Oskar-Heinz (Heinrich) "Pritzl" Bär (; 25 May 1913 – 28 April 1957) was a German Luftwaffe flying ace who served throughout World War II in Europe. Bär flew more than one thousand combat missions, and fought in all major German theaters of the war, including the Western, Eastern and Mediterranean fronts. On 18 occasions he survived being shot down, and he was credited with 220 or 221 aerial victories, around 16 of which were in a jet fighter.
Attributes | Values |
---|
rdf:type
| |
rdfs:label
| |
rdfs:comment
| - Oskar-Heinz (Heinrich) "Pritzl" Bär (; 25 May 1913 – 28 April 1957) was a German Luftwaffe flying ace who served throughout World War II in Europe. Bär flew more than one thousand combat missions, and fought in all major German theaters of the war, including the Western, Eastern and Mediterranean fronts. On 18 occasions he survived being shot down, and he was credited with 220 or 221 aerial victories, around 16 of which were in a jet fighter.
|
sameAs
| |
Unit
| - JG 51, JG 77, JGr Süd, JG 1, JG 3, EJG 2 and JV 44
|
dcterms:subject
| |
dbkwik:military/pr...iPageUsesTemplate
| |
serviceyears
| |
Birth Date
| |
Commands
| |
Branch
| |
death place
| - Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, West Germany
|
Nickname
| |
Name
| |
Align
| |
Caption
| |
Width
| |
Birth Place
| - Sommerfeld, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire
|
Title
| - Commander of Jagdgeschwader 1 Oesau
- Commander of Jagdgeschwader 3 Udet
- Commander of Jagdverband 44
|
Awards
| |
death date
| |
Rank
| |
Battles
| |
Before
| - Generalleutnant Adolf Galland
- Oberst Walter Oesau
- Major Friedrich Karl Müller
|
Years
| |
Alt
| - The head and shoulders of a young man, shown in semi-profile. He wears a shirt with an Iron Cross displayed at the front of his shirt collar. His hair is dark and short, his nose is long and straight, and his facial expression is showing a broad smile; gazing at a point to the right of the camera.
|
After
| - none
- Major Werner Schröer
- Oberst Herbert Ihlefeld
|
laterwork
| |
Source
| - Günther Rall, Chief of the Air Staff of the post-war Luftwaffe
|
Quote
| - "He was honest through and through. Whatever he told you was the truth. He never tried to cover things up as some pilots did."
|
Birth name
| |
abstract
| - Oskar-Heinz (Heinrich) "Pritzl" Bär (; 25 May 1913 – 28 April 1957) was a German Luftwaffe flying ace who served throughout World War II in Europe. Bär flew more than one thousand combat missions, and fought in all major German theaters of the war, including the Western, Eastern and Mediterranean fronts. On 18 occasions he survived being shot down, and he was credited with 220 or 221 aerial victories, around 16 of which were in a jet fighter. Bär, a Saxon with a strong accent, joined the Reichswehr in 1934 and transferred to the Luftwaffe in 1935. Serving first as a mechanic, then as a pilot on transport aircraft, he was informally trained as a fighter pilot. He claimed his first aerial victory in September 1939 on the French border. By the end of the Battle of Britain, his tally of victories had increased to 17. Transferred to the Eastern front to participate in Operation Barbarossa, he quickly accumulated further kills, a feat that earned him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) for 90 aerial victories in February 1942. During the remainder of World War II, Bär was credited with 130 other aerial victories, including 16 while flying one of the first jet fighters, the Me 262, an achievement which would normally have earned him the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten). Hermann Göring's personal dislike of Bär, coupled with Bär's insubordinate character and lack of military discipline, deprived him of this award. After World War II, Bär continued his career as an aviator. He was killed in a flying accident on 28 April 1957 near Braunschweig.
|