English / British Aces of WWII
Gordon Gollob *
(Scottish father - McGollob)
150 * Aces of the Luftwaffe - Gordon McGollob
Gordon Gollob was born on 16 June 1912 at Wien in Austria. He joined the Austrian Bundesheer in 1933 as an officer cadet. In 1934 he completed his flying training. By 1936 he was an instructor and commanded the Schulstaffel A. With the German annexation of Austria in 1938, Gollob joined the Luftwaffe with the rank of Oberleutnant. On 15 March 1939, Gollob joined ZG 76 flying Bf 110 Zerstörer twin-engined fighters. He was assigned to 3./ZG 76. He gained his initial victories over Poland and, later, during the Battle of the Heligoland Bight. Gollob was appointed Staffelkapitän of 3./ZG 76 on 8 April 1940. He was successful during the invasion of Norway gaining two victories, including a RAF Sunderland four-engined flying boat. He gained a further victory, a RAF Spitfire fighter, during the
Battle of Britain. After undergoing night-fighter training and spending a short spell at the Erprobungsstelle Rechlin, Gollob was transferred to II./JG 3 based on the Channel front on 7 September 1940. On 9 October, he was appointed Staffelkapitän of 4./JG 3. He led the unit during the invasion of Russia. On 27 June 1941, Hauptmann Gollob was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3. He claimed 18 victories in August. He was awarded the Ritterkreuz for 42 victories on 18 September. He achieved 37 victories in October, including nine Russian aircraft shot down covering operations over the Perekop Isthmus on 18 October. He followed up this feat by shooting down six enemy aircraft in the same area on 22 October. He was awarded the Eichenlaub (Nr 38) on 26 October for 85 victories. He was to lead II./JG 3 until 20 November. In December 1941, Gollob was removed from operations and transferred on a temporary assignment to Erprobungstelle Rechlin to assist in the further development of the Bf 109, for which he suggested many innovative improvements.