Hannes Trautloft

Hannes Trautloft
Birth date	3 March 1912(1912-03-03)
Place of birth	Großobringen near Weimar, Grand Duchy of Saxony, German Empire
Death date	12 January 1995 (aged 82)
Place of death	Bad Wiessee, Bavaria, Germany
Resting place	Waldfriedhof Solln (Munich)
Allegiance	Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany West Germany
Service/branch	Reichswehr Luftwaffe Bundeswehr (Luftwaffe)
Years of service	1931/32–1935 1935–1945 1957–1970
Rank	Colonel Lieutenant General
Unit	III./JG 134, Condor Legion, JG 77, JG 51, JG 54
Commands held	I./JG 20, III./JG 51, JG 54 Grünherz, Luftwaffe Group South
Battles/wars	Spanish Civil War World War II Poland Campaign Battle of France Battle of Britain Balkans Campaign Operation Barbarossa
Awards	Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Grand Cross of Merit with Star (FRG)
Relations	∞ Marga Mayser
Other work	Illustrator, author

Johannes "Hannes" Otto Trautloft (3 March 1912 – 12 January 1995) was a German officer of the Reichswehr, the Wehrmacht and the Bundeswehr. The flying ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was credited with 58 air victories (Luftsiege; including five in the Spanish Civil War) in some 560 combat missions (Feindflüge). He often refrained from shooting down more enemy planes and achieving more fame, instead he selflessly led his wingmen into air combat and guided them to their kills.

Many military historians consider Trautloft as one of the Luftwaffe's most effective leaders and should be mentioned in the same breath with Werner Mölders, Adolf Galland, Wolfgang Falck and Günther Lützow. He was an active member of many veteran organizations including the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients until his death.

Life

The small cadre of Spanish pilots working with the Germans had formed themselves loosely into what they called the Escuadrilla Rambaud. After the losses suffered on 23 August, the Escuadrilla was disbanded in the end of the month. Of the time at Escalona del Prado, Oberleutnant Herwig Knüppel wrote: “A fighter pilot must always be ready for action. We flew other pilots back in a Ju 52 in rotation in order to fetch aviation fuel for our next flights over the front. Our mechanics worked untiringly to maintain the engines and machine guns. We – as the “Kette Eberhardt” – flew four to five times daily to the front, with a view of the buildings of Madrid lying in the distance in the haze of the sun. Eberhardt, Trautloft and I proudly called ourselves 'the Jäger from Guadarrama'.” On the afternoon on 25 August, the German fighters made their operational debut in support of the drive on Madrid. A patrol comprising Oberleutnant Eberhardt (now in nominal command of the German fighter force), Oberleutnant Hannes Trautloft and Oberleutnant Herwig Knüppel took off. The Spanish heat made conditions somewhat unusual for aerial combat, and as Trautloft recorded ’I sat in my aircraft in shorts and a T-shirt - my tennis clothes!’ Knüppel recalled: “It was once again a sunny day with a clear blue sky. Catalonia lay beneath us, with its superb Guadarrama forested hills, on whose heights battles were being fought on the Puerto de Somosierra, Navicicerada and on the pass road from León. In the northwest, beyond the hills, lay Segovia, and in the southwest, the mighty rectangle of the Escorial, with its imposing walls, domes and towers, while in the south, in the haze of the summer day, Madrid. We were flying on our way to the west. Suddenly, Oberleutnant Eberhardt gave the signal for attack.” Eberhardt had spotted three Republican Breguet XIXs about two kilometres away over the outskirts of Madrid, flying towards, and about 500 metres below, the Heinkels. With his hands ’shaking from excitement, Trautloft switched on his gunsight, entered into a dive from the sun, closed to within 30 metres and opened fire with his MG 17s: “As I approach I see the gunner aiming his gun at me and then the muzzle lights up as he opens fire. It all looks rather harmless. With my first burst, the gunner disappears - his machine gun points vertically towards the sky. The 'Red' now pushes over into a steep dive. My second burst is brief, but on target, because all of a sudden the Breguet rears up, rolls over, roars towards the earth in a steep, uncontrolled dive and smashes into the ground north of the village of Comenar.”

