Hans Philip is a German military ace pilot during the Third Reich. During the Second World War, he flew more than 500 sorties, scoring 206 victories in the air. He became the second ace after G. Graf in the world aviation history who shot down 200 enemy aircraft in air battles. Oberst Lieutenant (1943) of the Luftwaffe. Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (1942).
Childhood and adolescence
Johannes Hans Fritz Philipp was born on March 17, 1917 at 22:45 at 5 Count Gustav Street in Meissen in Saxony. His mother, Alma Philippe, was not a married woman and met Hans's father, Leopold Guschurst, while working at the Meissen Hospital. His father, L. Gushurst, on the eve of World War II, received his medical education at such renowned medical institutions as the universities of Erlangen-Nuremberg (1912-14) and Freiburg (1914-16), and from 1916 he served as a doctor in the heavy artillery battalion of the German imperial army in Western and Eastern Fronts. He received his M. D. in Radiology in April 1920 and soon opened his own practice in Plauen. However, his social status as a doctor at the time did not allow him to openly admit his relationship with an unmarried woman, although she was the mother of his son.
Philip's mother, who never married, was the eighth child in a relatively poor family. Until 1933, Hans's father paid monthly alimony in the amount of 35 Reichsmarks. On July 29, 1917, Philip was baptized, taking the name Johannes Fritz.
In 1924, 7-year-old Hans entered the elementary school number 4 of the school, where he immediately established himself as an intelligent and diligent student. His mother, well aware of the role of education in her son's future, worked hard to pay for Hans's further education at the gymnasium. Thanks to her efforts, three years later, her son was admitted to the local gymnasium to continue his studies and receive secondary education. Having constant financial problems, Alma Philip turned to the Meissen city council with a request to allow her to temporarily not pay school fees. Constant difficult living conditions, attempts to save every pfennig, greatly influenced and shaped the character of Hans: independence, diligence, firmness in achieving the intended goal, overcoming any difficulties.
From early childhood, Hans Philippe was very fond of sports. In 1930, he joined the Hitler Youth and soon received the honorary badge of a member of this organization for his successes. In the ranks of this organization, the young man quickly completed a training course for glider pilots and received flying licenses of categories "A" and "B", becoming the leader of the city branch of glider pilots.
In March 1935, Germany abandoned the terms of the Versailles Treaty, and Hitler officially announced the creation of his own air force for the country. Influenced by this speech, 18-year-old Hans was eager to become a real combat pilot of the Luftwaffe. On March 31, 1935, he graduated from high school and on September 6, 1935, he successfully passed the exams for training courses for pilots, aerial observers, aeronautical mechanics and radio operators in Dresden.
Military career
After completing his high school studies, Hans Philip, as a citizen of the Third Reich, had to complete a compulsory 6-month service with the Imperial Labor Service. On January 2, 1936, he entered Camp 5/150 in the Saxon city of Riesa. However, due to the fact that he decided to join the Wehrmacht, the young man was enlisted on April 6 as a fan-junker at the 2nd Air Combat School in Gatowi near Berlin. Together with him studied such future famous pilots of the German Air Force as Werner Baumbach, who became a bomber pilot, and Helmut Lent, one of the most famous night fighters of the Luftwaffe.
Philip was enrolled in the fourth company of cadets of the school, from which he graduated on August 31, 1937 and, according to the results of successful passing of exams, received the "Pilot's Badge". On January 1, 1938, Hans Philip received his first officer rank as lieutenant.
On March 1, 1938, Lieutenant Philip was assigned to the 253rd Bomber Squadron (I./KG 253), but the young officer was dissatisfied with this appointment and already on May 1 he achieved a transfer to the fighter flight school in Verneuchen, where the commander was Oberst Theodor Osterkamp. July 1, 1938 G. Philip was assigned to the 138th Fighter Squadron. There he underwent retraining from the He-51 biplane to the modern German Bf-109 fighter. Soon, the young officer went on vacation and went on a trip to Italy in a DKW Meisterklasse, where in South Tyrol he met his future bride, Katharina Egger.
With the beginning of the German invasion of Poland, G. Philip's fighter squadron was actively involved in the performance of missions to cover bomber and attack aircraft over the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Philip won his first victory on September 5, without a single shot. In a battle with the Polish PZL P-24 aircraft, the German officer carried out an acute maneuver and reached an advantageous position to open fire, but at that moment the Polish pilot jumped out of the plane with a parachute without engaging in battle with him. This victory was credited to Lieutenant Philip and on October 10, 1939 he received his first award - the Iron Cross, 2nd degree.
Subsequently, his air group was redeployed to the Western Front, where in the battles with the French Air Force at the end of November G. Philippe lost his wingman.
On May 10, 1940, Hitler began implementing the Gelb Plan - the Wehrmacht's invasion of France. From the first day, the group of Lieutenant G. Philip took part in air battles over France, and the officer chalked up 4 victories, for which on May 31 he received the next Iron Cross of the 1st degree. The next day he was promoted to chief lieutenant, and he became commander of the "staffel". At the Battle of Dunkirk, his squadron was accompanied by German bombers who attacked the British Expeditionary Force.
