field airfield
Figure 10 - Cockpit

Figure 11 - Installation of ShVAK cannons on the MiG-3

In February 1944, Pokryshkin received a promotion and an offer of light paperwork to manage the training of new pilots. But he immediately rejected this offer and remained in his old regiment in his previous rank. However, he did not fly as much as before. Pokryshkin became a famous hero and became a very important propaganda tool, so he was not allowed to fly much for fear of his death in battle. Instead of flying, he spent a lot of time in a bunker directing his regiment's battles by radio. In June 1944, Pokryshkin received the rank of colonel and began to command the 9th Guards Air Division. On August 19, 1944, after 550 combat missions and 53 official victories, Pokryshkin was awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union for the third time. He became the first to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union three times. He was forbidden to fly with everyone else, but sometimes he was allowed. Of his 65 official victories, only 6 were won in the last two years of the war.

Figure 12 - Medal “Gold Star” - attribute of the Hero of the Soviet Union

After the war he was passed over for promotion again and again. Only after Stalin's death did he find himself in favor again and was finally promoted to aviation general. However, he never held senior positions in aviation. His highest post was the head of DOSAAF. Pokryshkin was again ostracized for his honesty and directness. Despite strong pressure, he refused to glorify Brezhnev and his role in the Battle of Kuban. Pokryshkin died on November 13, 1985 at the age of 72.

Aces of Germany

During World War II, according to German data, Luftwaffe pilots scored about 70,000 victories. More than 5,000 German pilots became aces, scoring five or more victories. More than 8,500 German fighter pilots were killed and 2,700 were missing or captured. 9,100 pilots were injured during combat missions.

Hartmann, Erich Alfred

Figure 13 - Erich Alfred "Booby" Hartmann

Erich Alfred "Bubi" Hartmann (German: Erich Alfred Hartmann; born April 19, 1922; † September 20, 1993) - German ace pilot, considered the most successful fighter pilot in the history of aviation. According to German data, during the Second World War he made 1,425 combat missions, shooting down 352 enemy aircraft (of which 345 were Soviet) in 825 air battles. During this time, his plane was shot down 14 times, always for the same reasons - due to damage from the debris of the downed plane, or technical malfunctions, but he was never shot down by the enemy. During such cases, Hartmann always managed to jump out with a parachute. Friends called him “the blond knight of Germany.”
A pre-war glider pilot, Hartmann joined the Luftwaffe in 1940 and completed pilot training in 1942. He was soon assigned to the 52nd Fighter Squadron (German: Jagdgeschwader 52) on the Eastern Front, where he came under the tutelage of experienced Luftwaffe fighter pilots. Under their guidance, Hartmann developed his skills and tactics, which eventually earned him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (only 27 men in the German Armed Forces had this distinction) on 25 August 1944, for the 301st confirmed air victory.

Figure 14 - Fighter: Messerschmitt Bf 109

Figure 15 - Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds

Until the end of the war, Hartmann flew more than 1,400 missions, in which he fought 825 air battles. Hartmann himself often said that what was dearer to him than all victories was the fact that during the entire war he did not lose a single wingman.
Its 352nd and last victory Erich Hartmann flew in the air on May 8, 1945. He and the remaining troops from JG 52 surrendered to American forces, but were handed over to the Soviet Army. Accused of war crimes and sentenced to 25 years in maximum security camps, Hartmann would spend 10 and a half years in them until 1955. In 1956 he joined the rebuilt West German Luftwaffe, and became the first commander of the JG 71 Richthoffen squadron. In 1970, he left the army, largely due to his rejection of the American Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, which was then used to equip the German troops, and constant conflicts with his superiors. Erich Hartmann died in 1993.

