# Hans Götz

Hans Götz (2 June 1919 – 4 August 1943) was a former Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Hans Götz was credited with 82 victories in 600 combat missions. He claimed three victories over the Western Front.

## Career

Götz was born on 2 June 1922 in Stuttgart, the capital of the Free People's State of Württemberg of the Weimar Republic.
On 22 February 1943, Götz was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing). He succeeded Oberleutnant Siegfried Graf Matuschka who was transferred. When on 6 July Major Reinhard Seiler was wounded in combat, Götz was temporarily given the position of Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I. Gruppe of JG 54 until the new commander Hauptmann Gerhard Homuth took command on 1 August. The following day, Homuth was killed in action and Götz again assumed command of the Gruppe. Only two days later, on 4 August, Götz was killed in action following combat with Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft. His Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-5 (Werknummer 1119—factory number) crashed and exploded northeast of Karachev.

## Summary of career
### Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Götz was credited with 82 aerial victories. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found documentation for 82 aerial victory claims. This number includes 79 claims on the Eastern Front and three over the Western Allies.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 29323". 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 ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike, Bock, Mathews and Foreman. ||||||||||
| Claim | Date | Time | Type | Location | Claim | Date | Time | Type | Location |
| – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 – At the Channel and over England — 26 June – 23 September 1940 ||||||||||
| 1 | 15 August 1940 | 15:15 | Hurricane | 10 km (6.2 mi) off Maidstone over sea | 3 | 9 September 1940 | 19:05 | Spitfire | |
| 2 | 9 September 1940 | 19:00 | Spitfire | | | | | | |
| – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 – Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941 ||||||||||
| 4 | 25 June 1941 | 11:43 | I-18 (MiG-1) | | 11 | 24 September 1941 | 10:13 | I-153 | |
| 5 | 25 June 1941 | 11:48 | I-18 (MiG-1) | | 12 | 26 September 1941 | 05:55 | I-18 (MiG-1) | |
| 6 | 7 July 1941 | 16:00 | SB-3 | | 13 | 26 September 1941 | 06:50 | I-18 (MiG-1) | |
| 7 | 20 July 1941 | 10:25 | SB-3 | | 14 | 29 September 1941 | 15:22 | SB-3 | |
| 8 | 10 August 1941 | 04:45 | Pe-2 | | 15 | 25 October 1941 | 11:03 | I-26 (Yak-1) | |
| 9 | 13 August 1941 | 17:40 | I-18 (MiG-1) | | 16 | 29 October 1941 | 11:02 | I-26 (Yak-1) | |
| 10 | 23 September 1941 | 11:05 | I-18 (MiG-1) | | | | | | |
| – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 – Eastern Front — 6 December 1941 – 30 April 1942 ||||||||||
| 17 | 13 December 1941 | 13:50 | I-16 | | 22 | 15 March 1942 | 16:35 | P-40 | |
| 18 | 17 December 1941 | 13:25 | I-16? | | 23 | 16 March 1942 | 10:40 | Pe-2 | 8 km (5.0 mi) southeast of Nirischi |
| 19 | 1 January 1942 | 12:03 | I-18 (MiG-1) | | 24 | 18 March 1942 | 13:27 | P-40 | |
| 20 | 21 February 1942 | 14:14 | I-18 (MiG-1) | | 25 | 27 April 1942 | 08:31 | U-2 | PQ 29323 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Malaya Vishera |
| 21 | 14 March 1942 | 16:16 | I-16 | | | | | | |
| – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 – Eastern Front — 1 May – September 1942 ||||||||||
| 26 | 10 May 1942 | 09:45 | Yak-1 | east of Leningrad | 36 | 24 August 1942 | 16:04 | LaGG-3 | PQ 4748 10 km (6.2 mi) west of Staritsa |
| 27 | 30 May 1942 | 18:03 | I-16 | | 37 | 25 August 1942 | 04:38 | Il-2 | PQ 47554 15 km (9.3 mi) northwest of Rzhev |
| 28 | 30 May 1942 | 18:35 | P-40 | | 38 | 25 August 1942 | 04:42 | Il-2 | PQ 47651 20 km (12 mi) southwest of Staritsa |
| 29 | 30 May 1942 | 18:38 | P-40 | | 39 | 26 August 1942 | 15:29 | U-2 | PQ 47483 10 km (6.2 mi) west of Staritsa |
| 30 | 3 June 1942 | 14:34 | U-2 | | 40 | 26 August 1942 | 15:44 | LaGG-3 | PQ 47153 30 km (19 mi) east-southeast of Torzhok |
| 31 | 15 June 1942 | 15:25 | LaGG-3 | | 41 | 27 August 1942 | 11:44 | Yak-1 | PQ 46231 30 km (19 mi) southeast of Zubtsov |
| 32 | 23 June 1942 | 09:38 | Il-2 | | 42 | 27 August 1942 | 11:55 | Yak-1 | PQ 56142 45 km (28 mi) north-northeast of Gagarin |
