Josef Haiböck

Josef Haiböck (28 February 1917 – 3 July 2002) was a general in the Austrian Air Force. During World War II, he served as a fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany and was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Haiböck joined the Austrian Austrian Armed Forces (Budensheer) in 1956 and retired in 1977 as a Generalmajor. During his career he was credited with 77 aerial victories in 604 missions.

Josef Haiböck
Nickname(s)	"Pepsch"
Born	28 February 1917 Linz, Austria-Hungary
Died	3 July 2002(2002-07-03) (aged 85) Linz, Austria
Allegiance	Federal State of Austria Nazi Germany (to 1945) Second Austrian Republic
Branch	Österreichische Luftstreitkräfte (?–1938) Luftwaffe (1938–1945) Österreichische Luftstreitkräfte (1956–1977)
Years of service	?–1945 1956–1977
Rank	Hauptmann (Wehrmacht) Generalmajor (Bundesheer)
Unit	JG 26, JG 52, JG 3
Commands	I./JG 3
Battles / wars	World War II Battle of France Battle of Britain Operation Barbarossa Defense of the Reich
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

World War II

World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. On 1 December 1939, Leutnant Haiböck joined Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" (JG 26—26th Fighter Wing), which had been named after Albert Leo Schlageter on 1 May 1939.^[1] There, he was assigned to 9. Staffel (9th squadron).^[2] At the time, the Geschwader was commanded by Oberst Eduard Ritter von Schleich, 9. Staffel by Oberleutnant Gerhard Schöpfel, and III. Gruppe, to which the Staffel was subordinated, was led by Major Ernst Freiherr von Berg.^[3] The Gruppe was based at Werl and patrolled western German border during the "Phoney War" without having contact with the enemy. On 1 November, III. Gruppe was ordered to Essen-Mülheim Airfield.^[4]

Eastern Front

On 30 December 1942, Haiböck was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) fighting on the Eastern Front. There, he succeeded Oberleutnant Friedrich Bartels as Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 1. Staffel. The Staffel was subordinated to I. Gruppe of JG 52 commanded by Hauptmann Helmut Bennemann.^[5]

Group commander

On 1 December 1943, Major Günther Rall, the Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of III. Gruppe of JG 52 was sent on home leave. During his absence, Haiböck temporarily was given command of the Gruppe until Rall's return on 30 January 1944.^[6]

On 8 February 1944, Haiböck was transferred to take command of I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing) which was fighting in Defense of the Reich. He replaced Hauptmann Joachim von Wehren who had temporarily led the Gruppe after Major Klaus Quaet-Faslem was killed on 30 January.^[7][8] Command of 1. Staffel of JG 52 was passed to Oberleutnant Karl-Heinz Plücker.^[9] On 25 February, Haiböck made a forced landing in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 410377—factory number) following engine failure near Malsch, district of Karlsruhe. On the ground, he was then attacked by strafing American aircraft and seriously wounded.^[10]

Later life and service

In 1956, Haiböck volunteered for military service in the Austrian Air Force, initially holding the rank auf Hauptmann.^[11]

Following retirement from military service in 1977, Haiböck became the president of the Austrian Aero Club.^[11] In 1986, he opposed the removal of the Alexander Löhr commemorative plaque from the Vienna the garrison church Stiftskirche. Löhr was one of the main creators of the Austrian Air Force and a convicted war criminal. The commemorative plaque had been donated by the Austrian Aero Club in 1955.^[12][13]

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Haiböck was credited with 77 aerial victories.^[14] Spick also lists him with 77 aerial victories claimed in 604 combat missions. This figure includes 60 aerial victories on the Eastern Front, and further 16 victories over the Western Allies.^[15] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 73 aerial victory claims, plus twelve further unconfirmed claims. This figure of confirmed claims includes 59 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and 14 over the Western Allies.^[16]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 73652". 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.^[17]

