Friedrich Haas

Friedrich Haas (20 January 1924 – 9 April 1945) was a Luftwaffe fighter ace from Dillenburg/Hesse, Germany and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Friedrich Haas was credited with 74 aerial victories all over the Eastern Front (World War II). Haas was shot down and killed in 1945 over Vienna, Austria.

Early life and career Haas was born on 20 January 1924 in Dillenburg, then in the People's State of Hesse within the Weimar Republic. Following flight training, he was posted to 5. Staffel (5th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) in late 1943 which was fighting on the Eastern Front of World War II. At the time, the Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant Wilhelm Batz and subordinated to II. Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 52 headed by Hauptmann Gerhard Barkhorn.

World War II World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. In November 1943, the Red Army launched the Kerch–Eltigen operation leading to the Crimean offensive in early 1944. On 2 November, II. Gruppe of JG 52 was moved to Baherove where elements of the Gruppe remained until 19 March 1944. Here on 6 December 1943, Haas claimed his first aerial victory, a Yakovlev Yak-1 fighter shot down near Cape Tusla. While based at Baherove, Haas claimed four further aerial victories, all Bell P-39 Airacobra fighters, one each on 29 December 1944, 3 and 12 January, and 1 February 1944. For these claims, he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class . Haas' squadron was often outnumbered and short on fuel at this late stage of the war. On 28 February, 4. and 5. Staffel was ordered to Grammatikowo located near Sovietskyi for a period of two weeks, returning to Baherove on 13 March. On 19 March, the entire II. Gruppe relocated to Grammatikowo. Here on 7 April, Haas claimed a Yakovlev Yak-7 fighter shot down.

On 8 April, Soviet forces launched the Crimean offensive, eventually forcing the Germans to evacuate the Crimea. On 14 April, II. Gruppe moved to an airfield at Cape Chersonesus located at the Sevastopol Bay. By end-May 1944, Haas increased his number of aerial victories claimed to 30, including an "ace-in-a-day" achievement on 7 May. The Gruppe was retreated to Huși at the Prut River on 27 May and to an airfield at Manzar located south of Tiraspol on 11 June. Here, Haas increased his aerial victories to 35 which put him in fifth place with respect to the most successful active pilots of II. Gruppe at the time.

On 9 July, II. Gruppe began relocating to an airfield at Zamość-Mokre then in the General Government southeast of Lublin. The next day on a transfer flight, Haas was forced to make an emergency landing when his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 163574—factory number) ran out of fuel near Boryslav in a location west of Stryi and sustained injuries. At the time. the Gruppe had only seven serviceable aircraft and nine pilots. On 26 July 1944, Haas was awarded the German Cross in Gold .

Following his convalescence, Haas returned to 5. Staffel, then under the command of Hauptmann Heinrich Sturm in October. Based at Hungarian airfields at Nagyrábé, Debrecen, Tiszalök and Taktakenéz, Haas claimed four aerial victories in October 1944, reaching 50 by end-1944.

Squadron leader and death On 1 February 1945, Haas succeeded Hauptmann Erich Hartmann as Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 4. Staffel of JG 52. On 1 March, this Staffel was renamed and became the 5. Staffel of JG 52. At the same time, the former 5. Staffel was also renamed and became the 6. Staffel. At the time, II. Gruppe was based at Veszprém in Hungary.

On 6 April 1945, II. Gruppe moved to an airfield named "Garonne" located near Fels am Wagram. Operating from this airfield on 9 April, Haas was shot down over Vienna and though he managed to bail out from his Bf 109 G at low altitude, he struck the vertical stabilizer and fell to his death. He was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in April. Haas was succeeded by Leutnant Paul Linxen as commander of 5. Staffel. At the time, Haas was credited with 74 aerial victories, making him the fifth most successful fighter pilot of II. Gruppe. He is buried at the in Wölbling, Austria (Block 2, Row 9, Grave 401).

Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Haas was credited with 74 aerial victories. The authors Barbas, Jacobs, Obermaier and Spick also list him with 74 aerial victories claimed in 385 combat missions. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 50 aerial victory claims recorded on the Eastern Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 66671". 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.

