Hartmann.Photo's

Major

352

Air Victories

Erich Hartmann, Major (Germany)

Erich Hartmann began his combat career on the Eastern Front, in Russia, where initially many of his opponents were both unskilled and were flying aircraft completely outmatched by his Messerschmitt Bf.109E. Eventually, Russian pilots amassed some skill of their own and flew more contemporary designs, but it made no difference to Hartmann.

At one point, Hartmann had a black tulip painted on his Bf.109's nose, but Soviet pilots learned to identify him by the symbol and avoided him. Only after he painted over the tulip and became anonymous again was he able to continue scoring victories to his final tally of 352.
"Bubi" ("boy" or "kid") Hartmann flew over 800 missions during the war. A superb fighter pilot and a brilliant marksman, Hartmann usually took his victims by surprise, flying so close before firing that it was often difficult to avoid the pieces of his opponent's aircraft. In fact, his plane was forced down eight times, severely damaged by flying debris.

He was captured once, but managed to escape when the truck in which he was being carried was strafed by a Stuka. Hartmann survived the war, but spent ten years in a Soviet labor camp before being freed to West Germany.

JG 52

Hartmann had flown 800 operational sorties,crashed 12 times and baled out once.

Russian Nickname : The Black Devil