Portrait Photo of Hans-Joachim Marseille

Image size: 1171 x 1600 pixel. 671 KB
Date: Sunday, 28 June 1942
Place: Führerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze, Rastenburg, East Prussia, Germany
Photographer: Unknown photographer from Heinrich Hoffmann Firm

Oberleutnant Hans-Joachim Marseille, Staffelkapitän 3.Staffel / I.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27) "Afrika", posed for the studio camera of Heinrich Hoffmann Firm in the day he received the coveted Schwerter zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #12 (Swords for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves) from Adolf Hitler, 28 June 1942 (Marseille already received the telegram from 18 June 1942). On 3 June he achieved his 75th victory, and on 17 June his 101st victory, which made him the most efficient fighter pilot of the Western Front and brought him the Eichenlaub in 6 June 1942 and Schwertern in 18 June, only a couple of days later! There is no doubt that he is the best German ace at this time. Moreover, he was also the most famous and popular German pilot who achieved enormous successes against the Britsih flyers. Marseille was described by Adolf Galland, the most senior German ace, with these words : "He was the unrivaled virtuoso among the fighter pilots of World War II. His achievements were previously considered impossible."

Source:

http://ww2colorfarbe.blogspot.com/2014/12/luftwaffe-ace-hans-joachim-marseille.html

Studio Portrait of Luftwaffe Ace Wilhelm Batz

Image size: 1113 x 1600 pixel. 384 KB
Date: Tuesday, 25 July 1944
Place: Führerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze, Rastenburg, East Prussia, Germany
Photographer: Walter Frentz

Sun-tanned Hauptmann Wilhelm "Willi" Batz (21 May 1916 - 11 September 1988) smile for a formal portrait by Walter Frentz after the award ceremony with Adolf Hitler and two other Luftwaffe officers (Major Herbert Lamprecht and Hauptmann der Reserve Heinz Strüning) at Führerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze (Rastenburg) in 25 July 1944. Only five days before (20 July 1944) Batz received the telegram from Oberkommando der Luftwaffe which informed him of the bestowal of Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (vorschlagnummer 526) for his remarkable achievement as a fighter pilot with 188 confirmed victories. At that time he was a Gruppenkommandeur of III.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52) / VIII.Fliegerkorps / Luftflotte 4. He was operating with such luminaries as Hauptmann Erich “Bubi” Hartmann (352 victories, RK-Br), Oberleutnant Friedrich “Fritz” Obleser (120 victories, RK) and Oberleutnant Walter Wolfrum (137 victories, RK) among the high-scoring pilots of III./JG 52 at that time. In the end of the war, Batz flew 445 combat missions and claimed 237 enemy aircraft shot down. 234 of these victories were achieved over the Eastern Front, including at least 46 Il-2 Sturmoviks, but he did claim three victories, including one four-engine bomber against the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) over the Ploieşti oil fields. He was wounded three times and was shot down four times.  At war’s end he was able to extricate his unit and men from Hungary and Austria back to Germany to surrender to American forces. He was thus able to avoid the prolonged Soviet captivity that befell the personnel of other two JG 52 Gruppen.

Source:

http://ww2colorfarbe.blogspot.com/2015/01/wilhelm-batz-in-studio-portrait-after.html

Four of the Best Pilots From Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51) "Mölders"

Image size: 1600 x 1117 pixel. 352 KB
Date: Friday, 22 May 1942
Place: Soviet Union
Photographer: Unknown

Four of the best pilots from Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51) "Mölders" posed together for the camera. From left to right: Oberfeldwebel Heinrich "Dicke" Höfemeier (Flugzeugführer in 1.Staffel/Jagdgeschwader 51; Ritterkreuz 5 April 1942; final score 96 air victories from 490 combat missions); Leutnant Erwin Fleig (Staffelkapitän 2.Staffel/Jagdgeschwader 51; Ritterkreuz 12 August 1941; final score 66 air victories from 506 combat missions), Hauptmann Oskar-Heinrich "Heinz" Bär (Gruppenkommandeur I.Gruppe/Jagdgeschwader 77; Ritterkreuz 2 July 1941, Eichenlaub 14 August 1941; Schwerter 16 February 1942; final score 220 air victories from over than 1,000 combat missions); and Oberleutnant der Reserve Heinrich "Gaudi" Krafft (Staffelkapitän 3.Staffel/Jagdgeschwader 51; Ritterkreuz 18 March 1942; final score 78 air victories). Bär was former Staffelkapitän of 1.Staffel/Jagdgeschwader 51 before being promoted as Gruppenkommandeur of I.Gruppe/Jagdgeschwader 77 in 11 May 1942. The accumulation of the air victories from these four pilot is 460 kills! After the Winter offensive in the Eastern Front there followed a lull in operational intensity, with April–June 1942 seeing little fighting in the air. However, JG 51 lost three of its experten in less than ten days; Lt. Hans Strelow,(68 victories) was lost on 22 May; 2. JG 51's Oblt. Erwin Fleig (66 victories), ex-wingman to Werner Mölders, bailed out and captured on 29 May; and two days later Hptm. Josef Fozo (27 victories), Kommandeur I./JG 51, was severely injured in a landing accident and would never return to first-line service!

Source:

http://www.historicalwarmilitariaforum.com/topic/3401-my-research-and-collecting-interest-sudeten-rkt-and-dkig-tr%C3%A4gers/

Oberstleutnant Karl-Gottfried Nordmann, Luftwaffe Ace

Image size: 1072 x 1600 pixel. 245 KB
Date: April 1943
Place: Smolensk, Smolensk Oblast, Soviet Union
Photographer: Bildberichter Paul Fischer from Luftwaffe Kriegsberichter-Zug

Oberstleutnant Karl-Gottfried Nordmann, Kommodore of  Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51) Mölders, posed for the photographer, showing all of his prestigious medals. Nordmann (born 22 November 1915 in Gießen – died 22 July 1982 in Greenwich, Connecticut (USA)) was a German World War II Luftwaffe flying ace who claimed 78 aerial victories (69 on the Eastern front) in over 800 combat missions. At the start of the war Nordmann was serving with I./Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing). By March 1940 he was an Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 3./JG 77. In November 1940 Nordmann, having achieved 8 air victories, was transferred to command 12 Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing). In July 1941 Hauptmann Nordmann was appointed to command IV./JG 51 flying on the Eastern Front and in August was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross) after a total of 31 victories. Future 'ace' Unteroffizier Franz-Josef Beerenbrock flew as Nordmann's Rottenflieger (wing man) around this time. In April 1942, now a Major, Nordmann was appointed Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of JG 51. On 17 January 1943 Nordmann's Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was when involved in a collision with Oberleutnant Rudolf Busch, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 51. Busch was killed and Nordmann, severely injured, did not fly operationally again. In April 1944 Oberstleutnant Nordmann was made Jagdfliegerführer Ostpreussen before in May 1944 appointed to Jagdfliegerführer 6. In February 1945 Nordmann was made Inspekteur der Tagjäger Ost until the end of the war. His last rank was Oberst.

Source:
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2008-0704-500
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-2008-0704-500,_Smolensk,_Karl_Gottfried_Nordmann.jpg