Ludwig Häfner

Ludwig Häfner (17 February 1921 – 10 November 1942) was a German Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. On 10 November 1942, Ludwig Häfner was killed north of Stalingrad after he was attacked by a large number of Yakovlev Yak-1 fighters. He was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross on 21 December 1942. During his career he was credited with 52 aerial victories, all on the Eastern Front.

Career
On 26 June 1941, Häfner sustained a bullet wound in aerial combat resulting in a crash landing of his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-1 (Werknummer 5728—factory number) at Berestechko. Following his convalescence on 7 September, Häfner was again injured when he crashed a Bf 109 F-4 on a shuttle flight at Przemyśl.

Squadron leader and death
On 1 October 1942, Häfner was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing). He succeeded Oberleutnant Alfons Raich who was transferred. On 10 November, Häfner was shot down and killed in action in aerial combat with Yakovlev Yak-1 fighters. His Bf 109 G-2 (Werknummer 13631) crashed 5 km west of the airfield at Kolobovka. Command of 3. Staffel was then handed to Leutnant Franz Daspelgruber.

Aerial victory claims
According to Obermaier, Hafner was credited with 52 aerial victories. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 47 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 39411". 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 sqmi. These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 x in size.

Awards

 * Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
 * Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 21 September 1942 as Leutnant and pilot
 * German Cross in Gold on 25 September 1942 as Leutnant in the 6./Jagdgeschwader 3
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 21 December 1942 as Leutnant and pilot in the 6./Jagdgeschwader 3