Hunters at Dawn - by Robert Taylor

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WWII Luftwaffe officer's breast eagle

Included in the mount is an original WWII breast eagle.

Unlike those issued to other ranks, the officer's breast eagles were hand embroidered in silver thread, making each one unique. This particular example is in superb condition.

(click the image for a closer view)


Gerhard Barkhorn	(matted signature)
	Gerhard Barkhorn was born on 20 May 1919 at Königsberg in East Prussia. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1937 as a Fahnenjunker. On completion of his training he was posted to 3./JG 2. On 1 August 1940 Leutnant Barkhorn was transferred to 6./JG 52 based on the Channel Front. He flew his initial missions with his new unit during the Battle of Britain but did not confirm any victories during this time. He was, however, shot down into the Channel on one occasion but was rescued unhurt.
Barkhorn achieved his first success during his 120th mission on 2 July 1941 over the Eastern Front. Thereafter he was to score steadily. Hauptmann Barkhorn became Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 52 on 1 September 1943, and led it until 15 January 1945. On 23 January 1944, Barkhorn became the first fighter pilot to complete 1,000 combat missions. He achieved his 250th victory on 12 February, the second to do so. Barkhorn’s success had not come without some cost. He was shot down nine times in his combat career. He baled out once and was wounded twice. On 31 May 1944, Barkhorn, while flying his sixth mission of the day was bounced by a Russian Airacobra fighter and shot down. He received severe wounds to his right arm and leg which put him out of action for four months. He returned to combat duty at the end of October and recorded his 301st, and last, victory on 5 January 1945. Barkhorn joined JV 44 commanded by Generalleutnant Adolf Galland and operating the Me 262 jet fighter. On 21 April 1945, on the last of only two operational missions flying the Me 262, Barkhorn’s starboard engine failed. He was obliged to break off an attack on an American bomber formation and return to his base at Riem. He was chased by the USAAF P-51 fighter escort, so set about landing his crippled machine in a clearing in some woods. In the resulting crash-landing the cockpit canopy, which he had opened to enable a quick escape, slammed shut on his neck. The incident put him back in hospital and out of the war. He joined the Bundesluftwaffe in 1956, commanded JaboG 31 “Boelcke” and rose to the rank of Generalleutnant. He retired in 1976 and was killed in an auto accident in January 1983.

Günther Rall	Deciding upon a military career, Rall joined the Wehrmacht in 1936 to train as an infantry soldier, he transferred to the Luftwaffe soon after and qualified as a fighter pilot in 1938. In September 1939 Rall was assigned to JG52 and flew combat patrols in the Phoney War period on the Western Front. He flew combat missions in the Battle of France and Battle of Britain, claiming one enemy aircraft destroyed in May 1940. Rall's wing sustained heavy casualties and the then-22 year old was appointed to Staffelkapitän. In June 1941 JG52 moved to the Eastern Front where it remained from Operation Barbarossa until the end of the war. In November 1941, he was shot down, wounded and invalidated from flying for a year. At this time Rall had claimed 36 aerial victories. His achievements earned him the German Cross in Gold in December 1941
Rall returned in August 1942 and was awarded the Knight's Cross on 3 September 1942 for 65 enemy aircraft shot down. On 12 September 1943 he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, the second highest military award in the Third Reich at the time of the presentation. By the end of 1943 Rall had achieved over 250 victories, the second flier to do so after Nowotny in October 1943. During World War II Rall was credited with the destruction of 275 enemy aircraft in 621 combat missions. He was shot down five times and wounded on three occasions. Rall claimed all of his victories in a Messerschmitt Bf 109, though he also flew the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 operationally. All but three of his claims were against Soviet opposition.Rall joined the West German Air Force in 1956, served as Inspector of the Air Force from 1971 to 1974, and as the German representative to the NATO Military Committee until 1975.

