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Gunther Schack
| Captain Gunther Schack (deceased) Major Günther Schack was born in Bartenstein, a small town in Eastern Prussia, on 12 November 1917 as the son of Dr. Willy Schack and his wife, Dorothea (maiden name: Nietzki). He studied at the University of Stuttgart and at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule. In 1937, when he first tried to join the Luftwaffe, he was categorised as wehruntauglich (unsuited for military service) because of a sports injury earlier in his life. Günther Schack resubmitted an application as a volunteer and was accepted into the Luftwaffe on 2 September 1939. After being trained as a fighter pilot, Schack was posted to 7th Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51. Schack claimed first aerial victory in combat on 23 July 1941 on the Eastern front. Meanwhile, he had been promoted to the rank of Unteroffizier. After his 48th aerial victory, he was ordered back to Germany to serve as a flight instructor and was promoted to Leutnant on 1 January 1943. In mid 1943 he returned back to the Eastern front, now serving in the 9th Staffel of JG 51. He claimed his century mark in aerial combat on 3 September 1943. On 8 December 1943 he was made Staffelkapitän of 9./JG 51. Leutnant Günther Schack was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 20 April 1944 for 133 aerial victories.[2] Schack was then promoted to Hauptmann on 1 July 1944. In December 1944, now a Gruppenkommandeur, in charge of I./JG 51. After this Gruppe was disbanded on 1 May 1945 he briefly was named commander of the 4th Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 3. By the end of the war, he had scored 174 victories in 780 aerial combats, and was shot down 15 times. Günther Schack died 14 June 2003 in Schmidt near Nideggen he was a German World War II fighter ace who served in the Luftwaffe from 1939 until the end of World War II in 1945. He claimed 174 enemy aircraft shot down, all of them on the Russian front. He survived being shot down 15 times during his 780 combat missions. After the war he lived secluded in the Eifel Mountains, and devoted himself to philosophical research. |
