Hans-Joachim Marseille (German pronunciation: [hans ˈjoːaxɪm maʁˈsɛːj]; 13 December 1919 – 30 September 1942) was a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot and flying ace during World War II. He is noted for his aerial battles during the North African Campaign and his bohemian lifestyle. One of the most successful fighter pilots, he was nicknamed the "Star of Africa". Marseille claimed all but seven of his 158 victories against the British Commonwealth's Desert Air Force over North Africa, flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter for his entire combat career. No other pilot claimed as many Western Allied aircraft as Marseille.
Marseille, of French Huguenot ancestry, joined the Luftwaffe in 1938. At the age of 20, he graduated from one of the Luftwaffe's fighter pilot schools just in time to participate in the Battle of Britain, without notable success. A charming person, he had such a busy nightlife that sometimes he was too tired to be allowed to fly the next morning. As a result of poor discipline, he was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 27 (Fighter Wing 27, JG 27), which relocated to North Africa in April 1941.
Under the guidance of his new commander, who recognised the latent potential in the young officer, Marseille quickly developed his abilities as a fighter pilot. He reached the zenith of his fighter pilot career on 1 September 1942, when during the course of three combat sorties he claimed 17 enemy fighters shot down, earning him the Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten (Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds). Only 29 days later, Marseille was killed in a flying accident, when he was forced to abandon his fighter due to engine failure. After he exited the smoke-filled cockpit, Marseille's chest struck the vertical stabiliser of his aircraft. The blow either killed him instantly or incapacitated him so that he was unable to open his parachute.
Hans-Joachim "Jochen" Walter Rudolf Siegfried Marseille was born to Charlotte (maiden name: Charlotte Marie Johanna Pauline Gertrud Riemer) and Hauptmann Siegfried Georg Martin Marseille, a family with paternal French ancestry, in Berlin-Charlottenburg on 13 December 1919. As a child, he was physically weak, and he nearly died from a serious case of influenza. His father was an Army officer during World War I, and later left the armed forces to join the Berlin police force.
When Marseille was still a young child his parents divorced and his mother subsequently married a police official named Reuter. Marseille initially assumed the name of his stepfather at school, a matter he had a difficult time accepting, but reverted to using his father's name of Marseille in adulthood.
Marseille had a difficult relationship with his natural father, whom he refused to visit in Hamburg for some time after the divorce. Eventually, he attempted a reconciliation with his father, who introduced him to the nightlife that initially hampered his military career during his early years in the Luftwaffe. The rapprochement with his father did not last and he did not see him again.
Hans-Joachim also had an older sister, Ingeborg. While on sick leave in Athens at the end of December 1941, he was summoned to Berlin by a telegram from his mother. Upon arriving home, he learned his sister had been killed by a jealous lover while living in Vienna. Hans-Joachim reportedly never recovered emotionally from this blow.
Marseille attended a Volksschule in Berlin (1926–1930), and from the age of 10, the Prinz-Heinrichs-Gymnasium, a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university, in Berlin-Schöneberg (1930–1938). Between April and September 1938, he served in the Reich Labour Service.
Marseille joined the Luftwaffe on 7 November 1938 as an officer candidate and received his basic training in Quedlinburg in the Harz region. His lack of discipline gave him a reputation as a rebel, which plagued him early on in his Luftwaffe career. On 1 March 1939 Marseille was transferred to the Luftkriegsschule 4 (LKS 4—air war school) near Fürstenfeldbruck. Among his classmates was Werner Schröer.
Marseille completed his training at a Fighter Pilot School in Vienna to which he was posted on 1 November 1939. One of his instructors was the Austro-Hungarian World War I ace Julius Arigi. Marseille graduated with an outstanding evaluation on 18 July 1940 and was assigned to Ergänzungsjagdgruppe Merseburg, stationed at the airport in Merseburg-West.
Marseille's unit was assigned to air defence duty over the Leuna plant from the outbreak of war until the fall of France. On 10 August 1940 he was assigned to the Instructional Squadron 2, based in Calais-Marck, to begin operations against Britain. He again received an outstanding evaluation, this time by commander Herbert Ihlefeld.
In his first dogfight over England on 24 August 1940, Marseille engaged in a four-minute battle with a skilled opponent while flying Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-3 Werknummer 3579. He defeated his opponent by pulling up into a tight chandelle to gain an altitude advantage before diving and firing. The British fighter was struck in the engine, pitched over and dived into the English Channel. This was Marseille's first victory.
Marseille was then engaged from above by more Allied fighters. By pushing his aircraft into a steep dive, then pulling up metres above the water, Marseille escaped from the machine gun fire of his opponents: "skipping away over the waves, I made a clean break. No one followed me and I returned to Leeuwarden [sic—Marseille was based near Calais, not Leeuwarden]."
The act was not praised by his unit. Marseille was reprimanded when it emerged he had abandoned his wingman, and Staffel to engage the opponent alone. In so doing, Marseille had violated a basic rule of air combat. Reportedly, Marseille did not take any pleasure in this victory and found it difficult to accept the realities of aerial combat.
While returning from a bomber-escort mission on 23 September 1940 flying Bf 109 E-7 Werknummer 5094, his engine failed 19 kilometres (10 nautical miles) off Cap Gris Nez after combat damage sustained over Dover. Pilot Officer George Bennions from 41 Squadron may have shot Marseille down. According to another source, Werknummer 5094 was destroyed in this engagement by Robert Stanford Tuck, who had pursued a Bf 109 to that location and whose pilot was rescued by a Heinkel He 59 naval aircraft. Marseille is the only German airman known to have been rescued by a He 59 on that day and in that location. Tuck's official claim was for a Bf 109 destroyed off Cap Gris Nez at 09:45—the only pilot to submit a claim in that location.
Although Marseille tried to radio his position, he bailed out over the sea. He paddled around in the water for three hours before being rescued by the float plane based at Schellingwoude. Exhausted and suffering from exposure, he was sent to a field hospital.
When he returned to duty, he received a stern rebuke from his commander, Herbert Ihlefeld. In engaging Bennions, or Tuck, Marseille had abandoned his leader Staffelkapitän Adolf Buhl, who was shot down and killed. During his rebuke, his commander tore up Marseille's flight evaluations. Other pilots also voiced their dissatisfaction concerning Marseille. Because of his alienation of other pilots and his arrogant and unapologetic nature, Ihlefeld eventually dismissed Marseille from LG 2.
A different account recalled how Marseille once ignored an order to turn back from a fight when outnumbered by two to one, but seeing an Allied aircraft closing on his wing leader, Marseille broke formation and shot the attacking aircraft down. Expecting congratulations when he landed, his commander was critical of his actions, and Marseille received three days of confinement for failing to carry out an order. Days later, Marseille was passed over for promotion and was now the sole Fähnrich in the Geschwader. This was a humiliation for him, suspecting that his abilities were being suppressed so the squadron leaders could take all the glory in the air.