Defense of the Reich Heinrich Bär

bär inspecting 184th aerial victory, boeing b-17f of 91st bomb group on 21 february 1944. wingman leo schuhmacher standing right.

his combat skills hard overlook , hence bär transferred ii./jagdgeschwader 1 (jg 1) on 21 january 1944 ordinary pilot. assigned 6./jg 1. jagdgeschwader 1 (jg 1) wing commander (geschwaderkommodore) colonel walter oesau welcomed him reminder had promised oberkommando der luftwaffe (okl) göring bär not given command responsibilities. although bär accepted humor, later commented others in air kommodore of own crate .

on 15 march 1944, bär, major , rehabilitated demotion, given command of ii./jagdgeschwader 1 (jg 1). after death of hauptmann hermann segatz on 8 march 1944. jg 1 tasked reichsverteidigung (defense of reich) , equipped focke wulf 190 a-7 fighter. morale of group soared following appointment. considered unofficial leader of group , best officer in entire geschwader. on 11 april 1944, bär achieved 199th aerial victory on b-17 flying fortress near fallersleben. 200th aerial victory, b-24 liberator, claimed on 22 april accompanied regular wingman warrant officer (oberfeldwebel) leo schuhmacher, awarded knight s cross of iron cross on 1 march 1945 fighter pilot in ii./jg 1. bär had landed @ störmede airfield ii./jg 1 intercept when smoking united states army air forces (usaaf) b-24 of 458th bombardment group passed overhead. bär , wingman got aircraft , intercepted b-24. bomber s gunners had bailed out of aircraft, making easy aerial victory. bär returned störmede airfield congratulations of men. double century victory earned bär third , final reference in wehrmachtbericht on 24 april 1944. after oesau s death on 11 may 1944, bär made acting wing commander of jg 1. in june, appointed wing commander of jagdgeschwader 3 (jg 3) following death of friedrich-karl müller. end of 1944, bär s score had risen 203.

bär s 204th , 205th victories, against 2 hawker typhoons, achieved on 1 january 1945 during unternehmen bodenplatte, luftwaffe mass attack against allied airfields in benelux area. operation resulted in hundreds of aircraft losses on both sides. bär s jg 3 contributed raiding eindhoven in netherlands, shooting down 6 raf fighters , destroying many aircraft on ground. 1 of bär s aerial kills may not have been airborne. historian norman franks states both aircraft, no. 438 squadron raf, taxiing when hit. flight lieutenant pete wilson wounded , later died injuries after bär s strafing attack. second typhoon did airborne. pilot, flight officer ross keller killed. version of events contradicted witness, pilot officer bill harle, thought both aircraft airborne.