Aces

Luftwaffe ace Johannes Steinhoff. Began his career as a naval aviator before transferring to the Luftwaffe. Flew and survived the entire war, 1939-1945, ending up with 176 confirmed victories. He flew in the hand-picked ME-262 "Jet Experten" squadron led by Adolf Galland near the war's end. Badly burned and disfigured in a non-combat ME-262 crash in April 1945, he recovered and survived the war and eventually rose to be Chief of Staff of the West German Luftwaffe. In 1985 he accompanied West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and US President Ronald Reagan during the controversial visit to Bitburg military cemetery. His book "The Final Hours" is one of my favorites. Died Feb 1994.

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Albert Ernst (1912/1986) and his Jagdtiger unit surrendering to Americans at Iserlohn in the Ruhr area.

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"...on April 16, 1945, Capt Albert Ernst decided to surrender to the 99th Infantry Div in the city of Iserlohn, Germany, where a camera forever immortalized that moment.

In his passage through the Jagdtigers Albert Ernst had destroyed approximately a total of 20 armored cars, so his total victories over enemy tanks amounted to 75 at the time of his capture. With all the martiality that he could, with a serious gesture and a tired face, he squared himself and bowing his head before the American officer to whom he was surrendering, shook his hand. Thus ended the war for Albert Ernst..."

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"... in the same city in which he surrendered, thus avoiding the destruction of the city in an unnecessary fight in the last blows of the war, Ernst would quietly live the last years of life in peace in the city that he helped save from the barbarism of the war, being admired and respected by all. Years later it would be discovered that the only city in the Ruhr area where the Germans surrendered peacefully was Iserlohn..."
 
Polish Sq. Leader Eugeniusz ‘Dziubek’ Horbaczewski transferring his kills to his newly delivered P-51 Mustang on Aug 3, 1944. Fifteen day after, he was shot down and killed.
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Born on Sep 28, 1917, Horbaczewski was a Polish fighter pilot, a flying ace of WW2, also known as "Dziubek" (the diminutive of 'the beak' in Polish). According to official lists, Horbaczewski was the third highest scoring Polish fighter ace, with 16.5 confirmed kills (16 individual and one shared) and one probable kill.
 
Imperial Japanese Navy Warrant Officer Takeo Tanimizu (born 1919) poses beside his Mitsubishi A6M5c Model 52 Reisen fighter, tail code 03-09 (c/n 32374). At the time this photograph was taken, Tanimizu was assigned to the 303 Hikótai, 203 Kókūtai which was based at Kagoshima. The photograph was likely taken sometime in June, 1945.

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All told, Tanimizu was credited with between 18 to 32 kills, making him an ace. It was rare that Japanese fighters carried kill markings (as kill scores weren’t officially kept) but Tanimizu chose to put them on his aircraft as a way to boost morale among the many inexperienced pilots that predominated the ranks by 1945.

Tanimizu, during and long after WW2, felt regret and sadness for the lives he took in combat. He did his duty nonetheless. After the war, he erected a small Buddhist shrine in his residence and every night, would offer prayers to those men whose lives he had cut short.

Tanimizu died on March 12, 2008 at the age of 88.
 
Pierre Le Gloan: The ace on both sides

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Le Gloan born in Kergrist-Moëlou (Fr) on June 1, 1913. He joined the French Armee de l’Air in 1931 as soon as he was old enough to enlist. With 18 kills to his name and France's fourth-highest-scoring ace of WW2, he remains the only pilot in history to become an ace on both sides of the same conflict.

When war came he was flying a Morane-Saulnier MS.406. On November 23, 1939 I have claimed his first kill of him, a Dornier DO.17 reconnaissance aircraft. Another DO.17 fell to his guns from him on March 2, 1940.

All pilots in Le Gloan’s squadron were then re-equipped with the newer and better Dewoitine D.520. During the Battle of France in the summer of 1940 he shot down four German and Italian bombers: two Heinkel 111 planes and two Fiat BR.20 bombers.

The highlight of Le Gloan’s career was to come on June 15. His squadron met a squadron of Italian CR.42 fighters. Attacking with enthusiasm, he shot down no less than three of them. Encountering another CR.42 and a BR.20 on his way back to base, Le Gloan attacked and shot down both of them. His five-kill streak brought him up to 11 kills, well above the five required for ace status. He was also promoted to 2nd Lt.

On June 20, his squadron was transferred to Algeria, then a French colony. With the fall of France and the installation of Marshal Petain’s Vichy government, the French forces in N. Africa were under Vichy command. To Le Gloan it made no difference. He’d flown, fought and killed for France. Now, he would do the same for Vichy.

His second fighting streak came in June and July of 1941. Fighting for Vichy and taking on RAF, Le Gloan shot down five of the Hurricane fighters, a Gloster Gladiator and another aircraft that remains unidentified. He’d taken down 11 for France and had added another seven for Vichy.

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After the Vichy surrender all former Vichy forces were siding with the Allies including Le Gloan’s fighter squadron. Reequipped in May 1943 with the American P-39 Airacobra, that was his death sentence: an external fuel tank mounted under the belly meant to be jettisoned when empty or if about to enter a dogfight.

