Herbert Bauer (pilot)

For other people with the same name, see Herbert Bauer.

Herbert Bauer
Born16 April 1919
Innsbruck, Austria
Died24 March 1997(1997-03-24) (aged 77)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Buried
German Cemetery, Buenos Aires
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Branch Luftwaffe
Years of service1938–1945
RankMajor (major)
UnitStG 2, SG 103, SG 2
Commands3./StG 2, II./SG 103, I./SG 2
Battles / warsWorld War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
Other workAdvisor to Argentine Air Force

Herbert Bauer (16 April 1919 – 24 March 1997) was a highly decorated Major in the Luftwaffe during World War II, and one of only 882 recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher-grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Herbert Bauer is credited with flying 1071 missions during the war.[Note 1] After the war Herbert Bauer acted as an advisor to the Argentine Air Force.

Early life

Bauer was born on 16 April 1919 in Innsbruck, then in the Republic of German-Austria. He was the son of a Feuerwerker, an ordnance specialist in the Austrian Armed Forces.[1] He grew up a devoted Nazi from a young age, being a member of the Hitler Youth. At the age of 19, Bauer officially joined the Nazi party.[2] From 1 July to 25 October 1938, Bauer completed the compulsory labour service (Reichsarbeitsdienst). On 7 November, he joined the military service of the Luftwaffe, serving with 3rd Battery of Flak-Regiment 4, an anti-aircraft artillery regiment.[1]

World War II

World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. On 1 December, Bauer was transferred to 2. Kompanie (2nd company) of Flak-Regiment (mot.) 22. With this unit, Bauer was promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant) on 1 February 1940. From 29 April to 30 September 1940, Bauer began his flight training at the A/B Fliegerschule (flight school for the pilot license) of Fliegerausbildungsregiment 21 (flight training regiment) in Magdeburg.[Note 2] On 1 October, he was posted to the Stuka-Schule 2, the dive bomber training school in Graz.[1]

On 16 February 1941, Bauer completed his supplementary training with the Ergänzungsgruppe (a training unit) of Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 "Immelmann" (StG 26—2nd Dive Bomber Wing) and was then posted to I. Gruppe (1st group) of StG 2. Serving with this Gruppe, Bauer flew his first combat mission on 7 July in area of Vitebsk during Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union.[1] On this mission, Bauer had a mid-air collision with a Soviet fighter aircraft.[4] Bauer's regular aerial gunner was Oberfeldwebel Walter Linke who flew with Bauer until late 1944 when Linke was transferred to a flight school.[5] On 20 July, Bauer was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz zweiter Klasse) and the Iron Cross 1st Class (Eisernes Kreuz erster Klasse) on 30 October.[6]

On 24 April 1942 during a mission against the Soviet fleet moored at Kronstadt, Bauer's Junkers Ju 87 came under attack by a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 from 11 GvIAP (Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment—Gvardeyskiy Istrebitelny Aviatsionny Polk). In this attack, Bauer was severely injured but managed to nurse his aircraft back to the airfield at Krasnoye Selo.[7] During his convalescence, he was promoted to Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) on 1 February 1943 and returned to his unit on 25 February. On 1 June, Bauer was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 3. Staffel (3rd squadron) of StG 2.[6] The Staffel was subordinated to I. Gruppe and at the time commanded by Major Bruno Dilley.[8]

Bauer was promoted to Hauptmann (captain) on 1 March 1944.[6] On 23 November, Bauer was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I. Gruppe of Schlachtgeschwader 2 "Immelmann", succeeding Hauptmann Kurt Lau who was transferred.[8] Bauer was promoted to Major (major) on 1 March 1945.[9]

Later life

At the end of the war, Bauer was taken as a POW.[2] He escaped to Italy with Hans-Ulrich Rudel and Ernst Niermann, along with another pilot and a technical officer.[10] The group was aided by former SS officers Walter Spitaler and Karl Nicolussi-Leck, the latter of which was responsible for smuggling several prominent Nazi figures, including famed Luftwaffe general Adolf Galland, into Italy and on to South America.[10][11] They initially staying in Bozen while arranging to flee to South America.[10] In April 1948, Bauer applied for a International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) travel document.[12] Unusually for a German official taking this route of escape, he listed his real name and place of birth on his application, and his occupation as a pilot.[2] He did, however, present himself as an ethnic German from Czechoslovakia, to pass as one of the now stateless Sudeten Germans, qualifying him for resettlement.[2][13] The Vatican Commission for Refugees confirmed Bauer's information, and he successfully emigrated to Argentina, where he connected other German officers and Nazi party members who had fled to the country.[2] Bauer died on 24 March 1997 at the age of 77 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was buried at the German Cemetery.[9]

