Hermann Graf

Infobox Military Person
name=Hermann Graf
lived=birth date|1912|10|24|df=y — death date and age|1988|4|11|1912|10|24|df=y
placeofbirth=Engen
placeofdeath=Engen


caption=Hermann Graf
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=Luftwaffe
serviceyears=1939 - 1945
rank=Oberst
commands=JGr 50(21 June 1943)
JG 11(11 November 1943)
JG 52(1 October 1944)
unit=JG 51, JG 52, JGr 50 and JG 11
battles=World War II
*Operation Barbarossa
*Defense of the Reich
awards="Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, Schwerten und Brillianten"
laterwork=Salesman for an electronics manufacturer

Colonel Hermann Graf (24 October, 1912 - 11 April, 1988) was a German Luftwaffe World War II fighter ace. During the war he became one of only 27 people to be awarded the Knight's Cross with leaves, swords, and diamonds. He served on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. He is credited with 212 [Some sources claim 214 as the correct, with 12 victories in the West.] victories, 202 of which were on the Eastern Front. First to achieve 200 aerial victories. He flew more than 830 sorties.

Early life

Hermann Graf was born in Engen in Baden. Coming from a modest background and with relatively poor schooling, Graf first took an apprenticeship as a locksmith, and later worked as a clerk. Graf was a talented soccer player, playing as goalkeeper. Indeed, had the war not intervened, he may have become a German international. He did, like many other German youths, pursue gliding and this led to his being accepted to basic aviation training in 1936, and in 1938 Graf completed the advanced flying training. He was originally selected for multi-engine aircraft training, but he wanted to fly fighters and was assigned to 2./JG 51 [For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organization] on 31 May 1939 with the rank of "Unteroffizier".

World War 2

At the outbreak of War on 1 September 1939 JG 51 was stationed at the French border. Graf, now a "Feldwebel", flew many patrols, but had no opportunity to engage the enemy during this "phoney war".

In early 1940 Graf was posted to a training unit, during which time he was promoted to "leutnant" on 1 May. On 6 October Graf was assigned to 9./JG 52. His wingman at the time was Leopold Steinbatz. A few days later JG 52 was transferred to Romania, to help train Romanian pilots.

In May 1941 III./JG 52 was transferred to Greece to support Operation Merkur, the invasion of Crete. The unit flew mostly ground attack missions during this time. In early June the unit transferred back to Romania, and from 22 June the unit supported Operation Barbarossa. On 1 August JG 52 transferred to forward airfields in Ukraine, and on 4 August Graf got his first aerial victory against an I-16 while escorting a Ju 87 strike against Kiev. At this point he had clearly found his 'shooting eye' and quickly racked up further victories.

By early 1942 he had 45 victories, for which he was awarded the "Ritterkreuz" on 24 January. On 23 March Graf was appointed "Staffelkapitän" of 9./JG 52. Shortly thereafter he had an impressive string of successes, shooting down 48 enemy aircraft over a period of three weeks. On 14 May he shot down 8 enemy aircraft, and on 17 May he was awarded the "Eichenlaub" to his "Ritterkreuz" for reaching 104 victories. Only two days later he was awarded the "Schwerter", after adding a further two victories to his tally.

From August onwards JG 52 supported "Heeresgrüppe Süd's" advances towards Stalingrad and Graf continued shooting down enemies at a high rate. In September alone he shot down 64 enemy aircraft, including 10 on 23 September. During this month he also became the first pilot to down 200 enemy aircraft, earning him the "Brillianten" on 16 September. Some time after this Graf was ordered not to fly operationally any more, as the High Command was concerned about the potential morale loss if he was to be shot down. Indeed, Graf received heavy damage to his aircraft on several occasions, including a cannon hit to the cockpit, and half the rudder shot away.

In early 1943 Graf, now a major, was sent to France to command "Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost", an advanced fighter pilot school stationed near Bordeaux. On 21 June he was appointed commander of "Jagdgruppe 50", a high-altitude fighter unit charged with combatting the increasing menace of the high flying RAF De Havilland Mosquitos. Here Graf pulled together the Karaya Quartet.

