1. Hans-Joachim Jabs was a German officer in the Luftwaffe during World War II.
27 Facts About Hans-Joachim Jabs
1. 2.
Hans-Joachim Jabs was one of the few pilots to obtain Experte while flying a heavy daytime fighter.
3.
Hans-Joachim Jabs was born 14 November 1917 in the city of Lubeck, Germany.
4.
Hans-Joachim Jabs was the son of a Oberinspektor.
5.
Hans-Joachim Jabs served with KG 253 for two months, and then went to special training for fighter pilots.
6.
Hans-Joachim Jabs was with ZG 76 when the Second World War began with the invasion of Poland in September 1939.
7.
Hans-Joachim Jabs declined dogfighting, attempting instead to maintain speed and height, and was conscious of the need to put distance between his aircraft and the opposing fighters when the time came.
8.
In October 1940 Hans-Joachim Jabs' unit was transferred to Stavanger, Norway to perform coastal patrols to protect German shipping.
9.
Hans-Joachim Jabs led his Staffel over Crete attacking ground targets and Allied shipping.
10.
In November 1941, after training for two months on night fighter techniques, the now Hauptmann Hans-Joachim Jabs officially was transferred to the night fighter force, as Staffelkapitan of 9.
11.
On 1 November 1942 Hans-Joachim Jabs was appointed Staffelkapitan of 11.
12.
Hans-Joachim Jabs became adept at the orthodox night fighter attack method of von unten hinten, or from under and behind.
13.
Hans-Joachim Jabs added another score in April 1943, bringing his total to 28.
14.
Hans-Joachim Jabs had a second armament modification made a few months later.
15.
Three weeks later, on 24 March 1944, Hans-Joachim Jabs was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.
16.
On 29 April 1944 Hans-Joachim Jabs paid a visit to fellow night fighter pilot Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer and his Gruppe at St Trond Belgium.
17.
In mid-afternoon through cloudy and foggy skies Hans-Joachim Jabs made the short trip back to his home base at Deelen.
18.
Hans-Joachim Jabs' aircraft had taken several hits, and was losing power in one of the engines.
19.
Hans-Joachim Jabs lost oil pressure, and as the engine overheated it soon seized up.
20.
Hans-Joachim Jabs did so in a field about 30 miles away from the airfield at Deelen.
21.
Hans-Joachim Jabs did so, adding a brief instruction that Caulton was to be allowed to keep it.
22.
On 1 November 1944 Hans-Joachim Jabs was promoted to Oberstleutnant.
23.
In May 1945 Hans-Joachim Jabs was interred as a prisoner of war and held by the British for a year.
24.
Hans-Joachim Jabs became involved in veterans organizations, and was made vice-president of the Gemeinschaft der Jagdflieger or Association of Armed Forces Airmen, a veteran's organization founded in 1952 by former officers of the Luftwaffe to help fellow officers returning to Germany.
25.
Hans-Joachim Jabs met Page in the 1950s at a gathering of former fighter pilots in Munich.
26.
Hans-Joachim Jabs was successful, and in 1972 the two former adversaries met, and established a friendship.
27.
The friendship was long standing, with Caulton and Hans-Joachim Jabs meeting regularly every 3 to 4 years until Hans-Joachim Jabs' death in 2003.