| 33 | 23 June 1942 | 09:41 | Il-2 | | 43 | 29 August 1942 | 16:12? | Il-2 | PQ 10182 east of Mga |
| 34 | 22 August 1942 | 15:28 | Hurricane | PQ 47872 15 km (9.3 mi) south of Zubtsov | 44 | 2 September 1942 | 13:00 | Il-2 | PQ 10141 east of Shlisselburg |
| 35 | 23 August 1942 | 14:50 | Yak-1 | PQ 54261 15 km (9.3 mi) west-northwest of Belyov | | | | | |
| – 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 – Eastern Front — November 1942 ||||||||||
| 45 | 5 November 1942 | 09:44 | I-153 | PQ 11754 over Lake Ladoga | 47 | 9 November 1942 | 14:13 | I-153 | PQ 11742 20 km (12 mi) north of Shlisselburg |
| 46 | 7 November 1942 | 12:25 | MiG-3 | PQ 11791 over Lake Ladoga | 48 | 11 November 1942 | 14:25 | P-40 | PQ 11763 over Lake Ladoga |
| – 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 – Eastern Front — January – 3 February 1943 ||||||||||
| 49 | 13 January 1943 | 07:59 | La-5 | PQ 10174 southeast of Shlisselburg | 53 | 23 January 1943 | 11:10 | Yak-1 | PQ 1014 |
| 50 | 14 January 1943 | 11:10 | La-5 | PQ 10163 southeast of Shlisselburg | 54 | 24 January 1943 | 10:15 | Il-2 | PQ 1015 |
| 51 | 14 January 1943 | 11:12 | La-5 | PQ 10164 southeast of Shlisselburg | 55 | 24 January 1943 | 14:52 | Il-2 | PQ 00421 Pushkin-Mga |
| 52 | 15 January 1943 | 08:44 | Su-2 (Seversky) | PQ 10192 east of Mga | 56 | 27 January 1943 | 08:37 | Il-2 | PQ 00292 10 km (6.2 mi) west of Mga |
| – 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 – Eastern Front — 4 February – 4 August 1943 ||||||||||
| 57 | 11 February 1943 | 09:33 | Il-2 | PQ 36 Ost 00482 10 km (6.2 mi) west of Tosno | 70 | 6 July 1943 | 14:35 | Yak-1? | PQ 35 Ost 63671 15 km (9.3 mi) south of Maloarkhangelsk |
| 58 | 11 February 1943 | 09:40 | Il-2 | PQ 36 Ost 00413 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Pushkin | 71 | 7 July 1943 | 13:30 | La-5 | PQ 35 Ost 6357 |
| 59 | 15 February 1943 | 07:30 | Il-2 | PQ 36 Ost 10563 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Lyuban | 72 | 8 July 1943 | 13:36 | LaGG-3 | PQ 35 Ost 63551 15 km (9.3 mi) west-southwest of Maloarkhangelsk |
| 60 | 22 February 1943 | 15:45 | LaGG-3 | PQ 36 Ost 00432 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of Mga | 73 | 9 July 1943 | 12:00 | LaGG-3 | PQ 35 Ost 63811 25 km (16 mi) south of Maloarkhangelsk |
| 61 | 23 February 1943 | 14:54 | Pe-2 | PQ 36 Ost 00251 15 km (9.3 mi) west-southwest of Shlisselburg | 74 | 10 July 1943 | 08:11 | LaGG-3 | PQ 35 Ost 63538 15 km (9.3 mi) west-southwest of Maloarkhangelsk |
| 62 | 28 February 1943 | 06:20 | U-2 | PQ 35 Ost 29164 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Malaya Vishera | 75 | 12 July 1943 | 07:39 | La-5 | PQ 35 Ost 64385 15 km (9.3 mi) southeast of Bolkhov |
| 63 | 7 March 1943 | 12:48 | Il-2 | PQ 26 Ost 90252 20 km (12 mi) southeasr of Lomonosov | 76 | 16 July 1943 | 13:31 | Yak-9 | PQ 35 Ost 54539 40 km (25 mi) west of Bolkhov |
| 64 | 15 March 1943 | 09:50 | P-39 | PQ 35 Ost 29831 45 km (28 mi) north of Demyansk | 77 | 17 July 1943 | 08:49 | LaGG-3 | PQ 35 Ost 54645 25 km (16 mi) west-southwest of Bolkhov |
| 65 | 1 April 1943 | 13:35 | Il-2 | PQ 36 Ost 10151 southeast of Shlisselburg | 78 | 31 July 1943 | 09:10 | Yak-9 | PQ 35 Ost 54672 30 km (19 mi) southwest of Bolkhov |
| 66 | 5 July 1943 | 03:51 | LaGG-3 | PQ 35 Ost 63683 20 km (12 mi) near Maloarkhangelsk | 79 | 1 August 1943 | 17:37 | La-5 | PQ 35 Ost 64563 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Bolkhov |
| 67 | 5 July 1943 | 07:10 | P-39 | PQ 35 Ost 63729 35 km (22 mi) southwest of Maloarkhangelsk | 80 | 2 August 1943 | 04:41 | LaGG-3 | PQ 35 Ost 54821 25 km (16 mi) southwest of Bolkhov |
| 68 | 5 July 1943 | 15:55 | Boston | PQ 35 Ost 63633 35 km (22 mi) east-northeast of Maloarkhangelsk | 81 | 2 August 1943 | 14:37 | LaGG-3 | PQ 35 Ost 53479 25 km (16 mi) southwest of Dmitrovsk |
| 69 | 6 July 1943 | 07:35 | Yak-1? | PQ 35 Ost 63577 25 km (16 mi) west-southwest of Maloarkhangelsk | 82 | 2 August 1943 | 19:20 | LaGG-3 | PQ 35 Ost 53631 40 km (25 mi) west-northwest of Maloarkhangelsk |

### Awards

* Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
* Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 10 November 1941 as Leutnant and pilot
* German Cross in Gold on 2 July 1942 as Oberleutnant in the I./Jagdgeschwader 54
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 23 December 1942 as Oberleutnant and pilot in the 2./Jagdgeschwader 54