Hermann Graf

From The Air Combat Wiki

The first German pilot to reach the 200-victory mark.

Hermann Graf was born in Engen, Germany. 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 on 31 May 1939 with the rank of unteroffizier.

At the outbreak of War on 1 September 1939 JG 51 was stationed at the French border. Graf, now a feldwebel, flew 21 frontier patrols over the Franco-German border without firing his guns in anger.

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. 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 (Knight's Cross) 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. He was the seventh Luftwaffe fighter pilot to achieve 100 victories. On 14 May he shot down 8 enemy aircraft, and on 17 May he was awarded the Eichenlaub (Oak leaves) to his Ritterkreuz for reaching 104 victories. Only two days later he was awarded the Schwerter (Swords), 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 (Diamonds) 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. Graf was by now much feted by the Nazi media. His “star status” was enhanced by his appearances in goal for “die Roten Jäger” or Red Hunters, a Luftwaffe soccer team, which was effectively the German national soccer squad.

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.

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.

During his time at JGr 50, Graf shot down three more enemy aircraft, including two B-17 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 (Defence 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 led the unit in a constant retreat through East Prussia, Silesia and Böhmen. He surrendered his unit to the Americans on 8 May 1945 at Pisek. The Americans, however, promptly handed Graf to Russians.

Herman Graf is credited with 212 victories in over 830 missions. He recorded 202 victories over the Eastern Front. Of his 10 victories recorded over the Western front, six were four-engine bombers.

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. 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. He also took up flying becoming a member of the Swiss Aeroclub. In 1965 Graf was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and he died in his hometown Engen on 11 April 1988.