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Obermaier, Bauer flew 1,071 combat missions, including 70 with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. He is credited with eleven aerial victories, one with the Ju 87 and ten with the Fw 190, plus further twelve unconfirmed claims. In addition, he claimed 51 tanks and two armoured trains destroyed on the ground, and hits on the Soviet battleship Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya and a cruiser moored in Kronstadt harbor.[4] Hooton lists him with having flown more that 1,300 combat missions.[14] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and state that he was credited with approximately eleven aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.[15]

Awards

Notes

  1. ^ For a list of Luftwaffe ground attack aces see List of German World War II Ground Attack aces
  2. ^ Flight training in the Luftwaffe progressed through the levels A1, A2 and B1, B2, referred to as A/B flight training. A training included theoretical and practical training in aerobatics, navigation, long-distance flights and dead-stick landings. The B courses included high-altitude flights, instrument flights, night landings and training to handle the aircraft in difficult situations.[3]
  3. ^ According to Scherzer as Gruppenkommandeur of the II./Schlachtgeschwader 103.[20]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Stockert 2011, p. 42.
  2. ^ a b c d e Steinacher 2017, p. 182.
  3. ^ Bergström, Antipov & Sundin 2003, p. 17.
  4. ^ a b Obermaier 1976, p. 68.
  5. ^ Obermaier 1976, p. 151.
  6. ^ a b c Stockert 2011, p. 43.
  7. ^ Bergström & Mikhailov 2001, p. 105.
  8. ^ a b Brütting 1992, p. 266.
  9. ^ a b Stockert 2011, p. 44.
  10. ^ a b c Steinacher 2011, p. 30.
  11. ^ Lingen 2015, "From Prisoner to Escape Agent: The Man behind ODESSA".
  12. ^ Steinacher 2011, p. 98.
  13. ^ Steinacher 2011, p. 98–99.
  14. ^ Hooton 2016, p. 50.
  15. ^ Mathews & Foreman 2014, p. 58.
  16. ^ a b Thomas 1997, p. 24.
  17. ^ Patzwall 2008, p. 46.
  18. ^ Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 27.
  19. ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 124.
  20. ^ a b Scherzer 2007, p. 205.
  21. ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 90.

Bibliography

  • Bergström, Christer [in Swedish]; Mikhailov, Andrey (2001). Black Cross / Red Star Air War Over the Eastern Front, Volume II, Resurgence January–June 1942. Pacifica, California: Pacifica Military History. ISBN 978-0-935553-51-2.
  • Bergström, Christer [in Swedish]; Antipov, Vlad; Sundin, Claes (2003). Graf & Grislawski – A Pair of Aces. Hamilton MT: Eagle Editions. ISBN 978-0-9721060-4-7.
  • Brütting, Georg (1992) [1976]. Das waren die deutschen Stuka-Asse 1939 – 1945 (in German) (7th ed.). Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch. ISBN 978-3-87943-433-6.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer [in German] (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
  • Hooton, E.R. (2016). War over the Steppes: The air campaigns on the Eastern Front 1941–45. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-47281562-0.
  • Lingen, Kerstin von (2015). "Hitler's Military Elite in Italy and the Question of "Decent War"". In Messenger, David A.; Paehler, Katrin (eds.). A Nazi Past: Recasting German Identity in Postwar Europe. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-6056-6. JSTOR j.ctt13x1rt2.11. OCLC 910966211.
  • Mathews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2014). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 1 A–F. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-18-9.
  • Obermaier, Ernst (1976). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe 1939–1945 Band II Stuka- und Schlachtflieger [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe 1939–1945 Volume II Dive Bomber and Attack Aircraft] (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-021-3.
  • Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
  • Patzwall, Klaus D. (2008). Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg [The Honor Goblet for Outstanding Achievement in the Air War] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-08-3.
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
  • Steinacher, Gerald (2011). Nazis on the run: how Hitler's henchmen fled justice. Oxford, U.K. ; New York, N.Y: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-957686-9.
  • Steinacher, Gerald (2017). Humanitarians at war: the Red Cross in the shadow of the Holocaust (1st ed.). Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-870493-5.
  • Stockert, Peter (2011). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 7 [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 7] (in German). Vol. 7 (2nd ed.). Bad Friedrichshall, Germany: Friedrichshaller Rundblick. OCLC 76072662.
  • Thomas, Franz (1997). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 1: A–K (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2299-6.
  • Weal, John (2008). Junkers Ju 87 Stukageschwader of the Russian Front. Combat Aircraft. Vol. 74. Oxford, Uk: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-308-7.
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