Anton Hackl

By May 1940, Hackl was based in Norway, with JG 77 when he claimed his first aerial victory on 15 June 1940. That day, 5. Staffel flew from Stavanger-Sola and encountered a flight of Lockheed Hudson light bombers from the Royal Air Force (RAF) No. 233 Squadron. In the resulting aerial combat, Hackl claimed two Hudsons shot down, the first at 9:00 and the second at 9:02.[6] The battleship Scharnhorst had been damaged in combat on 8 June 1940. Following preliminary repairs at Trondheim, Scharnhorst began its return voyage to Germany on 20 June. II. Gruppe of JG 77 had been tasked to provide fighter coverage for Scharnhorst. On 21 June, Scharnhorst came under two air attacks by six Swordfish torpedo bombers and nine Beaufort bombers. In this encounter, Hackl was credited with his third aerial victory, claiming a Beaufort shot down between 16:00 and 18:00.[7] At 9:40 on 25 June, he shot down a No. 269 Squadron Hudson for his fourth aerial victory, but was also slightly wounded by the defensive fire.[8] His opponent was Hudson (N7330) "C" of No. 269 Squadron piloted by Pilot Officer P.N. Trolove.[9] His four aerial victories in Norway earned Hackl the Iron Cross First Class (Eisernes Kreuz erster Klasse) on 2 July 1940.[5][Note 3]

In July 1941 he was posted with JG 77 to the Eastern Front, supporting Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) Gerd von Rundstedt's Heeresgruppe Süd (Army Group South), with the objective of capturing the Ukraine and its capital Kiev. On 29 July 1941, Hackl was appointed Staffelkapitän of 5. Staffel, replacing Hauptmann Erich Friedrich.[10] Hackl claimed his first victory on the Eastern Front, and fifth overall, on 1 August 1941. Operating from an airfield at Kishinev, II. Gruppe flew missions in the vicinity of Grigoriopol, on the eastern bank of the river Dniester. That day, Hackl flew an escort fighter mission for Kampfgeschwader 27 (KG 27–27th Bomber Wing), claiming a Polikarpov I-16 fighter aircraft shot down.[11]

By the end of year his score was 27. Hackl became an "ace-in-a-day" for the first time on 19 April 1942, claiming two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3, two Polikarpov R-Z and one I-18 shot down over the Isthmus of Perekop.[12] His score increased further, and by May 1942, after 51 victories he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). During the month of July 1942, Hackl claimed 37 enemy aircraft shot down in the aerial battles around Voronezh, including 6 victories in a day on both 21 and 23 July. In August 1942, he claimed 14 further victories which included his 100th claim on 3 August. He was the 16th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark.[13]

Following his 106th aerial victory, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) on 7 August 1942. He was the 109th member of the German armed forces to be so honored. Hackl and together with Oberfeldwebel Franz-Josef Beerenbrock were presented the Oak Leaves by Adolf Hitler at the Führerhauptquartier at Rastenburg.[1] He claimed his last victory on the Eastern Front on 5 September 1942. On 7 November, II. Gruppe received orders to immediately transfer to the Mediterranean theater.[14]

The first elements of II. Gruppe arrived in North Africa on 5 December where it was based at Zazur airfield, approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) west of Tripoli. Hackl's 5. Staffel arrived in North Africa on 13 December, initially based at Tripoli and then moved to Zazur on 18 December.[15] On 20 December 1942, Hackl claimed two victories over North Africa. That day, 5. Staffel encountered a flight of Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk ground-attack aircraft. In the encounter, 5. Staffel claimed five aerial victories, two by Hackl.[1][16] In combat with P-38 Lightnings escorting a flight of 24 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress' on 4 February 1943, he was badly wounded resulting in a forced landing in his Bf 109 G-2 trop (Werknummer 10787—factory number) near Matmata.[17] His injuries to the head and right hand turned out to be severe. He was flown to Rome and was hospitalized for several months.[18] Command of 5. Staffel was passed on to Oberleutnant Franz Hrdlicka.[19]

