Schall was born on 1 June 1918 in
Graz in
Austria-Hungary. He began his military service with the
anti-aircraft artillery before in September 1941 he was trained as a fighter pilot. Holding the rank of
Leutnant (second lieutenant), Schall was posted to the 3.
Staffel (3rd squadron) of
Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) on 18 February 1943. At the time, this
Staffel was commanded by
Oberleutnant Rudolf Miethig and was part of I.
Gruppe (1st group) of JG 52 headed by
Hauptmann Helmut Bennemann.
War against the Soviet Union World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. Germany had launched
Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. In February 1943, I.
Gruppe was based at
Poltava on the
Eastern Front and was subordinated to
Luftwaffenkommando Don which supported the fighting in the
Third Battle of Kharkov. Schall claimed his first aerial victory on 6 May when he shot down a
Lavochkin La-5 fighter near
Belgorod. In preparation for
Operation Citadel, I.
Gruppe was moved to Bessonovka, a makeshift airfield located approximately on 4 July. On 13 July during the
Battle of Kursk, Schall, accompanied by his wingman
Oberfeldwebel Franz Woidich, claimed an
Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft shot down. On 14 July, he was awarded the
Iron Cross 2nd Class () and the Iron Cross 1st Class () on 24 August. On 11 November 1943, Schall was shot down and wounded by anti-aircraft artillery in his
Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (
Werknummer 410131—factory number) resulting in a
forced landing south of
Kerch. In December 1943, Schall was temporarily put in command of 3.
Staffel of JG 52. He replaced
Leutnant Karl-Heinz Plücker who was transferred. Schall was awarded the
German Cross in Gold () on 20 March 1944. On 11 May, then
Oberleutnant Franz Woidich succeeded Schall as commander of 3.
Staffel. On 10 June 1944, I.
Gruppe was ordered to an airfield named Peloniczna near
Lviv. Seven days later, they were moved to
Serpneve. On 22 June, Soviet forces launched
Operation Bagration, attacking
Army Group Centre in
Byelorussia, with the objective of encircling and destroying its main component armies. On 24 June, the
Gruppe transferred to
Galați and again to Peloniczna. The
Gruppe reached
Grabowiec in eastern Poland on 27 July and
Kraków on 1 August. On 12 August they were again relocated and moved to
Mzurowa. The day before, Schall was officially appointed
Staffelkapitän (Squadron leader) of 3.
Staffel after Woidich was transferred. Fighting across Poland, it led to his most prolific period in the war with a number of multiple victories in a day: three on 12 August (74–76), three more on the 24th (79–81). On 26 August, Schall became a "
double ace-in-a-day" for the first time, claiming eleven aerial victories which included six Il-2 ground-attack aircraft. On 31 August, he surpassed this figure, claiming thirteen aerial victories, including his 100th claim, which took his total to 109 victories. He was the 81st Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. In September 1944, Schall left JG 52 and transferred to a
jet fighter unit. Command of 3.
Staffel was transferred to
Leutnant Leonhard Färber on 25 September. Schall was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 10 October 1944 for 117 aerial victories claimed.
Flying the Messerschmitt Me 262 On 25 September 1944, Schall was posted to a specialist unit dubbed
Kommando Nowotny, named after
Walter Nowotny, for testing and establishing tactics for the newly developed
Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter.
General der Jagdflieger (General of the Fighter Force)
Adolf Galland had hoped that the Me 262 would compensate for the
United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) numerical superiority. There, following the death of
Hauptmann Alfred Teumer on 4 October, Schall was appointed
Staffelkapitän of 2.
Staffel on 16 October. On 7 October, Schall and
Feldwebel Helmut Lennartz were scrambled at 13:45 from
Hesepe airfield to intercept a
heavy bomber formation. In this encounter, both Schall and Lennartz each claimed a USAAF
Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber shot down, the first aerial victories of
Kommando Nowotny. Schall claimed a
North American P-51 Mustang fighter destroyed on 28 October and a
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter on 6 November. He was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 10 October 1944. A, circa 1944 Generals
Alfred Keller and Galland had scheduled an inspection of
Kommando Nowotny for the afternoon of 7 November 1944. Galland had already visited
Kommando Nowotny several times and was deeply concerned over the high attrition rate and meager success achieved by the Me 262. After inspecting the two airfields at
Achmer and Hesepe, he stayed in the Penterknapp barracks discussing the problems of the past few weeks. Several pilots openly expressed their doubts as to the readiness of the Me 262 for combat operations. When the Generals arrived again at Nowotny's command post the next morning a large bomber formation was reported. Two
Rotten of Me 262 were prepared for take-off,
Erich Büttner and Schall at Hesepe, and Nowotny and
Günther Wegmann at Achmer. At first only Schall and Wegmann managed to take off because Büttner had a punctured tire during taxiing and Nowotny's turbines initially refused to start. Schall and Wegmann both made contact with the Americans, claiming a P-51 and P-47 respectively. By the time the Americans returned from their bomb run, Nowotny, his aircraft now serviceable, and Schall took off alone and made contact with the bomber force at an altitude of . Schall shot down two P-51s before suffering engine failure. Attempting to glide his aircraft to Hesepe, Schall was shot down by Lieutenant James W. Kenney of the
357th Fighter Group. While Schall managed to
bail out safely, Nowotny was
killed in action. Following Nowotny's death, the pilots of
Kommando Nowotny were moved to
Lechfeld where they were joined by 20–25 pilots from III.
