He is credited with 27 aerial victories, claimed over the Western Front and in Defense of the Reich in 124 combat missions.

Mayer was born on 5 December 1917 in Fürth, at the time in Kingdom of Bavaria as part of the German Empire.

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

In January 1942, Mayer was transferred from the Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe West, a supplementary training unit for fighter pilots destined to fight on the Western Front, to 6.

The objective of this operation was to give the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen fighter protection in the breakout from Brest to Germany.

In support of this, the Luftwaffe, formulated an air superiority plan dubbed Operation Donnerkeil for the protection of the three German capital ships.

[4] Mayer's Fw 190 A-2 (Werknummer 5393—factory number) suffered engine failure on 15 July resulting in a forced landing at Abbeville-Drucat Airfield.

[5] He claimed his first aerial victory on 31 July 1942 in defense of a Royal Air Force (RAF) "Circus" mission flown by twelve Douglas Boston bombers supported by the North Weald Wing.

[9] On 6 September, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) targeted the airfield at Wizernes with a small formation of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers.

The RAF conducted a "Rodeo" fighter sweep by the Biggin Hill Wing to Le Touquet.

Gruppe, under command of Hauptmann Wilhelm-Ferdinand Galland, intercepted the RAF fighters and claimed five aerial victories including a Spitfire shot down by Mayer over the Somme Estuary.

[12] On 29 April 1943, the USAAF flew its largest mission to date, sweeping the Dutch coast from Ostend to Woensdrecht.

[14] He was credited with his first aerial victory over a heavy bomber in Defense of the Reich on 22 June during the Battle of the Ruhr.

A Herausschuss was a severely damaged heavy bomber forced to separate from its combat box which normally was counted as an aerial victory.

[15] On 30 July 1943, Mayer was wounded and made a forced landing northeast of Emmerich in his Fw 190 A-5 (Werknummer 57222) following combat with a B-17 bomber.

[17] On 18 February 1944, the RAF flew Operation Jericho, a low-level bombing raid, on the Amiens Prison in German-occupied France.

[18] The attack force of nineteen de Havilland Mosquito bombers was escorted by eight Hawker Typhoon fighters from No.

Following the bomb run by the Mosquitos, the commanding officer of the operation, Group Captain Percy Charles Pickard of the No.

Pickard was attacked by Mayer and shot down at 12:05, killing him and his navigator Flight Lieutenant John Alan Broadley.

[23] Mayer claimed his first aerial victory following his tour as an instructor on 18 August during the Battle of the Falaise Pocket.

Flying multiple missions in support of the encircled German forces, Mayer shot down a North American P-51 Mustang from the No.

Mayer was credited with shooting down two P-51 fighters near Nijmegen that day, taking his total to 20 aerial victories.

This is last known aerial victory claimed by a pilot of JG 26 to have been fully confirmed by the Ministry of Aviation (Reichsluftfahrtministerium).

[35] According to Obermaier, Mayer was credited with 27 aerial victories, claimed over the Western Front and in Defense of the Reich, in 124 combat missions.