Career
The Knight"s Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. Hannig is credited with 98 aerial victories claimed in over 350 combat missions.
He was killed in action following combat with Royal Air Force (Royal Air Force) Spitfires on 15 May 1943.
Born in 1921 in Frankenstein, Lower Silesia, Hannig joined the military service in the Luftwaffe as a Fahnenjunker (officer cadet) in October 1939. He was posted to the 6./Jagdgeschwader 54 "Grünherz" (JG 54—54th fighter wing) in early 1941.
Horst Hannig claimed his first aerial victory, a Tupolev Bachelor of Science-2, on the first day of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. He and Leutnant Hans Beißwenger received the Knight"s Cross from General der Flieger Helmuth Förster at Siverskaya.
On 21 July 1942 he claimed his 54th victory, a Petlyakov Pe-2 reconnaissance aircraft, near Lake Ilmen.
lieutenant was JG 54 2,500th aerial victory. Horst Hannig was killed in action on 15 May 1943 against Royal Air Force (Royal Air Force) operations that targeted Caen-Carpiquet Airdrome and Poix Airdrome. He was shot down by Squadron Leader J. Charles leading Yellow Section of Number.
611 Squadron, and thus becoming the 1,000th aerial victory of the Biggin Hill Wing.
He had managed to bail out but his parachute failed to open. He was interred at the German war cemetery at Saint Desir-de-Lisieux, block 3 row 15 grave 445.
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