Erich Hartmann Erich Alfred Hartmann ( 19 April 1922 – 20 September 1993 ) , nicknamed " Bubi " by his comrades and " The Black Devil " by his Soviet adversaries , was a German fighter pilot during World War II and is the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare . He flew 1 , 404 combat missions and participated in aerial combat on 825 separate occasions . He claimed , and was credited with , shooting down 352 Allied aircraft — the destruction of each termed an " aerial victory " — while serving with the Luftwaffe . During the course of his career , Hartmann was forced to crash - land his damaged fighter 14 times due to damage received from parts of enemy aircraft he had just shot down or mechanical failure . Hartmann was never shot down or forced to land due to enemy fire . Hartmann , a pre - war glider pilot , joined the Luftwaffe in 1940 and completed his fighter pilot training in 1942 . He was posted to " Jagdgeschwader 52 " ( " JG 52 " ) on the Eastern front and was fortunate to be placed under the supervision of some of the Luftwaffe ' s most experienced fighter pilots . Under their guidance , Hartmann steadily developed his tactics , which earned him the coveted " Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub , Schwertern und Brillanten " ( Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves , Swords and Diamonds ) on 25 August 1944 for claiming 301 aerial victories . At the time of its presentation to Hartmann , this was Germany ' s highest military decoration . Hartmann scored his 352nd and last aerial victory on 8 May 1945 . Along with the remainder of JG 52 , he surrendered to United States Army forces and were turned over to the Red Army . In an attempt to pressure him into service with the Soviet - friendly East German " Volksarmee " , he was convicted of false war crimes , a conviction posthumously voided by a Russian court as a malicious prosecution . Hartmann was sentenced to 25 years of hard labour and spent 10 years in various Soviet prison camps and gulags until he was released in 1955 . In 1956 , Hartmann joined the newly established West German Luftwaffe in the " Bundeswehr " , and became the first " Geschwaderkommodore " of " Jagdgeschwader 71 " " Richthofen " . Hartmann resigned early from the " Bundeswehr " in 1970 , largely due to his opposition to the F - 104 Starfighter deployment in the Luftwaffe and the resulting clashes with his superiors over this issue . In his later years , after his military career had ended , he became a civilian flight instructor . He died of natural causes on 20 September 1993 . Early life . Erich Hartmann was born on 19 April 1922 in Weissach , Württemberg , to Doctor Alfred Erich Hartmann and his wife , Elisabeth Wilhelmine Machtholf . The economic depression that followed World War I in Germany prompted Doctor Hartmann to find work in Changsha , China , and Erich spent his early childhood there . The family was forced to return to Germany in 1928 , when the Chinese Civil War broke out . During World War II , Hartmann ' s younger brother , Alfred , also joined the Luftwaffe , serving as a gunner on a Ju 87 in North Africa . He was captured by the British and spent four years as a prisoner of war . Hartmann was educated at the " Volksschule " in Weil im Schönbuch ( April 1928 – April 1932 ) , the Gymnasium in Böblingen ( April 1932 – April 1936 ) , the National Political Institutes of Education in Rottweil ( April 1936 – April 1937 ) , and the Gymnasium in Korntal ( April 1937 – April 1940 ) , from which he received his Abitur . It was at Korntal that he met his wife - to - be , Ursula " Usch " Paetsch . Hartmann ' s flying career began when he joined the glider training program of the fledgling Luftwaffe and was taught to fly by his mother , one of the first female glider pilots in Germany . The Hartmanns also owned a light aircraft but were forced to sell it in 1932 as the German economy collapsed . The rise to power of the Nazi party in 1933 resulted in government support for gliding , and , in 1936 , Elisabeth Hartmann helped set up a flying school at Weil im Schönbuch , where 14 - year - old Hartmann became an instructor . In 1939 , he gained his pilot ' s license , allowing him to fly powered aircraft . Luftwaffe career . Hartmann began his military training on 1 October 1940 at the 10th Flying Regiment in Neukuhren . On 1 March 1941 , he progressed to the " Luftkriegsschule 2 " in Berlin - Gatow , making his first flight with an instructor four days later , followed in just under three weeks by his first solo flight . He completed his basic flying training in October 1941 and began advanced flight training at pre - fighter school 2 in Lachen - Speyerdorf on 1 November 1941 . There , Hartmann learned combat techniques and gunnery skills . His advanced pilot training