31 Facts About Alfred Grislawski

Alfred Grislawski was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a fighter ace credited with 133 victories claimed in over 800 combat missions.

Alfred Grislawski completed flight and fighter pilot training in 1940 and was posted to Jagdgeschwader 52.

In June 1943, Alfred Grislawski was wounded by a blast from a land mine.

Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 53, Alfred Grislawski flew his last combat mission on 26 September 1944 when he was shot down and wounded, spending the rest of the war in hospitals and convalescence.

Alfred Grislawski was born 2 November 1919 at Wanne-Eickel in the Ruhrgebiet, the son of Gustav Alfred Grislawski, a coal miner and member of the Communist Party of Germany, and his wife Henriette.

Alfred Grislawski was the second of four children, with an older brother, Walter, a younger sister, Herta, and the youngest brother Horst.

Alfred Grislawski applied to join the Kriegsmarine but was rejected and offered to join the infantry of the Army which he declined.

Alfred Grislawski was then given the option of a career in naval aviation which he accepted.

Alfred Grislawski then received further training as a fighter pilot at the Jagdfliegerschule, the fighter pilot school at Stolp-Reitz.

On 25 April 1940, Alfred Grislawski made his maiden flight on the Messerschmitt Bf 109.

On 1 October 1940, Alfred Grislawski was promoted to Unteroffizier and assigned to 9.

Alfred Grislawski claimed his first aerial victory of 1942 and 12th overall on 4 January when he shot down a Kharkiv KhAI-5 reconnaissance and light bomber aircraft, referred to as the R-10, near Kotschetowka, located approximately 5 kilometers north of Dobrinka.

Alfred Grislawski was last seen swimming when two Soviet boats approached the area.

That day, Alfred Grislawski claimed two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1 fighters shot down.

On 26 January, Alfred Grislawski was promoted to Leutnant, effective as of 1 December 1942, for courage against the enemy.

Staffel moved to Slavyansk-on-Kuban where Alfred Grislawski claimed his 94th aerial victory over a Pe-2 bomber that day.

Alfred Grislawski was the 36th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark.

On 4 June 1943, Alfred Grislawski was wounded by a blast from a German land mine near Taman.

Alfred Grislawski had received orders from Major Hermann Graf to report to the Wiesbaden-Erbenheim Airfield.

Alfred Grislawski claimed his first two aerial victories on the Western Front on 17 August 1943 when he shot down two Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers.

On 6 November 1943, Alfred Grislawski was transferred and appointed Staffelkapitan of 1.

Alfred Grislawski claimed one victory and was then shot down by USAAF bombers over Baske on 24 January 1944 and wounded, bailing out of his Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-7 "White 1".

Alfred Grislawski's opponent was Lieutenant Pierre Leplang from RAF No 340 Squadron who was killed in action.

On 12 August 1944, Alfred Grislawski was transferred and replaced Hauptmann Karl Leonhard as Staffelkapitan of 11.

On 26 September 1944, Alfred Grislawski was credited with a P-38 twin-engine fighter shot down as his 133rd and last claim.

Alfred Grislawski bailed out, fearing that he would be shot in his parachute, he deployed his parachute at low altitude and hit the ground very hard.

Alfred Grislawski was taken to a hospital at Haltern where he was diagnosed, indicating that his second and third vertebrae were cracked.

In early-1945, Alfred Grislawski was taken to Badgastein in the Austrian Alps for convalescence.

When it became apparent that Leuna would fall under Soviet jurisdiction as part of the Soviet occupation zone, Alfred Grislawski fearing further prosecution decided to travel to his hometown of Wanne-Eickel which was then part of the British occupation zone.

Alfred Grislawski worked as a truck driver and later as a janitor at the Gymnasium Wanne, at the time an all girls secondary school.

Alfred Grislawski declined to join the Bundesluftwaffe because of his wartime injuries.