Horst Hannig

Horst Hannig (13 November 1921 – 15 May 1943) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and posthumous recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat.[1] Hannig is credited with 98 aerial victories claimed in over 350 combat missions. He was killed in action following combat with Royal Air Force (RAF) Spitfires on 15 May 1943.

Horst Hannig
Born13 November 1921
Frankenstein, Lower Silesia, Poland
Died15 May 1943 (1943-05-16) (aged 21)
near Rocquancourt, Normandy, German-occupied France
Buried
Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux German war cemetery, Lisieux, Normandy
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service/branch Luftwaffe
Years of service1939–43
RankOberleutnant (posthumously)
UnitJG 54, JG 2 "Richthofen"
Commands held7./JG 54, 2./JG 2
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Career

Born in 1921 in Frankenstein, Lower Silesia, Hannig joined the military service in the Luftwaffe as a Fahnenjunker (officer cadet) in October 1939. He was posted to the 6./Jagdgeschwader 54 "Grünherz" (JG 54—54th fighter wing) in early 1941.[2] His brother, Walter Hannig, received the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) on 28 April 1943 as an observer with Aufklärungsgruppe (reconnaissance group) 4.(F)/14 of the Luftwaffe.[3] Horst Hannig claimed his first aerial victory, a Tupolev SB-2, on the first day of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941.[4] He achieved his first 30 victories up to November 1941. On 9 May 1942, Leutnant (second Lieutenant) Hannig was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) having flown over 200 operations and claiming 48 victories. He and Leutnant Hans Beißwenger received the Knight's Cross from General der Flieger Helmuth Förster at Siverskaya. On 21 July 1942 he claimed his 54th victory, a Petlyakov Pe-2 reconnaissance aircraft, near Lake Ilmen. It was JG 54 2,500th aerial victory.[5]

Western Front and death
Focke Wulf Fw 190 A-4 of I./JG 2, flown by Leutnant Hannig, early 1943

On 27 January, Hannig was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2—2nd fighter fing) based in France. He replaced Oberleutnant Christian Eickhoff who had been killed in action the day before.[6] While with 2./JG 2 he achieved another 8 victories, including 1 four-engine United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) heavy bomber shot down on 16 February 1943.

Hannig was killed in action on 15 May 1943 against Royal Air Force (RAF) operations that targeted Caen-Carpiquet Airdrome and Poix Airdrome. He was shot down in his Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-4 (Werknummer 0734—factory number) near the airfield at Rocquancourt.[7] His victor was Squadron Leader J. Charles leading Yellow Section of No. 611 Squadron. He had managed to bail out but his parachute failed to open.[8] Hannig was posthumously awarded the 364th Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) on 3 January 1944 and posthumously promoted to Oberleutnant (first Lieutenant). He was interred at the Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux German war cemetery.[9]

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found documentation for 97 aerial victory claims. This number includes 90 on the Eastern Front and 7 on the Western Front, including one four-engined bomber.[10]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 54251". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km2). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size.[11]

Awards
  • Iron Cross (1939)
    • 2nd Class (17 July 1941)[42]
    • 1st Class (September 1941)[42]
  • Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe (15 September 1941)[2]
  • German Cross in Gold on 24 November 1941 as Leutnant in the II./Jagdgeschwader 54[3]
  • Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
    • Knight's Cross on 9 May 1942 as Leutnant and pilot in the 6./Jagdgeschwader 54[43][Note 3]
    • 364th Oak Leaves on 3 January 1944 (posthumously) as Leutnant and Staffelführer of the 2./Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen"[44][45]

Notes
  1. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 10:05.[35]
  2. This claim is not listed by Matthews and Foreman.[40]
  3. According to Scherzer as pilot in the 5./Jagdgeschwader 54.[44]

References

Citations
  1. Spick 1996, pp. 3–4.
  2. Obermaier 1989, p. 60.
  3. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 164.
  4. Weal 2007, pp. 7–8.
  5. Bergström et al. 2006, p. 100.
  6. Prien et al. 2010, p. 438.
  7. Prien et al. 2010, p. 447.
  8. Weal 2000, p. 100.
  9. Stockert 2013, p. 276.
  10. Matthews & Foreman 2015, pp. 478–480.
  11. Planquadrat.
  12. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 478.
  13. Prien et al. 2003, p. 228.
  14. Prien et al. 2003, p. 235.
  15. Prien et al. 2003, p. 229.
  16. Prien et al. 2003, p. 237.
  17. Prien et al. 2003, p. 231.
  18. Prien et al. 2003, p. 233.
  19. Prien et al. 2003, p. 234.
  20. Prien et al. 2003, p. 238.
  21. Prien et al. 2003, p. 239.
  22. Matthews & Foreman 2015, pp. 478–479.
  23. Prien et al. 2005, p. 220.
  24. Prien et al. 2005, p. 224.
  25. Prien et al. 2005, p. 222.
  26. Prien et al. 2005, p. 223.
  27. Matthews & Foreman 2015, pp. 479–480.
  28. Prien et al. 2006, p. 144.
  29. Prien et al. 2006, p. 150.
  30. Prien et al. 2006, p. 145.
  31. Prien et al. 2006, p. 146.
  32. Prien et al. 2006, p. 151.
  33. Prien et al. 2006, p. 147.
  34. Prien et al. 2006, p. 152.
  35. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 479.
  36. Prien et al. 2006, p. 154.
  37. Prien et al. 2006, p. 148.
  38. Prien et al. 2006, p. 155.
  39. Prien et al. 2006, p. 149.
  40. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 480.
  41. Prien et al. 2010, p. 443.
  42. Thomas 1997, p. 242.
  43. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 213.
  44. Scherzer 2007, p. 365.
  45. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 76.

Bibliography
  • Bergström, Christer. "Bergström Black Cross/Red Star website". Identifying a Luftwaffe Planquadrat. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  • Bergström, Christer; Dikov, Andrey; Antipov, Vlad; Sundin, Claes (2006). Black Cross / Red Star Air War Over the Eastern Front, Volume 3, Everything for Stalingrad. Hamilton MT: Eagle Editions. ISBN 978-0-9761034-4-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Matthews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2015). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 2 G–L. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-19-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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