Background
He was born on 6 October 1920 in Spittal an der Drau in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
He was born on 6 October 1920 in Spittal an der Drau in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Zellot is credited for shooting down 86 Allied aircraft in 296 different missions. Zellot was assigned to the Jagdgeschwader 53. On 11 July 1941 he shot down three enemy aircraft.
By early August 1941, he had a total of 12 victories.
In the autumn of 1941, I. was shifted to the Mediterranean theatre and he operated from the bases in Sicily. Zellot shot down two Supermarine Spitfires of the Royal Air Force (Royal Air Force) over Malta in April 1942.
This included the aircraft of British fighter ace and Squadron Leader John Bisdee (credited for destroying 9 aircraft) of the 601 Squadron who bailed out, landed in the sea and was rescued. He was appointed Staffelkapitän of 2. on 19 August 1942 replacing Hauptmann Klaus Quaet-Faslem.
In August 1942, he shot down several Soviet aircraft including three victories on August 1, three on August 2, three on August 7, four on August 9, five on August 13, four on August 23 and three on August 28.
However, earlier on the same day of his appointment on 19 August 1942, his Bf.109G-2 WNr.14189 was shot-up by a Soviet fighter, probably the Yak-1 flown by future ace Boris M. Vasilyev (929 International Association of Prosecutors). On 10 September 1942, Zellot was killed while engaged in a low-level attack on Soviet troops northwest of Stalingrad. His Messerschmitt Bf 109 "Gustav" was hit by anti-aircraft fire, which blew off the tail of the aircraft.
Some sources claim that Zellot may have been victim of friendly fire.
He bailed out at very low altitude. There was insufficient height for his parachute to open and he was killed.
Bibliography.