Hans-Ekkehard Bob

Hans Ekkehard Bob (24 January 1917 – 12 August 2013) was a German fighter pilot, serving with the Luftwaffe. During World War II, Bob flew approximately 700 combat missions, and claimed 60 victories; 37 of which were on the Eastern Front.

Early Luftwaffe

Bob joined the Luftwaffe in 1936,Template:Sfn at the rank of a Fahnenjunker (officer candidate), and began his flight training in June 1937.Template:Sfn

World War II

On 22 June 1940, I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 21 (JG 21–21st Fighter Wing) was withdrawn from France and moved to München Gladbach, present-day Mönchengladbach. The following day the Gruppe was ordered to Soesterberg in the Netherlands. On 2 July, the unit moved to Bergen op Zoom. Three days later I. Gruppe of JG 21 was renamed and became the III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54–54th Fighter Wing).Template:Sfn

On 5 September, Bob was temporarily appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 7. Staffel of JG 54, replacing Oberleutnant Günther Scholz. Scholz was temporarily transferred to the Gruppenstab (headquarters unit) of III. Gruppe of JG 54. There, Scholz succeeded Hauptmann Fritz Ultsch who had been killed in action.Template:Sfn On 15 September, also known as the Battle of Britain Day, Bob's Messerschmitt Bf 109 was hit by cannon shell in the radiator while flying over Canterbury at an altitude of . Fearing that his engine would overheat, he nursed his Bf 109 back to France by periodically turning his engine off, trading altitude for distance, thus cooling the engine before restarting it to gain altitude again.Template:Sfn By November 1940, Bob had claimed his 19th aerial victory, and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 7 March 1941.Template:Sfn On 21 March, Bob made a forced landing in the sea off of Cherbourg due to engine failure of the Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann D-2 (Werknummer 4506—factory number) trainer.Template:Sfn

On 17 April 1943, Bob had a mid-air collision with a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber southwest of Bremen. He successfully bailed out of his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-4 (Werknummer 14935) and landed safely.Template:Sfn On 1 August, Bob was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of IV. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" (JG 51–51st Fighter Wing). He replaced Major Rudolf Resch who had been killed in action on 11 July.Template:Sfn At the time. IV. Gruppe was fighting in the Battle of Kursk on the Eastern Front.Template:Sfn

On 8 May 1944, Bob was transferred to the Stab (headquarters unit) of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" (JG 3–3rd Fighter Wing), named after the World War I fighter ace Ernst Udet Command of his IV. Gruppe of JG 51 was passed to Major Heinz Lange.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn When on 29 May 1944, the wing commander JG 3, Major Friedrich-Karl Müller was killed in action, Bob was temporarily placed in command of JG 3 until the official successor, Major Heinz Bär, took command on 9 June. Bob was then given command of II. Gruppe of JG 3, replacing Hauptmann Gustav Frielinghaus in this capacity.Template:Sfn

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Bob was credited with 60 aerial victories.Template:Sfn Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 57 aerial victory claims, plus four further unconfirmed claims. This figure includes 37 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and another 20 on the Western Front, including one heavy bomber.Template:Sfn

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 10191". 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.Template:Sfn

