Erich Hohagen
| Erich Hohagen | |
|---|---|
| Born |
9 January 1915 Velbert |
| Died | 8 March 1990 (aged 75) Jever |
| Allegiance |
 Nazi Germany (to 1945) West Germany
|
| Service/branch |
 Luftwaffe.svg){kind=small} German Air Force
|
| Years of service | 1934–45 1956–74 |
| Rank |
Major (Wehrmacht) Brigadegeneral (Bundeswehr) |
| Unit | JG 51, JG 2, JG 27, JG 72, EJG 2, JG 7, JV 44 |
| Commands held | 4./JG 51, I./JG 2, I./JG 27, JG 72, III./JG 7 |
| Battles/wars |
World War II |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
| Other work | Bundeswehr (1956 – 1974) |
World War II
Erich Hohagen (9 January 1915 – 8 March 1990) was a German Luftwaffe flying ace during World War II and a General in the post war Bundeswehr. A holder of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross), Hohagen led several Luftwaffe units during the war and became a well-respected fighter commander.
During his career in military aviation Hohagen accumulated several thousand hours of flying time on over 60 different aircraft types and survived over 500 combat missions during World War II.
Erich Hohagen was one of the very few of the Luftwaffe's veterans to have flown in combat almost continuously throughout the war.
Hohagen flew on the Channel Front with 4./JG 51 in 1940 and then in the campaign against the Soviet Union during 1941-42 with 4./JG 51 and Stab II./JG 51. He then served on the Western Front in 1943-44 with 7./JG 2 and Stab I./JG 2, and the Reichsverteidigung or "Defence of the Reich" in 1944-45 with Stab I./JG 2 and JV 44.
As a Leutnant based on the Channel Coast with 4./JG 51 he scored his first aerial victory - an RAF Supermarine Spitfire over Southern England on 5 July 1940. Eleven more RAF fighters fell to his guns before late May 1941, when his unit was transferred to the East for Operation Barbarossa.
Hohagen's most successful sortie on the Eastern Front was on 22 June 1941 when he shot down three Soviet SB-2 bombers in the space of five minutes.Hohagen received the Ritterkreuz on 5 October 1941, after 30 victories. Hohagen was posted to 7./JG 2 in January 1943, serving in the West.
On 1 June 1943 Oblt. Wilhelm Steinmann of 3./JG 27 claimed an RAF Supermarine Spitfire shot down, however he had made an identification error and in fact shot down the Bf 109 G-6 flown by Hauptmann Hohagen. Hohagen was forced to bail and was wounded.
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