Gerhard "Gerd" Barkhorn (20 March 1919 – 8 January 1983) was the second most successful fighter ace of all time after fellow Luftwaffe pilot and friend Erich Hartmann. Barkhorn flew 1,104 combat sorties and was credited with 301 victories on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Red Air Force piloting the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-9. He flew with the famed Jagdgeschwader 52. He was known as the “Knight of the Russian Front” for his unwavering honor and chivalry. In at least one famous incident, he pulled alongside a Soviet plane he’d just shot up and crippled, motioned the enemy pilot to jump and held his fire while he did. Witnessing the whole thing, Hartmann asked why. Gerd, who married Christl in 1943 (their daughter Ursula was born the following year), told him: “Bubi, you must remember that one day that Russian pilot was the baby son of a beautiful Russian girl. He has his right to life and love the same as we do.” Barkhorn survived the war and in 1962 was flying Lockheed F-104G, as Colonel commanding JaBoG 31 “Boelcke”. Barkhorn retired in 1975. In 1983 he and his beloved Christl where killed in an auto accident. He has been remembered as the fighter commander of whom every fighter pilot dreams—leader, friend, comrade, father—the best I ever met,” declared Erich Hartmann, “...one of the few commanders whose men thirty, forty, fifty years later, continue to speak of him with respect and affection. Gerd Barkhorn was an unforgettable man.” Click Here to view illustration progress snap shots.