Pfiffigheim is a borough of Worms, at the time in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, a constituent state of the German Empire.

[3] World War II in Europe began on Friday, 1 September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland.

Hoffmann claimed his first aerial victory over a Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft on 7 September 1940 in the Battle of Britain.

[1] Hoffmann's most successful period as a fighter pilot began in July 1941 during Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.

[9] On 3 October 1941, the Luftwaffe officially listed Oberfeldwebel (Staff Sergeant) Hoffmann as missing in action after a low altitude engagement with several Il-2s near Shatalovo in the early evening hours.

[3] He was flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109F-2 Werknummer (factory number) 12876 and may have been shot down by the Soviet 233 IAP's (233rd Fighter Aviation Regiment) Starshiy Leytenant Sergeyev, who claimed his first aerial victory in the vicinity where Hoffmann disappeared.

[12] Spick also lists him with 63 aerial victories, one during the Battle of Britain and 62 on the Eastern Front, claimed in 258 combat missions.

[3] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 63 aerial victory claims, one of which on the Western Front, and 62 Soviet Air Forces piloted aircraft on the Eastern Front.