Hans Fuß


Hans Fuß was a former Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Hans Fuss was credited with 71 victories in over 300 missions. All his victories were recorded over the Eastern Front.

Career

Fuß was born on 19 September 1920 in Altenhof near Meseritz in West Prussia, present-day Stary Dwór in western Poland. Following flight training, he was posted to 4. Organization of the [Luftwaffe (1933–1945)#Staffel|Staffel] of Jagdgeschwader 3 in early 1941.

War against the Soviet Union

In preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, II. Gruppe headed further east on 18 June. Following a stopover at Kraków, the unit was moved to Hostynne. At the start of the campaign, JG 3 under the command of Major Günther Lützow was subordinated to the 5th [Air Corps (Germany)|5th Air Corps], under the command of General der Flieger Robert Ritter von Greim, itself part of Luftflotte 4, under the command of Generaloberst Alexander Löhr. These air elements supported Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt's Army Group South, with the objective of capturing Ukraine and its capital Kiev. At 17:00 on 21 June 1941, the 5th Air Corps, based at Lipsko, briefed the various unit commanders of the upcoming attack. That evening, Gruppenkommandeur of II. Gruppe Lothar Keller informed his subordinates of the attack. The next day, the first day of Operation Barbarossa, Fuß claimed his first aerial victory.

Eastern Front

II. Gruppe had been ordered to the Eastern Front in preparation for Case Blue, the strategic summer offensive in southern Russia. While based at Pilsen, Hauptmann Kurt Brändle took over command of the Gruppe after the former commander Hauptmann Karl-Heinz Krahl had been killed in action over Malta. The Gruppe was then deployed on the left wing of Army Group South where it was based at Chuhuiv near the Donets on 19 May. There, Fuß served with the Gruppenstab as an adjutant to Brändle.

Squadron leader

On 1 August, Fuß was appointed Staffelkapitän of 6. Staffel of JG 3 after its former commander Oberleutnant Hans-Jürgen Waldhelm had been transferred. On 7 August, the German 6th Army attacked Soviet forces at Kalach, encircling elements of the Soviet 62nd Army west of the Don. During this battle, II. Gruppe supported the advance, claiming 23 aerial victories, including six by Fuß, making him an "ace-in-a-day".
On 14 September 1942, Fuß claimed a Yakovlev Yak-1 fighter shot down, his last aerial victory claim. During this battle, he engaged with Lydia Litvyak and his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2 took a hit in the fuel tank causing his engine to seize. During the forced landing at Dedyurevo, an airfield approximately northeast of Smolensk, his aircraft crashed and Fuß was severely injured. Fuß died of gangrene following the amputation of one of his legs at a Luftwaffe hospital in Berlin on 10 November 1942.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Fuß was credited with 71 aerial victories. Obermaier and Spick also list Fuß with 71 aerial victories, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front, in over 300 combat missions. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 69 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.
Victory claims were logged to a map-reference, for example "PQ 4072". The Luftwaffe grid map 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. These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area in size.

Awards