Chronicle of aerial victories
This and the – (dash) indicates unconfirmed aerial victory claims for which Haiböck did not receive credit.   This and the ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Barbas, Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike, Bock, Mathews and Foreman.
Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Unit	Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Unit
– Claims with Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" –[18] Battle of France — 10 May – 25 June 1940
1	29 May 1940	18:10	Spitfire	west of Dunkirk[19]	9./JG 26	3	8 June 1940	10:30	Hurricane	northwest of Beauvais[19]	9./JG 26
2	31 May 1940	15:40	Spitfire	Dunkirk[19]	9./JG 26
– Claims with Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" –[18] Action at the Channel and over England — 26 June 1940 – 21 June 1941
4	15 August 1940	20:25	Hurricane	west of Folkestone[20]	9./JG 26	7	5 December 1940	12:15	Hurricane	west of Hastings[21]	Stab III./JG 26
4	28 August 1940	10:00	Defiant	east of Canterbury[20] Faversham	Stab III./JG 26	— [Note 1]	5 December 1940	16:00~	Spitfire		Stab III./JG 26
6	3 September 1940	11:05?[Note 2]	Spitfire	Rochester[23] east of Southend	Stab III./JG 26	—	17 June 1941	20:00	Spitfire	Saint-Omer[24]	Stab III./JG 26
– Claims with Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" –[18] Action at the Channel and over England — 22 June – 5 December 1941
8	7 August 1941	18:05	Spitfire	Boulogne[25]	Stab III./JG 26	9	27 September 1941	15:40	Spitfire	1 km (0.62 mi) north of Calais[26]	9./JG 26
– Claims with Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" –[18] Western Front — 1 January – 29 October 1942
10?[Note 3]	12 April 1942	13:50	Spitfire	10 km (6.2 mi) east of Dover[22]	1./JG 26	13	9 May 1942	13:40	Spitfire	2 km (1.2 mi) north of Cassel[22]	1./JG 26
11	27 April 1942	12:14	Spitfire	north of Saint-Omer[22]	1./JG 26	—	29 May 1942	08:30~	Spitfire	middle of the English Channel[22]	1./JG 26
12	27 April 1942	12:14	Spitfire	north of Saint-Omer[22]	1./JG 26	14	2 June 1942	10:55	Spitfire	west of Baie de Somme[22]	1./JG 26
— ?[Note 1]	27 April 1942	13:45~	Spitfire	over sea, north of Dunkirk[18]	1./JG 26	— ?[Note 1]	29 June 1942	16:48	Spitfire	southwest of Dunkirk[18]	1./JG 26
—	5 May 1942	15:30~	Spitfire[22]		1./JG 26	15	8 November 1942	12:30	Spitfire	5 km (3.1 mi) north of Gravelines[27]	1./JG 26
– Claims with Jagdgeschwader 52 –[18] Eastern Front — 30 December 1942 – 3 February 1943
16	29 January 1943	09:50	Il-2 m.H.[Note 4]	PQ 73652[28] 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Kursk	1./JG 52	17	29 January 1943	10:30	Il-2	PQ 62273[28]	1./JG 52
– Claims with Jagdgeschwader 52 –[16] Eastern Front — 4 February – 31 December 1943
18	28 February 1943	09:19	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 40422[29] east of Poltava	1./JG 52	47	22 August 1943	08:50	Yak-1	PQ 35 Ost 70873[30] 15 km (9.3 mi) northwest of Krasnyi Lyman	1./JG 52
19	28 February 1943	09:21	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 40483[29] east of Poltava	1./JG 52	48	24 August 1943	12:05	La-5	PQ 34 Ost 79114[30] 10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of Barvinkove	1./JG 52
20	19 March 1943	14:30	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 71871[29] 40 km (25 mi) east-southeast of Bely Kolodez	1./JG 52	49	24 August 1943	14:37	Yak-1	PQ 35 Ost 70796[30] 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Izium	1./JG 52
21	19 March 1943	09:15	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 75422[31] northeast of Novorossiysk	1./JG 52	50	25 August 1943	17:21	La-5	PQ 34 Ost 79123, southwest of Dolynska[30] vicinity of Dolynska	1./JG 52
22	26 April 1943	17:27?[Note 5]	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 86744[31] vicinity of Trojzkaja	1./JG 52	51	26 August 1943	17:45	Yak-1	PQ 35 Ost 70799[30] 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Izium	1./JG 52