Returning to duties in September 1943, Hackl next operated with III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 11 (JG 11–11th Fighter Wing) on Reichsverteidigung (Defense of the Reich) duties. On 1 October, he became Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) III. Gruppe of JG 11, succeeding Hauptmann Ernst-Günther Heinze.[20][21] Hackl went on to claim 25 four-engined bombers shot down during his time with III. Gruppe. In April 1944, he briefly acted as commander of JG 11, replacing Oberstleutnant Hermann Graf who had been wounded in combat on 29 March.[22]

On 15 April 1944, Hackl was shot down in his Focke-Wulf Fw 190A and wounded in combat with United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) P-47 Thunderbolts, grounding him for a period of convalescence.[23] During this period, he was promoted to Major (major) on 1 May 1944.[18] On 30 May 1944, he was replaced by Hauptmann Horst-Günther von Fassong as Gruppenkommandeur of III. Gruppe. Following additional training at the Verbandsführerschule of the General der Jagdflieger, a training school for unit leaders, Hackl was appointed Geschwaderkommodore (Wing Commander) of Jagdgeschwader 76 (JG 76–76th Fighter Wing).[24]

The authors Prien and Rodeike describe Hackl as a tough and ruthless unit commander. According to an Ultra deciphered message sent by Hackl to the General der Jagdflieger on 20 May, he had made recommendations on how to best utilize the young and inexperienced new fighter pilots in combat. His suggestions included attacking the bomber formations from the rear, driving the attack to point-blank range, and threatening the new pilots with court-martial if they did not follow these orders.[24] Hackl received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) on 12 July for 162 aerial victories.[25]

On 8 October, he succeeded Hauptmann Georg-Peter Eder as Gruppenkommandeur of II. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" (JG 26–26th Fighter Wing) with 165 victories to his credit.[26] By the end of the year he now had 172 victories. On 29 January 1945, he was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 300 (JG 300–300th Fighter Wing). He was succeeded by Oberleutnant Waldemar Radener as commander of II. Gruppe of JG 26.[27] In late February, he was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of JG 11. His last 24 victories were never officially confirmed. On 3 May 1945, two JG 11 pilots, Leutnant Hermann Gern and Feldwebel Franz Keller, attempted to steal a Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun aircraft to desert and fly to southern Germany. Too outspoken, the two were denounced and arrested. Gern and Keller were court-martialed and sentenced to death. A number of non-commissioned officers of JG 11 spoke to Hackl on behalf of Keller, no attempt was made to save Gern.[28] While Keller was pardoned, Gern was executed by firing squad on 7 May.[29]

Anton Hackl flew about 1,000 combat missions and was officially credited with shooting down 192 enemy aircraft plus another 24 unconfirmed aerial victories.[30] 105 victories were claimed while serving on the Eastern Front, six victories have been claimed in Africa and 87 on the Western Front. Among these numbers are 34 four-engined bombers which puts him in second place behind Georg-Peter Eder as the leading daylight bomber claimant. 55 claims were made with JG 11, 10 with JG 26, 1 with JG 300, and 124 while flying with JG 77. He was shot down eight times and wounded four times. Anton Hackl died on 9 July 1984 in Regensburg.

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Hackl was credited with 192 aerial victories.[31] Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces – Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and state that Hackl was credited with more than 180 aerial victories. This figure includes at least 103 claims made on the Eastern Front and 44 on the Western Front, including at least 16 four-engined bombers.[32]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 35 Ost 53224". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km²). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size.[33]

• Wound Badge in Gold[2]
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold with Pennant "1000"[2]
• Combined Pilots-Observation Badge[2]
• "Afrika" Cuff title[2]
• Crimea Shield[2]
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (6 March 1940)[5][Note 2]
  • 1st Class (2 July 1940)[5][Note 3]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
  • Knight's Cross on 25 May 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 5./Jagdgeschwader 77[84][85][86]
  • 109th Oak Leaves 9 August 1942 as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän of the 5./Jagdgeschwader 77[87][88][Note 6]
  • 78th Swords on 9 July 1944 as Major and Gruppenkommandeur of the III./Jagdgeschwader 11[89][90][Note 7]