was completed on 31 January 1942 , and , between 1 March 1942 and 20 August 1942 , he learned to fly the Messerschmitt Bf 109 at the " Jagdfliegerschule 2 " in Zerbst / Anhalt . Hartmann ' s time as a trainee pilot did not always go smoothly . On 31 March 1942 , during a gunnery training flight , he ignored regulations and performed some aerobatics in his Bf 109 over the Zerbst airfield . His punishment was a three - month period of confinement to quarters with the loss of ⅔ of his pay in fines . Hartmann later recalled that the incident saved his life : That week confined to my room actually saved my life . I had been scheduled to go up on a gunnery flight the afternoon that I was confined . My roommate took the flight instead of me , in an aircraft I had been scheduled to fly . Shortly after he took off , while on his way to the gunnery range , he developed engine trouble and had to crash - land near the Hindenburg - Kattowitz railroad . He was killed in the crash . Afterward , Hartmann practised diligently and adopted a new credo which he passed on to other young pilots : " Fly with your head , not with your muscles . " During a gunnery practice session in June 1942 , he hit a target drogue with 24 of the allotted 50 rounds of machine - gun fire , a feat that was considered difficult to achieve . His training had qualified him to fly 17 different types of powered aircraft , and , following his graduation , he was posted on 21 August 1942 to " Ergänzungs - Jagdgruppe Ost " ( Fighter Supply Group , East ) in Gleiwitz , Upper Silesia , where he remained until 10 October 1942 . To the frontline . In October 1942 , Hartmann was assigned to fighter wing " Jagdgeschwader 52 " ( JG 52 ) , based at Maykop on the Eastern Front in the Soviet Union . The wing was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109G , but Hartmann and several other pilots were initially given the task of ferrying Junkers Ju 87 Stukas down to Mariupol . His first flight ended with brake failure , causing the Stuka to crash into and destroy the controller ' s hut . Hartmann was assigned to III . / JG 52 , led by " Gruppenkommandeur " Major Hubertus von Bonin , and placed under the experienced " Oberfeldwebel " Edmund " Paule " Roßmann , although he also flew with such experienced pilots as Alfred Grislawski , Hans Dammers and Josef Zwernemann . After a few days of intensive mock combats and practice flights , Grislawski conceded that , although Hartmann had much to learn regarding combat tactics , he was quite a talented pilot . Paule Roßmann taught Hartmann the fundamentals of the surprise attack , a tactic that led to his " See – Decide – Attack – Break " style of aerial combat . Hartmann flew his first combat mission on 14 October 1942 as Roßmann ' s wingman . When they encountered 10 enemy aircraft below , Hartmann , obsessed by the idea of scoring his first kill , opened full throttle and became separated from Roßmann . He engaged an enemy fighter , but failed to score any hits and nearly collided with it instead . He then ran for cover in low cloud , and his mission subsequently ended with a crash landing after his aircraft ran out of fuel . Hartmann had violated almost every rule of air - to - air combat , and von Bonin sentenced him to three days of working with the ground crew . Twenty - two days later , Hartmann claimed his first kill , an Ilyushin Il - 2 of the 7th Guards Ground Attack Aviation Regiment , but , by the end of 1942 , he had added only one more kill to his tally . As with many top aces , it took him some time to establish himself as a consistently scoring fighter pilot . Hartmann ' s youthful appearance earned him the nickname " Bubi " ( the hypocoristic form of " young boy " in the German language ) , and the ace Walter Krupinski , to whom Hartmann was assigned as wingman , would constantly urge him : " Hey , Bubi , get in closer " . On 25 May 1943 , he shot down a LaGG - 5 before colliding with another Soviet fighter but was able to maintain control of his damaged aircraft . On 7 July , in the large dogfights that occurred during the Battle of Kursk , he shot down seven enemy aircraft . At the start of August 1943 , his tally stood at 50 , and , by the end of the month , he had added another 48 kills . In the following month , he was appointed " Staffelkapitän " of " 9 . / JG 52 " . He later revealed that one of his secrets to success " was to give the enemy target the full effect of my weapons . If you wait until the other plane fills the entire window of the cockpit , you don ' t waste a single round . " In his first year of operational service , Hartmann felt a distinct lack of respect towards Soviet pilots . He recalled that most Soviet fighters did not have proper gunsights , and their pilots resorted to drawing them on the windshield by hand . In