THE STAR OF AFRICA
GERHARD BARKHORN
Of the Luftwaffe’s Experten, Gerhard Barkhorn was the secondhighest scoring and the only pilot other than Erich Hartmann to achieve over 300 aerial victories. Barkhorn flew with Hartman in Jagdgeschwader 52, a fighter wing on the Eastern Front, where he achieved great success.
After joining the Luftwaffe in 1938, Barkhorn flew during the Battle of Britain, though he had to wait until the launch of Operation Barbarossa in 1941 before he achieved his first victory, on his 120th sortie. Just over a year later he had downed 59 enemy planes and was awarded the Knight’s Cross. By January 1943 he had doubled this number during combat in the East and was in command of his own squadron. In May 1944 he was severely wounded during a dogfight when a Soviet P-39 strafed the side of his aircraft, penetrating his cockpit and injuring his right arm and leg. Being hospitalised for several months put a pause on his impressive tally of 273 victories.
In 1945 Barkhorn was handpicked to fly Me 262 fighter jets, though he would not gain any success in the schwalbe, or ‘swallow’ as it was known. Surviving the war, Barkhorn later served in the Federal German Republic’s air force from 1956 until his retirement in 1976.
awe to the young hero who fought victoriously in his fight for freedom and died with honour.”
The article declared that “a hundred years from now, German boys’ eyes will light up when they read the name Marseille”. Over 80 years since his death, however, his name regularly provokes discomfort in Germany. In May 2020, Ursula von der Leyen – then defence minister of Germany – initiated a review into renaming the Geschwader (‘wings’) and Kaserne (‘barracks’) that still bear the names of Luftwaffe veterans from the Third Reich.
Von der Leyen criticised the fact that names “like Hans-Joachim Marseille or Helmut Lent are still standing at the barracks gate” and argued that “both names belong to a time that cannot be exemplary for us”. The updated Bundeswehr guidelines state that barracks can be “named after personalities who are distinguished by their overall work or an outstanding deed for freedom and justice”. Admittedly, Marseille was highly progressive for the time in protecting his Black friend with
