Erich Alfred Hartmann,” Bubi”, was a German fighter pilot during World War II and the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. He was born on 19 April 1922 in Weissach, Württemberg, to Doctor Alfred Erich Hartmann and his wife, Elisabeth Wilhelmine Machtholf but due to the Great Recession he moved to China with his parents. In 1928 his family was forced to return to Germany and his younger brother, Alfred, joined the Luftwaffe, served as a gunner on a Junkers Ju 87 in North Africa, he was captured by the British and spent four years as a prisoner of war.
Hartmann was educated at Volksschule in Weil im Schönbuch, the Gymnasium in Böblingen and National Political Institutes of Education in Rottweil. He began his career when he joined the glider training program of the fledgling Luftwaffe and was taught to fly by his mother, one of the first female glider pilots in Germany. In 1937, he gained his pilot’s license, allowing him to fly powered aircraft.
Flying Regiment in Neukuhren. On 1 March 1941, he progressed to the Luftkriegsschule 2 (Air War School 2) in Berlin-Gatow, making his first flight with an instructor four days later, followed in just under three weeks by his first solo flight. He completed his basic flying training in October 1941 and began advanced flight training at pre-fighter school 2 in Lachen-Speyerdorf on 1 November 1941. There, Hartmann learned combat techniques and gunnery skills. His advanced pilot training was completed on 31 January 1942, and, between 1 March 1942 and 20 August 1942, he learned to fly the Messerschmitt Bf 109 at the Jagdfliegerschule 2 (Fighter Pilot School 2).
A turning point in his career was on 31 March 1943, during a gunnery training flight, he ignored regulations and performed some aerobatics in his Bf 109 over the Zerbst airfield. His punishment was a week of confinement to quarters with the loss of two-thirds of his pay in fines. Afterward, Hartmann practiced diligently and adopted a new credo which he passed on to other young pilots: “Fly with your head, not with your muscles.”.
In October 1942, Hartmann was assigned to fighter wing Jagdgeschwader based at Maykop on the Eastern Front in the Soviet Union. The wing was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109G, but Hartmann and several other pilots were initially given the task of ferrying Junkers Ju 87 Stukas down to Mariupol. His first flight ended with brake failure, causing the Stuka to crash into and destroy the controller’s hut. Hartmann was assigned to III./JG 52, led by Gruppenkommandeur Major Hubertus von Bonin, and placed under the experienced Oberfeldwebel Edmund “Paule” Roßmann, although he also flew with such experienced pilots as Alfred Grislawski, Hans Dammers and Josef Zwernemann. After a few days of intensive mock combats and practice flights, Grislawski conceded that, although Hartmann had much to learn regarding combat tactics, he was a talented pilot. He flew his first mission on 14 October 1942 as Roßmann. He engaged an enemy fighter but failed to score and hits and nearly collided with it. Twenty-two days later, Hartmann claimed his first victory, an Ilyushin Il-2. On July 5th, Hartmann claimed four victories during the large dogfights that took place during the Battle of Kursk, on July 7th he claimed five more, and on the 8th and 9th of July 1943, he claimed four each day. By the start of August 1943, his tally stood at 42, but Hartmann’s tally had more than doubled by the end of the month, and on August 1st Harmann became an ace-in-a day by claiming five victories. During this month he had multiple encounters with enemy airplanes and by the 20th of August, he claimed his 90th victory, when he encountered an IL-2. Next month, on September 2, he was appointed Staffelkapitän of 9./JG 52.
He managed to win these many dogfights due to his strategy that was a great match for his situation on the Eastern Front. It was more of an anti-dogfighting strategy, really. Hartmann always sought quick, surprise attacks and avoided twisting-and-turning engagements that would have made him more vulnerable. This is exactly as it should have been, since he usually had free-hunt missions, a choice of targets, and the luxury of deciding when, and if, to engage. He preferred to talk-and-ambush, preferring to ambush and fire at close range rather than dogfight. He holds fire until was extremely close (20 m), then unleashes a short burst at point-blank range. Using this technique he needed to detect while remaining undetected.
On 29 October, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, at which point his tally stood at 148. On 14 November 1943, his Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 20499) suffered engine failure resulting in a forced landing at Kirovohrad airfield. He was such a good pilot on the eastern front due to his endurance and resiliency. Hartmann survived more than 1,400 missions, which amazes me almost as much as his kill tally. In May 1944, Hartmann claimes number 208 to 231 and took part in the fighting on the Romanian border. He defended the oil fields of Ploiești and engaged North American P-51 Mustang fighters for the first time and later that month, P-51s ran his Messerschmitt out of fuel and ammunition during intense maneuvering. He passed the 300 marks on 24 August 1944, a day on which he shot down 11 aircraft in two combat missions, representing his greatest ever victories-per-day ratio. This brought him an unprecedented number of aerial victories: 301. Hartmann became one of only 27 German soldiers in World War II to receive the Diamonds to his Knight’s Cross, Hitler personally giving it to him.
During Hartmann’s meeting with Hitler, Hartmann discussed at length the shortcomings of fighter pilot training. Allegedly, Hitler admitted to Hartmann that he believed that, “militarily, the war is lost,” and that he wished the Luftwaffe had “more like him and Rudel.”
Hartmann had his last victory over Brno, Czechoslovakia, on 8 May, the last day of the war in Europe, when he saw a Yak-9, ambushed it from his vantage point at 12,000ft (3,700m) and shot it down. After he landed, Hartmann learned that the Soviet forces were within artillery range of the airfield so JG 52 destroyed Karaya One, 24 other Bf 109s, and large quantities of ammunition. He and Hermann Graf were ordered to fly to the British sector to avoid capture by Soviet forces while the rest of JG52 was ordered to surrender to approaching Soviets but as Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 52, Hartmann chose to surrender his unit to members of the US 90th Infantry Division.
At the end of the War, he had 352 confirmed kills and was sentenced to 20 years in prison and 25 years of hard labor because he destroyed 345 “expensive” Soviet aircraft, but was released in late 1955 as a part of the last Heimkehrer. When Hartmann returned to West Germany, he reentered military service in the Bundeswehr and became an officer in the West German Air Force, where he commanded West Germany’s first all-jet unit from 6 June 1959 to 29 May 1962, Jagdgeschwader 71 “Richthofen”. From 1971 to 1974, Hartmann worked as a flight instructor in Hangelar, near Bonn, and also flew in fly-ins with other wartime pilots. Hartmann died on 20 September 1993, at the age of 71 in Weil im Schönbuch. In 2016, Hartmann’s former unit, JG 71, honored him by applying his tulip color scheme to their current aircraft
You can check some interviews with him by following this liks: video, written