Generaloberst Alfred Keller (center) in conversation with Major Hannes Trautloft (right)

On 7 April 1931, he began his pilot training at the Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule (German Commercial Pilot School; DVS) at Schleißheim. The course he and 29 other trainees attended was called Kameradschaft 31, abbreviated "K 31". Among the members of K 31 were men like Wolfgang Falck and Günther Lützow. Trautloft graduated from the Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule 19 February 1932. From K 31 Trautloft and 9 others were recommended for Sonderausbildung (special training). These 10 men were the privileged few and were allowed to attend fighter pilot training. During this training, he spent four months in the Soviet Union, at the secret training facility Lipetsk. [...] With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Trautloft was one of six pilots sent aboard the Ursaramo to Cadiz to secretly aid General Franco. With them, the pilots had six crated Heinkel He 51 biplane fighters. The men and machines arrived in Spain on 7 August 1936. Originally, they were intended to act as instructors, but the Spanish pilots struggled with learning to fly the He 51, so the German pilots soon took up combat duties. On 25 August, Trautloft scored his first victory, shooting down a Republican fighter. A few days later, shortly after scoring his second victory, Trautloft was himself shot down. This was the first Luftwaffe pilot to be shot down in Spain. Trautloft escaped capture, however, and continued flying combat missions. As the war dragged on, the Soviets sent better planes to aid the Republicans. Among these were the agile monoplane Polikarpov I-15 and Polikarpov I-16 fighters. The He 51 proved no match for these new aircraft, and after pressure from the German pilots, four of the new prototype Bf 109 V3 were dispatched to the theater. Trautloft flew one of these new fighters, and scored a further three victories in Spain. Trautloft had the "Green Heart" symbolizing Thüringen painted on his plane. This symbol would later be the symbol of JG 54 once he assumed command.

Following his service in Spain, Trautloft held various Staffelkapitän positions, and at the outbreak of World War 2 on 1 September 1939 he was the commander of 2./JG 77. He commanded this squadron during the Invasion of Poland, in which he got one victory. Trautloft was promoted to Hauptmann and appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 20 on 19 September. Trautloft got a further two victories during the Battle of France in May 1940. On 4 July I./JG 20 was re-designated III./JG 51. During the Battle of Britain, Trautloft got a further two victories with JG 51, bringing his total to 10. In late August, it was becoming apparent to the German High Command that the Battle of Britain was not going as planned. A frustrated Göring relieved several Geschwaderkommodoren of their commands, and appointed younger, more aggressive men in their place. Adolf Galland was given command of JG 26 on 22 August, and Trautloft was given command of JG 54 on 25 August and promoted to Major. Trautloft flew over 120 combat sorties over the English Channel with JG 54, and the Geschwader earned a positive reputation among the German bomber crews. During this period Trautloft scored three more victories, bringing his total to 13. In 1941, the Geschwader saw action in the East. First JG 54 took part in the Balkans Campaign, then Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June. On 27 June, Trautloft was awarded the Ritterkreuz for 20 confirmed victories and outstanding leadership. On 4 December, Trautloft ordered that all the aircraft of JG 54 would wear the "Green Heart" (Grünherz) symbol of Thüringen that he himself had on his aircraft in Spain. From this date forth JG 54 became known as the Grünherz-Geschwader ("Green Heart" Wing).

During 1942 and 1943 Trautloft proved a popular leader, and his tally rose to 58. On 6 July 1943, Trautloft was appointed as Jagdflieger Inspizient Ost, serving with the General der Jagflieger office. This position put him in overall charge as Inspector of all the Fighter aircraft units fighting on the Eastern Front. In November, he became Inspekteur der Tagjäger, giving him overall responsibilities for all day-fighters. In early 1945, Trautloft joined other high-ranking pilots in the "Fighter Pilots Revolt", protesting the squandering of the precious Luftwaffe fighters and pilots in high-loss operations like Operation Bodenplatte (de). Following this revolt, Trautloft was relieved of his position and sent to command the 4. Flieger-Schul-Division (4th Pilot School Division) in Strasbourg. He spent the remainder of the war there. Trautloft ended the war as an Oberst.

