By the age of 23, he had notched up a stunning 352 aerial victories in 1,404 combat missions, during which he actually engaged in aerial combat 825 times. This record will probably be invincible for all time to come. Of his kills, 260 were fighter aircraft

Fighter pilots have a somewhat grisly method of assessing their proficiency. They count the number of “kills”—enemy aircraft downed in combat. A pilot who shoots down five aircraft is called an ace. The First World War’s top ace was the German Baron Manfred von Richthofen (the “Red Baron”) with 80 victories. And then, during the Second World War, Erich Hartmann scored 352 kills.

Erich Alfred Hartmann was born on April 19, 1922 in Weissach, Germany. He was taught to fly gliders by his mother, Elisabeth Hartmann, one of Germany’s first female glider pilots. In 1936, Elisabeth helped set up a flying school, and by age 15, Erich became a glider instructor in the school. In 1939, he gained his pilot’s licence. Shortly thereafter, the Second World War commenced.

In October 1942, Hartmann was stationed at a fighter wing equipped with Messerschmitt Bf-109G aircraft, based on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union. After intensive training, his superiors observed that although Hartmann had much to learn regarding air combat, he was indeed a gifted pilot. He claimed his first kill in November. As with many aces, it took him some time to learn to be a consistently victorious attacker. Thereafter, there was no looking back. On July 7, 1943, some huge dogfights occurred during the Battle of Kursk, during which Hartmann shot down seven enemy aircraft. By the start of August 1943, he had notched up 50 kills, and by the end of the month, he had added another 48. During the course of the War, Hartmann had to crash-land his damaged plane 14 times. Often the damage was sustained by flying through the debris of enemy aircraft he had just hit. On the other hand, he was never shot down or forced to land on account of being hit by enemy aircraft. However, once when his aircraft flew through the debris of an enemy plane, he had to land behind Soviet lines. Though he was captured, he managed to escape and soon returned to the cockpit. He passed the 200 kill mark on March 2, 1944, and the 300 mark on August 24, 1944—a day on which he shot down 11 aircraft in two missions. But he was not finished. His final kill was achieved on May 8, 1945, the day the war in Europe ended. He thus became the supreme fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. He was decorated several times. Understandably, the Soviets nicknamed him “The Black Devil.”

Hartmann was ordered to fly to the British sector and surrender before them, in order to escape the advancing Soviet forces. However, he would not desert his men. The captured Germans (including families) were vilely treated. In an attempt to force Hartmann to serve with the Soviet-friendly East Germans, he was convicted on trumped-up war crimes charges. He was sentenced to 25 years of hard labour and spent 10 years in various Soviet prison camps until he was released in 1955, thanks to a prisoner exchange. When he returned home, Hartmann joined the West German Air Force, and commanded its first all-jet unit. He died on September 20, 1993. For the record, he was posthumously exonerated of war crimes by a Russian court.

Will there ever be another Erich Hartmann nicknamed Bubi (little boy) by his comrades? By the age of 23, he had notched up a stunning 352 aerial victories in 1,404 combat missions, during which he actually engaged in aerial combat 825 times. This record will probably be invincible for all time to come. Of his kills, 260 were fighter aircraft. His spectacular feats did not go unchallenged by Luftwaffe headquarters. His kill claims were stringently rechecked, and his performance closely monitored by official observers flying in his formation. However, reduce the tally by 50 or even a 100 and does it make any difference? Actually, the Soviet pilots were just not qualified to take on the vastly superior Luftwaffe opponents and were offered as cannon fodder to the attacking Germans.