Scapegoated for the loss of the battleship, Ehrler – who had been nominated for the prestigious Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords prior to the disaster – was court-martialed, stripped of his command and sentenced to three years and two months of honorable imprisonment. Ehrler was accused by ground control of attempting to get his 200th victory instead of leading his fighters. The British Lancasters sank the Tirpitz and its thousand sailors. He hurried to intercept the enemy but was too late. that year, Ehrler was tasked with protecting the battleship Tirpitz when he received a message reporting inbound British bombers. In Aug., he was appointed to Wing Commander of JG 5 and at the same time was promoted to Major. On, he achieved nine victories in one day, bringing his tally up to 155. By June the following year, the 27-years-old Group Commander’s tally rose to a hundred, becoming the 40th Luftwaffe pilot to reach the mark. A year later, in September 1942, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross for 64 aerial victories. He scored his first victory in May 1940 in Norway, as part of Jagdgeschwader 77, later restructured as JG 5 and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class. He had used only sixty rounds of ammo for every bomber he had destroyed. Alone and unaided, he repeatedly attacked the enemy aircraft and was credited with shooting down five of them, and damaging a sixth, before they reached their intended target. On, while defending USS Lexington in a F4F "Wildcat" fighter, O'Hare encountered an advancing formation of nine Japanese bombers east of the enemy base at Rabaul, New Britain. Was designated a Naval Aviator in May 1940, after flight training at Naval Air Station, Pensacola. He also flew the SBU Corsair and the TBD Devastator.
On the nimble Boeing F4B-4A, he trained in aerobatics as well as aerial gunnery. In 1939, he started flight training at NAS Pensacola in Florida, learning the basics on Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-1 "Yellow Peril" and Stearman NS-1 biplane trainers, and later on the advanced SNJ trainer. Graduated and appointed an Ensign on June 3, 1937, he served two years on board the battleship USS New Mexico (BB-40). Graduated from the Western Military Academy in 1932, the following year he went on to the USN Academy at Annapolis. Synthesis and edition of article in es.Įdward Henry "Butch" O'Hare was born in St. The Soviet tank ace was killed by mortar shell shrapnel near Volokolamsk in the Moscow Region on Dec. He used the advantages of the landscape to perfection, hiding his T-34 behind trees, hills and uneven terrain to suddenly appear in unexpected places and cause maximum damage to the enemy. Lelyushenko, “Dawn of Victory,” 1966).īefore going on the attack, Lavrinenko always carefully scrutinized the future battlefield and organized proper reconnaissance. Luring them to approach within range, he unleashed hell from his ambush position and terminated nine tanks, two guns and numerous soldiers.” (D. The fascists opened fire on these dummy targets. General Dmitry Lelyushenko recalled: “Lieutenant Dmitry Lavrinenko scrupulously disguised his tanks by mounting logs which looked like tank guns. 5, Lavrinenko was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union for destroying 37 German heavy, medium and light tanks during a 2-month period of permanent battles.ĭmitry Lavrinenko not only clashed with the enemy in open fighting, but organized skillful ambushes. Synthesis and edition of article in Historynet.
But not, on Octohe was killed in the crash of a transport plane en route to Mabalacat from Cebu Island. His aerobatics were all at once breathtaking, brilliant, totally unpredictable, impossible, and heart-stirring to witness.’ He also had the hunter’s eye, capable of spotting enemy aircraft before his comrades knew there was anything else in the sky.Įven when a new generation of American aircraft was wresting the Pacific sky from the Japanese, many were convinced that as long as he was at the controls of his Zero, Nishizawa was invincible.
‘To all who flew with him,’ wrote Sakai, ‘he became ‘the Devil’….Never have I seen a man with a fighter plane do what Nishizawa would do with his Zero. Nishizawa underwent a remarkable metamorphosis in the cockpit of his Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter. He had a gaunt look about him he weighed only 140 pounds, and his ribs protruded sharply through his skin.’ He was tall and lanky for a Japanese, nearly five feet eight inches in height. One of his comrades in arms, Saburo Sakai, wrote that ‘one felt the man should be in a hospital bed. It is generally believed that he scored at least 87 victories. Some sources list as many as 150 victories for Nishizawa.
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