Leopold Steinbatz

Following its brief deployment in the Balkan Campaign, III. Gruppe was back in Bucharest by mid-June.[5] There, the unit was again subordinated to the Luftwaffenmission Rumänien and equipped with the new, more powerful Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 model. On 21 June 1941, III. Gruppe was ordered to Mizil ready for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Its primary objective was to provide fighter protection for the oil fields and refineries at Ploiești.[7] The invasion of the Soviet Union began on 22 June. The next day, the Gruppe moved to Mamaia, the northern district of Constanța on the Black Sea coast.[8]

9. Staffel also known as the Karaya-Staffel

The Gruppe moved to Belaya Tserkov on 1 August during the Battle of Kiev and also used an airfield at Yampil from 6 to 8 August.[9] Here on the 4 August, Steinbatz claimed his first aerial victory when he shot down a Polikarpov I-16 fighter southeast of Kiev, while escorting Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers to Brovary.[10] He claimed his second aerial victory over another I-16 fighter on 26 August.[11] The following day, III. Gruppe had reached an airfield named Stschastliwaja about 20 kilometers (12 miles) east-southeast of Oleksandriia where they stayed until 12 September. Flying from Stschastliwaja, Steinbatz claimed an Ilyushin DB-3 bomber on 1 September and an I-16 fighter on 6 September.[12]

On 24 September, III. Gruppe moved to the Poltava Air Base, supporting the 17th Army in the First Battle of Kharkov.[13] Steinbatz claimed an I-26 fighter on 27 September here. The I-26 was an early war German designator for the Yakovlev Yak-1 fighter aircraft. A day later, he shot down an I-16 fighter and a Tupolev SB bomber near Poltava.[14] That day, Steinbatz and his wingman Stabsfeldwebel Johann Klein intercepted seven bombers from 98 DBAP (Dal'nebombardirovochnyy Aviatsionnyy Polk—long-range bomber regiment) escorted by three I-16 fighters which lost one fighter and three bombers.[15] On 9 October, he claimed two I-26 fighters followed by another I-26 fighter on 11 and 14 October respectively.[16] On 23 October, III. Gruppe relocated to Chaplynka in the Crimea. Steinbatz claimed an I-61 fighter,[Note 3] a designator for the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3, on 24 and 27 October, and two I-61 fighters on 28 October.[18]

The Gruppe then moved to an airfield at Taganrog on 2 November where they stayed until 1 January 1942. Steinbatz was credited with 34 aerial victories, making him the fifth most successful fighter pilot of III. Gruppe.[20] On 1 January 1942, III. Gruppe moved to Kharkov where they fought in the Barvenkovo–Lozovaya offensive and remained until 29 April.[21] Here Steinbatz claimed his first aerial victory in 1942 on 4 January over an unidentified biplane. A day later, he was credited with shooting down an I-16 followed by another I-16 on 7 January. On 8 January, he was credited with three aerial victories, two I-26s and a Vultee V-11 ground attack aircraft, probably referring to the Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft.[22]

Steinbatz received the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 19 January and the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) three days later.[23] On 14 February, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernes Kreuzes) for reaching 42 aerial victories and sent on extended leave.[24][25] Graf was promoted to Staffelkapitän of 9. Staffel of JG 52 in March, and by the beginning of April, his unit had accumulated over 200 victories in Russia, for the loss of only eight pilots.[26]

On 29 April, III. Gruppe had relocated to Zürichtal, a small village at the Inhul in the former German settlement west of Feodosia in the Crimea during the Crimean campaign. On 1 May, the Gruppe was subordinated to VIII. Fliegerkorps and was supporting the 11th Army in the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula and the Siege of Sevastopol.[27] On 2 May, Steinbatz became an "ace-in-a-day" for the first time when he claimed five I-61s and a Polikarpov I-153 fighter. Three days later, he claimed another I-61 and an I-16 fighter, including his 50th aerial victory.[1][28] On 8 May, Steinbatz became an "ace-in-a-day" again when he claimed four I-61 fighters, a Sukhoi Su-2 light bomber, a Polikarpov I-15 fighter and an I-153 fighter, which took his total to 58 aerial victories.[29]

