World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces
invaded Poland. In preparation of the invasion, I.
Gruppe of JG 76 had been moved to an airfield at
Stubendorf, present-day Izbicko in Poland, in mid-August 1939 and supported the German advance on the central and southern sectors of the front. On 3 September, Hrabak made a
forced landing behind enemy lines following combat with
PZL.23 light bombers and returned to his unit the next day. On 14 September, I.
Gruppe was withdrawn from combat operations and returned to its home airfield at Wien-Aspern where it arrived on 26 September. On 26 October, the
Gruppenstab and 1.
Staffel were ordered to
Frankfurt Rhein-Main where it was united again with 2. and 3.
Staffel on 2 November. From Frankfurt Rhein-Main, the
Gruppe flew fighter protection during the "
Phoney War" for the Frankfurt,
Rhine and
Saar region. In April 1940, I.
Gruppe moved to an airfield at
Mainz-Finthen, originally named
Fliegerhorst Ober-Olm. The
Gruppe stayed at Ober-Olm until the
Battle of France began. On 13 May 1940, he claimed his first victory, and he claimed five more victories before the
Armistice of 22 June 1940. On 26 June 1940, I.
Gruppe of JG 76 was moved to the airfield at
Waalhaven in the Netherlands and subordinated to
Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing). There, the
Gruppe was tasked with providing aerial protection over the Dutch coastal area. On 5 July, I./JG 76 was officially integrated into JG 54 and was renamed to II./JG 54 and 1./JG 76 became 4./JG 54. On 25 August 1940 during the
Battle of Britain, Hrabak was made
Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 54. In consequence,
Oberleutnant Hans Philipp was given command of 4./JG 54. During the Battle of Britain he added ten victories against
Royal Air Force (RAF) fighters. On 21 October 1940 Hrabak was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (). The presentation was made by
Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring in his personal command train at
Beauvais on 23 October. On 29 March 1941, II./JG 54 was withdrawn from the
English Channel and was ordered to
Graz-Thalerhof. There the various squadrons were split up with 4.
Staffel being subordinated to III.
Gruppe of
Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) and ordered to
Deta in Romania. On 6 April, 4.
Staffel flew combat missions in the
Invasion of Yugoslavia. The next day, the
Staffel flew combat air patrols on the Hungarian-Yugoslavian border. On 9 April, II./JG 54 was united again at
Kecskemét, Hungary and returned to Deta on 11 April. The
Gruppe was withdrawn from this theater on 19 April and ordered to an airfield at
Zemun near
Belgrade.
Operation Barbarossa Following the surrender of the
Royal Yugoslav Army on 17 April 1941, JG 54 received orders on 3 May 1941 to turn over all Bf 109-Es so they could receive the new Bf 109-F variant. Transition training was completed at
Airfield Stolp-Reitz in
Pomerania. Following intensive training, the
Geschwader was moved to airfields in
Eastern Prussia. II.
Gruppe under command of Hrabak was moved to
Trakehnen on 20 June 1941. The
Wehrmacht launched
Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, on 22 June with II.
Gruppe supporting
Army Group North in its strategic goal towards
Leningrad. In early November, the
Gruppe was withdrawn from the
Eastern Front for a period of rest and replenishment where they were based at airfields in
Döberitz, and later at
Uetersen. On 20 January 1942, the
Gruppe began relocating to the Eastern Front where they would be based at
Siverskaya near Leningrad. In August to early September 1941, Hrabak was on home leave. He was promoted to
Major (major) on 1 October 1942.
Wing commander On 1 November 1942, Hrabak left JG 54 and took over command of
Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) as
Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander). At the time, JG 52 was based at
Prokhladny and Gonschtakowka and operated over the front at the
Terek River in the
Northern Caucasus. In consequence, command of II.
Gruppe of JG 54 was given to
Major Hans Hahn. Under Hrabak's leadership, JG 52 claimed its 10,000th aerial victory on 2 September 1944. On 23 November, the
Geschwaderstab (headquarters unit) of JG 52 began its retreat from the Caucasus region and moved to
Maykop. There, Hrabak claimed his first aerial victory as
Geschwaderkommodore on 13 December over a
Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber. While the
Battle of Stalingrad was coming to end, Hrabak and the
Geschwaderstab were ordered to
Rostov-on-Don on 20 January 1943 to organize fighter protection over the retreating
Army Group A. Hrabak was promoted to
Oberstleutnant on 1 July 1943. On 2 August, Hrabak claimed his 100th victory. He was the 48th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. On 25 November 1943, Hrabak was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (). He was the 337th member of the German armed forces to be so honored and at the time was credited with 118 aerial victories. The presentation was made by
Adolf Hitler at the
Wolf's Lair, Hitler's headquarters in
Rastenburg, present-day Kętrzyn in Poland, on 9 December. Also presented with awards that day by Hitler were
Hauptmann Hans-Ulrich Rudel, who received the Swords to his Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. Rudel's
air gunner and radio operator
Oberfeldwebel (Master Sergeant)
Erwin Hentschel was honored with the Knight's Cross. On 20 September 1944, Hrabak scored the last of his 125 victories. In October 1944 Hrabak returned to JG 54, serving as its last
Geschwaderkommodore until the end of the war. His greatest contribution to the Luftwaffe was not his combat record however but his command, tactical and leadership qualities, which endeared him to the men under his command and sealed his reputation within the Luftwaffe leadership. ==Later life==