Wilhelm Batz

Wilhelm Batz (born May 21, 1916 in Bamberg ; † September 11, 1988 in Ebern , Lower Franconia ) was a German Air Force officer and, with 237 confirmed aerial victories, is one of the most successful fighter pilots in World War II .

Life

Batz joined the Air Force in 1935 after graduating from high school . He was used as a flight instructor until 1942. After 5,000 flight hours and his promotion to lieutenant , he came to the Eastern Front as an adjutant to Jagdgeschwader 52 . After his 101st victory in the air, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on March 26, 1944 , the Oak Leaves on July 20, 1944 after his 188th victory in the air, and the swords on April 21, 1945 after his 235th victory in the air.

At the end of the war, with his 237 kills, he was in the top group of German fighter pilots, but the figures given in the Wehrmacht reports are often considered excessive.

After the war, Batz joined the German Air Force in 1956 , again as a flight instructor. First he led a training squadron , later the pilot school "S" in Memmingen . As a lieutenant colonel , he was the first commodore (December 31, 1961 to January 31, 1964) of Air Transport Squadron 63 .

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st class
• Trophy of honor for special achievement in the air war on November 14, 1943
• Front flight clasp for fighter pilots in gold
• German cross in gold on January 28, 1944
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with oak leaves and swords
  • Knight's Cross on March 26, 1944
  • Oak leaves on July 20, 1944 (526th award)
  • Swords on April 21, 1945 (145th award)

See also

• List of German fighter pilots in World War II
• List of bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Fighter Pilots
  • Oak leaves
  • Swords

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Christian Zentner , Friedemann Needy , The Great Lexicon of the Third Reich , Südwest Verlag, 1985, ISBN 978-3-517-00834-9 , p. 623: “Numbers of sinking and the number of aircraft shot down by the enemy were very often excessive because the Determining the actual successes usually took a long time ... "
2. ↑ ^{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. 204.