Leopold Steinbatz
German, Austrian born, World War II fighter pilot (1918–1942)
Leopold Steinbatz (25 October 1918 – 23 June 1942) was an Austrian-born fighter pilot of the Luftwaffe in World War II. As a fighter ace, he was credited with 99 aircraft shot down in over 300 combat missions, all of which claimed over the Eastern Front.
Steinbatz volunteered for military service in the Austrian Armed Forces in 1937. In March 1938, following the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, Steinbatz was transferred to the Luftwaffe. Following flight training, he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing). Steinbatz fought in the aerial battles of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union and claimed his first aerial victory on 4 August 1941. Following his 42nd aerial victory, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 14 February 1942 and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 2 June 1942 after he claimed his 83rd aerial victory. On 23 June 1942, Steinbatz was killed in action, shot down by Soviet anti-aircraft artillery, near Vovchansk. Posthumously, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, the only non-commissioned officer to receive this distinction.
Early life and career
Steinbatz was born on 25 October 1918 in Stammersdorf, now Floridsdorf, one of the district of Vienna, in Austria-Hungary. In his youth, he learned to fly gliders and received a vocational education as a butcher.
The public source identifies “Leopold Steinbatz” as german, Austrian born, World War II fighter pilot (1918–1942). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Leopold, Steinbatz and German.
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This entry incorporates text from “Leopold Steinbatz” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.