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.

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. There, he was assigned to 9. '' Staffel'' (9th squadron). 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. 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.

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.

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.

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. Command of 1. ''Staffel'' of JG 52 was passed to ''Oberleutnant'' Karl-Heinz Plücker. 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.

Later life and service

In 1956, Haiböck volunteered for military service in the Austrian Air Force, initially holding the rank auf ''Hauptmann''.

Following retirement from military service in 1977, Haiböck became the president of the Austrian Aero Club. 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.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Spick, Haiböck was credited 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. 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.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = ''Planquadrat''), for example "PQ 73652". The Luftwaffe grid map () 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 . These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area in size.

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
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 June 1944 as ''Hauptmann'' and ''Gruppenkommandeur'' of the I./''Jagdgeschwader'' 3 "Udet"
* Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria in Gold

Notes

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Haibock, Josef
1917 births
2002 deaths
Military personnel from Linz
German World War II flying aces
Recipients of the Gold German Cross
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Austrian generals
Austrian military personnel of World War II
Recipients of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria