# Heinz Hackler

Heinrich "Heinz" Hackler (14 December 1918 – 1 January 1945) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Heinz Hackler was listed as missing in action near Antwerp, Belgium after being hit by Allied flak during Operation Bodenplatte. Heinz Hackler was credited with 56 aerial victories.

## Career

Hackler was born on 14 December 1918 in Siegen, at the time in the Province of Westphalia of the Weimar Republic. Following flight training, he was posted to the 8. Staffel (8th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) in early 1941. At the time, 8. Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant Kurt Ubben. The Staffel was subordinated to III. Gruppe (3rd group) of JG 77 which was headed by Major Alexander von Winterfeldt. In preparation for Operation Marita, the German invasion of Greece, III. Gruppe of JG 77 was moved to Deta in western Romania on 4 April 1941 and to Korinos on 19 April. That day, Hackler claimed his first aerial victory when he shot down a Hawker Hurricane fighter near Larissa.

### Eastern Front

In preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, III. Gruppe was moved to Bucharest and was located in the sector of Heeresgruppe Süd (Army Group South). III. Gruppe arrived in Bucharest on 16 June. Four days later, III. Gruppe moved to Roman.
On 25 September 1941, Hackler claimed his fifth aerial victory, a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 fighter in the combat area near Perekop. The next day, he became an "ace-in-a-day" claiming his aerial victories six through ten. Hackler was credited with shooting down two Polikarpov I-16 fighters, two Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft and a Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber. During the fighting along the Isthmus of Perekop on 29 September, Hackler claimed a MiG-3 fighter shot down. On 15 October, while the 11th Army was preparing for the attack on the Crimea Peninsula in what would become the Crimean campaign, Hackler shot down a Pe-2 bomber on mission to Armiansk and Ishun, located approximately 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) southeast of Krasnoperekopsk. The next day, he claimed two I-16 fighters in the same combat area. By 27 October, the fighting has moved to the combat area south of Perekop. That day, Hackler claimed a Polikarpov I-15 and I-16 fighter.

### Mediterranean Theater and Romania

On 23 October 1942, the British Eighth Army launched the Second Battle of El Alamein. Preceding this attack, the Luftwaffe had already planned to replace Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing), which had been fighting in North African theater, with JG 77. In preparation for this rotation, III. Gruppe of JG 77 was moved to Munich on 19 October where it was equipped with the Bf 109 G-2/trop. On 23 and 24 October, the Gruppe moved to Bari in southern Italy. The Gruppe then relocated to Tobruk Airfield on 26 October. The following day, the Gruppe moved to an airfield at Tanyet-Harun.
On 1 July 1944, Hackler was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 8. Staffel (8th squadron) of JG 77. He succeeded Leutnant Wilhelm Mockel who had temporarily replaced Hauptmann Helmut Goedert after he had been wounded in combat on 31 May. As part of the group expansion from three Staffeln per Gruppe to four Staffeln per Gruppe, Hackler's 8. Staffel was re-designated and became the 11. Staffel of JG 77 on 15 August.

