He was then posted to Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing) and was killed in action on 16 July 1944 fighting against the Western Allies over Normandy.

Wachowiak was born on 13 February 1920 in Somborn, present-day part of Dortmund, at the time in the Province of Westphalia of the Weimar Republic.

Staffel (8th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) on 29 July 1940 holding the rank of Obergefreiter.

Gruppe (3rd group) of JG 52 temporarily headed by Hauptmann Wilhelm Ensslin after its former commander Major Wolf-Heinrich von Houwald was killed in action on 24 July.

[3] The rise of General Ion Antonescu in Romania in 1940 led to a reorganization of his country's armed forces.

[4][7] The Gruppe was placed under the command of Major Gotthard Handrick who had previously served on the staff of Luftwaffenmission Rumänien.

[9] On 30 November, the Staffel began relocating back to Pipera Airfield where they arrived on 2 December, staying there until 27 May 1941.

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

The next day, the Gruppe moved to Mamaia, the northern district of Constanța on the Black Sea coast.

Gruppe had reached an airfield named Stschastliwaja located approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) east-southeast of Oleksandriia where they stayed until 12 September.

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.

[26] 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.

By this date, Wachowiak had accumulated 64 aerial victories, making him the fourth most successful fighter pilot of III.

[29] On 28 June, German forces had launched Case Blue, the strategic summer offensive in southern Russia.

Gruppe was based at Cape Chersonesus located at the Sevastopol Bay and led by Major Wilhelm Batz.

[39] The Staffel, under the commanded by Oberleutnant Eberhard Fischler Graf von Treuberg, was withdrawn from the Eastern Front and transferred west to fight in Defense of the Reich.

Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing) led by Major Karl-Heinz Langer.

[42] Wachowiak was shot down in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 165507—factory number) during aerial combat with a Supermarine Spitfire near Écouché.

[43] According to Mathews and Foreman, Wachowiak may have been shot down by Spitfire fighters from the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) No.

[2] Spick also states that Wachowiak was credited with at least 86 aerial victories, all of which claimed over the Eastern Front in an unknown number of combat missions.