In 1943, Graf used his fame and influence to intervene to save all the best German soccer players from front-line service, having them transferred into JGr 50, under the pretext that they were "badly needed technical experts". These included Fritz Walter, future captain of the West German World Cup winning team in 1954. Walter was the star in Graf's own soccer team, following Graf from JGr 50 to JG 1, JG 11, and JG 52 [Bergström] .

During this assignment Graf shot down three more enemy aircraft, including two B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. In October the unit was disbanded by Göring and absorbed into I./JG 301, and Graf was promoted to "Oberst" and appointed "Geschwaderkommodore" of JG 11 on 11 November. JG 11 was tasked with Reichsverteidigung (Defense of the Reich), and despite officially being banned from flying operational missions Graf managed to down 6 more aircraft over the next four months.

On 29 March 1944 Graf shot down one P-51 Mustang and in the confusion of the dog fight collided with another. He managed to bail out, but was injured and had to spend some time in a hospital. After recovering he was appointed Kommodore of his old unit JG 52 on 1 October, which was still operating on the Eastern Front. With German forces in retreat by this time Graf did not have opportunity for air combat. He managed to bring his tally to 212 before he surrendered to the Americans on 8 May 1945. Graf had disobeyed an order from General Hans Seidemann. Seidemann had ordered him and Erich Hartmann to fly to the British sector, to avoid capture by the Russians, with the rest of the wing surrendering to the Soviets. Instead Graf chose to surrender his unit to the 90th US Infantry Division.

Of his 212 victories, 10 were achieved in the West, and 6 of these were against heavy bombers.

After the War

Along with most of the JG 52 personnel, Graf was handed over to the Russians shortly after his surrender. Having become famous via the Nazi propaganda machine and as the Commander of JG 52, Graf was singled out for attention by the Soviets. He was imprisoned until 29 December 1949. This relatively early release was by many perceived to be caused by his willingness to co-operate with his Soviet captors, something fellow pilots criticised him for, especially following a 1950s book by fellow fighter ace & Soviet POW Hans "Assi" Hahn entitled "I Tell the Truth".

This led to Graf being largely ostracised from post-war Luftwaffe comrade associations. After his release Graf became a salesman for an electronics manufacturer, and eventually rose to Head of Sales for the company. In 1965 Graf was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and he died in his hometown Engen on 11 April 1988.

Quote

"We have to begin a new thinking, I am on the Russian side, and therefore I would like to live with the Russians.... I am happy now to be a Russian prisoner. I know that all I have done is wrong and I have now only one wish. That is to fly with the Russian Air Force." -Herman Graf [Toliver & Constable, p. 267]

Awards

* Wound Badge in Silver
* Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe
* Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds
* German Cross in Gold (April 1942)
* Iron Cross 2. and 1. class
* Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
** Knight's Cross (24 January 1942)
** 93. Oak Leaves (17 May 1942)
** 11. Swords (19 May 1942)
** 5. Diamonds (16 September 1942)
* Mentioned five times in the Wehrmachtbericht

References

----

* Berger, Florian. "Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges". Selbstverlag Florian Berger, 2006. ISBN 3-9501307-0-5.
* Bergström, Christer. "Graf & Grislawski". Vlad Antipov, 2002.
* Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. "Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945". Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
* Jochim, Berthold K. "Oberst Hermann Graf 200 Luftsiege in 13 Monaten Ein Jagdfliegerleben". Rastatt, Germany: VPM Verlagsunion Pabel Moewig, 1998. ISBN 3-8118-1455-9.
* Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit. "Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 - 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II". Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.
* Toliver, Raymond & Constable, Trevor. "Horrido". Bantam Books

External links

*
* [http://www.luftwaffe.cz/graf.html Bio] This is a good bio, the site also contains additional info on other German WWII Fighter Pilots.
* [http://www.historynet.com/wars_conflicts/world_war_2/3038676.html Hermann Graf: World War II Luftwaffe Ace Pilot] Article by Marielle D. Marne