23	27 April 1943	18:05	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 85111, Krymskaya[31] vicinity of Krasshyj Golubowski	1./JG 52	52	9 September 1943	17:05	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 85144[30] vicinity of Abinsk	1./JG 52
24	27 April 1943	18:07	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 85113, 15 km (9.3 mi) north of Krymskaya[31]	1./JG 52	53	14 September 1943	15:40	Il-2 m.H.[Note 4]	PQ 34 Ost 76882[30] vicinity of Kesselerowo	1./JG 52
25	5 July 1943	09:20	Pe-2	PQ 35 Ost 61321[32] 15 km (9.3 mi) south of Krasnyi Lyman	1./JG 52	54	14 September 1943	15:50	Il-2 m.H.[Note 4]	PQ 34 Ost 76766[30] south of Bolschoj Rasnokol	1./JG 52
26	5 July 1943	18:30	Il-2 m.H.[Note 4]	PQ 35 Ost 61624, southeast of Belgorod[32] 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Belgorod	1./JG 52	55	18 September 1943	10:14	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 76563[30] over sea, north of Temryuk	1./JG 52
27	5 July 1943	18:33	Il-2 m.H.[Note 4]	PQ 35 Ost 61621, 12 km (7.5 mi) southwest of Belgorod[32] 12 km (7.5 mi) southeast of Belgorod	1./JG 52	56	19 September 1943	15:33	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 76792[33] south of Starotitarovskaya	1./JG 52
28	9 July 1943	10:58	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 62786, east of Belgorod[32] 20 km (12 mi) south of Oboyan	1./JG 52	57	20 September 1943	12:32	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 76872[33] south of Kolonka	1./JG 52
29	18 July 1943	15:16	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 88262[34] vicinity of Jalisawehino	1./JG 52	58	21 September 1943	15:32	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 76812[33] west of Kalabatka	1./JG 52
30	19 July 1943	16:10	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 88267, east of Marinowka[34] vicinity of Jalisawehino	1./JG 52	59	23 September 1943	17:15	Il-2	PQ 34 Ost 76734[33] southwest of Kurtschanskaja	1./JG 52
31	20 July 1943	18:26	Il-2 m.H.[Note 4]	PQ 34 Ost 88294[34] 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Jalisawehino	1./JG 52	60	24 September 1943	09:59	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 66864[33] vicinity of Wennlowka	1./JG 52
32	22 July 1943	15:23	Il-2 m.H.[Note 4]	PQ 34 Ost 88259[34] vicinity of Dmitrijewka	1./JG 52	— [Note 6]	24 September 1943	—	Il-2[33]		1./JG 52
33	1 August 1943	11:16	Il-2 m.H.[Note 4]	PQ 34 Ost 88252, southwest of Stepanowka[36] 25 km (16 mi) east-northeast of Kuteinykove	1./JG 52	61	2 October 1943	15:40	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 76771[33] vicinity of Kossa Goljak	1./JG 52
34	7 August 1943	15:16	La-5	PQ 35 Ost 61595, north of Leskij[36] 30 km (19 mi) south-southwest of Belgorod	1./JG 52	62	3 October 1943	15:45	Il-2 m.H.[Note 4]	PQ 34 Ost 66662[33] west of Saporoshskaja	1./JG 52
35	7 August 1943	17:41	Il-2 m.H.[Note 4]	PQ 35 Ost 61326[36] 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Krasnyi Lyman	1./JG 52	63	7 October 1943	08:16	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 66684[37] over sea, north of Tamanj	1./JG 52
36	7 August 1943	17:55	Il-2 m.H.[Note 4]	PQ 35 Ost 61477[36] 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Belgorod	1./JG 52	64	13 October 1943	15:45?[Note 7]	La-5	PQ 34 Ost 58212[37] 30 km (19 mi) northeast of Zaporizhzhia	1./JG 52
37	8 August 1943	05:55	La-5?[Note 8]	PQ 34 Ost 80824[36] 15 km (9.3 mi) southwest of Starobelsk	1./JG 52	65	22 October 1943	11:30	LaGG-3	PQ 34 Ost 58734[37] 20 km (12 mi) west of Bolschoj Tokmak	1./JG 52
38	11 August 1943	09:07	La-5?[Note 8]	PQ 35 Ost 61592, north of Leskij[36] 30 km (19 mi) south-southwest of Belgorod	1./JG 52	66	23 October 1943	11:00	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 39662, 16 km (9.9 mi) east of Pjatichatki[38]	1./JG 52
