Hans Ekkehard Bob
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| Hans Ekkehard Bob | |
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| 24 January 1917 | |
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| Place of birth | Freiburg / Breisgau |
| Allegiance | Germany |
| Years of service | 1936–1945 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | JG 54 JG 51 JG 3 EJG 2 JV 44 |
| Commands | IV./JG 51, II./JG 3, II./EJG 2 |
| Awards | Ehrenpokal Deutsches Kreuz in Gold Ritterkreuz |
| Other work | Founder and Chairman of Bohrmaschinen und Geräte GmbH (drilling equipment) |
Hans Ekkehard Bob (24 January 1917) was a World War II Fighter Pilot. He flew approximately 700 combat Missions and claimed 60 victories. 37 of his victories were on the eastern front.
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[edit] Early Luftwaffe
Hans Ekkehard Bob joined the Luftwaffe in 1936[1] with the rank of a Fahnenjunker (officer candidate) and started his Flight training June 1, 1937.
In 1938 he attended the Officers Academy and was transferred to the Jagdfliegergruppe 133 in Wiesbaden. During the occupation of the Sudetenland he flew his first missions, primarily escorting Bombers and Transport aircraft, piloting the Arado Ar 68 biplane. Later, Bob was transferred to JG 334 in Gablingen were he also received a promotion to the rank of Leutnant. JG 334 was a heavy fighter Geschwader, equipped with the Messerschmitt Me 110.
[edit] World War 2
In 1939, shortly before the Invasion of Poland, Bob was transferred to the new formed 3./JG 21,[2] which was redesignated at June 6, 1940 into 9./JG 54. Later this unit was known as the "Devils Squadron". It was equipped with the Me 109E fighter, a aircraft Bob would become very familiar with over the years - flying every model except the Kurfürst.
Bob claimed his first victory, a Gloster Gladiator above Toveren, Belgium during the French campaign on May 10, 1940. That August he received a promotion to the rank of a Oberleutnant. On October 10, 1940 he was appointed Staffelkapitän of 7./JG 54 for a short time, before he was appointed Staffelkapitän of 9./JG 54. During the Battle of Britain 9./JG 54 became a Jabo (fighter-bomber) unit, attacking shipping targets. By November 1940, Bob had recorded 19 kills. He was awarded the Ritterkreuz on March 7, 1941, by Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring.
On March 21, 1941 Bob survived, unhurt, a ditching into Cherbourg harbour with his Bü 131 training aircraft which was due to an engine failure. After the Battle of Britain, he participated in the Balkan campaign, where he recorded his 20th and 21st victories. JG 54 was re-equipped with the new Me 109F, and relocated to airfields in Prussia, in preparation for the invasion of Russia.
Operating during Operation Barbarossa (Invasion of Russia), Hans Ekkehard Bob recorded his first victory in Russian airspace on June 23, 1941 - an SB-2 twin-engined Bomber. In this combat action his Me 109F2 was hit by return fire, resulting a forced landing behind enemy lines. He was able to return to his unit 2 days later, by evading capture. Between July 13 and October 30, 1941 he made three more emergency landings due to aircraft combat damage behind enemy lines, but in every case came back to his unit.
In 1942 he had his 50th victory on September 29, and was promoted to Hauptmann later that year. Operation Barbarossa ended for Hans Ekkehard Bob and his III./JG 54 in Februrary 1943 after receiving orders from the General der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland, to change positions with elements of the then French-based JG 26. This order was later cancelled, but III. Gruppe stayed on the Western front, separated from the rest of the 'Greenhearts', serving initially in Northern Germany with Jagdgeschwader 1.
On April 17, 1943 Bob recorded his 57th Victory; the ramming of a USAAF Boeing B-17 Bomber near Bremen with his Bf 109 G-6. He bailed out and survived the crash without injury. On August 1, Bob was promoted to the rank of Major and was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of IV./JG 54, returning to the Eastern front. He scored two further victories there.
By May 1944, Bob was back at the Western front as Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3; based in the Normandy invasion front corridor, flying Reichsverteidigung duties. In August he was transferred to Erprobungskommando 262 where he learned to fly the Me 262.
In early 1945 his experience led to his becoming a member of Generalmajor Josef Kammhuber's staff. Bob was responsible for allocating newly built Me-262´s to operational units. Later he took command of I. and II./EJG 2 and was responsible for practice and training former bomber pilots in flying the Me-262.
Bob was one of the aces chosen to fly as a member of the jet fighter unit JV 44, led by Adolf Galland. In the final days of World War II Bob was responsible for building a longer runway at Innsbruck airfield for the Me-262 Jets. At the capitulation on May 8, 1945 Bob was in Kappl, a small village near Salzburg. From Kappl he walked more than 1,400 km in 6 weeks to return to his home in Celle.
[edit] After the war
First he was employed as a farm labourer before he founded his own transport business in 1946. It was then that he met one of his old JV 44 comrades and friend from his JG 54 times, Waldemar Wuebke. Major Bob still tells the story to this day with a smile on his face. Wuebke still wore his old uniform and officer cap as he was questioned by a British officer. "Why are you wearing this old stuff"? Wuebkes reply: "Do I ask you if your grandma has Hemroids"? He never met Wuebke again. Wuebke later died in the early 1950´s in Argentina, the result of injuries in an airliner crash.
In 1956 Bob founded BOMAG, his own company for drilling equipment and established the Celle Flying Club.
[edit] Today
Today Bob still flies his own aircraft, enjoys his retirement and helps Luftwaffe related researchers.
[edit] References
- ^ Karl Ries and Ernst Obermaier, Luftwaffe Rudder Markings 1936-1945, (1991) ISBN 1-12598-564-x
- ^ For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organization
- R. Forsyth, JV 44: The Galland Circus Classic Publications, (1996) ISBN 0-95268-670-8
- Hans Ekkehard Bob, Betrayed Ideals, Memoirs of a Luftwaffe Fighter Ace Cerberus Publishing Ltd., (2003) ISBN 1-84145-031-6
- Hannes Trautloft, Hans-Ekkehard Bob, War Diaries of Hannes Trautloft Kommodore of JG54 Grunherz Cerberus Publishing Ltd. (2005) ISBN 1-84145-010-3
- Interview of Hans-Ekkehard Bob with Redwulf 1
- Research details of JV 44 The Redwulf- Squadron [1]
