Hans-Joachim Marseille

From The Air Combat Wiki

Not the highest scoring pilot of the German Luftwaffe, Hans-Joachim Marseille was undeniably one of the major leaders in the early part of World War II. While many pilots obtained easy victories over inferior machines or hastily trained pilots, Hauptman Marseille scored all but seven of his 158 victories against the British Commonwealth's Desert Air Force over North Africa. This is even more impressive considering he was killed early in the conflict, in September 1942.

Hans-Joachim Marseille was born December 13, 1919 in Charlottenburg-Berlin. His mother and father divorced when Marseille was young, and his doting mother often failed to control her strong willed son or discipline him for mischief or bad behavior. This upbringing resulted in his many conflicts with authority and his reputation as a rebel. This would continue during his brief Luftwaffe career. On November 7th 1939 he joined the Luftwaffe during the rush to prepare for war. His early efforts were undistinguished. Although he shot down 7 aircraft during Battle of Britain, he himself fell victim to enemy fighters on four occasions. Johannes Steinhoff had him transferred out of 4/JG52 for insubordination. Johannes "Macky" Steinhoff (176 victories) remembered: "Marseille was remarkably handsome. He was gifted pilot and fighter, but he was unreliable. He had girlfriends everywhere, who took up so much of his time that he was often too tired to be allowed to fly. His often irresponsible understanding of duty was the primary reason I sent him packing. But he had irresistible charm",

Marseille was transferred to JG27 where his talents began to be recognized. It was noticed that he possessed superb acrobatic flying skills, excellent eyesight and an acute sense of tactics. However, Marseille on the ground often displayed boyish behavior; he was a great joker and was always ready for mischief. He wore his hair long and listened to jazz and swing music earning disapproval among the Nazi hardliners.

At the very beginning of his flying in Africa, Marseille was shot down by a Hurricane flown by a Free French pilot. It made for a very unimpressive start. He settled in quickly, however, getting used to the very different flying conditions, as compared to those in Europe. Marseille practiced dummy attacks on his fellow pilots, seeking ways to shoot quickly and accurately. He insisted on perfecting deflection shots from any given angle, using different speeds. Standard Jagdwaffe procedure was to apply full throttle all the time. Here Marseille's unorthodox character showed up again. Often he would throttle down to get to an attacking position. During combat he also lowered his flaps in order to decrease radius of a turn. Eventually, he improved in the game of air combat, developing an instinctive taste for it. He shared one quality with all great fighter pilots, he was a very ambitious warrior who wanted to shoot down a lot of aircraft. Behind the mischief and good looks, he also had a great need for being accepted and appreciated.

As he became comfortable in his new environment, his score rose dramatically. On February 22, 1942 he reached 50 (43 in forty weeks); 75 on June 5 (25 in fifteen weeks); and 101 on June 18 (26 in thirteen days), clearly becoming a very effective "killing machine" in its highest gear. On June 15 he shot down 4 aircraft in three minutes. Two days later he would score 6 in only ten minutes. It seemed that he was always able to put himself in an advantageous position when engaging enemy aircraft. Thanks to his eyesight and hunter instinct he was able to see his opponents first. The esteem and admiration of his colleagues began to rise quickly too, earning him the nickname, “the Star of Africa”.

On September 1st 1942 Marseille downed 17 allied planes in three sorties. On his second sortie of the three, he managed to shoot down eight aircraft in an astonishing ten minutes!

Hans-Joachim Marsielle took his final flight on September 30, 1942 escorting a flight of Ju-87 Stukas in a brand new aircraft. Accomplishing his mission and failing to make contact with the enemy, his group was returning to base when his plane’s cooling system failed and cockpit began filling with smoke. He managed to coax his plane over friendly lines and at 10,000 feet, he bailed out. Probably due to the smoke in his plane or in a struggle to leave, the craft took a nose down attitude. As he exited, his body struck the rear stabilizer. Whether injured or killed outright, he never opened his parachute. He was twenty- two years old.

His remains lay at the memorial garden at Tobruk. His grave bears a one-word epitaph, Undefeated.

Hans refused to replace his trusted Me109-E4Trop with a new replacement aircraft. He finally did so at the orders of Field Marshal Albrecht Kesselring. His first combat mission with the new aircraft resulted in an engine fire and his death.

Kills: 158

154 Fighter aircraft

4 Bomber aircraft

Awards:

- Iron Cross 2nd Class - September 1940

- Iron Cross 1st Class - Fall 1940

- German Cross in Gold - 24 November, 1941

- Knight's Cross - 22 February, 1942

- Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves - 6 June, 1942

- Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords - 18 June, 1942

- Italian Medaglia d' Oro for bravery - 6 August, 1942

- Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds - 3 September, 1942

Promotions:

Leutnant - 1 July, 1941

Oberleutnant - April, 1942

Hauptmann - 3 September, 1942