Dieter Hrabak	Hrabak joined the German navy in 1934. Two years later he transferred to the Luftwaffe, and qualified as a pilot. In 1938 Hrabak was posted to the Vienna Jagdgruppe, I./JG 138. This unit was later redesignated I./JG 76 during the Polish Campaign, before becoming II./JG 54 in April 1940. During the Polish Campaign, Hrabak was shot down (the first of 11 times) on his first mission, making a belly landing. On 13 May 1940, he claimed his first victory, a French Potez 63 and he claimed five more victories before the armistice. During the Battle of Britain, Hrabak flew with of JG 54, becoming Gruppenkommandeur II./JG 54 on 26 August 1940. During the Battle of Britain he added ten victories against RAF fighters and Field Marshal Hermann Göring personally decorated Hrabak with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Hrabak served in the Balkans campaign and when Operation Barbarosa began in the Soviet Union, he flew on the northern front and over Leningrad. In November 1942, he left JG 54 to become Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 52 . Under Hrabak JG 52 became the highest scoring Geschwader with over 10,000 victories.
In August 1943 he got his 100th victory and in November was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross, the 337th soldier to be thus awarded. He had 118 victories. On 20 September 1944, Hrabak scored the last of his 125 victories. In October 1944 he returned to JG 54, serving as its last Geschwaderkommodore until the end of the war.

Walter Wolfrum	Walter Wolfrum was born on 23rd May 1923 and entered the Luftwaffe as a volunteer in October 1940. After his military training at the the Military School in Berlin he was trained on the Focke Wulf Fw 44 and the Meesserschmitt Bf 109B. He was placed in a training unit at St.Jean d’Angely in France in November 1942 and in February 1943 he was transferred to the Crimea with the 5./JG 52. After approx. sixty missions he claimed his first victory in June 1943. By April 1944 he had scored 70 victories. He continued increasing his score, being shot down himself several times and being wounded and hospitalized in July 1944. He returned to the front in February 1945 as Oberleutnant and resumed command of 1. / JG 52. When the war ended he had achieved 137 victories in 423 operational sorties. In total he had been wounded four times and had to carry out 12 emergency landings. On 8th May 1945, his unit was on Brod Airfield in Czechoslowakia, where they surrenderd to the American forces. After three weeks of imprisonment with the Americans, all JG 52 prisoners were handed over to the Soviets.

Hugo Broch	On 6 January 1943, Broche was posted to II./JG 54 on the Eastern Front. His first combat experiences were as wingman to Horst Ademeit and Heinrich "Bazi" Sterr. On 13 March 1943 he shot down his first confirmed enemy aircraft having previously claimed a victory on 7 March for which he did not receive confirmation. He claimed his 20th victory on 28 August. On 27 October 1943, Broch was awarded the Ehrenpokal. On 26 November Unteroffizier Broch received the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold. From winter until June 1944, Broch became a fighter instructor with Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost. He returned to combat duty at the beginning of August 1944. Re-assigned to 6./JG 54, he raised his victory total to 71 by the end of 1944. From November 1944 until the end of the war he flew with 8./JG 54 based mainly in the Kurland area. On 12 March 1945, after recording 79 victories, Feldwebel Broch was awarded the Ritterkreuz. Hugo Broch flew 324 combat missions and shot down 81 enemy aircraft on the Eastern Front, including 18 Sturmoviks. His score included twelve double victories and three triple victories.

Willi Reschke	After pilot training, Willi Reschke was transfered to I./JG 302 based at Götzendorf near Wien. On 2 July he achieved his first success when he shot down two B-24s over Budapest. He rammed the next B-24 he downed on 7 July when his guns malfunctioned, he successfully baled out of his stricken aircraft. On 24 August, he claimed a further B-24 Liberator, but shortly after, during an attack on a second, his aircraft was hit by return fire, he baled out when P-51 Mustangs began pouring fire into his Bf 109. After re-equipping with the Focke-Wulf 190 A-8, I./JG 302 was redesignated III./JG 301 on 30 September. In October the unit transfered to Stendal airport near Berlin. On 1 January 1945, Reschke downed a B-17 for his 22nd victory but was again hit by return fire and baled out of his Fw 190 A-8 "White 6". Willi Reschke flew about 48 combat missions, achieving 27 confirmed victories, 20 of them four-engined bombers. He was shot down 8 times, baling out 4 times, and was wounded once.