Leopold Steinbatz (25 October 1918 – 23 June 1942) was an Austrian-born fighter pilot of the Luftwaffe in World War II. As a fighter ace, he was credited with 99 aircraft shot down in over 300 combat missions, all of which claimed over the Eastern Front.
Steinbatz volunteered for military service in the Austrian Armed Forces in 1937. In March 1938, following the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, Steinbatz was transferred to the Luftwaffe. Following flight training, he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing). Steinbatz fought in the aerial battles of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union and claimed his first aerial victory on 4 August 1941. Following his 42nd aerial victory, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 14 February 1942 and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 2 June 1942 after he claimed his 83rd aerial victory. On 23 June 1942, Steinbatz was killed in action, shot down by Soviet anti-aircraft artillery, near Vovchansk. Posthumously, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, the only non-commissioned officer to receive this distinction.
Early life and career
Steinbatz was born on 25 October 1918 in Stammersdorf, now Floridsdorf, one of the district of Vienna, in Austria-Hungary. In his youth, he learned to fly gliders and received a vocational education as a butcher. Following his vocational education, he joined the Austrian Air Force and received pilot training with Flieger-Ausbildungsregiment (Flight Training Regiment) in Wiener Neustadt on 1 October 1937. Following the Anschluss in March 1938, the forced incorporation of Austria into Nazi Germany, Steinbatz was transferred to the Luftwaffe and trained as a fighter pilot at the Jagdfliegerschule in Wien-Aspern.
World War II
World War II in Europe had begun on Friday, 1 September 1939, with the German Invasion of Poland. Steinbatz was transferred to 2. Staffel (2nd Squadron) of the Ergänzungsgruppe of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing), a supplementary and training fighter group of JG 52. There he first met Hermann Graf, his future wingman on the Eastern Front. In August 1940, Steinbatz was transferred to 9. Staffel (9th Squadron) of JG 52, a squadron of III. Gruppe (3rd Group) and was then assigned to the Luftwaffenmission Rumänien (Luftwaffe Mission Romania) under the command of Generalleutnant . The military mission from Germany supported General Ion Antonescu in the reorganization of the Rumanian armed forces. III. Gruppe of JG 52 was transferred to Bucharest in mid-October and temporarily renamed I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 28 (JG 28—28th Fighter Wing) until 4 January 1941.
During the Invasion of Yugoslavia of April 1941, III. Gruppe of JG 52 was kept back in reserve to guard the Ploiești oil installations. On 27 May, III. Gruppe flew to Plovdiv, Saloniki, Tatoi Airfield north of Athens and then to Molaoi where he stayed until 10 June. Here, together with other Luftwaffe units, the Gruppe its first combat missions in support of the Battle of Crete. During this campaign, Steinbatz flew ground support missions against Greek forces and other Allied forces.
War against the Soviet Union
Following its brief deployment in the Balkan Campaign, III. Gruppe was back in Bucharest by mid-June. There, the unit was again subordinated to the Luftwaffenmission Rumänien and equipped with the new, more powerful Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 model. On 21 June 1941, III. Gruppe was ordered to Mizil ready for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Its primary objective was to provide fighter protection for the oil fields and refineries at Ploiești. The invasion of the Soviet Union began on 22 June. The next day, the Gruppe moved to Mamaia, the northern district of Constanța on the Black Sea coast.
The Gruppe moved to Belaya Tserkov on 1 August during the Battle of Kiev and also used an airfield at Yampil from 6 to 8 August. Here on the 4 August, Steinbatz claimed his first aerial victory when he shot down a Polikarpov I-16 fighter southeast of Kiev, while escorting Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers to Brovary. He claimed his second aerial victory over another I-16 fighter on 26 August. The following day, III. Gruppe had reached an airfield named Stschastliwaja about east-southeast of Oleksandriia where they stayed until 12 September. Flying from Stschastliwaja, Steinbatz claimed an Ilyushin DB-3 bomber on 1 September and an I-16 fighter on 6 September.