Herbert Bauer (pilot)


Herbert Bauer was a highly decorated Major in the Luftwaffe during World War II, and one of only 882 recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. Herbert Bauer is credited with flying 1071 missions during the war. After the war Herbert Bauer acted as an advisor to the Argentine Air Force.

Early life

Bauer was born on 16 April 1919 in Innsbruck, then in the Republic of German-Austria. He was the son of a Feuerwerker, an ordnance specialist in the Austrian Armed Forces. He grew up a devoted Nazi from a young age, being a member of the Hitler Youth. At the age of 19, Bauer officially joined the Nazi party. From 1 July to 25 October 1938, Bauer completed the compulsory labour service. On 7 November, he joined the military service of the Luftwaffe, serving with 3rd Battery of Flak-Regiment 4, an anti-aircraft artillery regiment.

World War II

World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. On 1 December, Bauer was transferred to 2. Kompanie of Flak-Regiment 22. With this unit, Bauer was promoted to Leutnant on 1 February 1940. From 29 April to 30 September 1940, Bauer began his flight training at the A/B Fliegerschule of Fliegerausbildungsregiment 21 in Magdeburg. On 1 October, he was posted to the Stuka-Schule 2, the dive bomber training school in Graz.
On 16 February 1941, Bauer completed his supplementary training with the Ergänzungsgruppe of Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 "Immelmann" and was then posted to I. Gruppe of StG 2. Serving with this Gruppe, Bauer flew his first combat mission on 7 July in area of Vitebsk during Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. On this mission, Bauer had a mid-air collision with a Soviet fighter aircraft. Bauer's regular aerial gunner was Oberfeldwebel Walter Linke who flew with Bauer until late 1944 when Linke was transferred to a flight school. On 20 July, Bauer was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and the Iron Cross 1st Class on 30 October.
On 24 April 1942 during a mission against the Soviet fleet moored at Kronstadt, Bauer's Junkers Ju 87 came under attack by a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 from 11 GvIAP. In this attack, Bauer was severely injured but managed to nurse his aircraft back to the airfield at Krasnoye Selo. During his convalescence, he was promoted to Oberleutnant on 1 February 1943 and returned to his unit on 25 February. On 1 June, Bauer was appointed Staffelkapitän of 3. Staffel of StG 2. The Staffel was subordinated to I. Gruppe and at the time commanded by Major Bruno Dilley.
Bauer was promoted to Hauptmann on 1 March 1944. On 23 November, Bauer was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I. Gruppe of Schlachtgeschwader 2 "Immelmann", succeeding Hauptmann Kurt Lau who was transferred. Bauer was promoted to Major on 1 March 1945.

Later life

At the end of the war, Bauer was taken as a POW. He escaped to Italy with Hans-Ulrich Rudel and, along with another pilot and a technical officer. The group was aided by former SS officers Walter Spitaler and Karl Nicolussi-Leck, the latter of which was responsible for smuggling several prominent Nazi figures, including famed Luftwaffe general Adolf Galland, into Italy and on to South America. They initially staying in Bozen while arranging to flee to South America. In April 1948, Bauer applied for an International Committee of the Red Cross travel document. Unusually for a German official taking this route of escape, he listed his real name and place of birth on his application, and his occupation as a pilot. He did, however, present himself as an ethnic German from Czechoslovakia, to pass as one of the now stateless Sudeten Germans, qualifying him for resettlement. The Vatican Commission for Refugees confirmed Bauer's information, and he successfully emigrated to Argentina, where he connected other German officers and Nazi party members who had fled to the country. Bauer died on 24 March 1997 at the age of in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was buried at the German Cemetery.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Obermaier, Bauer flew 1,071 combat missions, including 70 with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. He is credited with eleven aerial victories, one with the Ju 87 and ten with the Fw 190, plus further twelve unconfirmed claims. In addition, he claimed 51 tanks and two armoured trains destroyed on the ground, and hits on the Soviet battleship Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya and a cruiser moored in Kronstadt harbor. Hooton lists him with having flown more that 1,300 combat missions. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and state that he was credited with approximately eleven aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.

Awards