Hans Schleef (19 July 1920 – 31 December 1944) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator and fighter ace during World War II.
Born in Groß Börnecke, Schleef was posted to Jagdgeschwader 3 (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing) in late 1940.
In June 1941, his unit was transferred east and fought in Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
On 31 December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge, he was shot down and killed in action by US fighters near Bad Dürkheim.
Schleef was born on 19 July 1920 in Groß Börnecke, present-day part of Hecklingen, at the time in the Province of Saxony within the Weimar Republic.
That day, Schleef claimed his first aerial victory when he shot down a Hawker Hurricane fighter.
[7] On 31 May, Schleef claimed his second and last aerial victory on the English Channel when he shot down a RAF Bristol Blenheim bomber.
At the start of the campaign, JG 3 was subordinated to the V. Fliegerkorps (5th Air Corps), under command of General der Flieger Robert Ritter von Greim, which was part of Luftflotte 4 (4th Air Fleet), under command of Generaloberst Alexander Löhr.
These air elements supported Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt's Heeresgruppe Süd (Army Group South), with the objective of capturing Ukraine and its capital Kiev.
Operating from Lutsk, Schleef claimed his first aerial victory on the Eastern Front on 2 July, shooting down a Polikarpov I-16 fighter.
[10] During the early weeks of the Battle of Kiev, Schleef claimed further aerial victories while flying from an airfield Bila Tserkva, including his 20th on 4 August.
By mid-August, many soldiers of JG 3 had fallen ill with Shigellosis, preventing them from flying further combat operations, and in some instances had to be sent home for a period of convalescence.
[13] The Gruppe received a full complement of 41 Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 aircraft and on 6 January 1942 was ordered to relocated to Sicily.
[14] Schleef claimed his next aerial victories in February 1942 while German forces were fighting in the Demyansk Pocket, an area southeast of Lake Ilmen.
[16][17] From July 1942 to February 1943, Schleef served as an instructor with Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost, specialized training unit for new fighter pilots destined for the Eastern Front.
[16] On 5 July during the Battle of Kursk, Schleef was shot down in his Bf 109 G-4 (Werknummer 16 172—factory number) southeast of Grayvoron.
That day, Schleef claimed a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter on an early morning mission near Stepanivka.
[21] Schleef's 93rd and last aerial victory claimed on the Eastern Front may be linked to the death of Soviet female fighter pilot Lydia Litvyak.
However, time of death and type of aircraft flown by Litvyak, she flew a Yakovlev Yak-1 fighter, does not match the Luftwaffe records.
[24][25] Five days later, Schleef was shot down in aerial combat with escorting Supermarine Spitfire fighters while defending against the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission.
[31][32] Schleef was killed in action on 31 December 1944, shot down near Bad Dürkheim in his Bf 109 G-10 (Werknummer 490 758).