Heinrich Bär

Infobox Military Person
name=Heinz (Oskar-Heinrich) Bär
born=birth date|1913|3|21|df=y
died=death date and age|1957|4|28|1913|3|21|df=y
placeofbirth=Sommerfeld
placeofdeath=Braunschweig


caption=Heinrich Bär
nickname="Pritzl" or "Reeste"
allegiance=flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=Luftwaffe
serviceyears=1935-1945
rank=Oberst (Colonel)
commands=12./JG 51, I.JG 77, JGr. Süd, II./JG 1, JG 3, III./EJG 2 and JV 44
unit=JG 51, JG 77, JGr. Süd, JG 1, JG 3, EJG 2 and JV 44
battles=World War II
*Battle of France
*Battle of Britain
*Operation Barbarossa
*Mediterranean theatre
*Unternehmen Bodenplatte
awards="Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub und Schwerten"
laterwork=

Colonel Heinz (Oskar-Heinrich) "Pritzl" Bär (21 March 1913 – 28 April 1957) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace who served through the whole of World War II. He had a total of 221 victories, [Some older sources claims he got 220 victories, but 221 seems to be correct based on his log-book and personal file.] fighting in all the major German theaters of war, including the Western Front, Mediterranean and Eastern front. He was shot down 18 times during the course of flying about 1000 combat missions.

Early life

Bär was born in Sommerfeld near Leipzig. In 1935 he joined the Reichswehr, before joining the Luftwaffe and becoming a transport aircraft pilot in 1937, mostly flying the Junkers Ju-52/3m. In 1938 Bär requested a transfer to the fighter arm, and was posted to Jagdgeschwader 51, which was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighters, as an NCO transport pilot. At first he received unofficial training on the Bf 109E, before officially becoming a fighter pilot.

World War II

Stationed on the border with France, Bär got his first victory, a Curtiss P-36 'Hawk', on 25 September 1939 during the phoney war air skirmishes with the French air force. During the Battle of France he scored 2 more victories, and added 10 more during the Battle of Britain. During this time he had several emergency landings with a badly damaged plane, and was also shot down over the English Channel on 2 September 1940. Even at this early stage of his combat career Bär showed an often blatant disregard for higher authority, a trait that would land the young ace in trouble numerous times. In the spring of 1941 he scored additional 4 victories against the Royal Air Force bringing his total to 17.

In 1941 JG 51 was transferred East to take part in Operation Barbarossa. As most skilled German pilots, Bär, had a field day against the inexperienced pilots of the Soviet Air Force and his tally rose to 27. He was promoted to "Leutnant" and awarded the "Ritterkreuz" on 2 July. On 14 August he was awarded the "Eichenlaub" to his "Ritterkreuz" for 60 victories, and on 30 August he became a "ace in one day" by shooting down 6 Soviet aircraft. He was also promoted to "Oberleutnant". On 31 August Bär was shot down some 50 Km behind enemy lines. Bailing out with back injuries, Bär managed to walk back to German lines, and lengthy hospital treatment.

In early 1942 Bär was promoted to "Hauptmann", appointed "Staffelkapitän" of 12./JG 51,For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organization] and received the "Schwerter" to his "Ritterkreuz" on 16 February as his tally rose to 90. In early May Bär was transferred to take command over I./JG 77, commanded by Gordon Gollob, to support the hard fighting over the Kerch straits on the Crimean peninsula. The JG 77 led by such able "experten" as Bär and Gollob, "took over" the air space over the Kerch-Taman area. With Gollob a disciplinarian pro-Nazi and Bär being anti-authoritarian, there was mutual animosity between the two aces and an intense rivalry ensued. By end of May Bär's score had risen to 103.

In June JG 77 was moved to the Mediterranean area. At first it took part in the air battles over Malta, later it was relocated to Tunisia. After achieving his 149 aerial victory General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim submitted Bär for the "Diamonds to the Knight's Cross" for the first time. Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring ignored this request and denied Bär the "Diamonds". The reason for this remains uncertain but it is believed that Göring disliked Bär for his insubordinate character combined with Bär strong Low Saxon dialect which Göring hated to so much [Kurowski] . In Tunisia Bär increased his tally to 179, but fighting a losing battle against ever increasing Allied air superiority Bär lost his fighting spirit, and suffered severe mental and physical exhaustion. After several arguments with JG 77 Commander Oberst Johannes Steinhoff and Hermann Göring he was transferred to France "for cowardice before the enemy" in the summer of 1943 and demoted to Staffelkapitän. He took over command of an operational training unit, Jagdgruppe Süd.

In early 1944 Bär, now a "Major", was given command of II./JG 1. JG 1 was tasked with "Reichsverteidigung" (Defense of the Reich) and equipped with the Focke Wulf 190 A-7 fighter. In June he was promoted to "Oberstleutnant" and appointed "Geschwaderkommodore" of JG 3. During 1944 Bär's score rose to 203.

Bär's 204th and 205th victories were achieved on 1 January 1945 during "Unternehmen Bodenplatte", a Luftwaffe mass attack against Allied airfields in the Benelux area. The operation resulted in hundreds of aircraft lost on both sides. Bär's JG 3 raided Eindhoven in Holland shooting down about half a dozen RAF fighters and destroying many aircraft on the ground.

In February Bär was transferred to command the Jet fighter training unit III./EJG 2. In March the unit was equipped with the Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter, and sent into battle. Bär shot down 13 enemy aircraft, many of them heavy bombers like the Boeing B-17 and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, bringing his score to 217. On 23 April Bär transferred to the elite "Jet Experten" unit JV 44, led by Adolf Galland. On 26 April he assumed command of the unit when Galland was wounded. With the JV 44 he scored the final 4 victories (3 P-47s and 1 Mosquito), bringing his total to 221. All told he had 16 victories in the Me 262, making him the second most successful "Jet Expert" of the war. [For a list of Luftwaffe Jet aces see "List of German World War II jet aces"] He finished the war as a "Oberst".

During the war Bär had shot down a total of 124 Western Allied aircraft, second only to Hpt. Hans-Joachim Marseille with 158 claims.

After the war

Bär did various work as an aviation consultant, and was killed while performing aerobatics in a light plane LF-1 Zaunkönig over Braunschweig on 28 April 1957.

Awards

* Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber
* German Cross in Gold (27 May 1942)
* Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold with Pennant "1000"
* Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds
* Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe
* "Africa" Cuffband
* Eisernes Kreuz 2. and 1. Klasse (July 1940)
* Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern
** Ritterkreuz (2. July 1941)
** 31. Eichenlaub (14. August 1941)
** 7. Schwerter (16. February 1942)
* Mentioned two times in the Wehrmachtbericht

Three times Heinz Bär was recommended for the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. Three times the request was denied by Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring. Bär shot down a further 130 enemy aircraft after he had received the "Swords" [Kurowski 2007, p. 154] .

References

* Berger, Florian, "Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges". 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. "Oberstleutnant Heinz Bär Als Jagdflieger an allen Fronten". Würzburg, Germany: Flechsig Verlag, 2007. ISBN 978-3-88189-730-3.
* Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit. "Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 - 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II". Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.

External links

* http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/bar.html
* http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/bar/bar.htm
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdlike/837961683/ Heinz Bär's plane]

Persondata
NAME=Bär, Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Heinz
SHORT DESCRIPTION=German World War II fighter pilot
DATE OF BIRTH=March 21, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH=Sommerfeld
DATE OF DEATH=April 28, 1957
PLACE OF DEATH=Braunschweig, Germany