Rudel, Hans-Ulrich (Luftwaffe attack aircraft)

Figure 16 - Hans-Ulrich Rudel

Hans-Ulrich Rudel (German: Hans-Ulrich Rudel; July 2, 1916 - December 18, 1982) was the most famous and successful pilot of the Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber during World War II. The only recipient of the full bow of the Knight's Cross: with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (since December 29, 1944). The only foreigner to receive Hungary's highest award, the Gold Medal of Valor. Only Hermann Goering surpassed Rudel in the number of awards. An active Nazi, never criticized Hitler.
Hans-Ulrich Rudel is rightfully considered the most famous combat pilot of the Second World War. In less than four years, piloting mainly the slow and vulnerable Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers, he flew 2,530 combat missions, more than any other pilot in the world, destroyed 519 Soviet tanks (more than five tank corps), more than 1,000 steam locomotives , cars and other vehicles, sank the battleship "Marat", a cruiser, a destroyer, 70 landing ships, bombed 150 artillery positions, howitzer, anti-tank and anti-aircraft, destroyed many bridges and pillboxes, shot down 7 Soviet fighters and 2 Il-2 attack aircraft, himself was shot down by anti-aircraft fire about thirty times (and never by fighters), was wounded five times, two of them seriously, but continued to fly combat missions after the amputation of his right leg, saved six crews who made an emergency landing in enemy territory, and at the end of the war became the only soldier of the German army to receive his country's highest and specially established award for bravery, the Golden Oak Leaves with Swords and Diamonds to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Figure 17 - Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds

Rudel began the war as a modest lieutenant, who was bullied by his colleagues for his love of milk and for a long time was not allowed to fly combat missions as incapable of learning to fly an aircraft, and ended it with the rank of Oberst, commander of the oldest and most famous aviation unit of the Ju-87 dive bombers (Schlachtgeschwader) SG2 " Immelman". Hitler forbade him to fly several times, believing that his death would be the hardest blow for the nation, Field Marshal Ferdinand Scherner called him worth an entire division, and Stalin valued his head at 100,000 rubles, which he promised to pay to anyone who could deliver Rudel, alive or dead, into the hands of the Soviet command.

Figure 18 - Junkers-87 "Stuka" (Junkers Ju-87 Stu rz ka mpfflugzeug - dive bomber)

After the war, Rudel's book of war memoirs, "Trotzdem", better known by its title, was published. English name“The Stuka Pilot” has since been reprinted many times in many languages ​​of the world with a total circulation of more than a million copies. However, the book, unanimously recognized in its time as a literary event and which over the past decades has become a military memoir classic, has never been translated into Russian, despite the fact that Rudel made almost all of his combat missions on the Eastern Front (according to other sources, the book was still published in Russia at least twice). The reasons for this will be clear to the reader after viewing the very first chapters. From the pages of the book we see a portrait of a man thinking, cold-blooded, strong-willed, fearless, with bright commanding qualities, although not alien to emotions, vulnerable, sometimes doubting himself, constantly struggling with inhuman tension and fatigue. At the same time, Rudel remains a convinced fascist. This is not some yesterday a student, hastily trained to fly according to an abbreviated program and thrown into battle, but a career Luftwaffe officer who strives to inflict maximum damage on the hated enemy by any means and with any weapon at his disposal, the meaning of his life is to exterminate the enemies of Germany, to conquer “living space” for her , successful missions, military career, awards, respect from subordinates, favorable attitude of Hitler, Goering, Himmler, adoration of the nation. Rudel will remain in the history of the Second World War and Hitler's Germany as a finished product of Nazi "indoctrination", the archetype of a fascist military officer, completely devoted to Hitler and the Third Reich, who, until his death, believed that Hitler's fight against the "Asian communist hordes" was the only possible one. and fair.

Figure 19 - Ju 87G "Stuka" - tank destroyer. With two 37 mm BK 37 cannons mounted in nacelles under the wings

