Heinrich Krafft

Heinrich "Gaudi" Krafft (13 August 1914 – 14 December 1942) was a Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. During his career he was credited with 78 aerial victories, 4 over the Western Front and 74 over the Eastern Front.

Heinrich Krafft
Nickname(s)	"Gaudi"
Born	13 August 1914 Bilin, Bohemia
Died	14 December 1942(1942-12-14) (aged 28) Belyi, Russia
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Branch	Army (1935–36) Luftwaffe (1936–42)
Years of service	1935–1942
Rank	Hauptmann (captain)
Unit	JG 51
Commands	I./JG 51
Battles / wars	World War II Battle of the Netherlands Battle of France Operation Barbarossa
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Career

On 10 November 1940, Krafft was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 3. Staffel of JG 51, replacing Oberleutnant Richard Leppla who was transferred.^[1]

On 18 March, Krafft and fellow JG 51 pilot Leutnant Hans Strelow were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) for 46 and 52 aerial victories claimed respectively.^[2][3]

On 1 June 1942, Krafft succeeded Hauptmann Josef Fözö as Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I. Gruppe of JG 51.^[4]

On 14 December 1942, Krafft's Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-3 (Werknummer 0539—factory number) was hit by anti-aircraft artillery resulting in a forced landing near Torbin, located approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) south of Bely behind enemy lines. Krafft was captured by Soviet forces and beaten to death. His body was later recovered by German forces, indicating severe blows to the head.^[5] Command of I. Gruppe of JG 51 was temporarily passed to Oberleutnant Rudolf Busch before Hauptmann Erich Leie was given command on 6 January 1943.^[6]

Summary of career

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Krafft was credited with 78 aerial victories.^[7]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 46131". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km²). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.^[8]

Chronicle of aerial victories
This and the ♠ (Ace of spades) indicates those aerial victories which made Krafft an "ace-in-a-day", a term which designates a fighter pilot who has shot down five or more airplanes in a single day.   This and the # (hash mark) indicates those aerial victories listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock without an explicit sequence number.
Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location
– 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 – Battle of France — 10 May – 25 June 1940
1	11 May 1940	18:08	Hurricane	Rotterdam[9]	3	21 May 1940	08:10	M.S.406	Abbeville[9]
2	11 May 1940	18:16	Hurricane	Rotterdam[9]	4	22 May 1940	—	Curtiss	Abbeville[9]
– 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 – Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941
5	22 June 1941	07:02	I-153[10]		18	31 August 1941	10:31	SB-3[11]
6	22 June 1941	09:55	SB-2[10]		19	31 August 1941	10:36	SB-3[11]
7	22 June 1941	10:02	SB-2[10]		20	8 September 1941	09:30	Pe-2[11]
8	22 June 1941	17:45	DB-3[10]		21	4 October 1941	08:20	I-16[12]
9	25 June 1941	14:00	SB-2[10]		22	5 October 1941	06:50	I-61	20 km (12 mi) southwest of Dubrowka[12]
10	29 June 1941	12:40	I-16[10]		23	8 October 1941	14:15	DB-3[12]
11	30 June 1941	13:05	SB-3[10]		24	10 October 1941	11:00	I-61[12]
12	30 June 1941	18:50	DB-3[10]		25	11 October 1941	14:35	I-61[12]
13	13 July 1941	14:55	SB-3[13]		26	22 October 1941	11:35	I-61[12]
14	24 July 1941	11:30	Seversky[14]		27	24 October 1941	15:45	I-61[15]
15	26 August 1941	17:14	V-11[11]		28	25 October 1941	08:50	I-61[15]
16	26 August 1941	17:19	V-11	20 km (12 mi) southeast of Dobruschij[11]	29	1 December 1941	13:13	I-61[15]
17	31 August 1941	10:25	SB-3[11]		30	5 December 1941	14:30	I-61[16]
– 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 – Eastern Front — 6 December 1941 – 30 April 1942
31	6 December 1941	11:32	I-61[17]		#	10 February 1942	15:14	I-61[17]
32	6 December 1941	14:38	BSch (Il-2)[17][Note 1]		#	10 February 1942	15:17	I-61[17]
33	6 December 1941	14:40	BSch (Il-2)[17][Note 1]		#	16 February 1942	15:25	I-61[17]
34	12 December 1941	12:19	I-61[17]		#	17 February 1942	16:20	I-61[17]
35	18 December 1941	11:00	I-61[17]		#	18 February 1942	15:30	I-61[17]
36	18 December 1941	11:07	BSch (Il-2)[17][Note 1]		#	20 February 1942	10:10	U-2[17]
#	25 January 1942	15:03	I-61[17]		#	30 April 1942	16:33	Il-2[18]
#	26 January 1942	15:20	I-61[17]
– Stab I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" – Eastern Front — May – 14 December 1942
#	22 May 1942	16:13	unknown[19]		#	6 July 1942	10:51	unknown[19]
#	3 June 1942	19:20	unknown[19]		#	6 July 1942	15:20	unknown[19]
#	11 June 1942	07:56	unknown[19]		#	6 July 1942	15:20	unknown[19]
#	11 June 1942	07:58	unknown[19]		#	7 July 1942	09:55	unknown[19]
#	26 June 1942	14:58	unknown[19]		#	7 July 1942	19:42	unknown[19]
#	26 June 1942	14:59	unknown[19]		#	8 July 1942	15:43	unknown[19]
#	27 June 1942	09:41	unknown[19]
According to Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock, Krafft claimed two undocumented aerial victories before August 1942.[20]
61	7 August 1942	09:55	Il-2[21]		70	30 November 1942	12:07	Il-2	PQ 46131[22]
62	29 September 1942	—	I-16[21]		71♠	4 December 1942	09:25	Il-2	vicinity of Ssolowino[23]
63	30 September 1942	—	I-16[21]		72♠	4 December 1942	09:30	Il-2	vicinity of Bortniki[23]
64	1 October 1942	—	Hurricane[21]		73♠	4 December 1942	12:15	Il-2	south of Dubawo[23]
65	23 October 1942	15:22	LaGG-3	Sapadnaja Dwina[22]	74♠	4 December 1942	12:17	Il-2	Dubawo[23]
66	11 November 1942	14:16	LaGG-3	PQ 27814[22]	75♠	4 December 1942	14:57	Il-2	vicinity of Swrtuiki[23]
67	26 November 1942	12:24	Il-2	PQ 26422, west of Ramuschewo[22]	76	8 December 1942	13:35	La-5	PQ 26281[23]
68	26 November 1942	12:26	Il-2	PQ 26384, west of Ramuschewo[22]	77	10 December 1942	09:35	LaGG-3	vicinity of Ssawoschny[23]
69	26 November 1942	12:28	Il-2	PQ 26284, west of Ramuschewo[22]	78	10 December 1942	12:28	Pe-2	vicinity of Meinzorow[23]

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
• German Cross in Gold (25 January 1942)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 18 March 1942 as Oberleutnant of the Reserves and Staffelkapitän of the 3./Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders"^{[24][Note 2]}

Notes

1. The aircraft type "BSchl" refers to an unspecified ground-attack aircraft, most likely an Ilyushin Il-2.^[18]
2. According to Scherzer as Oberleutnant.^[25]