Gruppe of
Ergänzungs-Jagdgeschwader 2, also known as
Erprobungskommando Lechfeld, a replacement training unit which had also trained on the Me 262. On 19 November,
Kommando Nowotny became the III.
Gruppe of
Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7 - 7th Fighter Wing), the world's first operational jet fighter wing, and was moved to
Brandenburg-
Briest. JG 7 had been formed in August 1944 and placed under the command of
Oberst Johannes Steinhoff. At the time of its creation, III./JG 7 was commanded by
Major Erich Hohagen and command of 10.
Staffel was handed to Schall. On 18 March 1945, the USAAF
Eighth Air Force attacked
Berlin with 1,329 bombers, escorted by 733 fighter aircraft. A number of Me 262s intercepted the bomber formation and its escorts in vicinity of
Nauen-
Rathenow-
Brandenburg-
Potsdam. At approximately 11:15, Schall claimed a P-51 shot down. The next day, 374
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers from the
3d Air Division attacked
Carl Zeiss AG, a manufacturer of optical systems, in
Jena, and the motor vehicle factories at
Zwickau and
Plauen. In defense of this attack, Schall claimed a B-17 shot down north of
Chemnitz. On 21 March 1945, the USAAF Eighth Air Force attacked various Luftwaffe airfields in Germany with approximately 1,300 heavy bombers, escorted by 750 fighter aircraft. That day, Schall claimed another aerial victory over a P-51. The next, the Eighth Air Force again targeted various military installations and airfields in Germany. Yet again Schall claimed a P-51 shot down, that day in the
Cottbus-
Bautzen-
Dresden area. On 24 March, 1,714 bombers, escorted by approximately 1,300 fighter aircraft, targeted 18 Luftwaffe airfields. Schall led 10.
Staffel at about 12:00 from
Parchim airfield and engaged the bombers south of Berlin. Approximately 15 Me 262s, the majority of them armed with
R4M air-to-air rockets, claimed a number of bombers destroyed, including a B-17 by Schall. On 31 March 1945, the
Royal Air Force (RAF)
Bomber Command targeted Wilhelmshaven, Bremen and Hamburg. The attack force from
No. 219,
No. 429,
No. 431,
No. 434,
No. 408,
No. 415 and
No. 425 Squadron had made their target approach by night. In morning hours, the British and Canadians were intercepted by 20 Me 262s from I.
Gruppe and seven Me 262s from III.
Gruppe who claimed 19 four-engined bombers, two fighters and probable destruction of another bomber. Schall claimed two victories in this engagement. On 4 April, Schall claimed a P-51 shot down. That day, RAF Bomber Command had targeted
Nordhausen with 243
Avro Lancaster bombers while the USAAF Eighth Air Force sent 950 B-17s and B-24s to Luftwaffe airfields at
Kaltenkirchen, Parchim,
Perleberg,
Wesendorf,
Faßberg,
Hoya,
Dedelstorf and
Eggebek, as well as the
U-boat yards at
Finkenwerder and shipyards at
Kiel. This bomber force was protected by 800
escort fighters. On 9 April, the RAF targeted the German ships , and moored at Kiel and other targets in northern Germany. That afternoon, Schall claimed a Lancaster shot down. On 10 April 1945, Schall claimed a P-51 shot down. He was then killed when his aircraft rolled into a bomb crater, flipped, and exploded during an attempted emergency landing at
Parchim Airfield. That day, the Luftwaffe lost a number of Me 262 pilots, including
Oberleutnant Walther Wever. The Americans dubbed this day the "great jet massacre". Schall had been nominated for the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves () which was not approved before the war ended. ==Summary of career==