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): Alice Salomon • Anna Lee Aldred • Frederick of Naples • George St Lo • Kelly Holmes • Ragnar Ulstein • Samuel C. Morrison Jr. • Simon Cowell (conservationist) • Sol Kaplan • Tim Curry

Born in the same month (April 1922): Andy Linden (racing driver) • April 13 • Arved Viirlaid • Doris Day • Elmer Bernstein • Gale Storm • Graham Whitehead • Harold Washington • Heinz Baas • Jack Klugman • James Holt (historian) • John Braine • Julius Nyerere • Kingsley Amis • Lawrence N. Guarino • Leo Tindemans • Michael Ansara • Richard Diebenkorn • Sheila Scott • Toots Thielemans • Wolf V. Vishniac • Yevhen Bulanchyk