Hermann Graf - photo album

Click HERE to watch album of Hermann Graf.

 Hermann Graf and young boys from Hitlerjugend

Luftwaffe Ace Pilot: Hermann Graf

"German Luftwaffe members Erich Hartmann, Adolf Galland and Johannes Steinhoff achieved a measure of immortality for their flying and fighting prowess during World War II. A name missing from many histories of that conflict, however, is Hermann Graf — with 212 confirmed victories, one of the most decorated aces in the Luftwaffe.

Born on October 12, 1912, in Engen im Hegau, Germany, Hermann was the youngest of three sons. Aviation fascinated him from his youth; he was only 12 when he made his first glider flight. While still in school, Graf earned his ‘A,’ ‘B’ and ‘C’ glider certificates. According to Christer Bergström, author of Graf & Grislawski: A Pair of Aces, young Graf first worked as a locksmith apprentice, then later as a public assistance clerk apprentice. Many accounts incorrectly report he apprenticed as a blacksmith, emulating his father.

Günther Rall, Wilhelm Kriessmann, Erich Hartmann, Hans Meyer - video clips, interviews

Luftwafe Ace Hans Meyer

Luftwaffe Ace Erich Hartmann

Luftwaffe Ace Günther Rall - Interview

Interview with Luftwaffe pilot Wilhelm Kriessmann - Interviewed by Rodney Martin

The fast mower: 237 kills in 2 years - Wilhelm "Willy" Batz

Wilhelm "Willy" Batz

Wilhelm Batz was born in Bamburg on 21 may 1916. After completing his schooling, he joined the Luftwaffe in 1935. From beginning they recognized in him a young man with outstanding skills and with natural ability to be spectacular pilot.  Finally, his real story in Luftwaffe started from be a instructor at various Luftwaffe training schools in 1937. step by step, his career progressed from assistant instructor to flight instructor. Batz was as guarantee for Luftwaffe to sent on the front really good aviators.
After spent more than 5000 hours in the air, "Willy" really longed to join the many aviators he sent to the front and fight with them. last two year showed his superiors how much he deserve to realise his desire. The commander of Flying Schools ordered him released from his duties as an instructor and transferred to a combat unit.

Erich Rudorffer - longest living the Ace of Luftwaffe with more than 100 victories

Erich Rudorffer

Major Erich Rudorffer (born 1 November 1917) is a German former Luftwaffe fighter ace, one of a handful who served with the Luftwaffe through the whole of World War II. He is the 7th most successful fighter pilot in the history of air warfare and, since 2014, both the oldest jet fighter ace and the most successful ace still living, as well as the only living fighter pilot with more than 100 victories since the death of Walter Schuck in March 2015. Rudorffer claimed a total of 222 victories, fighting in all the major German theaters of war, including the European and Mediterranean Theatre of Operations and the Eastern Front. During the war he flew more than 1000 combat missions, was engaged in aerial combat over 300 times, was shot down by flak and enemy fighters 16 times and had to take to his parachute 9 times. He distinguished himself by shooting down 13 enemy planes in 17 minutes. His 222 aerial victories include 58 heavily armoured Il-2 Sturmovik ground attack aircraft. He also claimed that he sank a British submarine on 19 May 1941 off the Isle of Portland but Royal Navy losses do not corroborate this claim and the Luftwaffe only credited him with damaging the submarine. Rudorffer is the last living recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.

"Never hate, it only eats you alive" - Erich Hartmann. interview with the greatest Ace ever, which saw the sky.

Erich Hartmann, 1971

Credited with 352 victories, Major Erich Alfred Hartmann has two nicknames: “Bubi” from his comrades and “The Black Devil” from his adversaries. He is considered as the top fighter ace in the aerial warfare history, being the fighter pilot with the greatest score. He has crashed 14 times but not once was he shot down — some of the reasons of the crash included running out of fuel or even aircraft damage due to flying debris from the aircraft he has successfully hit. Even with his unrivaled score, he also has never lost a wingman. It was during his training under the most experienced fighter pilots of the Luftwaffe that he began to develop his tactics and after his 301st aerial victory, he was awarded with the Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten (Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds). It was the highest military decoration at the time.

