The German
invasion of Poland began on 1 September 1939, and marked the beginning of
World War II in Europe. Philipp's unit was tasked with
bomber escort and
ground attack as well as
combat air patrol missions. He was credited with his first aerial victory on 5 September 1939 over a
PZL P.24 south of
Radomsko. Philipp maneuvered himself into a favorable attack position and aimed carefully. Just as he was about to open fire, the enemy pilot
bailed out without firing a single shot. Nevertheless, he was given credit for the destruction of the aircraft and was awarded the
Iron Cross 2nd Class (), which was presented to him on 10 October 1939. He lost his
wingman during the
Phoney War air skirmishes with the ''
Armée de l'Air'' (French Air Force) in late November 1939.
Case Yellow (
Fall Gelb), the invasion of France and the
Low Countries on 10 May 1940, marked the beginning of the
Battle of France. Philipp claimed four victories in the early phase of the campaign which earned him the Iron Cross 1st Class () on 31 May 1940. The next day, 1 June, he was promoted to
Oberleutnant (first lieutenant). His unit was tasked with bomber escort missions against the
British Expeditionary Force in the
Battle of Dunkirk and was relocated to airbases in the vicinity of
Paris on 3 June. Following the
armistice on 22 June I./JG 76 was moved to
Eindhoven and
Schiphol where they were tasked with the aerial defense of the Netherlands. On 5 July 1940, I./JG 76 was renamed II./
Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing), 1./JG 76 became 4./JG 54, and at the same time relocated at Campagne, south of
Calais. On 25 August 1940, the
Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 4.
Staffel of JG 54,
Oberleutnant Dietrich Hrabak, was appointed
Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 54. In consequence, Philipp was given command of 4./JG 54.
Battle of Britain Aerial operations in what would become the
Battle of Britain began for his unit on 12 July 1940. The fighting reached a climax on 7 August when
Eagle Day was launched (code name
Adlertag). Hitler had issued
Führer Directive no. 17 (
Weisung Nr. 17) on 1 August 1940; the strategic objective was to engage and defeat the
Royal Air Force (RAF) to achieve
air supremacy, or at least
air superiority, in preparation for
Operation Sea Lion (
Unternehmen Seelöwe), the proposed amphibious invasion of Great Britain. From 7 September onwards, the Luftwaffe switched to attack British towns and cities, with London coming under particularly heavy attack, during what was dubbed
The Blitz by the British. In total, Philipp flew 130 missions over England. His number of aerial victories increased, including his 12th to 15th on 27 September, which led to the presentation of the
Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe () on 28 September 1940. He claimed his 20th victory on 20 October, and was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (). He was the second pilot of JG 54 to receive this award. The first was his
Gruppenkommandeur (group commander)
Hauptmann Hrabak, who received the award one day earlier. The German air offensive against England was a failure, and only resulted in heavy losses. To replenish these, II./JG 54 was withdrawn from the Channel Front on 3 December 1940 and stationed at
Delmenhorst. The pilots were sent on a ski vacation at
Kitzbühl and given home leave. Philipp made a public propaganda appearance at his Franziskaneum home school on 16 December, speaking of his actions as fighter pilot. On 15 January 1941, his unit was moved to
Le Mans, southwest of Paris, to protect the airspace over
Normandy. Here they stayed until 29 March 1941 when they were ordered to
Graz-Thalerhof in preparation for the attack on Yugoslavia.
Balkans campaign and Operation Barbarossa The Balkans campaign began on 6 April 1941, with multiple objectives.
Operation Marita was the codename for the German invasion of Greece, while JG 54's
Stab, II.
Gruppe, and III.
Gruppe were committed to the
invasion of Yugoslavia. During the early missions, JG 54 engaged the Bf 109s of the
Jugoslovensko Kraljevsko Ratno Vazduhoplovstvo (JKRV—Yugoslav Royal Air Force) in numerous air battles. Philipp claimed two JKRV Bf 109s shot down during a
Stuka escort mission on the second day of operations on 7 April, taking his total to 25 aerial victories. 4./JG 54 made four claims in total. Philipp's opponents were from 32 Grupa which suffered eight Yugoslav-flown Bf 109s shot down. Five pilots were killed—Captain Miha Klavora, 104 Eskadrila;
Second Lieutenant Jovan Kapesic, 103 Eskadrila;
Warrant Officer Branislav Todorovic, 103 Eskadrila,
Sergeant Vladimir Gorup, 103 Eskadrila and Sergeant Milivoje Boskovic, 104 Eskadrila. Following the surrender of the
Royal Yugoslav Army on 17 April 1941, while stationed at an airfield at
Zemun near
Belgrade, the
Geschwader 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. On 22 June at 03:05, 120 aircraft of the
Geschwader crossed into Soviet airspace in support of
Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the
Soviet Union. Philipp, like many other German fighter pilots, enjoyed superiority over his Soviet adversaries in the early phase of Barbarossa, both in terms of the training he had received and the aircraft that he flew. He quickly accumulated further victories and on account of his 31st to 33rd victories achieved on 4 July was mentioned in the
Wehrmachtbericht radio report, the first of five such mentions, on 7 July. Philipp claimed his 62nd victory on 24 August 1941, an achievement which earned him the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (). He was the 33rd member of the German armed forces to be so honored. The presentation was made on 27 August 1941 by Hitler at the
Führer Headquarter Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair) in
Rastenburg (now Kętrzyn in Poland). Following the loss of
Hauptmann Franz Eckerle, who had been reported as
missing in action since 14 February 1942, Philipp, who had claimed his 77th victory, was appointed
Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 54 on 17 February 1942. On 23 February, Philipp shot down his 82nd opponent, the 158 IAP's (158th Fighter Aviation Regiment)
Leytenant Mikhail Satalkin, who was posted as missing in action.