the early days , incredible as it may seem , there was no reason for you to feel fear if the Russian fighter was behind you . With their hand - painted " gunsights " they couldn ' t pull the lead properly or hit you . While Hartmann considered the P - 39 , P - 40 , and Hurricane inferior to the Fw 190 and Bf 109 , they did provide the Soviets with valuable gunsight technology . The Germans learned a few tricks from their enemy . Oil freezing in the DB 605 engines of their Bf 109G - 6s made them difficult to start in the extreme cold of the Russian winter . A captured Soviet airman demonstrated how pouring fuel into the aircraft ' s oil sump would thaw the oil and allow the engine to start after only one attempt . Another solution to this problem , also learned from the Soviets , was to ignite fuel under the engine . Behind enemy lines . By late August 1943 , Hartmann had 90 aerial victories . On 19 August , in combat with Il - 2s , his aircraft was damaged by debris , and he was forced to land behind Soviet lines . Hartmann ' s " Geschwaderkommodore " , Dietrich Hrabak , had given orders to Hartmann ' s unit to support the dive bombers of " Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 " , led by the famous " Stuka " pilot Hans - Ulrich Rudel in a counterattack . The situation had changed , and the flight of eight German fighters engaged a mass of Soviet Yakovlev Yak - 9 and Lavochkin La - 5 fighter aircraft that were protecting Il - 2 " Sturmoviks " on a ground - attack mission . Hartmann shot down two enemy aircraft before his fighter was hit by debris and he was forced to make an emergency landing . He then , in accordance with Luftwaffe regulations , attempted to recover the precision board clock . As he was doing so , Soviet ground troops approached . Realising that capture was unavoidable , he faked internal injuries . Hartmann ' s acting so convinced the Soviets that they put him on a stretcher and placed him on a truck . When Hartmann ' s Crew Chief , Heinz " Bimmel " Mertens , heard what had happened , he took a rifle and went to search for Hartmann . Hartmann patiently waited for the right moment to escape , then , using the distraction of the " Stukas " attack , he attacked the single guard . Hartmann jumped out of the back of the truck and ran into a large field of giant sunflowers . Evading the pursuing soldiers , Hartmann hid and waited for nightfall . In the dark , Hartmann followed a Soviet patrol heading west to the front . As he approached the German position , he was challenged by a sentry who fired a shot which passed through his trousers . The Oak Leaves to the Knight ' s Cross . In October 1943 , Hartmann claimed another 33 kills , and , on 29 October , he was awarded the " Ritterkreuz " , at which point his tally stood at 148 kills . By the end of the year , this had risen to 159 . In the first two months of 1944 , Hartmann claimed another 50 kills . Hartmann continued scoring at an even greater pace . His spectacular rate of kills raised a few eyebrows even in the Luftwaffe High Command ; his claims were double - and triple - checked , and his performance closely monitored by an observer flying in his formation . On 2 March , he reached 202 kills . By this time , the Soviet pilots were familiar with Hartmann ' s radio call sign of " Karaya 1 " , and the Soviet Command had put a price of 10 , 000 rubles on the German pilot ' s head . Hartmann , for a time , used a black tulip design around the engine cowling near the spinner of his aircraft , so Soviet personnel consequently nicknamed him " Cherniy Chort " ( " Black Devil " ) . However , Hartmann ' s opponents were often reluctant to stay and fight if they noticed his personal design . As a result , this aircraft was often allocated to novices , who could fly it in relative safety . On 21 March , it was Hartmann who scored " JG 52 " 3 , 500th kill of the war . Adversely , the reluctance of the Soviet airmen to fight caused Hartmann ' s kill rate to drop . Hartmann then had the tulip design removed , and his aircraft painted just like the rest of his unit . Consequently , in the following two months , Hartmann amassed over 50 kills . In March 1944 , Hartmann , Gerhard Barkhorn , Walter Krupinski and Johannes Wiese were summoned to Adolf Hitler ' s " Berghof " in Berchtesgaden . Barkhorn was to be honoured with the Swords , while Hartmann , Krupinski and Wiese were to receive the Oak Leaves to the Knight ' s Cross . On the train , all four of them got drunk on cognac and champagne . Supporting each other and unable to stand , they arrived at Berchtesgaden . Major Nicolaus von Below , Hitler ' s Luftwaffe adjutant , was shocked . After some sobering up , Hartmann was still intoxicated . Hartmann took a German officer ' s hat from a stand and put it on , but it was too large . Von Below became upset , told Hartmann it was Hitler ' s and ordered him to put it back . Fighting the United States Army Air Forces . On 21 May 1944 , Hartmann engaged United States Army Air Forces aircraft in " Reichsverteidigung " for the first time . While flying " top cover " for another " Schwarm " , Hartmann attacked a flight of four P - 51 s over Bucharest , Romania , downing two , while the other two P - 51s fell victim to his fellow pilots . On 1 June 1944 , Hartmann shot down four P - 51s in a single mission over the Ploieşti oil fields . Later that month , during his fifth combat with American pilots , he shot down two more P - 51s before being forced to bail out , when eight other P - 51s ran his Messerschmitt out of fuel . During the intense manoeuvring , Hartmann managed to line up one of the P - 51s at close range , but heard only a " clank " when he fired , as he had run out of ammunition . While he was hanging in his parachute , the P - 51s circled above him , and Hartmann wondered if they would take this opportunity to kill him . One of the P - 51Bs flown by Lt . Robert J . Goebel of the 308th Squadron , 31st Fighter Group , broke away and headed straight for him . Goebel was making a camera pass to record the bailout and banked away from him only at the last moment , waving at Hartmann as he went by . On 17 August , Hartmann became the top scoring fighter ace , surpassing fellow " JG 52 " pilot Gerhard Barkhorn , with his 274th kill . The Diamonds to the Knight ' s Cross . On 23 August , Hartmann claimed eight victories in three combat missions , bringing his score to 290 victories . He passed the 300 kill mark on 24 August 1944 , a day on which he shot down 11 aircraft in two combat missions , bringing the number of aerial victories to an unprecedented 301 victories . He was immediately grounded by Luftwaffe chief of staff " Reichsmarschall " Hermann Göring , who was fearful of the effect on German morale should such a hero be lost . Hartmann , however , later successfully lobbied to be reinstated as a combat pilot . Hartmann became one of only 27 German soldiers in World War II to receive the Diamonds to his Knight ' s Cross . Hartmann was summoned to the " Führerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze " , Adolf Hitler ' s military headquarters near Rastenburg , to receive the coveted award from Hitler personally . On arrival , he was asked to surrender his side arm — a security measure caused by the aftermath of the failed assassination attempt on 20 July 1944 . Hartmann refused and threatened to decline the Diamonds if he were not trusted to carry his pistol . After consulting " Oberst " Nicolaus von Below , Hitler ' s Luftwaffe adjutant , Hartmann was allowed to keep his side arm and accepted the Diamonds . During Hartmann ' s meeting with Hitler , Hartmann discussed at length the shortcomings of fighter pilot training . Allegedly , Hitler revealed to Hartmann that he believed that , " militarily , the war is lost , " and that he wished the Luftwaffe had " more like him and Rudel . " The Diamonds to the Knight ' s Cross also earned Hartmann a 10 - day leave . On his way to his vacation , he was ordered by " General der Jagdflieger " Adolf Galland to attend a meeting in Berlin - Gatow . Galland wanted to transfer Hartmann to the Me 262 test program . Hartmann requested that the transfer be cancelled on the grounds of his deep attachment to JG 52 . Galland , valuing comradeship and seeing the merit in Hartmann ' s request , cancelled the transfer to the jet squadron and rescinded the order that had taken him off combat operations . Galland then ordered Hartmann to the " Jagdfliegerheim " ( vacation resort for fighter pilots ) in Bad Wiessee , where , on 10 September , Hartmann married his long - time teenage love , Ursula " Usch " Paetsch . Witnesses to the wedding included his friends , Gerhard Barkhorn and Wilhelm Batz . Fighting technique . Unlike Hans - Joachim Marseille , who was a marksman and expert in the art of deflection shooting , Hartmann was a master of stalk - and - ambush tactics . By his own account , he was convinced that 80 % of the pilots he downed did not even realize what hit them . He relied on the powerful engine of his Bf 109 for high - power sweeps and quick approaches , occasionally diving through entire enemy formations to take advantage of the confusion that followed in order to disengage . When the decorated British test pilot Captain Eric Brown asked Hartmann how he had amassed 352 air victories , he revealed : Well you can ' t believe it , but the Sturmovik , which was their main ground - attack aircraft , flew like B - 17 s in formation and didn ' t attempt to make any evasive manoeuvres . And all they had was one peashooter in the back of each plane . Also , some of the pilots were