59 Facts About Gerhard Barkhorn

Gerhard "Gerd" Barkhorn was a German military aviator who was a renowned wing commander in the Luftwaffe during World War II.

Gerhard Barkhorn flew his first combat missions during the "Phoney War" and then the Battle of Britain without shooting down any aircraft.

In March 1942, Gerhard Barkhorn was appointed squadron leader of 4.

Gerhard Barkhorn was awarded the second highest decoration in the Wehrmacht when he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords for 250 aerial victories.

Gerhard Barkhorn flew 1,104 combat sorties and was credited with 301 victories on the Eastern Front piloting the Messerschmitt Bf 109.

On 6 January 1983, Gerhard Barkhorn was involved in a car crash with his wife Christl.

Gerhard Barkhorn was born on 20 March 1919 in Konigsberg in the Free State of Prussia of the Weimar Republic.

Gerhard Barkhorn had two brothers, Helmut and Dieter, and a sister Meta.

From 1925 to 1929, Gerhard Barkhorn attended the Volksschule in Konigsberg and then the Wilhelms-Gymnasium, a secondary school, where he graduated with his Abitur in early 1937.

Gerhard Barkhorn started his flight training in March 1938 at the Luftkriegsschule 2 at Gatow.

One of his flight instructors at the time was Franz Stigler who initially thought that Gerhard Barkhorn was a bad pilot but later graduated him with good ratings.

Effective as of 1 August 1939, Gerhard Barkhorn was promoted to Oberfahnrich and at the same time to the officer rank of Leutnant on 27 August.

World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland and Gerhard Barkhorn was selected for specialized fighter pilot training.

In June 1940, Gerhard Barkhorn fell ill and was diagnosed with scarlet fever.

Gerhard Barkhorn was sent to a hospital in Wildenschwert, present-day Usti nad Orlici in the Czech Republic.

Two days later, on his 38th combat mission, Gerhard Barkhorn encountered Supermarine Spitfires over the English Channel.

On 3 December 1940, Gerhard Barkhorn was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class.

From this airfield, Gerhard Barkhorn flew many escort missions for German shipping.

Gruppe was ordered to Maldegem, where they were joined by Walter Krupinski, someone Gerhard Barkhorn had befriended during training, having completed his training with the Erganzungsgruppe.

That day, Gerhard Barkhorn flew five combat missions in support of the invasion.

Gerhard Barkhorn flew many combat missions during this period without claiming a further aerial victory.

Two days later, Gerhard Barkhorn escorted a Focke-Wulf Fw 189 aerial reconnaissance aircraft to Chudovo on his first mission of the day.

Gerhard Barkhorn was promoted to Oberleutnant on 1 November 1941.

Gerhard Barkhorn claimed his tenth and last aerial victory in 1941 on a meteorological reconnaissance mission over an I-61, an early German designation for a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 fighter, on 30 November.

Gruppe was based at Jesau, Gerhard Barkhorn was appointed Staffelkapitan of 4.

Gerhard Barkhorn succeeded Steinhoff in this capacity who had been given command of II.

Gerhard Barkhorn was taken to a makeshift hospital installed at the Olympiapark Berlin.

On 19 December 1942, Gerhard Barkhorn had raised his score to 101 victories.

On 9 January 1943, Gerhard Barkhorn claimed his 105th aerial victory.

Gerhard Barkhorn's victims included Lieutenant Vasiliyev, and Hero of the Soviet Union Podpolkovnik Lev Shestakov of the 236 IAP Fighter Regiment.

Gerhard Barkhorn strafed their Yakovlev Yak-1 fighters until they caught fire.

On 11 January 1943, Gerhard Barkhorn was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

On 23 January 1944, Gerhard Barkhorn became the first German pilot to fly 1,000 combat missions.

For several days, Gerhard Barkhorn was grounded and did not fly any further combat missions.

Gerhard Barkhorn took an overnight train to the Fuhrerhauptquartier from the Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin.

Gerhard Barkhorn was sent on a propaganda tour in Germany, visited Jagdgeschwader 11 at Wunstorf Airfield and was promoted to Major on 1 April 1944.

Gerhard Barkhorn thus surpassed Walter Nowotny who at the time was credited with 256 aerial victories.

Gerhard Barkhorn claimed two P-39 fighters, an Il-2 ground attack aircraft and a Yak-9 fighter.

Gerhard Barkhorn, who was still recovering in Bad Wiessee at the time, attended the wedding and became Hartmann's best man.

Gerhard Barkhorn later stated that he would have needed 50 more flights to master the aircraft.

Gerhard Barkhorn was released as a prisoner of war on 3 September 1945.

Gerhard Barkhorn then returned to Tegernsee to be reunited with his family.

Four years later, Gerhard Barkhorn was promoted to head of facility and service management.

Gerhard Barkhorn accepted the offer, and on 2 January 1956 joined the newly created German Air Force, at the time referred to as the Bundesluftwaffe.

On 19 June 1956, Gerhard Barkhorn was again promoted to the rank of Major, then followed by his oath of allegiance.

On 1 July 1957, Gerhard Barkhorn succeeded Krupinski as commander of the weapons school which was then moved to Buchel Air Base.

On 28 September 1960, Gerhard Barkhorn was promoted to Oberst.

On 1 January 1963, Gerhard Barkhorn was transferred to the Fuhrungsstab der Luftwaffe, a department of the Federal Ministry of Defense.

In 1964, Gerhard Barkhorn was posted to the staff of Luftwaffen-Erprobungskommando.

From October 1964 until November 1965, Gerhard Barkhorn headed the six-man Bundesluftwaffe contingent of the Tripartite Kestrel Evaluation Squadron at RAF West Raynham, Norfolk, England.

Gerhard Barkhorn was then transferred to the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force and the AIRBALTAP, Allied Forces Baltic Approaches at the headquarters in Karup, Denmark.

In February 1972, Gerhard Barkhorn was informed that his assignment to AIRBALTAP would have to be extended until 1 October 1973 because there were no vacant positions for a Brigadegeneral in Germany at the time.

At first, Gerhard Barkhorn was a member of this inner circle.

However, Rall, who succeeded Steinhoff as Inspector of the Air Force in 1971, attested that Gerhard Barkhorn lacked the toughness and ability to work under pressure required for a higher command position in the Bundesluftwaffe.

Gerhard Barkhorn retired from active service on 30 September 1975.

On 6 January 1983, Gerhard Barkhorn was driving his wife Christl and their friend Reichsfreiherr Walter von Loe on a wintry highway close to the interchange Frechen, near Cologne, when they were involved in a serious car accident which was not Gerhard Barkhorn's fault.

Gerhard Barkhorn asked the doctor about his wife, and learned that she had not survived the accident.

Gerhard Barkhorn was given a military funeral, with many senior officers of the Bundesluftwaffe in attendance.

Gerhard Barkhorn was shot down nine times, bailed out once and was wounded twice.