Chronicle of aerial victories
This and the – (dash) indicates unconfirmed aerial victory claims for which Bob did not receive credit.   This and the ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike, Bock, Mathews and Foreman.
Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location
– 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 21 –Template:Sfn Battle of France — 10 May – 25 June 1940
1	10 May 1940	10:33	Gladiator	TongerenTemplate:Sfn	3	25 May 1940	19:45	M.S.406	north of CambraiTemplate:Sfn Péronne-en-Mélantois
2	24 May 1940	15:20	D.520	Hénin-LiétardTemplate:Sfn	4	26 May 1940	09:10	Hawk 75	CambraiTemplate:Sfn
– 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 21 –Template:Sfn Action at the Channel and over England — 26 June – 4 July 1940
5	26 June 1940	18:10	Blenheim	west of RotterdamTemplate:Sfn
– 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –Template:Sfn Action at the Channel and over England — 5 July – 4 September 1940
6	12 August 1940	18:33	Spitfire	CanterburyTemplate:Sfn	10	31 August 1940	11:40	Hurricane	EastchurchTemplate:Sfn
7	15 August 1940	19:27	Spitfire	southeast of DoverTemplate:Sfn	11	31 August 1940	11:42	Hurricane	EastchurchTemplate:Sfn
8	16 August 1940	13:13	Spitfire	CalaisTemplate:Sfn	12?Template:Refn	4 September 1940	10:10	Hurricane	FolkestoneTemplate:Sfn
9	18 August 1940	14:40	Hurricane	off RamsgateTemplate:Sfn	13?	9 September 1940	18:40	SpitfireTemplate:Sfn	Tunbridge
– 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –Template:Sfn Action at the Channel and over England — 5 September – October 1940
14	30 September 1940	14:35	Spitfire	TunbridgeTemplate:Sfn	16	9 October 1940	16:38?Template:Refn	Spitfire	ChathamTemplate:Sfn
—	30 September 1940	—	SpitfireTemplate:Sfn		17	20 October 1940	15:40	Spitfire	LondonTemplate:Sfn
15	9 October 1940	14:00	Spitfire	AshfordTemplate:Sfn
– Stab III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 54 –Template:Sfn Action at the Channel and over England — October – November 1940
18	27 October 1940	10:30	Hurricane	east of TonbridgeTemplate:Sfn	19	11 November 1940	13:17	Spitfire	MargateTemplate:Sfn
– 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –Template:Sfn Balkan Campaign — 29 March – 3 May 1941
20	6 April 1941	17:30	Bf 109	PetrovgradTemplate:Sfn	21	7 April 1941	14:20	IK-2	MartinacTemplate:Sfn
– 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –Template:Sfn Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941
22	23 June 1941	11:50	SB-2	KėdainiaiTemplate:Sfn	31	24 July 1941	19:55	SB-2	DuoTemplate:Sfn
23	30 June 1941	07:05	SB-3	DünaburgTemplate:Sfn Kėdainiai	32	10 September 1941	14:50	I-18 (MiG-1)	DemyanskTemplate:Sfn
24	30 June 1941	07:09	SB-3	DünaburgTemplate:Sfn	33	11 September 1941	09:45	I-18 (MiG-1)	DemyanskTemplate:Sfn
25	30 June 1941	12:35	SB-3	DünaburgTemplate:Sfn	34	15 September 1941	15:15	DB-3	Krasnoye SeloTemplate:Sfn
26	30 June 1941	15:10	DB-3?Template:Refn	DünaburgTemplate:Sfn	35	15 September 1941	15:25	DB-3	Krasnoye SeloTemplate:Sfn
27	6 July 1941	18:40	SB-3	southeast of OstrovTemplate:Sfn	36	21 September 1941	07:05	I-153	KrasnogvardeyskTemplate:Sfn
28	6 July 1941	18:41	SB-3	southeast of OstrovTemplate:Sfn	37	7 October 1941	09:40	ground-attack aircraft	Krasny BorTemplate:Sfn
29	6 July 1941	18:45	SB-3	southeast of OstrovTemplate:Sfn	38	6 November 1941	10:37	ground-attack aircraft	KolpinoTemplate:Sfn
30	15 July 1941	19:15	SB-3	OrlyTemplate:Sfn	39	1 December 1941	09:42	I-18 (MiG-1)	MostowajaTemplate:Sfn
– 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –Template:Sfn Eastern Front — 6 December 1941 – 30 April 1942
40	25 April 1942	11:30	MiG-3	LeningradTemplate:Sfn
– 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –Template:Sfn Eastern Front — 1 May 1942 – 3 February 1943
41	28 August 1942	11:30	Il-2	PQ 10191, KilosiTemplate:Sfn	49	22 September 1942	05:35	MiG-3	PQ 10354, BeresowkaTemplate:Sfn
42	1 September 1942	09:26	LaGG-3	PQ 10191, KilosiTemplate:Sfn	50	29 September 1942	16:08	LaGG-3	PQ 00231, Neva-BendTemplate:Sfn
43	1 September 1942	12:10	LaGG-3	PQ 10153, RabetschjTemplate:Sfn	51	17 December 1942	10:51	Il-2	PQ 46131, SychyovkaTemplate:Sfn
44	2 September 1942	13:50	Il-2	PQ 10183, EstonskijTemplate:Sfn	52	17 December 1942	11:23	Il-2	PQ 47791, SychyovkaTemplate:Sfn
45	2 September 1942	14:00	Il-2	PQ 10184, GaitolowoTemplate:Sfn east of Mga	53	29 December 1942	09:52	Il-2	PQ 07583, KoskinoTemplate:Sfn
46	10 September 1942	17:04	Il-2	PQ 10183, TortolowoTemplate:Sfn	54	30 December 1942	09:55	Il-2	PQ 07672, Velikiye LukiTemplate:Sfn southeast of Velikiye Luki
47	15 September 1942	06:02	LaGG-3	PQ 10113Template:Sfn Schlüsselburg	55	30 December 1942	10:12	LaGG-3	PQ 07534, Velikiye LukiTemplate:Sfn north of Velikiye Luki
48	15 September 1942	15:20	LaGG-3	PQ 10113, SchlüsselburgTemplate:Sfn	56	14 January 1943	11:37	LaGG-3	PQ 07671, Velikiye LukiTemplate:Sfn southeast of Velikiye Luki
– 9. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 54 –Template:Sfn Western Front — 27 March – 1 August 1943
— ?Template:Refn	17 April 1943	12:45	B-17	near Groß KöhrenTemplate:Sfn	57	27 July 1943	20:20	Spitfire	west of ZandvoortTemplate:Sfn
– Stab IV. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" –Template:Sfn Eastern Front — 1 August – 31 December 1943
58	26 September 1943	16:37	Yak-1	south of JantschetznokTemplate:Sfn	59	27 September 1943	13:32	La-5	east-northeast of SsusslowkaTemplate:Sfn

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (17 September 1939)Template:Sfn
  • 1st Class
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (28 September 1940)Template:Sfn
• German Cross in Gold on 24 December 1942 as Oberleutnant in the 9./Jagdgeschwader 54Template:Sfn
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 7 March 1941 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 9./Jagdgeschwader 54Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Publications

• Bob, Hans-Ekkehard (2003). Betrayed Ideals, Memoirs of a Luftwaffe Fighter Ace. Cerberus Publishing Ltd. Template:ISBN.
• Bob, Hans-Ekkehard (2011). Jagdgeschwader 54 — Die Piloten mit den grünen Herzen (in German). Aachen, Germany: Helios Verlags- und Buchvertriebsgesellschaft. Template:ISBN.

References

Bibliography

• Forsyth, Robert (1996). JV 44: The Galland Circus. Classic Publications. Template:ISBN.
• Trautloft, Hannes and Bob, Hans-Ekkehard (2005). War Diaries of Hannes Trautloft Kommodore of JG54 Grunherz. Cerberus Publishing Ltd. Template:ISBN.