women . Their peashooter was no threat unless they had a very lucky hit on you . I didn ' t open fire til the aircraft filled my whole windscreen . If I did this , I would get one every time . His favourite method of attack was to hold fire until extremely close ( or less ) , then unleash a short burst at point - blank range — a technique he learned while flying as wingman of his former commander , Walter Krupinski , who favoured this approach . This technique , as opposed to long - range shooting , allowed him to : However , firing at close range ran the risk of having to fly through the debris of a damaged or exploding aircraft , thereby damaging his own fighter in the process ( much of the damage Hartmann sustained in combat was caused by collision with flying debris ) . If it was dangerous to dog - fight further he would break off and content himself with one victory . His careful approach was described by himself by the motto : " See - Decide - Attack - Reverse " ; observe the enemy , decide how to proceed with the attack , make the attack , and then disengage to re - evaluate the situation . Last combats . From 1 – 14 February 1945 , Hartmann briefly led I . / JG 53 as acting " Gruppenkommandeur " until he was replaced by Helmut Lipfert . In March 1945 , Hartmann , his score now standing at 336 aerial victories , was asked a second time by General Adolf Galland to join the Me 262 units forming to fly the new jet fighter . Hartmann attended the jet conversion program led by Heinrich Bär . Galland also intended Hartmann to fly with JV 44 . Hartmann declined the offer , preferring to remain with " JG 52 " . Some sources report that Hartmann ' s decision to stay with his unit was due to a request via telegram made by " Oberstleutnant " Hermann Graf . Now " Gruppenkommandeur " of " I . / JG 52 " , Erich Hartmann claimed his 350th aerial victory on 17 April , in the vicinity of Chrudim . The last wartime photograph of Hartmann known was taken in connection with this victory . At the end of the war , Erich Hartmann disobeyed General Hans Seidemann ' s order to Hartmann and Hermann Graf to fly to the British sector to avoid capture by Soviet forces . Hartmann later explained : I must say that during the war I never disobeyed an order , but when General Seidemann ordered Graf and me to fly to the British sector and surrender to avoid the Soviets , with the rest of the wing to surrender to the Soviets , I could not leave my men . That would have been bad leadership . Hartmann ' s last kill occurred over Brno , Czechoslovakia , on 8 May , the last day of the war in Europe . Early that morning , he was ordered to fly a reconnaissance mission and report the position of Soviet forces . Hartmann took off with his wingman at 08 : 30 and spotted the first Soviet units just 40 kilometres away . Passing over the area , Hartmann saw two Yak - 9s performing aerobatics for the Soviet columns . Determined to " spoil the party " , Hartmann dove upon the fighters from his vantage point at and shot one down from a range of . As he lined up the second fighter , Hartmann noticed a flicker of shiny dots above him coming from the West ; they were P - 51s . Rather than make a stand and be caught between the Soviets and the Americans , Hartmann and his wingman fled at low level into the pall of smoke that covered Brno . When he landed , Hartmann learned that the Soviet forces were within artillery range of the airfield , so JG 52 destroyed " Karaya " One , 24 other Bf 109s , and large quantities of ammunition . Hartmann later recalled his final violent action of the war : We destroyed the aircraft and all munitions , everything . I sat in my fighter and fired the guns into the woods where all the fuel had been dropped , and then jumped out . We destroyed twenty - five perfectly good fighters . They would be nice to have in museums now . As " Gruppenkommandeur " of " I . / JG 52 " , Hartmann chose to surrender his unit to members of the US 90th Infantry Division . Prisoner of war . Surrender . After his capture , the U . S . Army handed Hartmann , his pilots , and ground crew over to the Soviet Union on 24 May , where he was imprisoned in accordance with the Yalta Agreements , which stated that airmen and soldiers fighting Soviet forces had to surrender directly to them . Hartmann and his unit were led by the Americans to a large open - air compound to await the transfer . The number of prisoners grew to 50 , 000 . Living conditions deteriorated , and some American guards turned " a blind eye " to escapes . In some cases , they assisted by providing food and maps . Soon after being handed over to the Soviet armed forces , Hartmann experienced the following : The first thing the Russians did was to separate the German women and girls from the men . What followed was a brutal orgy of