On July 12, 1940, the long and bloody battle of Britain began. On August 1, Hitler issued Directive No. 17, which determined the goal of the defeat and destruction of the British Royal Air Force, the achievement of complete air supremacy and the provision of the prerequisites for the successful conduct of Operation Zeelove. On August 7, 1940, the fighting over Britain reached its climax when the Germans staged Operation Eagle Day. Almost around the clock, German and British pilots fought in the skies over England. On September 7, the German Air Force, having failed to achieve its goals, began massive bombing raids on British cities, especially London. G. Philip personally made 130 sorties and won several victories.
On September 27, for the 15th victory in aerial battles, he was awarded the Luftwaffe Honorary Cup. October 20 to the 20th victory in the skies of Britain, Lieutenant G. Philip was awarded the Knight's Iron Cross, becoming the co-pilot in the 54th Fighter Squadron (after Hauptmann Dietrich Hrabak), who received this award.
An attempt by the German Luftwaffe to crush the British Air Force and force the inhabitants of the island to surrender ended in failure. The Germans suffered huge losses in military equipment and, most importantly, significant losses in the personnel of the pilots. On December 3, II./JG 54 was sent to Delmengorst to restore combat capability. Most of the pilots went on vacation to the Austrian mountain resorts of Kitzbühel. Hans Philip went to rest at home and visited his school, where he spoke to schoolchildren, talking about his everyday life as a combat fighter pilot.
On January 15, 1941, its unit returned to the Western Front to Le Mans in Sarti, southwest of Paris, where it took over the protection of the airspace over Normandy. In France, German pilots were based until March 1941.
On April 6, 1941, Operation Aufmarsh 25 began - the Wehrmacht's invasion of Yugoslavia, and the main body of the 54th Fighter Squadron (command, II and III groups) entered the battle in the skies over Belgrade. German aircraft fought against their fellow German Bf-109 fighters, which were in service with the Royal Yugoslav Air Force. On his own account, G. Philip appeared two downed Yugoslav "Messerschmitts", which he destroyed, accompanying the dive bombers "Stuka" on the second day of the operation, thus scoring 25 victories in battles.
On June 22, at 03:05, 120 aircraft of G. Philip's fighter squadron, with the start of Operation Barbarossa, crossed the Soviet border and began a battle with Soviet pilots.
On August 24, 1941, Chief Lieutenant G. Philip had 62 downed enemy aircraft on his account, for which he was awarded the highest award of the German Reich - the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. He became the 33rd holder of this award in the Wehrmacht. On August 27, the Fuehrer personally presented him with this honorary award at Hitler's headquarters in Wolfschanz in Rastenburg.
On February 14, 1942, the commander of I./JG 54, Hauptmann Franz Eckerle, went missing in battles with pilots of the Red Army Air Force, and G. Philip was appointed commander of the fighter group on March 22.
On March 31, the chief lieutenant became the fourth fighter ace of the Luftwaffe, scoring 100 victories in the air.
On June 29, 1942, Philip was awarded the Gold German Cross.
On January 14, 1943, the pilot had 150 air victories. In February, his group moved to the newest Fw-190, and after undergoing a retraining course for this fighter, the whole group returned to the Eastern Front.
In April 1943, he was appointed commander of the 1st fighter squadron of the Luftwaffe, carrying out tasks to protect the airspace of Germany. The squadron had the most important task of covering important facilities, factories, transport hubs, cities and other targets in northern Germany from the bombing of the 8th American Air Force.
On May 2, 1943, Philip shot down his first plane in the west since 1940, which was his 204th victory, and on May 18, he won 205 victories, but was soon out of action due to an inflammation of the appendix. He underwent surgery and treatment in his hometown of Meissen.
On October 1, 1943, Hans Philip received the military rank of Oberst Lieutenant.
The last fight
On October 8, 1943, the US 8th Air Force organized another massive raid by 156 bombers, accompanied by more than 250 Thunderbolt fighters on the German cities of Bremen and Vegesak.
Taking off towards the enemy, the German pilots entered into a battle with the American forces. A group of Fw 190 A-6 fighters from Oberst Lieutenant G. Philip clashed with the 56th Fighter Group of the US Air Force, trying to break through the screen of fighters to the heavy bombers "Flying Fortress". G. Philip managed to shoot down one plane in this battle. Then the last radio message to his wingman was received from him: "Reinhardt, attack!" Feldwebel Reinhardt that day was the last person to see the commander's plane disappearing into a cloud. In that battle, Reinhardt's plane was shot down, but he managed to make a successful emergency landing. In the evening, he learned that his host had died. It is believed that the commander of the 1st Fighter Squadron Oberst Lieutenant G. Philip was shot down by the American fighter S Robert. Johnson, managed to jump from the Fw 190 A-6, but his parachute did not open.
The next day, his body was found and taken to Rheine Field Hospital. Postmortem examination revealed significant body lesions, fractures, deep wounds and other injuries, including extensive burns, including the face.
On October 10, 1943, the body of the deceased Hans Philip was transported by train from Rheine to Meissen. On the 12th, the Wehrmachtbericht reported his death. On October 14, a ceremonial burial took place with the participation of representatives of the military, civilian and party leadership.
On May 7, 1973, his mother, Alma Philippe, was buried next to her son's grave.
Interesting Facts
On Philip's Me109 F-2, while serving in 4 / JG54, there was a drawing and the inscription "Hokus-Pokus-Rauch im Haus, schon sieht die Sache anders aus"
Roughly translated as: "Hocus-pocus in the house smoke, so the object has become another!". The drawing depicted a magician breaking an airplane with a spell.
Philip had two short-haired dachshunds that accompanied him throughout the war.
