Erich Hartmann

Erich Alfred Hartmann was a German fighter pilot during World War II and the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. He flew 1,404 combat missions and participated in aerial combat on 825 separate occasions. He was credited with shooting down a total of 352 Allied aircraft: 345 Soviet and 7 American while serving with the Luftwaffe. During his career, Hartmann was forced to crash-land his fighter 16 times after either mechanical failure or damage received from parts of enemy aircraft he had shot down; he was never shot down by direct enemy action.

19 April 1922

Born on the same birth day (19 April): Ali Wong • Alice Salomon • Ara Gevorgyan • Arthur Robertson (athlete) • Eliot Ness • Elizabeth Dilling • Fernando Botero • Joe Hart • Kelly Holmes • Kelly Olynyk • Marvin Mandel • Michel Roux • Ole Evinrude • Richard Hughes (British writer) • Sven Hassel • William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk

Born in the same month (April 1922): Andy Linden (racing driver) • Carl Amery • Duke Jordan • Elmer Bernstein • Harry Freedman • John Braine • John C. Whitehead • Marc-Adélard Tremblay • Parren Mitchell • Richard Diebenkorn • Yevhen Bulanchyk