Gordon Gollob

Gordon Max Gollob (16 June 1912, Vienna – 8 September 1987) was an Austrian-born Nazi German fighter pilot and flying ace in the Luftwaffe from 1938 to 1945 during World War II. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. He rose to the position of General der Jagdflieger, and was one of only 27 to receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade the Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. At the time of its presentation to Gollob it was Germany's highest military decoration.

Gollob was credited with 150 aerial victories&mdash;that is, 150 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft&mdash;achieved in 340 missions. He recorded 144 victories over the Eastern front. Gollob was the first pilot in aviation history to claim 150 aerial victories.

Early life
Gollob was born in Vienna. In 1933 he joined the Austrian Bundesheer as an officer cadet, and the year after he completed his flying training. He rose to command a training unit, the Schulstaffel A. When Austria was annexed by Germany in 1938, Gollob joined the Luftwaffe with the rank of Oberleutnant. On 15 March 1939 Gollob was posted to the 3./Zerstörergeschwader 76 (ZG 76) flying the Bf 110 twin-engined fighter.

World War II
ZG 76 was stationed on the Polish border and took part in Fall Weiss, the invasion of Poland from 1 September 1939. Gollob scored his first victories over Poland, and continued his success when ZG 76 took part in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight.

On 8 April 1940, Gollob was appointed Staffelkapitän of 3./ZG 76. The unit took part in Operation Weserübung and Gollob had two more victories over Norway. Later that year Gollob shot down a Spitfire during the Battle of Britain. He was then given night fighter training and assigned to II./Jagdgeschwader 3 (JG 3) on 7 September. JG 3 was stationed on the Channel Front, and saw much action. On 9 October Gollob was appointed Staffelkapitän of 4./JG 3.

In 1941 the unit was transferred east to take part in Operation Barbarossa, the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. A few days after the invasion started, on 27 June, Gollob was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3, and promoted to Hauptmann. Against the weak Soviet Air Force Gollob proved quite successful, downing 18 enemy aircraft in the month of August alone. On 18 September he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for his 42 victories. In October he had an impressive 37 victories, including 9 in one day on 18 October. On 26 October he was awarded the Eichenlaub after reaching 85 victories. In December Gollob was pulled of frontline service, and was transferred to a testing unit, to help with the development of the next version of the Bf 109.

After a brief spell at the Stabschwarm of Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54) Gollob, now a Major, assumed command over Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77) as Geschwaderkommodore on 16 May 1942. JG 77 was given the task of supporting the hard fighting over the Kerch straits on the Crimean peninsula. The JG 77, led by such able experts as Gollob and Heinrich Bär leading I./JG 77, "took over" the air space over the Kerch-Taman area. Intense rivalry ensued between Gollob and Bär, each striving to outperform the other. On 20 May Gollob reached his victory number 100. On 23 June he was awarded the Schwerter, after his tally had risen to 107. Only two months later he reached 150 victories, becoming the Luftwaffe's highest scoring pilot at that point. For this he was awarded the Brillanten to his Ritterkreuz on 29 August, only number 3 to receive such honours.

An anonymous JG 77 pilot described Gollob's methods; "Gollob flew from Kerch together with his wingman. They positioned themselves at a low altitude beneath a Soviet formation. Then they started climbing in spirals, carefully maintaining their position beneath the enemy formation. Before the peacefully flying Soviets had even suspected any mischief, the two planes at the bottom of their formation had been shot down and the two Germans were gone."

High command
On 1 October 1942, now an Oberst, Gollob was posted to the staff of Jagdfliegerführer 3 on the Channel Front, and on 15 October he was appointed Jagdfliegerführer 5, being responsible of the tactical fighter command over northwestern France.

In April 1944 Gollob was transferred to the personal staff of General der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland, to advise on the development of the jet aircraft projects.In September he had a falling out with Galland however, and was transferred to Kommando der Erprobungstellen, or HQ of test units. In November Gollob was appointed commander of the Jäger-Sonderstab - or special fighter commando - for the Ardennes offensive. In January 1945 Gollob was appointed General der Jagerflieger, following Galland's sacking by the OKL after the costly Operation Bodenplatte.

Controversy
Gollob was an ardent Nazi, and was often thought poorly of by his fellow pilots. Johannes Steinhoff said about Gollob in an interview first printed in World War II Magazine in February 2000:

"'Well, I will say this, then I will say nothing else about Gollob. Losses soared under his leadership everywhere he went, much like Göring in the first war. He placed leaders in command of units not because of their competence, but due to their loyalty to the Nazi Party, which were very few in the Jagdwaffe.'"

Gollob was regarded as a competent pilot, but a poor leader due to his eagerness to impress superiors and his unhealthy competitive spirit.

After the war
After being released from captivity following the surrender, Gollob made a living as a contributor to Aircraft Magazines and lecturing. In 1948 he became a foreman of the Federation of Independents in Austria. From 1951 he started working for a company making motors and vehicles. He had two sons and a daughter with his wife. Gollob died in Sulingen, Diepholz, Lower Saxony on 7 September 1987.

Awards

 * Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold with Pennant "300"
 * Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (21 July 1941)
 * Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds
 * Crimea Shield
 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (21 September 1939)
 * 1st Class (13 June 1940)
 * Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
 * Knight's Cross on 18 September 1941 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3
 * 38th Oak Leaves on 26 October 1941 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3
 * 13th Swords on 23 June 1942 as Hauptmann and Geschwaderkommodore of JG 77
 * 3rd Diamonds on 30 August 1942 as Major and Geschwaderkommodore of JG 77
 * Mentioned three times in the Wehrmachtbericht (25 November 1941, 20 June 1942 and 31 August 1942)