Figure 20 - "Stukas" - combat sortie

In mid-April 1946, after being released from a hospital in Bavaria where he was recovering from an amputation, Rudel worked as a transport contractor in Kösfeld, Westphalia. Using his prosthesis, made especially for him by the famous master Streide from Tyrol, he took part in a number of skiing competitions and, together with his friends and fellow soldiers Bauer and Nierman, made a mountain trip to South Tyrol. Later, having lost his job and any prospects, and labeled as an “ardent militarist and fascist,” he moved to Rome, and in July 1948 to Argentina, where, along with a number of other famous Luftwaffe veterans, Generals Werner Baumbach and Adolf Galland, test pilots Behrens and Steinkamp, ​​former Focke-Wulf designer Kurt Tank helped create Argentine military aviation, and worked as a consultant in the aircraft industry.
Rudel, having settled in the vicinity of the Argentine city of Cordoba, where a large aircraft manufacturing plant was located, was actively involved in his favorite sports: swimming, tennis, javelin and discus throwing, alpine skiing and rock climbing in the Sierra Grande mountains. In his spare time, he worked on his memoirs, first published in Buenos Aires in 1949. Despite his prosthesis, he took part in the South American Alpine Ski Championships in San Carlos de Bariloja and took fourth place. In 1951, Rudel climbed Aconcagua in the Argentine Andes, the highest peak on the American mainland, and reached 7,000 meters when bad weather forced him to turn back.
Being in South America, Rudel met and became close friends with Argentine President Juan Peron and Paraguayan President Alfredo Stroessner. He was actively involved in social activities among Nazis and immigrants of German origin who had left Europe, participating in the work of the Kameradenhilfe, as his opponents believed, a “NSDAP-like” organization, which nevertheless sent food parcels to German prisoners of war and helped their families.
In 1951, Rudel published two political pamphlets in Buenos Aires - “We, the front-line soldiers and our opinion on the rearmament of Germany” and “A stab in the back or a Legend.” In the first book, Rudel, speaking on behalf of all front-line soldiers, claims that he is again ready to fight against the Bolsheviks and for the “living space” in the east, which is still necessary for the survival of the German nation. In the second, dedicated to the consequences of the assassination attempt on Hitler in June 1944, Rudel explains to the reader that responsibility for Germany’s defeat in the war lies with the generals who did not understand the strategic genius of the Fuhrer and, in particular, with the conspiratorial officers, since the political crisis caused by their assassination attempt allowed Allies to gain a foothold in Europe.
After the end of the contract with the Argentine government in the early 1950s. Rudel returned to Germany, where he continued his successful career as a consultant and businessman. In 1953, at the height of the first stage of the Cold War, when public opinion became more tolerant of former Nazis, he published his Trotzdem for the first time in his homeland. Rudel also attempted to run for the Bundestag as a candidate for the ultra-conservative DRP, but was defeated in the elections. He took an active part in the annual meetings of Immelman veterans, and in 1965 he opened a memorial to the fallen SG2 pilots in Burg-Staufenburg. Despite a stroke suffered in 1970, Rudel continued to be actively involved in sports and contributed to the organization of the first German championships for disabled athletes. He lived the last years of his life in Kufstein, Austria, continuing to embarrass official Bonn with his far-right political statements.
Hans-Ulrich Rudel died in December 1982 from a cerebral hemorrhage in Rosenheim, Germany, at the age of 66.

Aces of Japan

Nishizawa, Hiroyoshi

Figure 21 - Hiroyoshi Nishizawa

Hiroyoshi Nishizawa (January 27, 1920 – October 26, 1944) was a Japanese ace and Imperial Naval Air Corps pilot in World War II.
Nishizawa was arguably the best Japanese ace of the entire war, having scored 87 aerial victories by the time of his death. These statistics are not very accurate, since in Japanese aviation it was customary to keep statistics of the squadron, and not individual pilots, and also due to overly stringent requirements for accounting. Newspapers wrote after his death about 150 victories, he told his family about 147, some sources mention 102, and it is even assumed 202.
Hiroyoshi Nishizawa gained fame after his death, to a large extent this was facilitated by his comrade Saburo Sakai. Both of these pilots were among the best aces of Japanese naval aviation. Nishizawa was born on January 27, 1920 in Nagano Prefecture into the family of a successful manager. In June 1936, he enlisted in the navy, his decision being the result of an advertising campaign encouraging young men to join the Imperial Navy. Hiroyoshi had one dream - to become a pilot. He accomplished it by completing his flight training course in March 1939.
Before the outbreak of the Pacific War, Nishizawa served in the Chitose air group, which was based in the Marshall Islands and was armed with Type 96 Claude fighters. In February 1942 he was transferred to the 4th Air Group. Nishizawa shot down his first plane on February 3, 1942 over Rabaul, flying an outdated Claude.
Upon arrival in Rabaul of the Tainan air group, the pilot was included in the 2nd squadron. Nishizawa found himself in a pleasant campaign by Saburo Sakai. Sakai, Nishizawa and Ota formed the famous "Brilliant Trio". The young pilot quickly became a skilled air fighter. He scored his first victory as part of the Tainan air group on May 1, 1942, shooting down an American Airacobra over Port Moresby. The next day, two P40s fell victim to the guns of his fighter. The opponents of the pilots of the Tainan air group in May 1942 were pilots of the 35th and 36th squadrons of the US Air Force.
August 7, 1942 was the most successful day in the career of Hiroyoshi Nishizawa. During his very first collision with American carrier-based fighter pilots, the Japanese shot down six F4Fs from the VF5 squadron. Nishizawa's Zero was also damaged, but the pilot managed to return to his airfield.