Chronicle of aerial victories Claim Date Time Type Location Claim Date Time Type Location – 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 –Eastern Front — December 1943 1 6 December 1943 10:33 Yak-1 northwest of Cape Tusla 2 29 December 1943 12:35 P-39 southeast of Kerch – 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 52 –Eastern Front — 1 January – 31 December 1944 3 3 January 1944 08:26 P-39 PQ 34 Ost 66671east of Kerch 28 31 May 1944 06:41 Il-2 m.H. PQ 24 Ost 78681 northeast of Iași 4 12 January 1944 06:55 P-39 PQ 34 Ost 66613vicinity of Cape TarchanAdshim-Uschkai 29 31 May 1944 06:53 Il-2 m.H. PQ 24 Ost 78821, northeast of Iașivicinity of Iași south of Iași 5 1 February 1944 14:58 P-39 PQ 34 Ost 66613vicinity of Cape Khroni 30 31 May 1944 10:37 Il-2 m.H. PQ 24 Ost 78821, northeast of Iașivicinity of Iași south of Iași 6 7 April 1944 11:38 Yak-7 PQ 34 Ost 37892 southeast of Perekop 31 1 June 1944 13:36 La-5? PQ 24 Ost 78821, northeast of Iașivicinity of Iași south of Iași 7 15 April 1944 06:41 Il-2 m.H. PQ 34 Ost 35481 southeast of Sevastopol 32 2 June 1944 08:42 P-39 PQ 24 Ost 78812, north of Iașivicinity of Iași south of Iași 8 15 April 1944 06:41? Yak-7 PQ 34 Ost 35483 southeast of Sevastopol 33 2 June 1944 15:42? Yak-7 PQ 24 Ost 78812, north of Iașivicinity of Iași south of Iași 9 15 April 1944 15:20 Il-2 m.H. PQ 34 Ost 35391Black Sea, southwest of Sevastopol 34 3 June 1944 18:38 P-39 PQ 24 Ost 78673vicinity of Cârpiţi north of Iași 10 18 April 1944 10:38 Il-2 m.H. PQ 34 Ost 35444vicinity of Sevastopol 35 4 June 1944 12:49? Boston PQ 24 Ost 8771vicinity of Abony 11 19 April 1944 17:23 Il-2 m.H. ? PQ 34 Ost 35451vicinity of Dzhankoi east of Sevastopol 36 16 October 1944 16:07 Yak-11 PQ 24 Ost 18891 northwest of Oradea 12 27 April 1944 17:52 P-39 PQ 34 Ost 35483 southeast of Sevastopol 37 18 October 1944 12:03 Yak-11 PQ 24 Ost 18814 south of Debrecen 13 4 May 1944 07:45 Yak-7 PQ 34 Ost 35363Black Sea, west of Sevastopol 38 19 October 1944 10:21 La-5 PQ 24 Ost 18444 south-southwest of Debrecen 14 4 May 1944 07:48 Yak-9 PQ 34 Ost 35334vicinity of BelbekBlack Sea, northwest of Sevastopol 39 30 October 1944 14:09 La-5 PQ 24 Ost 08765 east of Szolnok 15 6 May 1944 13:22 Il-2 m.H. PQ 34 Ost 35442vicinity of Belbekvicinity of Sevastopol 40 1 November 1944 13:47 Yak-9 PQ 14 Ost 97263east of Kecskemét 16 6 May 1944 13:25 Yak-7 PQ 34 Ost 35441vicinity of Dzhankoi east of Sevastopol 41 23 November 1944 08:38 Yak-9 PQ 14 Ost 98432PQ 98436vicinity of Atkár 17♠ 7 May 1944 09:32 Yak-7 PQ 34 Ost 35472vicinity of Balaklava south of Sevastopol 42 23 November 1944 11:46 Il-2 m.H. PQ 24 Ost 08174 south-southeast of Miskolc 18♠ 7 May 1944 09:36 Il-2 m.H. PQ 34 Ost 35472vicinity of Balaklava south of Sevastopol 43 5 December 1944 08:21? Yak-9 PQ 14 Ost 98742PQ 98445west of Tura 19♠ 7 May 1944 09:39? Il-2 m.H. PQ 34 Ost 35471 south of Sevastopol 44 5 December 1944 09:45? Il-2 m.H. PQ 14 Ost 98454 southwest of Gyöngyös 20♠ 7 May 1944 15:14 Yak-7 PQ 34 Ost 35612Black Sea, south of Sevastopol 45 11 December 1944 09:58 Yak-9 PQ 14 Ost 98354 21♠ 7 May 1944 15:20 P-40 PQ 34 Ost 35453, east of Sevastopol east of Sevastopol 46 11 December 1944 10:03 Yak-9 PQ 14 Ost 98352PQ 98355 north-northeast of Budapest 22 8 May 1944 10:46 Yak-7 PQ 34 Ost 35612vicinity of BalaklavaBlack Sea, south of Sevastopol 47 20 December 1944 09:08 Yak-9 PQ 14 Ost 88843PQ 88848vicinity of Seregélyes 23 8 May 1944 10:55 Yak-7 PQ 34 Ost 35392Black Sea, southwest of Sevastopol 48 20 December 1944 09:11 Yak-9 PQ 14 Ost 87211 northwest of Dunaújváros 24 9 May 1944 11:33 Yak-7 PQ 34 Ost 35471 south of Sevastopol 49 21 December 1944 13:14 Yak-9 PQ 14 Ost 88844vicinity of Seregélyes 25 9 May 1944 14:12 Yak-7 PQ 34 Ost 35472vicinity of Balaklava south of Sevastopol 50 21 December 1944 13:14 Yak-9 PQ 14 Ost 88844vicinity of Seregélyes 26 29 May 1944 08:43 Pe-2 PQ 24 Ost 87854PQ 87254 south-southwest of Kishinev 51? 22 December 1944 unknown 27 30 May 1944 14:53 P-39 PQ 24 Ost 78674vicinity of Huși north of Iași 52? 22 December 1944 unknown

Awards Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class German Cross in Gold on 26 July 1944 as Unteroffizier in the 5./Jagdgeschwader 52 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 26 April 1945 as Leutnant and Staffelführer of the 5./Jagdgeschwader 52