Hi to all on PF ,
WW2 and pilots are a very popular period and subject ...whatever nationality they are .
Through my door came the latest releases from UP Miniaturen , this time we have another addition to the "Club 300" series , based on a photograph of Erich Hartmann and Gerhard Barkhorn , german fighter aces .
As has become my review style lets have a look at the history books and find out a little about the subjects.
Firstly Erich Hartmann , born on 19 April 1922 joining the Luftwaffe in 1940 completeing his pilots training by 1942 and was a man of many nicknames , amongst them "Bubi", "The Blond Knight" and "The Black Devil".
He was awarded the Knights cross with diamonds on the 25 August 1944 for claiming 301 aerial victories scoring his 352nd and last aerial victory on 8 May 1945, after which his unit JG 52 surrendered to the US army who handed them all over to the Soviets who convicted him of war crimes ( a sentence later declared wrong in 1997) , he was sentanced to 25 years of which he served 10 in the hell that was the Gulags released in 1955.
In 1956 he joined the reformed West German Luftwaffe commanding JG 71 , retiring from the Budeswher in 1970 , mainly as a result of his opposition to the use of the F104 Starfighter .
After this he stayed flying , this time as a civilian flying Instructor and aslo in an aerobatics team until in 1990 he was seriously ill with angina . He recovered and, by 1983, was medically cleared to fly, after which he resumed instructing at the various flying schools. However, fearing a second attack, he became cautious and limited his appearances at public events. He stated: "I am retired and I am a civilian, and now I like to have my rest and peace. I do not live for exhibitions.
Erich Hartmann passd away on 20th september 1993 .
Now onto Gerhard Barkhorn , born 20 March 1919 , he joined the Luftwaffe in 1937 completing his pilot training in 1939 , nicknamed "Gerd" by his fellow pilots.
Barkhorn flew his first combat missions in May 1940, during the Battles of France and Britain without scoring a kill.
His first victory came in July 1941 and his total rose steadily against Soviet opposition. In March 1944 he was awarded when he received the Knights Cross with swords and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) for 250 aerial victories.
Despite being the second highest scoring pilot in history of aviation Barkhorn was not awarded the Diamonds to his Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords after achieving his 300th victory on 5 January 1945.
Barkhorn flew 1,104 combat sorties and was credited with 301 victories on the Eastern Front flying against the Soviets.
Barkhorn survived the war and was taken prisoner iby the Western Allies in May 1945 and released later that year. After the war Barkhorn joined the Bundesluftwaffe, Barkhorn in 1956, rising to command JaboG 31 “Boelcke” and retiring in 1976 with the rank of Generalleutnant.
On 6 January 1983, Barkhorn was involved in a car accident with his wife Christl. She died instantly and Gerhard died two days later on 8 January 1983.
Continued in next post:
Nap
WW2 and pilots are a very popular period and subject ...whatever nationality they are .
Through my door came the latest releases from UP Miniaturen , this time we have another addition to the "Club 300" series , based on a photograph of Erich Hartmann and Gerhard Barkhorn , german fighter aces .
As has become my review style lets have a look at the history books and find out a little about the subjects.
Firstly Erich Hartmann , born on 19 April 1922 joining the Luftwaffe in 1940 completeing his pilots training by 1942 and was a man of many nicknames , amongst them "Bubi", "The Blond Knight" and "The Black Devil".
He was awarded the Knights cross with diamonds on the 25 August 1944 for claiming 301 aerial victories scoring his 352nd and last aerial victory on 8 May 1945, after which his unit JG 52 surrendered to the US army who handed them all over to the Soviets who convicted him of war crimes ( a sentence later declared wrong in 1997) , he was sentanced to 25 years of which he served 10 in the hell that was the Gulags released in 1955.
In 1956 he joined the reformed West German Luftwaffe commanding JG 71 , retiring from the Budeswher in 1970 , mainly as a result of his opposition to the use of the F104 Starfighter .
After this he stayed flying , this time as a civilian flying Instructor and aslo in an aerobatics team until in 1990 he was seriously ill with angina . He recovered and, by 1983, was medically cleared to fly, after which he resumed instructing at the various flying schools. However, fearing a second attack, he became cautious and limited his appearances at public events. He stated: "I am retired and I am a civilian, and now I like to have my rest and peace. I do not live for exhibitions.
Erich Hartmann passd away on 20th september 1993 .
Now onto Gerhard Barkhorn , born 20 March 1919 , he joined the Luftwaffe in 1937 completing his pilot training in 1939 , nicknamed "Gerd" by his fellow pilots.
Barkhorn flew his first combat missions in May 1940, during the Battles of France and Britain without scoring a kill.
His first victory came in July 1941 and his total rose steadily against Soviet opposition. In March 1944 he was awarded when he received the Knights Cross with swords and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) for 250 aerial victories.
Despite being the second highest scoring pilot in history of aviation Barkhorn was not awarded the Diamonds to his Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords after achieving his 300th victory on 5 January 1945.
Barkhorn flew 1,104 combat sorties and was credited with 301 victories on the Eastern Front flying against the Soviets.
Barkhorn survived the war and was taken prisoner iby the Western Allies in May 1945 and released later that year. After the war Barkhorn joined the Bundesluftwaffe, Barkhorn in 1956, rising to command JaboG 31 “Boelcke” and retiring in 1976 with the rank of Generalleutnant.
On 6 January 1983, Barkhorn was involved in a car accident with his wife Christl. She died instantly and Gerhard died two days later on 8 January 1983.
Continued in next post:
Nap
Thanks for the post!
