The economic depression that followed World War I in Germany prompted Doctor Hartmann to find work in China, and Erich spent his early childhood there.

[5] During World War II, Hartmann's younger brother, Alfred, also joined the Luftwaffe, serving as a gunner on a Junkers Ju 87 in North Africa.

[9] The rise to power of the Nazi Party in 1933 resulted in government support for gliding, and, in 1936, Elisabeth Hartmann established the glider club in Weil im Schönbuch for locals and served as instructor.

"[3] During a gunnery practice session in June 1942, he hit a target drogue with 24 of the allotted 50 rounds of machine-gun fire, a feat that was considered difficult to achieve.

[13] His training had qualified him to fly 17 different types of powered aircraft,[13] and, following his graduation, he was posted on 21 August 1942 to Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost (Supplementary Fighter Group, East) in Kraków, where he remained until 10 October 1942.

The wing was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109G, but Hartmann and several other pilots were initially given the task of ferrying Junkers Ju 87 Stukas down to Mariupol.

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.

Gruppe also flew missions from Kerch on 12 May, from Sarabuz and Saky on 14 May, Zürichtal, present-day Solote Pole, a village near the urban settlement Kirovske on 23 May, and Yevpatoria on 25/26 June.

"[28] According to authors Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock, Krupinski was injured when his aircraft flipped on its back during landing in an attempt to evade other Bf 109s taking off.

[30] On 7 July, he for the first time became an "ace-in-a-day", claiming seven aerial victories that day, three Il-2 ground attack aircraft and four Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov (LaGG) fighters.

"[41] Hartmann also considered the Bell P-39 Airacobra, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, and the Hawker Hurricane to be inferior to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and Bf 109, although they did provide the Soviets with valuable gunsight technology.

[42] In contrast to Hans-Joachim Marseille, who was a marksman and expert in the art of deflection shooting, Hartmann was a master of stalk-and-ambush tactics, preferring to ambush and fire at close range rather than dogfight.

[44] His preferred method of attack was to hold fire until extremely close (20 m (66 ft) or less), then unleash a short burst at point-blank range—a technique he learned while flying as wingman of his former commander, Walter Krupinski, who favoured this approach.

This technique, as opposed to long-range shooting, allowed him to:[45] " The amazing thing about Erich Hartmann's achievements is that they are not based on a single exceptional talent.

He is a very good flyer, certainly, but not a virtuoso like Hans-Joachim Marseille, who was killed after 158 aerial victories in North Africa and is regarded as an unrivaled marksman by his friends and foes.

[56] Nine days later, Hartmann downed the Soviet ace Major Vladimir Semenishin of the 104 GvIAP (Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment—Gvardeyskiy Istrebitelny Aviatsionny Polk) while protecting bombers from Kampfgeschwader 27 for his 112th victory.

[63] His spectacular rate of success raised a few eyebrows even in the Luftwaffe High Command; his claims were double and triple-checked, and his performance closely monitored by an observer flying in his formation.

Also present at the award ceremony on 4 April were Reinhard Seiler, Kurt Bühligen, Horst Ademeit, Hans-Joachim Jabs, Dr. Maximilian Otte, Bernhard Jope and Hansgeorg Bätcher from the bomber force, and the Flak officer Fritz Petersen, all destined to receive the Oak Leaves.

[74] Two days later, Hartmann became the top scoring fighter ace, surpassing fellow JG 52 pilot Gerhard Barkhorn, with his 274th victory.

[75] He passed the 300-mark on 24 August 1944, a day on which he shot down 11 aircraft in two combat missions south of Radom-Lublin, representing his greatest ever victories-per-day ratio (a "double-ace-in-a-day") and bringing the number of aerial victories to an unprecedented 301.

The authors Prien, Stemmer, Balke and Bock speculate that the entire Gruppe may have flown fighter protection for Hartmann to make this achievement possible.

[87] From 1–14 February, he then briefly led I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 53 (JG 53—53rd Fighter Wing) as acting Gruppenkommandeur until he was replaced by Hauptmann Helmut Lipfert, substituting for Major Jürgen Harder who had been transferred.

[89] In March 1945, Hartmann, his score now standing at 337 aerial victories, was asked a second time by General Adolf Galland to join the Me 262 units forming to fly the new jet fighter.

[94] When he landed, Hartmann learned that the Soviet forces were within artillery range of the airfield, so JG 52 destroyed Karaya One, 24 other Bf 109s, and large quantities of ammunition.

[101] Sentenced to 25 years of hard labour,[100] Hartmann refused to work, and was put into solitary confinement, which led to a riot by some of his fellow detainees, who overpowered the guards and temporarily freed him.

[54] In January 1997, over three years after his death, Hartmann's case was reviewed by the Chief Military Prosecutor in Moscow, Russia, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and he was acquitted of all historical charges against him in Russian law.

[111] Although events subsequently validated his low opinion of the aircraft (269 crashes and 116 German pilots killed on the F-104 in non-combat missions, along with allegations of bribes culminating in the Lockheed scandal), Hartmann's outspoken criticism proved unpopular with his superiors,[110] and he was forced into early retirement in 1970.

[114] Historian Jens Wehner notes that the German-language version of the book was immensely popular in Germany, but contained serious flaws in its presentation of historical realities.

[117] Research has shown that Hartmann's unit did not even fly this day due to very poor weather conditions,[118] moreover the Soviet 5th Air Army did not lose any aircraft.

His comrade Hans "Assi" Hahn managed to hide the Knight's Cross in a double bottom cigar box and smuggled it back to Germany when he was released from captivity.