Hajo Herrmann

Infobox Military Person
name=Hajo Herrmann
born=birth date|1913|8|1|df=yes
placeofbirth=Kiel, Germany
placeofdeath=


caption=Hajo Herrmann
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=Luftwaffe
serviceyears=1935-1945
rank=Oberst
commands=7./KG 4, III./KG 30
unit=KG 4, KG 30, JG 300
battles=Spanish Civil War
World War II
*Battle of Britain
*Balkans Campaign
awards=Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern
laterwork=Lawyer

Hajo Herrmann, born Hans-Joachim Herrmann (born 1 August 1913), was a Luftwaffe bomber pilot, and later a lawyer focusing his activities mostly on the defense of former Nazis and Neo-Nazis, deniers of the holocaust and political activists of the far-right. In World War II, he was a high ranking and influential member of the Luftwaffe.

Military career in WWII

He was one of the Luftwaffe's most innovative air tacticians during World War II. Beginning his military career as an infantry officer, he was commissioned in the newly formed Luftwaffe in 1935. From 1936 til 1937 he was a bomber pilot in the Condor Legion.During the Spanish civil war, joined KG-4, and wrote several well received tactical reports. When WWII began, he flew Heinkel He-111's in Poland and Norway. By 1940 Herrmann was Commander of the 7th Staffel of KG-4, and led many attacks on England during the Battle of Britain. In February 1941 his group went to Sicily, where they flew against Malta and Greece. In one such attack, he dropped a single bomb on an ammunition ship. The resulting explosion sank 11 ships and made the Greek port of Piraeus unusable for many months. In early 1942 he was Commander of III./KG 30, attacking Arctic convoys from Norway, including the attacks on PQ-17. July 1942 saw him assigned to the general staff in Germany, where he became a close confidant of Hermann Göring. During his career as a bomber pilot Hermann had flown 320 operations and sunk 12 ships totalling 70,000 tons.

In 1942 he was appointed to the Luftwaffe Operational Staff. Quickly gaining a reputation as one of the leading tactical and operational innovators of the Luftwaffe, Hajo Herrmann was the creator of the Luftwaffe night fighter wing designated Jagdgeschwader 300, nicknamed "Wilde Sau" (German: wild boar). Raised as a response to the growing threat of RAF Bomber Command's night raids on the Reich in mid 1943, which had gained the ascendancy over the Luftwaffe's "Nachtjäger" radar-guided night fighter forces through the use of chaff, Herrman's theory was for experienced night flying pilots and ex-instructors to be equipped with Fw 190 day fighters and visually 'free-hunt' the bombers by the light of the fires below and with the aid of special 'flare-carrier' Junkers Ju 88's following the bomber streams, as well as the use of the Naxos radar detector unit on some of these single engined fighters, to find RAF night bombers, when they were aiming by radar. Herrmann himself flew over 50 night fighter missions and claimed nine RAF bombers destroyed. Although JG 300 and subsequent units raised met with promising initial success, the high wastage of both pilots and aircraft due to high accident rates curtailed extensive use of 'Wilde Sau' beyond the start of 1944.

In December 1943 he was appointed Luftwaffe Inspector of Aerial Defense. By 1944 Herrmann was Inspector General of night fighters and received the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. At the end of 1944 he led the 9th "Fliegerdivision."

At this time he was a leading exponent of the tactical deployment of the so- called "Rammjäger". "Sonderkommando Elbe" (German: ram fighters, task force Elbe), sent into action in April 1945. Pilot volunteers , often aged 18 to 20, were to be trained to be simply competent enough to control specially lightened and unarmoured Bf 109 fighters and charged with downing Allied bombers by deliberately ramming the tail or control surfaces with the propellers of their aircraft, and thereafter (hopefully) baling out. Hermann's intention was to gather a large number of these fighters for a one-off attack on the USAAF bomber streams, hopefully causing enough losses to curtail the bombing offensive for a few months. Fuel shortages prevented employment of the large numbers necessary, although from one mission of this type of the 138 planes thus committed only 50 came back.

Post war activities

He was captured by the Russians after the war and was held prisoner for ten years. Back in Germany he studied law and settled in Düsseldorf. Among others, he defended the deniers of the holocaust : Otto Ernst Remer, David Irving and Fred A. Leuchter.

Awards

* Spanish Cross in Bronze with Swords
* Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe
* Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold with Pennant "300"
* Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds
* German Cross in Gold (5 June 1942)
* Iron Cross 2. and 1. class
* Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
** Knight's Cross (13 October 1940)
** Oak Leaves (2 August 1943)
** Swords (23 January 1944)

References

* Hermann, Hajo, "Bewegtes Leben. Kampf- und Jadgflieger 1935-1945". Universitas Verlag, 1993. ISBN 3-8004-1291-8.
* Hermann, Hajo, "Als die Jagd zu Ende war. Mein Flug in die sowjetische Gefangenschaft". Universitas Verlag, 2003. ISBN 3-8004-1452-X.
* Berger, Florian, "Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges". Selbstverlag Florian Berger, 2006. ISBN 3-9501307-0-5.
* Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. "Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945". Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
* Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit. "Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 - 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II". Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.