Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 53 (JG 53—53rd Fighter Wing), Grislawski flew his last combat mission on 26 September 1944 when he was shot down and wounded, spending the rest of the war in hospitals and convalescence.

[2] His first years of his life were characterized by hardship and starvation caused by the hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic in aftermaths of World War I.

While based at Merseburg, he met his future wife Ilse Hartmeyer in the nearby town Leuna and befriended Hermann Graf.

[9] World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland.

On 21 June, the Gruppe was ordered to Mizil in preparation of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

[22] On 23 October, Grislawski made an emergency landing in his Bf 109 F-4 (Werknummer 7038—factory number) near the Poltava Air Base.

[28] Grislawski claimed his first aerial victory of 1942 and 12th overall on 4 January when he shot down a Kharkiv KhAI-5 reconnaissance and light bomber aircraft, also referred to as the R-10, near Kotschetowka, located approximately 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) north of Dobrinka.

On 8 March, Grislawski claimed his next aerial victory on his sixteenth combat mission following his return from home leave.

Gruppe had relocated to Zürichtal, a small village at the Inhul in the former German settlement west of Feodosia in the Crimea during the Crimean campaign.

[32] Here, Grislawski claimed his 20th aerial victory on 30 April, when he shot down two Polikarpov I-15 fighters, one northeast of Feodosia and the second south of Kerch.

[32] On 12 May, German forces launched Operation Fredericus, also referred to as the Second Battle of Kharkov, with the objective to eliminate the Izium bridgehead over Seversky Donets.

Gruppe was moved to the Kharkov-Rogan airfield, southeast of Kharkov, and subordinated to the Stab (headquarters unit) of JG 52.

Gruppe predominantly flew fighter escort missions for Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers from VIII.

Fliegerkorps attacking Soviet ground forces on the northern pincer, and claimed 52 aerial victories for the loss of one aircraft damaged.

During this period, the pilots occasionally also operated from airfields at Mozdok (15, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23 October) and from Digora (5 to 17 November 1942), supporting Army Group A in the Battle of the Caucasus.

[40] Here, Grislawski increased his number of aerial victories to 84 including four Il-2 ground attack aircraft claimed on 5 November.

[47] Three days later, Grislawski was shot by an I-16 fighter on a Ju 87 escort mission, forcing him to bail out of his Bf 109 G-2 (Werknummer 13909).

[55] Following a period of convalescence at the Wehrmacht hospital in Zaporozhye, present-day Zaporizhzhia, Grislawski was posted to the Western Front.

The units primary objective was to intercept the high-flying Royal Air Force de Havilland Mosquito fighter-bomber and photo-reconnaissance aircraft.

In August, the orders were augmented and JGr Süd was also tasked with combating the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) heavy bombers in Defense of the Reich.

[58] Grislawski, who had arrived at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim Airfield on 5 August,[57] was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of the newly formed 1.

[59] Grislawski claimed his first two aerial victories on the Western Front on 17 August 1943 when he shot down two Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers.

[60] That day, the USAAF Eighth Air Force aimed at crippling the German aircraft industry in what would become the Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission.

[69] He claimed one victory and was then shot down by USAAF bombers over Baske on 24 January 1944 and wounded, bailing out of his Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-7 "White 1" (Werknummer 430 167).

[72] On 22 April, the USAAF Eighth Air Force sent 803 heavy bombers against German ground transportation, primarily targeting the marshaling yard in Hamm.

[74] Also present at the ceremony were Anton Hafner, Otto Kittel, Günther Schack, Emil Lang, Erich Rudorffer, Martin Möbus, Wilhelm Herget, Hans-Karl Stepp, Rudolf Schoenert, Günther Radusch, Otto Pollmann and Fritz Breithaupt, who all received the Oak Leaves on this date.

The Typhoon belonged to the RAF Second Tactical Air Force and was piloted by Flying Officer Kenneth Trott from No.

That day, the USAAF had sent more than 800 bombers to attack the German synthetic-fuel factories at Böhlen, Brüx, present-day Most, Magdeburg-Rothensee, Misburg, now part of Hanover, and Ruhland.

[87] After his release, Grislawski travelled to Leuna, which at the time was still occupied by the First United States Army, to rejoin his wife and child.

[89] Grislawski worked as a truck driver and later as a janitor at the Gymnasium Wanne [de], at the time an all girls secondary school.