## Summary of career
### Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Hackler was credited with 56 aerial victories. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces – Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and state that Hackler was credited with 37 aerial victories plus further four unconfirmed claims. This figure includes 24 claims made on the Eastern Front and 13 on the Western Front, including at least five four-engined bombers.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 5659". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km$^2$). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.
Chronicle of aerial victories :
| This and the ♠ (Ace of spades) indicates those aerial victories which made Hackler an "ace-in-a-day", a term which designates a fighter pilot who has shot down five or more airplanes in a single day.  This and the – (dash) indicates unconfirmed aerial victory claims for which Hackler did not receive credit.  This along with the * (asterisk) indicates an Herausschuss (separation shot)—a severely damaged heavy bomber forced to separate from his combat box which was counted as an aerial victory.  This and the ! (exclamation mark) indicates those aerial victories listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock.  This and the # (hash mark) indicates those aerial victories listed by Mathews and Foreman. ||||||||||||
| Claim! | Claim# | Date | Time | Type | Location | Claim! | Claim# | Date | Time | Type | Location |
| – 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Balkans and Crete — 1 April – 1 June 1941 ||||||||||||
| 1 | | 19 April 1941 | 11:20 | Hurricane | 25 km (16 mi) north of Lamia | | | | | | |
| – 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941 ||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 22 June 1941 | 19:03 | I-16 | | 3 | 2 | 8 July 1941 | 18:25 | DB-3 | |
| According to Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock, Hackler claimed his fourth aerial victory in late August 1941. This claim is not listed by Mathews and Foreman. ||||||||||||
| 5 | | 25 September 1941 | — | MiG-3 | | 11 | | 29 September 1941 | 17:13 | MiG-3 | |
| 6♠ | | 26 September 1941 | — | I-16 | | 12 | 7 | 15 October 1941 | 09:33 | Pe-2 | |
| 7♠ | 3 | 26 September 1941 | 11:26 | V-11 (Il-2) | | 13 | | 16 October 1941 | — | I-16 | |
| 8♠ | 4 | 26 September 1941 | 11:29 | V-11 (Il-2) | | 14 | | 16 October 1941 | — | I-16 | |
| 9♠ | 5 | 26 September 1941 | 13:58 | Pe-2 | | 15 | 8 | 27 October 1941 | 12:38 | I-15 | |
| 10♠ | 6 | 26 September 1941 | 16:02 | I-16 | | 16 | 9 | 27 October 1941 | 12:50 | I-16 | |
| – 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Eastern Front — 6 December 1941 – 20 March 1942 ||||||||||||
| | 10 | 5 January 1942 | 11:35 | I-153 | | 22 | | 5 March 1942 | 09:40 | MiG-3 | |
| 17 | | 6 January 1942 | 11:35 | I-153 | | 23 | 12 | 5 March 1942 | 17:03 | I-16 | |
| 18 | — | 10 January 1942 | — | DB-3 | | | 13 | 15 March 1942 | 10:50 | I-153 | |
| 19 | — | 10 January 1942 | — | DB-3 | | | 14 | 15 March 1942 | 10:55 | I-153 | |
| 20 | — | 10 January 1942 | — | DB-3 | | 24 | 15 | 17 March 1942 | 10:15 | I-153 | PQ 5659 |
| 21 | 11 | 23 February 1942 | 11:05 | I-153 | | | | | | | |
| – 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Eastern Front — April – June 1942 ||||||||||||
| | 16 | 19 April 1942 | 11:20 | Hurricane | | | 17 | 11 June 1942 | 12:47 | Il-2 | |
| – Stab of III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Eastern Front — 1 May – 16 October 1942 ||||||||||||
| | 18 | 2 July 1942 | 14:40 | Il-2 | PQ 66561 | | 20 | 15 July 1942 | 09:03 | I-153 | |
| | 19 | 2 July 1942 | 14:46 | Il-2 | | | 21 | 12 September 1942 | 14:02 | LaGG-3 | PQ 10182 55 km (34 mi) southeast of Sloboda |
| According to Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock, Hackler claimed nine aerial victories in May/July while serving with the Stab of JG 77. ||||||||||||
| | 22 | 21 September 1942 | 11:18 | Pe-2 | | 39 | | 4 October 1942 | — | Yak-1 | |
| 38 | 23 | 30 September 1942 | 11:46 | Yak-1 | PQ 00263 | | | | | | |
| – Stab III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Mediterranean Theater, North Africa — 26 October – 31 December 1942 ||||||||||||
| 41 | | 3 November 1942 | — | P-40 | | | 25 | 18 November 1942 | 12:37 | P-40 | 10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of Sidi Ahmed el-Magrun |
| 42 | 24 | 9 November 1942 | 14:46 | P-40 | 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Sallum | | | | | | |
| – Stab III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Mediterranean Theater, North Africa — January 1943 ||||||||||||
| 45 | | 18 January 1943 | 14:22 | P-38 | PQ 13 Ost 52312, Zarzur | | | | | | |
| – 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Mediterranean Theater, North Africa — February – May 1943 ||||||||||||
| — | | 4 February 1943 | — | P-38 | | 48 | 28 | 11 April 1943 | 11:38 | Spitfire | PQ 03 Ost 97271, west of Tebourba |
| — | | 2 March 1943 | — | P-40 | | — | | 25 April 1943 | — | P-40 | |
| — | | 4 March 1943 | — | P-40 | | — | | 4 May 1943 | — | Spitfire | |
| 46 | 26 | 15 March 1943 | 14:48 | P-38 | 30 km (19 mi) west of Gafsa | 49 | 29 | 7 May 1943 | 15:22 | Spitfire | PQ 03 Ost 97271, west of Tebourba |
| 47 | 27 | 29 March 1943 | 19:10 | P-40 | 25 km (16 mi) south of Meknassy | | | | | | |
| – 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Mediterranean Theater, Italy — June – 25 October 1943 ||||||||||||
| 50 | 30 | 18 June 1943 | 10:14 | B-25 | PQ 04 Ost 9275, northwest of Olbia | — | — | 24 June 1943 | — | P-38 | |
| — | | 23 June 1943 | — | P-38 | | — | | 7 August 1943 | — | Beaufighter | |
| – 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Mediterranean Theater, Italy — 1 January – 15 August 1944 ||||||||||||
| 51 | 31 | 5 April 1944 | 14:35 | B-24 | PQ 24 Ost 55126 30 km (19 mi) east-northeast of Pitești | 53 | 34 | 18 May 1944 | 11:17 | B-17* | PQ 24 Ost 55738 60 km (37 mi) southwest of Bucharest |
| | 32 | 24 April 1944 | 12:04 | B-17 | Romania | 54 | 35 | 31 May 1944 | 09:58 | B-24* | PQ 24 Ost 5527 60 km (37 mi) southwest of Bucharest |
| 52 | 33 | 5 May 1944 | 14:15 | B-24 | PQ 24 Ost 4417 50 km (31 mi) southwest of Caracal | 55 | 36 | 3 July 1944 | 12:20 | P-51 | PQ 24 Ost 6582 60 km (37 mi) southwest of Bucharest |
| – 11. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Mediterranean Theater, Italy — 15 August – 15 September 1944 ||||||||||||
| 56 | 37 | 23 August 1944 | 08:08 | Yak-9 | PQ 24 Ost 7743 10 km (6.2 mi) northwest of Huși | | | | | | |

### Awards

* Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
* Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 26 July 1943 as Feldwebel and pilot
* German Cross in Gold on 17 May 1943 as Oberfeldwebel in the III./Jagdgeschwader 77
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 August 1944 as Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel and pilot in the III./Jagdgeschwader 77