On Sept 11, 1943 your Airacobra began to experience mechanical problems. As the Airacobra was not the finest fighter ever built, this wasn’t unusual for pilots who had to fly them. With smoke streaming from his aircraft, Le Gloan decided to return to base and land, forgetting to jettison the drop tank. It was a fatal mistake.

As he touched the ground the undercarriage collapsed and the drop tank, still full, ruptured instantly. As the Airacobra screeched along the runway, the mixture of aviation fuel and sparks caused the plane to erupt into a fireball. Pierre Le Gloan, 18-kill ace, only pilot ever to become an ace on both sides in the same war, was burned alive.
 
On April 22, 1945, 1st Lt. Jeremiah O’Keefe (1923/2016) shot down five Japanese kamikaze aircraft off Okinawa in his F4U Corsair (becoming an ace in a single day) and then brought down another two six days later, which made him the highest scoring ace in Okinawa at the time.
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Adolph Gysbert Malan, aka "Sailor" (3 Oct 1910 – 17 Sept 1963), was a South African fighter pilot and flying ace in the RAF who led No. 74 Squadron RAF during the Battle of Britain.
He finished his fighter career with 27 destroyed and 7 shared destroyed, being one of the RAF's leading aces. He was awarded a DFC with bar, as well as the Distinguished Service Order with bar.

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He was a superb shot but what made him stand out was his understanding and application of fighter tactics, instead of simply referring to the old rule books. During the early phases of the Battle of Britain German bombers, escorted by fighters, were met by RAF fighters flying tight formations which provided little scope for manoeuvre when battle was joined. The German Luftwaffe fighters used a looser formation allowing a great flexibility in combat. Malan and his senior pilots decided to abandon the ‘vic’ formation used by the RAF, and turned to a four in line astern formation. He also ordered that his men train their deflection shooting, and that they should get to 250 metres of their target and fire as opposed to the more conventional 400 metres.

After the war, Malan became leader of the Torch Commando, a liberal anti-authoritarian organisation that opposed the introduction of the apartheid system.
 
Louis said:
Adolph Gysbert Malan, aka "Sailor" (3 Oct 1910 – 17 Sept 1963), was a South African fighter pilot and flying ace in the RAF who led No. 74 Squadron RAF during the Battle of Britain.
He finished his fighter career with 27 destroyed and 7 shared destroyed, being one of the RAF's leading aces. He was awarded a DFC with bar, as well as the Distinguished Service Order with bar.

jpaaInw.jpg


He was a superb shot but what made him stand out was his understanding and application of fighter tactics, instead of simply referring to the old rule books. During the early phases of the Battle of Britain German bombers, escorted by fighters, were met by RAF fighters flying tight formations which provided little scope for manoeuvre when battle was joined. The German Luftwaffe fighters used a looser formation allowing a great flexibility in combat. Malan and his senior pilots decided to abandon the ‘vic’ formation used by the RAF, and turned to a four in line astern formation. He also ordered that his men train their deflection shooting, and that they should get to 250 metres of their target and fire as opposed to the more conventional 400 metres.

After the war, Malan became leader of the Torch Commando, a liberal anti-authoritarian organisation that opposed the introduction of the apartheid system.
Click to expand...
I think he got his “sailor” nickname because he was a merchant seaman earlier in his life before joining the RAF.
 
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Lt. Walther Oberloskamp aboard on his StuG III with 40 kill rings on the barrel. Oberloskamp (born January 27, 1920) was one of the top scoring Panzer aces of the Heer, responsible for destroying over 40 tanks with his StuG III G while serving as Zugführer (platoon leader) in the 3./Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 667. For his achievements, he was awarded the Knight's Cross on May 10, 1943.
His career ended on the battlefield on June 26, 1944, east of Minsk. He was 24 years old.
And his unit would be nearly wiped out in July, before being rebuilt and reassigned to the Western Front.
 
Günther Viezenz (1921/1999) was a highly decorated German Hauptmann in the Wehrmacht: Record Holder of the tank destruction badge who destroyed 21 enemy tanks. He single handedly destroyed 21 enemy tanks with hand held explosives such as a panzerfaust, satchel charge or hand grenade.

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After the war Viezenz joined the Bundeswehr on April 1, 1956 and retired as Oberst on March 30, 1980.
 
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Cpt. David McCampbell (1910/1996) a Medal of Honor recipient and leading Navy ace of all time, had 34 victories (all japs) in his F6F Hellcat. He shot down five aircraft in a single mission on June 19, 1944 and a record nine in a day on Oct 24, 1944.

Following WW2, McCampbell served as the Senior Naval Aviation Advisor to the Argentine Navy, stationed at Buenos Aires, from 1948 to Jan 1951. Retirement from the navy on July 1, 1964.

The Navy honored his service by commissioning the guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG-85) in 2002.
 
It may not look like much what with not bristling with guns like a WWII Cruiser but the McCambell carries the Aegis Combat System which uses powerful computer and radar technology to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets.

PUSAN, Republic of Korea (Oct. 7, 2008) The guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85) is anchored at full dress ship during the International Fleet Review "Pass and Review."

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