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Ulrich Steinhilper

Name : Ulrich Steinhilper Died : 20th October 2009

Ulrich Steinhilper was born on the 14. September 1918 in Stuttgart. In 1936, he succesfully tested for Luftwaffe flight training. As a cadet, he mastered the Heinkel 72 Cadet and the Focke Wulf 44 Goldfinch, received his pilot's badge and then went to an operational unit. Steinhilper was assigned as adjutant to Condor Legion veteran Adolf Galland. at the beginning of 1939, Steinhilper "volunteered" to command the group's radio communications unit and worked hard to integrate this new technology into flying operations. His unit was redesignated I./JG 52 in April 1939 and in the summer moved operation to a airfield east of Bonn. During the invasion of Poland, the group defended the Ruhr industrial region. In September 1939, Steinhilper was assigned a Messerschmitt Bf109 numbered "Yellow 16." and were involved in combat over France until May 1940. In early August 1940, I./JG52 returned to combat in the opening days of the Battle of Britain. Steinhilper destroyed his first three enemy fighters, Spitfires, during a ground attack on RAF Manston. On 19 September, and at the end of the month he got his 4th victory. By the end of October, he had logged over 150 sorties across the Channel and had become an ace.with his 5th victory. On the 27th October 1940, Steinhilper was shot down by the Spitfire of Sgt Bill Skinner of 74 squadron, He became a POW first in England and then in Canada. On the 23 November 1941 Oberleutnant Ulrich Steinhilper escaped from Bowmanvill Ontario and managed to make it to Niagara Falls within two days. Steinhilper unknowingly spent 30 minutes in the neutral United States clinging beneath a train car as it sat idle in a Buffalo, New York railyard. In less than three weeks, he escaped again and made it as far as Montreal, Quebec. Within four months Steinhilper would attempt a third escape. On February 18, 1942 Steinhilper and a friend, disguised as painters, used a ladder to escape over two barbed wire fences. The pair would make it as far as Watertown, New York before being arrested by police. Steinhilper was soon sent to Gravenhurst, Ontario where he attempted two further escapes. Steinhelper is known to be the greatest german escaper of the war. After the war Steinhilper worked for IBM and In 1972, IBM credited Steinhilper for the concept of "word processing." Ulrich Steinhilper also has written three autobiographical books - Spitfire On My Tail, Ten Minutes To Buffalo, and Full Circle. In 1980 the remains of Steinhilpers ME109 was found in a marsh near Canturbury and is now preserved at the kent Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge. Sadly, we have learned that Ulrich Steinhilper passed away on 20th October 2009.

Artwork signed by this Pilot or Aircrew

The Right of the Line by Graeme Lothian.

Achtung Spitfire! - The Battle of Britain by Nicholas Trudgian

Aircraft for : Ulrich Steinhilper
A list of all aircraft associated with Ulrich Steinhilper. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name.
Aircraft	Info
Me109 Click the name above to see prints featuring Me109 aircraft. Manufacturer : Messerschmitt Production Began : 1937 Retired : 1945 Number Built : 33984	Me109 Willy Messerschmitt designed the BF109 during the early 1930s. The Bf109 was one of the first all metal monocoque construction fighters with a closed canopy and retractable undercarriage. The engine of the Me109 was a V12 aero engine which was liquid-cooled. The Bf109 first saw operational service during the Spanish Civil War and flew to the end of World War II, during which time it was the backbone of the Luftwaffe fighter squadrons. During the Battle of Britian the Bf109 was used in the role of an escort fighter, a role for which it was not designed for, and it was also used as a fighter bomber. During the last days of May 1940 Robert Stanford-Tuck, the RAF ace, got the chance to fly an Me109 which they had rebuilt after it had crash landed. Stanford-Tuck found out that the Me109 was a wonderful little plane, it was slightly faster than the Spitfire, but lacked the Spitfire manoeuvrability. By testing the Me109, Tuck could put himself inside the Me109 when fighting them, knowing its weak and strong points. With the introduction of the improved Bf109F in the spring of 1941, the type again proved to be an effective fighter during the invasion of Yugoslavia and during the Battle of Crete and the invasion of Russia and it was used during the Siege of the Mediteranean island of Malta. The Bf109 was the main fighter for the Luftwaffe until 1942 when the Fw190 entered service and shared this position, and was partially replaced in Western Europe, but the Me109 continued to serve on the Eastern Front and during the defence of the Reich against the allied bombers. It was also used to good effect in the Mediterranean and North Africa in support of The Africa Korps. The Me109 was also supplied to several German allies, including Finland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovakia. The Bf109 scored more kills than any other fighter of any country during the war and was built in greater numbers with a total of over 31,000 aircraft being built. The Bf109 was flown by the three top German aces of the war war. Erich Hartmann with 352 victories, Gerhard Barkhorn with 301 victories and Gunther Rall with 275 kills. Bf109 pilots were credited with the destruction of 100 or more enemy aircraft. Thirteen Luftwaffe Aces scored more than 200 kills. Altogether this group of pilots were credited with a total of nearly 15,000 kills, of which the Messerschmitt Bf109 was credited with over 10,000 of these victories. The Bf109 was the most produced warplane during World War II, with 30,573 examples built during the war, and the most produced fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 units produced up to April 1945. Bf109s remained in foreign service for many years after World War II. The Swiss used their Bf109Gs well into the 1950s. The Finnish Air Force did not retire their Bf109Gs until March 1954. Romania used its Bf109s until 1955. The Spanish Hispanos flew even longer. Some were still in service in the late 1960s.

Squadrons for : Ulrich Steinhilper
A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by Ulrich Steinhilper. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name.
Squadron	Info
JG52 Country : Germany Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of JG52	JG52 The most successful Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II, with a claim total of more than 10,000 victories over enemy aircraft. It was home to the top three scoring Experten of the Luftwaffe, Erich Hartmann, Gerhard Barkhorn and Günther Rall. The unit flew the various marks of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 exclusively through the war.

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