Military career (chronology)

• 7 April 1931 Pilot training DVS at Schleißheim near Munich
  • Sources disagree as to whether he was already a member of the Reichswehr at that time. However, it can be assumed that he joined the Reichswehr on 1 April 1931 and was then assigned to pilot training on 7 April. However, this had to be kept secret due to the dictate of the Versailles Treaty.
• Pilot training in the Soviet Union
• 15 October 1932 Joined the 15th Infantry Regiment of the Reichswehr in Kassel as an officer candidate
  • attended the Kriegsschule (war school) in Dresden
• January 1934 Commanded to serve in the Reich Aviation Ministry
  • He served as a flight instructor at various fighter pilot schools (as of October 1934 at the Jagdfliegerschule Schleißheim) and trained some of the later successful fighter pilots.
  • 1 March 1935 Officially transferred to the Luftwaffe
• 1 May 1936 Oosted to 9th Squadron/III. Group (under Major Oskar Dinort)/Jagdgeschwader 134 "Horst Wessel" (JG 134—134th Fighter Wing)
  • The III. Gruppe had been moved to an airfield at Cologne-Butzweilerhof on 9 March 1936 following the liberation and remilitarization of the Rhineland. There on 28 July, Dinort called Trautloft and informed him of the unfolding events in Spain and Trautloft proactively volunteered for service in Spain. Sworn to secrecy, Trautloft was instructed to immediately travel to Dortmund where he received further instructions from Kurt-Bertram von Döring, and then to the assembly location at Döberitz. There, 25 officers and 66 non-commissioned officers, soldiers and civilian technicians gathered, including six pilots of which Trautloft was one. This detachment was then placed under the overall command of Colonel Alexander Albert Friedrich von Scheele (1887–1939). The volunteers were then pro forma discharged from the Wehrmacht and dressed in civilian clothes. As tourist of the Reisegesellschaft Union (Union Travel Association), the volunteers travel aboard the SS Usaramo, a passenger ship of the Woermann-Linie from Hamburg to Cádiz on 31 July 1936. The Usaramo also transported the equipment and weapons, including six disassembled and boxed Heinkel He 51 biplane fighter aircraft.
• 7 August 1936 The ship arrived in Cádiz and the men then travelled by train to Seville. At Tablada airfield, the pilots assisted in reassembling the He 51 fighters, the first of which becoming operational on 10 August 1936. Initially, the aircraft were not intended to be used in combat; they were only supposed to provide escort for Ju 52s, which transported soldiers and material.
  • The squadron was then sent to Seville-Tablada, where they began assembling the aircraft on August 9th. The conditions here were rudimentary, so much of the work had to be done by hand and a lot of sweat was shed. Naturally, the pilots took part in this work and this was how the first encounters with the Spanish personnel took place. These relationships deepened when the aircraft were completed and tested. Since combat use was prohibited, training began for Spanish pilots. Among the first students were Captain Luis Rambaud and Joaquín García Morato, as well as Lieutenant Miguel García Pardo, Ramiro Pascual and Julio Salvador.
  • However, the German unit soon had to fight alongside the nationalists. The unit moved via Salamanca and the Sierra de Gredos to the small Escalona del Prado airfield near Segovia. The conditions at this airfield, which was shared with a Spanish reconnaissance unit, were extremely simple. The planes were parked in the open and ammunition and fuel were stored on the edge of the nearby forest. Fuel was brought in by Ju 52s and the mechanics worked tirelessly to keep the "Eberhardt chain" (Kraft Eberhardt, Herwig Knüppel, Hannes Trautloft) in good condition.
• 25 August 1936 First victory in Spain
  • On this day, during the Nationalist advance on Madrid, Trautloft and two other German pilots flew their first combat mission in Spain. In the vicinity of Madrid, the Germans spotted a flight of three Republican Bréguet 19 light bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Trautloft attacked one of the Republican aircraft, shooting it down near the village of Colmenar Viejo. This claim may have been the first aerial victory by a German pilot in Spain.