39	11 August 1943	09:17	Yak-1?[Note 9]	PQ 35 Ost 51721[36] north of Krasnokutsk	1./JG 52	67	24 October 1943	07:00	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 58692[38] 15 km (9.3 mi) west-northwest of Bolschoj Tokmak	1./JG 52
40	14 August 1943	11:17	Yak-1	PQ 35 Ost 51738[36] 10 km (6.2 mi) northwest of Bogoduchow	1./JG 52	68	28 October 1943	09:23	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 48834[38] vicinity of Beloserka	1./JG 52
41	16 August 1943	11:20	La-5	PQ 35 Ost 70769[36] 15 km (9.3 mi) southeast of Izium	1./JG 52	69	29 October 1943	11:50	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 47471[38] 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Ivanovka	1./JG 52
42	17 August 1943	14:07	Yak-1	PQ 35 Ost 70766[36] 15 km (9.3 mi) southeast of Izium	1./JG 52	70	12 November 1943	07:10	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 66814[39] vicinity of Krotkow	1./JG 52
43	17 August 1943	17:30	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 88221, 1 km (0.62 mi) west of Rerowka[36]	1./JG 52	71	12 November 1943	10:48	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 66592, 1 km (0.62 mi) south of Kerch[39] southeast of Kerch	1./JG 52
44	18 August 1943	18:39	Il-2	PQ 34 Ost 88227[36] west of Stepanowka	1./JG 52	72	28 November 1943	10:30	La-5	PQ 34 Ost 39331[39] 10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of Mironowka	1./JG 52
45	20 August 1943	11:03	P-39	PQ 34 Ost 88291[30] 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Jalisawehino	1./JG 52	—	7 December 1943	—	Yak-9	vicinity of Kryvyi Rih[40]	Stab III./JG 52
46	20 August 1943	16:50	Yak-1	PQ 34 Ost 88299, south-southeast of Kalinowka[30] 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Jalisawehino	1./JG 52	73	19 December 1943	—	LaGG-3	west of Bolshaya Belozerka[40] Bol-Bilanka	Stab III./JG 52
—	21 August 1943	—	Yak-1	vicinity of Mius[30]	1./JG 52
– Claims with Jagdgeschwader 52 –[35] Eastern Front — 1 January – 7 February 1944
— [Note 10]	3 January 1944	—	Yak-1	Kryvyi Rih[35]	Stab III./JG 52	— [Note 10]	30 January 1944	—	P-39	Kropyvnytskyi[35]	Stab III./JG 52
74	6 January 1944	11:30	P-39?[Note 11]	northeast of Nowgorod[41]	Stab III./JG 52
– Claims with Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" –[35] Defense of the Reich — 8 – 25 February 1944
75?[Note 3]	24 February 1944	—	P-47[42]	vicinity of Cochem/Mosel	Stab I./JG 3

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class & 1st Class
• German Cross in Gold on 17 October 1943 as Hauptmann in the 1./Jagdgeschwader 52^[43]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 June 1944 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the I./Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet"^{[44][Note 12]}
• Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria in Gold^[11]

Notes

1. This unconfirmed claim is not listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock.^[21][22]
2. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed at 11:10.^[18]
3. According to Mathews and Foreman this claim is unconfirmed.^[16]
4. The "m.H." refers to an Ilyushin Il-2 with rear gunner (mit Heckschütze).
5. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed at 07:27.^[18]
6. This unconfirmed claim is not listed by Mathews and Foreman.^[35]
7. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed at 15:15.^[35]
8. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed as a Yakovlev Yak-1.^[35]
9. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed as a Douglas A-20 Havoc.^[35]
10. This unconfirmed claim is not listed by Barbas.^[41]
11. According to Mathews and Foreman claimed as a Ilyushin Il-2.^[35]
12. According to Scherzer as Gruppenkommandeur of the I./Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" [for his achievements as Staffelkapitän in the I./Jagdgeschwader 52].^[45]