Messerschmitt
Bf 109 F-2
Profile number
21. Flown by Hauptmann Hans von Hahn, Stab I./JG 3, Lutsk/USSR,
July 6, 1941
Hans von Hahn-not to be confused with the famous Oak Leaves holder
Hans "Assi" Hahn-was posted to I./JG 3 as this units
Gruppenkommandeur on August 27, 1940. By that time he had amassed
eleven victories with JG 53. He served on the Eastern Front from
the first day of the attack on the Soviet Union. His first victories
on the Eastern Front were all achieved against unescorted bombers
or biplane fighters. On July 6, 1941, I./JG 3 caught a formation
of DB-3 bombers and shot down eight withing ten minutes-two of
them by von Hahn, who thus ran up his tally to twenty-four. But
when the Jagdgruppe ran into the aces of Soviet 88 IAP over Kanev
in August 1941, things were different. "All previous air
combat had been a children's game compared to what we encountered
above the Dnieper bridge at Kanev," Hans von Hahn wrote.
Later in 1941, I./JG 3 was withdrawn from the Eastern Front and
transferred to Germany, where it was re-numbered into the new
II./JG 1. In June 1942, Hauptmann von Hahn was placed under arrest,
charged for physical abuse against a subordinate, and was relieved
from his command. In April 1945, he was appointed commander of
the fighter units in Upper Italy. Hans von Hahn, who was credited
with a total of 34 victories, died in his home in Frankfurt on
November 5, 1957, at the age of forty-three.
©
Claes Sundin 2009 text: Christer Bergström 2002
Published
by Schiffer Military History Book 2002 ISBN: 0-7643-1559-5