His natural talents began to tell: excellent eyesight, lightning reflexes, an aggressive spirit, and an ability to stay cool while in combat.

The Final Interview with Erich Hartmann

Wolfgang "Wolf" Falck: "Father of the Night Fighters" and "Happy Falcon" - Colin Heaton interview

Major Falck became Kommodore of the first dedicated night fighter unit Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 / NJG 1 in June 1940, and received the Ritterkreuz in October 1940. He was to command NJG 1 for three years and in partnership with General Josef Kammhuber develop a highly effective night fighter force.


"CH-Wolf, when and where were you born?

Wolfgang Falck- I was born 19 August 1910 in Berlin.

CH- Tell us about your youth, and about your family.

Wolfgang Falck- My family came from West Prussia in Danzig, which is now Gdansk, Poland. My mother was from Bremen and she married my father who was from Prussia, and he was a pastor. My sister Ilsa was born there on 7 February 1898. My sister Irmgard was born on 19 July 1904. They both married officers and had children, but they have both been deceased for many years.

Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 / NJG 1

CH- How about your education Wolfgang; what was it like?

Wolfgang Falck- From 1917 to 1931 I was educated in the Realgymnasium at Berlin-Teptow and I passed the Abitur. I became a member of a flying group; some of us students who, under the watchful eye and control of a teacher built and flew models of gliders. Since we were living in Berlin I visited all of the air shows in the area, including airports where I admired and studied the different types of aircraft.

CH- How did you become a pilot?

Wolfgang Falck- That is quite a long story. On 1 April 1931 to March 1932 I was at the German

Interview with Luftwaffe Eagle Johannes Steinhoff (by Colin D. Heaton)

Johannes Steinhoff (1966)

This interview first appeared in World War II magazine in February 2000

"Johannes Steinhoff was truly one of the most charmed fighter pilots in the Luftwaffe. His exploits became legendary though his wartime career ended tragically. Steinhoff served in combat from the first days of the war through April 1945. He flew more than 900 missions and engaged in aerial combat in over 200 sorties, operating from the Western and Eastern fronts, as well as in the Mediterranean theater. Victor over 176 opponents, Steinhoff was himself shot down a dozen times and wounded once. Yet he always emerged from his crippled and destroyed aircraft in high spirits. He opted to ride his aircraft down on nearly every occasion, never trusting parachutes.

Steinhoff lived through lengthy exposure to combat, loss of friends and comrades, the reversal of fortune as the tide turned against Germany, and political dramas that would have broken the strongest of men. Pilots such as Steinhoff, Hannes Trautloft, Adolf Galland and many others fought not only Allied aviators but also their own corrupt leadership, which was willing to sacrifice Germany's best and bravest to further personal and political agendas. In both arenas, they fought a war of survival.

"Don’t trust dictators or madmen!". Interview with Walter Krupinski.

Walter Krupinski

"Lieutenant General Walter Krupinski was one of those men destined to tempt fate. Beginning his flight training on October 15, 1939, he flew fighters with distinction throughout World War II, serving in Germany’s most prestigious units and training and flying with some of the world’s greatest pilots, such as Adolf Galland, Otto Kittel, Dietrich Hrabak, Erich Rudorffer, Gerhard Barkhorn and Erich Hartmann. Krupinski’s leadership style was similar to that of the great Werner Mölders, and both men were held in high esteem by all who knew them. Krupinski’s fatherly approach and genuine concern for the welfare of his pilots, as well as his respect for captured enemy pilots, illustrated his humanity in a world where savagery was the order of the day.

By the time Krupinski was awarded the Ritterkrevz (Knight’s Cross) on October 29, 1942, he had been credited with shooting down 53 Allied aircraft. His final score of 197 could have been much higher, but he never claimed a probable victory or argued about a kill, always giving the victory to the other man. His chivalrous attitude and Prussian birth earned him the nickname ‘Graf (Count) Punski,’ a name that still lingers in the reunion halls and among his friends. After the war, Krupinski worked closely with Organization Gehlen (the West German Secret Service), with the United States and Royal air forces in the emerging North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and later as a coordinator and leader in the new Bundesluftwaffe (West Germany’s Federal Air Force).

Günther Rall - interview

This article was written by Colin Heaton and originally appeared in the September 1996 issue of World War II magazine.

