Herbert Bauer (pilot)
Herbert Bauer (born April 16, 1919 in Innsbruck ; † March 24, 1997 in Buenos Aires ) was a " Stuka " pilot in the German Air Force during World War II and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross .
Military career
Herbert Bauer began his aviation career with the rank of non-commissioned officer on May 3, 1940 at the pilot school A / B 21 in Magdeburg and afterwards at the dive combat pilot school 2 near Graz .
Bauer flew his first combat mission on July 7, 1941 with the 1st Group of Stuka Squadron 2 "Immelmann" near Vitebsk on the Eastern Front . Here he was also awarded the Luftwaffe's Cup of Honor and the German Cross . On April 24, 1942, Bauer was seriously wounded in the jaw by a machine gun bullet in the port of Kronstadt during an attack on the Baltic fleet and was only able to fly missions again ten months later on February 23, 1943, when he was appointed Squadron Captain of the 3rd Squadron. After 700 flights at the front, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on December 31, 1943 .
On May 15, 1944 Bauer was transferred to the group commander of the II. Group of the battle squadron 103 to Metz and he was awarded the oak leaves on September 30, 1944 for his 1000th enemy flight, which he had completed on May 3, 1944 near Huși . On November 7, 1944, he was finally given command of the I. Group of the Battle Squadron 2 .
At the end of the war, he had now completed 1,071 frontline flights , now with the rank of major , destroyed 51 tanks and won 11 aerial victories. He was also shot down several times by flak, including at the Kuban bridgehead , and once near Székesfehérvár by airmen.
Awards
- Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st class
- Wound badge (1939) in black
- Cup of honor for special achievement in the aerial warfare on December 8, 1941
- German cross in gold on March 27, 1942
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with oak leaves
- Knight's Cross on December 31, 1943
- Oak leaves on September 30, 1944 (618th award)
- Front flight clasp for combat and fall combat units in gold with tag "Einsatzzahl 1000"
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 205.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bauer, Herbert |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German pilot, bearer of the Knight's Cross in World War II |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 16, 1919 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | innsbruck |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 24, 1997 |
| Place of death | Buenos Aires |