    • The unit flew its first live mission to support the advance on Madrid. The heat of Spain forced the pilots to resort to unusual means. Trautloft flew the mission in tennis shorts and a sports shirt. Near Madrid, Eberhardt spotted three Breguet XIXs 2 km away and flying a little lower and gave the signal to attack. As they approached, Trautloft noticed the rear gunner, who aimed his machine gun at him and fired. Trautloft fired the first burst of fire from 30 m away. The rear gunner then disappeared and the machine gun pointed vertically into the sky. The second burst of fire was short but on target, as the plane reared up briefly, rolled and then plunged steeply to the ground, where it crashed north of the village of Comenar. Knüppel had to abort his attack because of a jam, but Kraft Eberhardt shot down a second Breguet. After returning to the airfield, the success was celebrated in detail with the mechanics.
• 30 August 1936 Became the first German pilot to be shot down in Spain
  • Shortly after claiming a Potez 540 aircraft, Trautloft was himself shot down by a Dewoitine D.372, forcing him to bail out over Nationalist-held territory.
    • The fighting over the next few days led to enemy encounters and air battles, but no confirmed results. On 30 August, the chain pursued three Potez 540s deep into enemy territory. They fired almost all of the enemy planes' ammunition, but apparently without success. The bombers simply went into a steeper glide and once again covered the planes in oil. Frustrated and almost out of ammunition, the Germans flew back to their home airfield. In fact, the three bombers went down and all three pilots were credited with a kill.
      • On 30 August, the three He 51Bs flown by Oberleutnants Eberhardt, Herwig Knüppel and Hannes Trautloft chased three Potez 540 deep over enemy territory, Trautloft angrily expended almost all of his ammunition from just 50 metres away and behind. In response, the bomber simply went into a steep glide, again spraying oil all over the German’s windscreen and severely limiting his ability to see anything. Eberhardt and Knüppel were similarly frustrated. Lessons were being learned, for as Trautloft noted: “From this range we can't possibly have missed. We suspect that the pilot’s seat in the Potez bomber is armoured. Therefore in future we shall have to attack from the front. I attempt an attack from the front in an effort to knock out the pilot. But he has, meanwhile, got a good lead and my machine just is not fast enough. In addition we are almost out of ammunition, so there is nothing else for it but to break off our attack.” There was perhaps cold comfort for the Germans since the bombers did, in fact, come down, and all three pilots were credited with the destruction of a Potez.
    • During another mission that day, First Lieutenant Trautloft – again flying in his tennis gear – was attacked by enemy fighters (probably a Dewoitine D.371) and the upper wing of his "2 o 4" was shot to pieces. The Heinkel then spiraled down and Trautloft had to use his parachute. The comrades flying with him managed to prevent the enemy's attempts to kill the pilot in the parachute. Hannes Trautloft had thus scored the Condor Legion's first aerial victory and was the first casualty. Fortunately, he was unhurt and landed behind Spanish national lines. Franco's troops must have been surprised that tennis players were landing with them by parachute and were accordingly suspicious. However, after he was able to present his papers, which read "Este aparate y su piloti Don. Hannes Trautloft, estan al servicio del Ejercito Nacional del Norte", he was treated very kindly. Trautloft was probably shot down by Teniente Ramón Puparelli Francia of Grupo de Caza No.11, as he claimed a He 51 and there were no other reports of such an aerial victory.
• 30 September 1936 Following German recognition of Francisco Franco's government, German efforts in Spain were reorganized and expanded, and the contingent of German forces was named Condor Legion by Hermann Göring. By October 1936, the Condor Legion was augmented, receiving more equipment and men. This made it possible to split the fighter force in two, with Trautloft leading the detachment sent to Léon airfield.
  • By mid-November 1936, the fighter force had increased and the Jagdgruppe 88 or J/88 (Fighter Group 88) was created. In December, Versuchsjagdstaffel 88 (VJ/88), an experimental fighter squadron for testing new aircraft under operational conditions was created at Tablada. Trautloft was chosen as one of the pilots to test the then new Messerschmitt Bf 109. Trautloft had this aircraft personalized with the "Green Heart" of Thuringia. He wrote several recommendations on how to improve the design and combat operations of the Bf 109.
• 2 March 1937 Trautloft who had claimed five aerial victories, left Spain and returned to Germany.