rape and debauchery by Red Army soldiers . When the greatly outnumbered Americans tried to intervene , the Russians charged towards them firing into the air and threatening to kill them if they interfered . The raping continued throughout the night . The next day a Russian General arrived at the encampment and immediately ordered a cessation . . . Later when a few Russians violated the order again and assaulted a German girl , she was asked to identify them from a lineup . There were no formalities , no court martial . The guilty parties were immediately hanged in front of all their comrades . The point was made . Initially , the Soviets tried to convince Hartmann to cooperate with them . He was asked to spy on fellow officers and become a " stukatch " , or " stool pigeon " . He refused and was given 10 days ' solitary confinement in a four - by - nine - by - six - foot chamber . He slept on a concrete floor and was given only bread and water . On another occasion , the Soviets threatened to kidnap and murder his wife ( the death of his son was kept from Hartmann ) . During similar interrogations about his knowledge of the Me 262 , Hartmann was struck by a Soviet officer using a cane , prompting Hartmann to slam his chair down on the head of the assailant , knocking him out . Expecting to be shot , he was transferred back to the small bunker . Hartmann , not ashamed of his war service , opted to go on a hunger strike and starve rather than fold to " Soviet will " , as he called it . The Soviets allowed the hunger strike to go on for four days before force - feeding him . More subtle efforts by the Soviet authorities to convert Hartmann to communism also failed . He was offered a post in the East German Air Force , which he refused : If , after I am home in the West , you make me a normal contract offer , a business deal such as people sign every day all over the world , and I like your offer , then I will come back and work with you in accordance with the contract . But if you try to put me to work under coercion of any kind , then I will resist to my dying gasp . War - crimes charges . After continuous failed attempts by the Soviets to break him , Hartmann was falsely charged with war crimes , specifically the deliberate shooting of 780 Soviet civilians in the village of Briansk , attacking a " bread factory " on 23 May 1943 , and destroying 345 " expensive " Soviet aircraft . He refused to confess to these charges and conducted his own defence , which the presiding judge denounced as a " waste of time " . Sentenced to 25 years of hard labor , Hartmann refused to work . He was eventually put into solitary confinement , which enraged his fellow prisoners . They began a revolt , overpowered the guards , and freed him . Hartmann made a complaint to the " Kommandant " s office , asking for a representative from Moscow and an international inspection , as well as a tribunal , to acquit him of his unlawful conviction . This was refused , and he was transferred to a camp in Novocherkassk , where he spent five more months in solitary confinement . Eventually , Hartmann was granted a tribunal , but it upheld his original sentence . He was subsequently sent to another camp , this time at Diaterka in the Ural Mountains . In 1955 , Hartmann ' s mother wrote to the new West German Chancellor , Konrad Adenauer , to whom she appealed to secure his freedom . A trade agreement between West Germany and the Soviet Union was reached , and Hartmann was released along with 16 , 000 German military personnel as one of the last " Heimkehrer " . After spending 10 and a half years in Soviet POW camps , he was among the last batch of prisoners to be turned over . Returning to West Germany , he was reunited with his wife Ursula , to whom he had written every day of the war . In January 1997 , the government of the Russian Federation , acting as the legal successor to the Soviet Union , exonerated Hartmann by admitting that his conviction for war crimes was unlawful . Post - war years . In the Luftwaffe of the Bundeswehr . When Hartmann returned to West Germany , Hartmann reentered military service in the " Bundeswehr " and became an officer in the West German Air Force ( Luftwaffe ) , where he commanded West Germany ' s first all - jet unit , " Jagdgeschwader 71 " " Richthofen " , which was equipped initially with Canadair Sabre s and later with Lockheed F - 104 Starfighter s . He also made several trips to the United States , where he was trained on U . S . Air Force equipment . He had the JG 71 aircraft painted with the same spreading black tulip pattern used by " Karaya 1 " on the Eastern Front . Hartmann considered the F - 104 a fundamentally flawed and unsafe aircraft and strongly opposed its adoption by the Luftwaffe . Although events subsequently validated his low opinion