Wilhelm Batz

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Wilhelm Batz
21 May 1916(1916-05-21) — 11 September 1988 (aged 72)

Wilhelm Batz
Nickname Willi
Place of birth Bamberg
Place of death Mauschendorf in Unterfranken
Allegiance Flag of Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (to 1945)
Flag of West Germany West Germany
Service/branch Luftwaffe
Years of service 1935-1945
Rank Major
Unit JG 52
Commands held III./JG 52 (19 Apr 44 – 31 Jan 45)
II./JG 52 (1 Feb 45 – 8 May 45)
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
Other work Bundeswehr

Major Wilhelm "Willi" Batz (born 21 May 1916 in Bamberg – died 11 September 1988 in Mauschendorf in Unterfranken) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace. Willi Batz flew 445 combat missions and claimed 237 enemy aircraft shot down. 234 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 over the Western front. He was wounded three times and was shot down four times.

Contents

[edit] World War II

Batz started his career relatively late compared with other successful Luftwaffe aces, becoming a combat pilot in December of 1942. By this time Leutnant Batz had more than 5,000 hours of flying time to his credit[1]. His previous job was flight instructor. Batz was welcomed to II./JG 52 by the Gruppenkommandeur Hauptmann Johannes Steinhoff. On March 11, 1943 Batz claimed his first aerial victory, a Il-2 Sturmovik, while flying a mission over the Strait of Kerch as wingman to Leutnant Helmut Haberda, commander of 5./JG 52[2]. Further kills came relatively slow; by the end of 1943 he had only recorded 20 kills. However, careful analyzing paid off. In one year (1944) Willi made over 200 confirmed kills, making him the 6th highest scoring ace in history.

[edit] Awards

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kurowski 1996, p. 173
  2. ^ Kurowski 1996, p. 174
  • Berger, Florian. Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges. Wien, Austria: Selbstverlag Florian Berger, 2006. ISBN 3-9501307-0-5.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945. Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
  • Kurowski, Franz. Luftwaffe Aces. J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing Inc, 1996. ISBN 0-921991-31-2.
  • Patzwall, Klaus D. & Scherzer, Veit. Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 - 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II. Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.
  • Weal, John, Aviation Elite Units Jagdgeschwader 52 The Experten. Orsprey Publishing Limited, 2004. ISBN 1-84176-786-7.

[edit] External links

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