• 6 July 1943 Trautloft's personal friend, General der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland, appointed him Inspector East (Inspizient Ost) on the Eastern Front.
• 27 November 1943 Inspector of the Daytime Fighters (Inspekteur der Tagjäger)

Family

Hannes was the son of Otto Trautloft (b. 1884) and his wife Elsa, née Hilpert. He had a sister, Gretel. After the war, Hannes married his long-time love costume designer Marga Mayser (1913–1998), daughter of factory director Alfred Mayser and his wife Helene, née Nathan. They would have one daughter.

Promotions

• 15 October 1932 Offizieranwärter (Officer Candidate)
• 1 January 1934 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 1 March 1936 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 20 September 1939 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 25 August 1940 Major
• 1 February 1943 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 1 December 1943 Oberst (Colonel)

Bundeswehr

• 1 October 1957 Brigadegeneral (Brigadier General; one star General)
• 1960 Generalmajor (Major General; two-star General)
• 30 October 1962 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General; three-star General)

Awards and decorations

• Wehrmacht Pilot's Badge (Flugzeugführerabzeichen)
• Rescue/Lifesaving Medal on Ribbon (Rettungsmedaille am Bande)
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th Class
• Spanish combined Pilot/Observer Badge of the Condor Legion
• Spanish Medal for the Campaign of 1936−1939 with Swords (Medalla de la Campaña Española 1936−1939)
• Spanish Military Medal (Medalla Militar de España)
• Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords on 14 April 1939
• Sudetenland Medal with the “Prague Castle” clasp
• Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
• Honorary Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg) on 8 July 1940
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Fighters (Jagdflieger) in Bronze, Silver and Gold
  • Pennant to the Golden Front Flying Clasp (star pennant)
• Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal
• Croatian Order of King Zvonimir, II. or I. Class with Swords
• 5 References in the Wehrmachtbericht (Namentliche Nennung im Wehrmachtbericht)
  • 29 June 1941, 1 July 1941, 5 April 1942, 20 June 1942 and 21 February 1943
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 27 July 1941 as Major and Commodore of the Jagdgeschwader 54 "Grünherz"
• German Cross in Gold on 27 July 1942 as Major and Commodore of the Jagdgeschwader 54 "Grünherz"
• German Sports Badge in Gold (ribbon bar, bottom row, left)
• Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Knight Commander's Cross (Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern) on 26 June 1970

Writings (excerpt)

• Als Jagdflieger in Spanien: Aus dem Tagebuch eines deutschen Legionärs [As a Fighter Pilot in Spain: From the Diary of a German Legionnaire], A. Nauck & Co., Berlin 1940
• Heitere Loopings. Fliegeranekdoten, with 20 drawings by the author, München 1965
• Hals- und Beinbruch. Heitere Fliegerei, Stuttgart 1979 (further editions in 1980 and 1995)
• Netzroller. Heitere Tennis-Anekdoten, München 1989
• Die Grünherz-Jäger (together with Werner Held and Ekkehard Bob), Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, 1985

External links

• El aeródromo secreto de la Luftwaffe en Segovia, 2021
• He-51 Heinkel's Biplane Fighter and Trautloft of the Condor Legion Article & Plans
• Black 6-1, W.Nr. 880, flown by Oberleutnant Hannes Trautloft, VJ/88, Tablada-Sevilla/Spain, 14 December 1936 (Archive)