63 Facts About Gordon Gollob

Gordon Gollob was an Austrian fighter pilot during World War II.

Gordon Gollob volunteered for military service in the Austrian Armed Forces in 1933.

In March 1938, following the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany, Gordon Gollob was transferred to the Luftwaffe.

In 1939, Gordon Gollob was posted to Zerstorergeschwader 76, a heavy fighter wing.

Gordon Gollob claimed his first aerial victory on 5 September 1939 during the invasion of Poland.

Gordon Gollob claimed one victory during the Battle of the Heligoland Bight and two victories during the Norwegian Campaign.

Gordon Gollob then transferred to, flying the single-engined Messerschmitt Bf 109.

Gordon Gollob then fought in the aerial battles of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

On 26 October 1941, his total then at 85 aerial victories, Gordon Gollob was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

Gordon Gollob then served at a training facility and underwent commander training.

Gordon Gollob was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 77 on 16 May 1942.

Gordon Gollob worked in a sales position for the Deutz AG.

Gordon Gollob was born on 16 June 1912 in Vienna, the capital of Austria-Hungary.

Gordon Gollob completed his A- and B-license to fly glider aircraft and became an instructor as well as a construction and airframe inspector.

Gordon Gollob flew ground support missions, attacking an airfield and destroying several aircraft on the ground.

On 21 September 1939, Gordon Gollob was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class.

On 8 April 1940, Gordon Gollob was appointed Staffelkapitan of 3.

At 14:47 on 9 July 1940, Gordon Gollob intercepted and shot down Short Sunderland flying boat "Y" from No 201 Squadron.

On 7 September 1940 during the Battle of Britain, Gordon Gollob was transferred to the Gruppenstab of II.

That day, the RAF flew several fighter sweeps over the French coast and Gordon Gollob was credited with shooting down a Supermarine Spitfire fighter, his sixth of the war and last on the Western Front.

On 1 June 1941, Gordon Gollob was promoted to Hauptmann and II.

One of these victories was credited to Gordon Gollob, who claimed a Polikarpov I-16 fighter shot down at 07:00.

Gordon Gollob was credited with two victories over DB-3s in this encounter.

The next day, Gordon Gollob succeeded Keller in this position and turned over command of 4.

On this day at 19:42, Gordon Gollob claimed his tenth aerial victory over a Petlyakov Pe-2 light bomber.

One day later, Gordon Gollob was awarded the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe for 16 aerial victories.

On 23 July 1941 at 16:35, Gordon Gollob claimed a Polikarpov R-5 reconnaissance bomber, his 17th aerial victory.

Gordon Gollob was victorious over a I-153 at 17:46 and a I-17 at 18:22.

In support of these battles, Gordon Gollob scored a I-17 on 22 August, a Polikarpov I-180 fighter aircraft on 24 August and a Tupolev TB-3 heavy bomber on 31 August 1941, taking his total to 36 aerial victories.

Gordon Gollob's opponent was classified as an I-26 fighter aircraft, later referred to as Yakovlev Yak-1.

That day, Gordon Gollob claimed two victories, an Il-2 and a I-26, taking his total to 40 aerial victories.

That day, Gordon Gollob claimed his 43rd aerial victory over an R-5 at 13:55.

Gordon Gollob became an "ace-in-a-day" again on 28 September 1941 which took his score to 48 aerial victories.

On two separate missions that day, Gordon Gollob claimed two I-61s and one I-16 shot down.

Gordon Gollob alone accounted for nine of these 16 claimed victories.

Gordon Gollob was the 38th member of the German armed forces to be so honored.

On 20 November 1941, Gordon Gollob was again posted to the central Erprobungstelle Rechlin primary Luftwaffe test facility.

Gordon Gollob was replaced by Hauptmann Karl-Heinz Krahl as commander of II.

Gordon Gollob was sent to the Geschwaderstab of Jagdgeschwader 54 as a commander-in-training under Major Hannes Trautloft.

Gordon Gollob took operational command of the Geschwader after he arrived on 16 May 1942.

Gordon Gollob's success continued the following day, when he was credited with three R-5s and one LaGG-3 destroyed.

One day later, on 20 May 1942, Gordon Gollob shot down two aircraft, a DB-3 and a LaGG-3, and thereby exceeded 100 aerial victories.

Gordon Gollob was the 10th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark.

On 21 June 1942, Gordon Gollob was credited with two victories over LaGG-3 fighter aircraft.

Gordon Gollob claimed the first aerial victory of August 1942, his last month of combat operations, on 4 August over a Yakovlev Yak-1 fighter aircraft.

Gordon Gollob claimed one Yak-1 on each of the next two days.

Gordon Gollob was the third member of the Wehrmacht and the third fighter pilot who had received this award.

Gordon Gollob was then posted to the Stab of Jagdfliegerfuhrer 3 at Brest-Guipavas on the English Channel Front.

On 15 October 1942, Gordon Gollob was made Jagdfliegerfuhrer 3, responsible for tactical fighter command over northwestern France.

Gordon Gollob was interested only in the purely technical aspects, neglecting ground organization, the training of air- and groundcrews, setting up a communications network and the information of operational units.

Gordon Gollob was involved in the development and testing of the FuG 217 Neptun "J2" and FuG 218 Neptun "J3" airborne radar specifically for single-engined night fighters and air-to-air rockets, such as the R4M.

Galland's conclusion was that Gordon Gollob required close supervision in a responsible post.

On 31 January 1945, Gordon Gollob was officially appointed as General der Jagdflieger.

On 7 April 1945, frustrated over the lack of progress made, Gordon Gollob submitted his written request to be released from office as General der Jagdflieger, but the request was not approved by Goring.

Gordon Gollob left Berlin on 10 April 1945 after his staff had left for southern Germany.

At Kitzbuhel, Gollob was taken prisoner of war by elements of the 36th Infantry Division of the United States Army under the command of General John E Dahlquist.

On 1 June 1945, Gordon Gollob, who had been released on parole, was arrested by the Austrian Gendarmerie acting for the US authorities.

Gordon Gollob was released by US forces in 1946 and was then interned by the French authorities, as his home region of North Tyrol had become part of the French Occupation Zone.

In 1948, Gordon Gollob became General Secretary of the Federation of Independents, a right-wing political party in Austria.

Gordon Gollob had criticized the anti-Nazi legislation and called the Austrian Government a "fake democracy".

Gordon Gollob placed leaders in command of units not because of their competence, but due to their loyalty to the Nazi Party, which were very few in the Jagdwaffe.

Gordon Gollob died in Sulingen, Diepholz, Lower Saxony on 7 September 1987.

Gordon Gollob never lost a wingman in combat, nor was he shot down.