Hans-Joachim Jabs

Hans-Joachim Jabs in August 1944

Hans-Joachim Jabs (born November 14, 1917 in Lübeck , † October 26, 2003 in Lüdenscheid ) was an officer in the German Air Force in World War II . He was active in both day and night hunting and scored a total of 50 kills.

Life

Jabs began his flying career as a pilot in the II. Group of Destroyer Squadron 76 (II./ZG 76) and was deployed in France and during the Battle of Britain . At the end of 1940 he was already one of the most successful Bf 110 destroyer pilots with 16 kills , for which he had already been awarded the Knight's Cross on October 1, 1940 . At that time he had the rank of first lieutenant.

With the reorganization of II./ZG 76 to III. Group of the Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (III./NJG 3) in November 1941 began Jab's night fighter career. After he had finally switched to NJG 1 , where he had commanded its fourth group with the rank of captain since August 1943, he became a squadron commodore of this night fighter unit in March 1944 . In the same month, on March 24th, he received the oak leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross after he had already booked more than 40 aerial victories. He was the 430th member of the German Wehrmacht to receive this award.

Jabs remained Commodore of NJG 1 until the end of the war and ended his military career as a lieutenant colonel. On 710 enemy flights he had a total of 50 kills, 28 of them during the night. After the war he worked as a businessman.

Web links

Hans-Joachim Jabs (information on www.das-ritterkreuz.de)

References and comments

1. ^ ^{A b} Herbert Ringlstetter: Night fighters and bombers. German Air Force 1935–1945. Gera Mond Verlag, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-86245-326-9 , p. 173.
2. ^ Gordon Williamson: Aces of the Reich. Arms and Armor, London 1989, ISBN 0-85368-986-5 , p. 122.