Günther Rall

"From the time the Luftwaffe went to war on September 1, 1939, its fighter pilots immediately began to make their presence known. Slashing through the skies and inflicting enormous casualties, they amassed previously unimaginable scores of aerial victories. Very few of the great pilots survived the war, yet the fact that Germany’s three leading aces did is testimony to their skill, determination and luck.

Günther Rall served on the Eastern and Western fronts, rising to the rank of major and commanding fighter groups and entire squadrons. He finished World War II as the third-highest-scoring fighter ace of all time with 275 aerial victories. His final assignment was in the defense of the Reich itself, and his capture by the Americans was the beginning of a second career for him.

Continuing to rise in the Bundesluftwaffe (the new Luftwaffe), he trained in the United States and later commanded German jet fighter units in the 1960s. He is still good friends with many of his old Luftwaffe comrades, and he was reunited with many for the 80th birthday celebration for General Johannes Steinhoff on September 15, 1993, shortly before Steinhoff’s death.

After retiring from the new German Air Force, General Rall began working in an advisory capacity for several well-known companies. Today he enjoys retirement, his family and his many grandchildren, and enjoys corresponding with historians.

World War II: General, please tell us about your background.

Rall: I was born on March 10, 1918, in Gaggenau, which is a small village in the Black Forest. My father was a merchant, and when I was born he was on operations during World War I. He first saw me when he came back.

Interview with Adolf Galland -1994.

"He who wants to protect everything, protects nothing," is one of the fundamental rules of defense.

Adolf Galland

Adolf Galland during the Spanish
Civil War, in which he flew
Heinkel He-51 biplanes,
more often on strafing missions
 than in aerial combat.

This article was written by Colin D. Heaton and originally appeared in the January 1997 issue of World War II (taken from HistoryNet).

"When historians speak of pilots and the history of air combat, certain names invariably come up sooner or later–Manfred von Richthofen, Edward Mannock, René Fonck, Erich Hartmann, Alexander Pokryshkin, Johnny Johnson, Dick Bong… and Adolf Galland. Galland was the youngest general grade officer of either side in World War II, and at age 29 he was more competent in aerial combat, strategy and tactics than many of the experts nearly twice his age. Galland fought a hard battle against his superiors on the ground, which made the danger in the air inviting, almost welcome. Adolf Hitler and Luftwaffe Chief Hermann Göring, who were always trying to find fault and place the blame on others for their own failures, began pointing fingers at the fighter pilots. Was it not they who failed to stop the death and destruction delivered by Allied bombers? Was it not the fighter pilots who demanded more of the resources and new technology, yet produced the least results? Göring betrayed his pilots and publicly denounced them as cowards, provoking the Fighters’ Revolt in January 1945.

Story of Captain "Winkle" Brown strongly linked to history of Luftwaffe

Story of Captain "Winkle" Brown

Kurt Welter - Jet Expert

Text taken form War History Online

Kurt Welter (25 February 1916 – 7 March 1949) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and the most successful Jet Expert of World War II.  A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. He claimed a total of 63 aerial victories—that is, 63 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft—achieved in only 93 combat missions. He recorded 56 victories at night, including 33 Mosquitos,  and scored more aerial victories from a jet fighter aircraft than anyone else in World War II and potentially in aviation history.

Welter was born in Cologne-Lindenthal (Köln-Lindenthal) on 25 February 1916. He joined the military service of the Luftwaffein 1934 and was trained as a pilot. He showed a strong natural ability as a pilot and was subsequently selected for flight instructor training and served many years as a flight instructor. In 1943 Welter transferred to an operational night fighter unit flying contemporary piston engine fighter aircraft. On 18 October 1944, after 40 combat missions, Welter was awarded theKnight’s Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). In early 1945, Welter transferred to an experimental jet night fighter unit flying the Messerschmitt Me 262. On 11 March 1945 he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) for 48 aerial victories. Welter survived the war and was killed in an accident at a railroad crossing on 7 March 1949.

Luftwaffe legends

Adolf Galland - supplement

Adolf Galland - supplement: LlNK

Adolf "Dolfo" Joseph Ferdinand Galland

Txt gathered and prepared by Alex Halley - LINK
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