On 12 May, German forces launched Operation Fredericus, also referred to as the Second Battle of Kharkov, to eliminate the Izium bridgehead over Seversky Donets. That day, III. Gruppe was moved to the Kharkov-Rogan airfield, southeast of Kharkov and subordinated to the Stab (headquarters unit) of JG 52. Two days later, III. Gruppe predominantly flew fighter escort missions for Ju 87 dive bombers from VIII. Fliegerkorps attacking Soviet ground forces on the northern pincer and claimed 52 aerial victories for the loss of one aircraft damaged.[30] The Gruppe claimed 89 victories in its first two days over Kharkov, with Graf becoming the first pilot in JG 52 to reach the century (on 14 May). Ofw Steinbatz got his 75th on 20 May and although the ground offensive was blunted by the next day, the intense aerial combat continued. He claimed four victories apiece on 1 and 2 June and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) on 2 June for his 83 victories.[31][32] He was the third non-commissioned officer in the Luftwaffe to receive this honor. The first was Oberfeldwebel Heinrich Hoffmann, who received the distinction on 19 October 1941, the second was Feldwebel Gerhard Köppen who was honored on 27 February 1942.[33]

On 19 May, the Gruppe moved to Barvinkove where they stayed until 12 June mostly fighting over the encircled Soviet forces in the Izium salient.[34] Here, Steinbatz claimed a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter on 20 May, an I-16 on 21 May, a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1 fighter on 22 and 26 May, and three further MiG-1s on 27 May, another LaGG-3 fighter on 28 May and finally three MiG-1s on 29 May, taking his total to 87 aerial victories claimed by end of May 1942.[35] In June, he claimed his first aerial victories of the month on 2 June when he shot down two MiG-1s and two Su-2 light bombers.[36] On 6 June, Steinbatz claimed a LaGG-3 followed by a MiG-1, another LaGG-3 on 9 June, and a Su-2 light bomber on 10 June, his last while flying from Barvinkove.[37]

On 12 June, the Gruppe relocated to an airfield at Belgorod.[38] On 15 June, Steinbatz claimed four aerial victories east of Vovchansk, his last.[39] Shortly after, he was killed in action when his Bf 109 F-4/R1 (Werknummer 13357—factory number) was hit by Soviet anti-aircraft artillery northwest of Shebekino.[40] The commander of III. Gruppe, Major Hubertus von Bonin, ordered Feldwebel Edmund Rossmann and three other men to search for him. German soldiers in a forward infantry position reported a Bf 109 crashing into a forest from low altitude.[41] Steinbetz's body was never found.[42] Eight days later, on 23 June, Steinbatz was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern). He was the 14th member of the Wehrmacht and the only non-commissioned officer to be awarded this honor.[43][44] At the time of his death, he was the 11th-ranking fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe and second of III. Gruppe.[45][46]

On 30 June 1942, his father wrote a letter to Adolf Hitler asking for a promotion of his son to an officers rank. On 23 July 1942, the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe-Personalamt (LWA—Air Force Staff Office), on orders of Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, announced the promotion of Steinbatz to Leutnant (Second Lieutenant) of the Reserves, effective as of 1 June 1942.[44]

According to Spick, Steinbatz was credited with 99 aerial victories, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front in an unknown number of combat missions.[47] According to Obermaier, he flew approximately 300 combat missions.[48] Berger states that Steinbatz flew 390 combat missions.[33] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 98 aerial victory claims, plus one further unconfirmed claim, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.[49]

• Combined Pilots-Observation Badge[69]
• Crimea Shield[69]
• Wound Badge in Black[69]
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (1941)[70]
  • 1st Class (1941)[70]
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold with Pennant "300"[69]
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 19 January 1942 as Unteroffizier and pilot[71][Note 4]
• German Cross in Gold on 22 January 1942 as Feldwebel in the 9./Jagdgeschwader 52[72]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
  • Knight's Cross on 14 February 1942 as Feldwebel and pilot in the 9./Jagdgeschwader 52[73][74][75]
  • 96th Oak Leaves on 2 June 1942 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot in the 9./Jagdgeschwader 52[73][76][77]
  • 14th Swords on 23 June 1942 (posthumous) as Oberfeldwebel and pilot in the 9./Jagdgeschwader 52[73][78][79]