of the aircraft ( 282 crashes and 115 German pilots killed on the F - 104 in non - combat missions , along with allegations of bribes culminating in the Lockheed scandal ) , Hartmann ' s outspoken criticism proved unpopular with his superiors . General Werner Panitzki , successor to General Josef Kammhuber as " Inspekteur der Luftwaffe " , said , " Erich is a good pilot , but not a good officer . " Hartmann was forced into early retirement in 1970 . Civilian life . During his long imprisonment , Hartmann ' s son , Erich - Peter , was born in 1945 and died as a three - year - old in 1948 , without his father ever having seen him . Hartmann later had a daughter , Ursula Isabel , born on 23 February 1957 . After his military retirement , from 1971 – 1974 , Hartmann worked as a flight instructor in Hangelar , near Bonn , and also flew in an aerobatics team with " Dolfo " Galland . In 1980 he caught a cold that developed into angina pectoris — the condition that had killed his father at the age of 58 . He recovered and , by 1983 , was medically cleared to fly , after which he resumed instructing at the various flying schools . However , fearing a second attack , he became cautious and limited his appearances at public events . He stated : " I am retired and I am a civilian , and now I like to have my rest and peace . I do not live for exhibitions . " Hartmann died on 20 September 1993 , at the age of 71 in Weil im Schönbuch . Summary of career . Hartmann flew 1 , 404 combat missions during World War II , resulting in 825 engagements , and was never shot down . Hartmann was never wounded and never bailed out due to damage inflicted by enemy pilots . His kill tally included some 200 various single - engined Soviet - built fighters , more than 80 U . S . - built P - 39s , 15 Il - 2 ground attack aircraft , and 10 twin - engined medium bombers . It is often said that Hartmann was more proud of the fact that he had never lost a wingman in combat than he was about his number of kills ; however , he did have at least one shot down . Major Günther Capito had joined the unit in the spring of 1943 . Capito was a former bomber pilot who had retrained on fighters . After scoring his fifth victory , Capito asked to be Hartmann ' s wingman . Hartmann refused initially , believing Capito was insufficiently trained on Messerschmitts . On their first mission together , they were engaged by P - 39 Airacobras : I called to him to turn hard opposite , so I could sandwich the Red fighters , but in his standard - rate bomber turn he got hit . I saw the whole thing and ordered him to dive and bail out immediately . To my intense relief I saw him leave the aircraft and his parachute blossom . I was happy to get this Airacobra , but I was mad at myself for not harkening to my intuition not to fly with Günther Capito . Victories . One Soviet historian , Dimitri Khazanov , has attempted to prove that Hartmann did not score anywhere near 352 victories . Khazanov quoted Hartmann having shot down 70 - 80 Soviet aircraft . However , Khazanov has been heavily criticised by aviation historians such as Jean - Yves Lorant and Hans Ring for faulty research . Ring and Lorant both point out that the missions that Khazanov tried to use to prove Hartmann ' s claims false were riddled with false and misleading information . For example , Khazanov claimed that on a mission on 20 August 1943 , Hartmann claimed two victories west of Millerovo but not a single Soviet aircraft was lost . German records show not a single claim was made in that area . Hartmann ' s victories were recorded east of Kuteinikowo , some 160 kilometres away . On 29 May 1944 , Khazanov claimed Hartmann reported three La - 5s shot down over Roman , Romania . This was also false . Hartmann claimed a single P - 39 over Iaşi . Hans Ring said the mistakes in Khazanov ' s work " serve to expose the superficial nature of Khazanov ' s assertions and confirm that his only goal in compiling his article was to discredit Hartmann and his record . " Even Khazanov points out in his article that during Hartmann ' s show trial , one of the Soviet charges was the destruction of 352 ( the actual number was 345 ) Soviet aircraft . Decorations . Hartmann had kept the whereabouts of his Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross secret from his captors during his time as a prisoner of war , claiming that he had thrown it away . The hiding place was in a small stream . His comrade Hans " Assi " Hahn managed to hide the Knight ' s Cross in a double bottom cigar box and smuggled it back to Germany when he was released from captivity . Dates of rank . Hartmann joined the military service in " Wehrmacht " on 1 October 1940 . His first station was Neukuhren in East Prussia , where he received his military basic training as a Luftwaffe recruit .