Figure 22 - A6M2 "Zero" model 21 on the deck of the aircraft carrier "Shokaku" preparing for an attack on Pearl Harbor

On November 8, based on the remnants of the Tainan air group, the 251st air group was created.
On May 14, 1943, 33 Zero fighters escorted 18 Betty bombers flying to bomb American ships in Oro Bay. All aircraft of the 49th Fighter Group of the US Air Force, three P40 squadrons, scrambled to intercept. In the ensuing battle, Nishizawa shot down one Warhawk for certain and two presumably, then he scored his first victory over the twin-engine Lightning. In total, Japanese pilots recorded 15 aircraft shot down in air combat; in fact, the Americans lost only one aircraft, the P38 Lightning fighter from the 19th Fighter Squadron of the US Air Force.
Sooner or later, Nishizawa had to meet in the air the best fighter of the Pacific War, the F4U Corsair. Such a meeting took place on June 7, 1943 over Russell, when 81 Zeros engaged with a hundred American and New Zealand fighters. Four Corsairs from the VMF112 squadron were shot down in that battle, three pilots managed to escape. Nishizawa chalked up one US Marine Corps Corsair and one New Zealand Air Force P40.
For the rest of the summer of 1943, Nishizawa flew almost daily on combat missions in the Rendova and VellaLavella areas. American pilots from squadrons VMF121, VMF122, VMF123, VMF124 and VMF221 persistently and unsuccessfully hunted for the “devil of the Pacific Ocean”. For success in combat work, the commander of the 11th Air Fleet, Admiral Inichi Kusaka, solemnly presented Hiroyoshi Nishizawa with a samurai sword.
In September, the 251st Air Group began to prepare for night interceptions, and Nishizawa was transferred to the 253rd Air Group, which was based at the Tobira airfield in Rabaul. The ace fought in the new unit for only a month, after which he was recalled to instructor work in Japan in October. In November, Nishizawa was promoted to warrant officer.
The veteran of the Pacific battles perceived the new assignment as if he had been appointed a nurse in a children's nursery. Nishizawa was eager to go to the front. His numerous requests were satisfied: the pilot left for the Philippines at the disposal of the headquarters of the 201st air group. The Japanese were preparing to repel the American invasion of the Philippines.
The date of the first successful kamikaze attack is considered to be October 25, 1944, when Lieutenant Yukio Shiki and four other pilots attacked American aircraft carriers in Leyte Gulf. Nishizawa played a certain role in the success of the first suicide attack: he, at the head of four fighters, accompanied the planes of kamikaze pilots. Nishizawa shot down two patrol Hellcats, allowing Shiki to launch his last attack. Nishizawa himself asked the command to allow him to become a kamikaze. An experienced fighter pilot is too valuable to be used in a suicidal strike. Nishizawa's request was denied.
On October 26, Nishizawa flew the 1021st Naval Airlift Group from Cuba Island to Mabalacat (Clark Field area) to receive the new Zero. On the route, the plane went missing, the radio operator managed to send an SOS signal. For a long time nothing was known about the circumstances of the car’s death.
The circumstances of Nishizawa's death became clear only in 1982. The transport plane was intercepted over the northern tip of the island of Mindoro by a pair of Helkets from the VF14 squadron, which shot it down.
Hiroyoshi Nishizawa was posthumously awarded the rank of lieutenant. According to official data from the Japanese Navy, Nishizawa personally shot down 36 aircraft and damaged two during his service in the 201st Air Group. Shortly before his death, the pilot submitted a report to his commander, Commodore Harutoshi Okamoto, which indicated the number of victories Nishizawa won in air battles - 86. In post-war studies, the number of aircraft shot down by the ace increased to 103 and even 147.

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