One of the many blurbs on Hartmann is HERE. One of the things the bottom of the article points out is the disparity in numbers of kills between the Germans and Americans. It’s worth reading all the way though.
Nobody Asked Me…
Veritas nos liberabit
One of the many blurbs on Hartmann is HERE. One of the things the bottom of the article points out is the disparity in numbers of kills between the Germans and Americans. It’s worth reading all the way though.
The Germans who flew in the Kondor Legion in Spain and later against the Russians enjoyed a lot of success. Some did well in Europe against bombers, but that’s where the numbers were racked up – not against British or American fighters. That’s not to diminish what the did or their skill in flying.
Great photo
Fly until you die.
+1.
I read that many of the Red Barron’s kills were made against damaged or mechanically damaged aircraft trying to leave the AO. Not that he wasn’t a skilled and brave pilot, just that he also had a lot of easy kills. But 350 is an amazing number. I’m surprised the Russians let him live.
LL- Excellent point!
Gerry/WSF- That’s pretty much what they did. The survival rates were horrendous across all the war years.
CP- Agreed, and frankly, I am too. I can’t help but wonder if Gehlen’s organization had something to do with his survival…
What many fail to realize is that the German aviators mostly flew over their territory so if their aircraft was damaged or they bailed out they often returned to the fight within a short time.
They spent much more time in combat than the Allied Forces as a rule. They also had the enemy coming to them and did not have to spend 4 – 6 hours or more enroute and returning to base to get into combat.
Adolf Galland mentioned these facts in his book about the German Luftwaffe.
I am amazed that they were mentally able to repeatedly expose themselves to death without a breakdown – at least I haven’t heard of any that did go over the edge. Must have been the German Beer.
Meryl- Excellent point also! They had multiple engagements per day, and Galland’s book is an excellent look into the machinations of the Luftwaffe and it’s operations.
… on 8 May, 1945, the last day of the war.
The last day of the war IN EUROPE maybe.
Nuking of Hiroshima – 6 August, 1945
Nuking of Nagasaki – 9 August, 1945
Japanese surrender announcement – 15 August, 1945 (US time 14 August)
Japanese signing of surrender – 2 September, 1945
A lot of soldiers, sailors, aviators, and civilians fought and died in WWII after May, 1945.
A great story about Hartmann.
Did you know that Hans Rudel sank a Soviet Battleship?
http://www.warhistoryonline.com/guest-bloggers/the-day-that-stuka-pilot-hans-ulrich-rudel-sank-the-soviet-battleshipmara.html