Wolfdieter Huy, ace of III./JG 77

Johann Pichler was born on 15 December 1912 at Oberschweinbach in the Fürstenfeldbruck region of Oberbayern. A family of modest means and one of five brothers, the young Johann enlisted in Art. Rgt. 7 stationed in Erlangen in November 1934 before transferring to the new Luftwaffe in October 1935. He was to spend the next three years driving a truck around the base at Lechfeld. He eventually succeeded in gaining admission to the flying school in Manching on 1 August 1939, aged twenty seven. On completion of his fighter pilot training Unteroffizier Pichler was posted to 7./JG 77 in September 1940, then based in Doeberitz close to Berlin. III./JG 77 had just been established and in its original form - II./Tr.Gr. 186 - had been designated to serve on board the German carrier Graf Zeppelin, a vessel that was never constructed. Unusually 7./JG 77 would be the only Staffel in which Pichler was to serve. It was originally intended to equip this unit with captured French Curtiss H-75A fighters and during a transfer flight from Tempelhof on 15 September 1940, Pichler was forced to make an emergency landing at the controls of one of these fighters following engine problems. On 29 November III./JG77 was moved to Dinan in western France, where the Gruppe trained as fighter bombers and flew maritime patrols, hunting French fishing boats attempting to make the perilous journey to England. Moving to Morlaix on the Atlantic during February 1941, Pichler was involved in his first air combat on the 14th of the month. Airborne as a Rotte with Fw. Helmut Bouillon, the two fighters encountered a Ju 88 at 7,000 metres altitude - which promptly opened fire on them. During the Battle of Britain a number of rumours had circulated regarding captured Luftwaffe bombers being piloted over the continent by the RAF and apparently Bouillon must have felt that the pair had come up against just such a crew. Throwing his 109 into a headlong dive he flew a firing pass against the Ju 88 but as he pulled up he tore the wings off his Messerschmitt and the fuselage and wreckage tumbled down into the sea killing the hapless pilot. Having lost his wingman Pichler also flew a number of firing passes against the Ju 88 until he lost it in the clouds. Returning to Morlaix, the unfortunate Pichler was astounded to see the very same Ju 88 on the airstrip having carried out an emergency belly landing! The crew were of course German and had simply failed to recognise the 109s' silhouettes prompting their bursts of fire.
Having achieved his 'first' victory over a Luftwaffe bomber, it was perhaps with some relief that Pichler and his Gruppe departed for the Balkans in April/May 1941 to participate in Operation Marita. Feldwebel Pichler claimed his 'first' victory on 16 May 1941 over Crete shooting down a Hurricane over Maleme. During the Balkan and Cretan campaigns he claimed two fast patrol boats sunk in fighter-bomber operations, as well as a direct hit on the cruiser 'Valiant'. Hit by the vessel's anti-aircraft fire, Pichler nursed his 109 home for a crash landing at Malaoi. In June 1941 III./JG 77 was transferred to the Eastern Front, being based at Jassy in Rumania prior to Barbarossa. On 11 July Pichler claimed two Polikarpov I-16s shot down, followed by two Mig-3s on 31 July and a Po-2 on 15 August. He later recalled;

"....Our Gruppe was based on a forward strip only a short distance from the Black Sea coast. One day we received a call for help from an army unit that was being harassed by three Soviet biplanes. I was quickly airborne with a Rumanian comrade, although I knew it would be very hard to knock these elderly types down, given that they flew at very low altitudes and were particularly manoeuvrable. Close to the front lines, we soon spotted the three 'intruders' - but they had seen us and dove for the ground while turning for home. These guys knew all the tricks. We gained some height in order to minimise the risk from ground fire but my Rumanian comrade was forced to turn for home having developped an oil leak. I was sure the Soviet biplanes would return as soon as I too had left the scene, so I turned for home as well - or at least made out as if to do so. In fact I had swept in to a wide orbit and lost height, so was able to sneak back up on them undetected. I quickly had one in my sight. A short burst and my adversary literally disintegrated - no parachute, no debris, nothing ! Meanwhile the other two biplanes had disappeared. It was almost dark as I touched down on my return. It was with some difficulty that I climbed down from the cockpit for a warm welcome. Our army unit had already called to thank us for our intervention and had described how one of the Po-2s had exploded in mid-air..!"..

Pichler continued to amass additional victories during late 1941, including three I-16 fighters on 5 September (8-10). By 15 November he had achieved some seventeen victories, which adorned the rudder of his Bf 109 F-4 W.Nr 8358 (possibly 'Black 2') along with the silhouettes of the vessels claimed sunk during the fighting over Greece. On 16 March 1942 he achieved his twentieth victory and on 24 June 1942 he claimed his 28th and last over Russia.
III./JG 77 was transferred to North Africa in October 1942. Losses were heavy as the Panzerarmee Afrika was forced back westwards. On 14 January 1943 Oberfeldwebel Pichler claimed two P-40s shot down for his thirtieth victory but two days later he was forced to belly land his Bf 109 G-2 after engine difficulties. He was taken captive - by local Arab tribemen who proceeded to plunder the wreck of his Bf 109 but subsequently allowed him to set fire to the machine. He was rescued later that same day by his comrades who had come out into the desert to look for him at the controls of the Gruppe Storch liaison aircraft. He was soon back in combat, claiming his first B-17 shot down during a raid on Casto Benito airfield. III./JG 77 was scrambled to intercept the bombers. Pichler later recalled;

"...When the alert sounded I was busy digging a hole with a spade in order to empty my bowels. I immediately hared over to my machine, but some twenty of my comrades managed to get airborne ahead of me. I clawed for altitude but initially saw no sign of them so I headed for the bombers on my own. As I came upon the B-17s I could see dog-fighting raging some two thousand metres higher up - my comrades had been headed off by the P-38 escort. The B-17s had already dropped their payloads and were heading in a south-westerly direction at 4,000 metres. Fully aware of the B-17s' defensive armament I launched into a firing pass from astern on the last section of three bombers. I made two passes firing short bursts with my cannon and machine guns, while a hail of 0.50 calibre rounds whistled passed my ears. I took a couple of hits without serious consequences. Peeling away after my second pass I noticed that one bomber had started smoking and had fallen back from the formation. I lined up for a third pass hoping to finish it off when suddenly a group of four Lightnings dove on me from above all guns blazing. I threw my machine into a steep plunging dive down to the ground and then managed to make good my escape by hugging the contours of the landscape..the crew of the B-17 I had attacked were seen to bale out and the unmanned bomber was witnessed plunging to earth as my 31st victory. ..I subsequently had a falling out with my Gruppenkommandeur over how best to combat these monsters - it was evident that our machines were insufficiently armed to do much damage - while mounting 20mm cannon in gondolas under the wings wasn't an ideal solution as it adversely affected our 109s flying characteristics .. ."

During April two B-25s fell to his guns. Pichler was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 14 April 1943 and the following month Pichler and his Gruppe evacuated Africa for Sicily. On 4 June he was awarded the Ehrenpokal. In the fighting for Sicily Pichler claimed three P-38s but his luck deserted him on 14 July when he was forced to bale out of his Bf 109 G-6 “White 3” (W.Nr. 18151) after being shot down by Spitfires while strafing Allied troops. He hit the rudder while jumping clear and contact with the ground was hard. Evacuated from Sicily on a hospital ship under the cover of darkness, Pichler's injuries were severe enough to keep him off operations until January 1944 when he rejoined his Gruppe comrades in Mizil, Rumania where III./JG 77 had been assigned to the defence of the oil fields. He was to become the most successful Viermotspezialisten of III./JG 77 while defending the Ploesti petroleum installations against the 15th USAAF. On 4 April 1944 Ofw. Pichler achieved his 39th victory by shooting down a B-24 and from early April 1944 through late July 1944 he recorded 14 four-engined bombers shot down,including three B-24 bombers on 3 July (46-48). However, on 28 July he was injured after baling out following combat with American fighters over Pitesti in Bf 109 G-6 “White 13” (W.Nr. 165 685) - he had deployed his chute too late and made a very hard landing. Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel Pichler was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 19 August but was taken prisoner by the Rumanians on 28 August while in hospital following Rumania's defection from the Axis camp. Following the award of the Ritterkreuz he was promoted to Leutnant. He remained in Russian captivity until 1950. He died on 16 February 1995.

Johann Pichler flew about 700 missions and claimed 52 victories, 25 on the Western Front including 15 four-engine bombers and six aircraft destroyed on the ground.