Heinrich Hoffmann (pilot)

Oberfeldwebel Heinrich Hoffmann was a German World War II Luftwaffe Flying ace. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. Hoffmann is credited with 63 aerial victories in 261 combat missions and was the first noncommissioned officer and first soldier of the Wehrmacht to be awarded posthumously the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves . The Knights Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Hoffmann, the son of carpenter master craftsman Ernst Hoffmann, was born onMarch 1913 in Pfiffigheim. Pfiffigheim is a borough of Worms, at the time in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, a constituent state of the German Empire. Interested in flight, he was an active member of the Hitler Youth and later with the National Socialist Flyers Corps where he received his first flight training in 1936.

Source: Wikipedia