Eastern Front Following his 86th victory claimed on 12 March 1942, Philipp became the first member of the
Geschwader to receive the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (). The Swords had been awarded only seven times before. The presentation on 5 April 1942 was again made by Hitler himself at the
Wolfsschanze. By this date his total had increased further. On 31 March 1942, he became only the fourth Luftwaffe fighter pilot to achieve 100 victories. Following the presentation of the Swords, Philipp went on home leave. Again he was asked to make a number of propaganda appearances. On 1 May 1942, he spoke before his home school and before the Meissen youth at the
Hamburger Hof. He, his mother and his fiancée were also invited to Meissen Town Hall on 30 April. Among other officials, present were the
NSDAP-
Kreisleiter (county leader) Helmut Böhme and the mayor of Meissen, Walter Kaule. Philipp was granted the privilege of signing the Meissen
Guestbook ()—a book signed in German communities and cities by special guests of honor. Philipp returned to the
Eastern Front at
Krasnogwardejsk south of
Leningrad and claimed his 101st to 103rd victories on 6 June 1942, which were mentioned in the
Wehrmachtbericht on 7 June. His third mention in the
Wehrmachtbericht on 27 June came after he achieved his 108th to 110th victories on 26 June. In addition to the references in the
Wehrmachtbericht he received the
German Cross in Gold () on 29 June 1942. He also received the Croatian
Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir () 2nd Class with Swords on 15 September 1942 for his work with the
Croatian Air Force Legion's fighter unit commanded by
Franjo Džal. On 14 January 1943, he claimed his 150th aerial victory. This led to the presentation of the Picture of the
Reichsmarschall in Silver Frame () on 16 February 1943. His unit received the
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in February 1943. He quickly accumulated further victories, and on 17 March 1943, his 26th birthday, he claimed his 200th to 203rd enemy aircraft shot down, recognized by his fourth mention in the
Wehrmachtbericht. He was the second pilot after
Hermann Graf to achieve this mark, and at the time was the most successful fighter pilot of the Luftwaffe.
Wing commander of JG 1 and death In April 1943, Philipp was transferred to
Defense of the Reich duties as
Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of
Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1—1st Fighter Wing), flying high altitude interception operations against the USAAF
Eighth Air Force over the
North Sea and northern Germany. He succeeded
Oberstleutnant Erich Mix who was transferred. Command of I./JG 54 was temporarily given to
Hauptmann Gerhard Koall until
Major Reinhard Seiler took command of the
Gruppe on 1 May. Philipp claimed his 204th victory on 2 May, and his 205th on 18 May before falling ill with
appendicitis. This required hospitalization in Meissen. On 4 October 1943,
Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring is said to have issued the following instructions after another attack by the Eighth Air Force. • There are no meteorological conditions which would prevent fighters from taking off and engaging in combat. • Every fighter pilot returning in a machine not showing any sign of combat, or without having recorded a victory will be prosecuted by a court-martial. • In the case of where a pilot uses up his ammunition, or if his weapons are unusable, he should ram the enemy bomber. Philipp's response was "As far as I'm concerned, I categorically refuse to allow myself to be held to such advice; I know what I have to do!" On 8 October 1943, the US Eighth Air Force attacked targets in
Bremen and
Vegesack with 156 bombers. The bombers were escorted by more than 250
Thunderbolts from six different fighter groups. Phillipp's flight was intercepted by P-47s of the
56th Fighter Group. The
Stab Flight of the
Geschwader heard Philipp announce a victory over a Thunderbolt. The last transmission from him was, "Reinhardt, attack!",
Feldwebel Hans-Günther Reinhardt was Philipp's wingman on this day. He last saw the Kommodore's aircraft disappear in a cloud. Reinhardt was wounded after colliding with an enemy aircraft, but made a successful forced landing. Later that evening, the
Geschwader learned that their
Geschwaderkommodore had been shot down and killed in his Fw 190 A-6 "Red 6" (
Werknummer 530407—factory number). , 13 April 1944.|alt=A fighter pilot sitting in an aircraft cockpit, shown in profile, viewed from the left. The pilot is smiling and waving his right hand in the air. The left side of the cockpit bears approximately 25 small black crosses arranged in five rows and five columns. The report filed by Reinhardt on 10 October 1943 stated that he and Philipp had taken off at 14:11 on a mission against enemy bombers in the vicinity of Bremen. The group led by
Y-Verfahren (Y-Control) had sighted a formation of about 30
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses southwest of Bremen at 15:12. The bombers had already completed their bomb run and were returning to England. Philipp started his attack from the right, driving the attack to pointblank range, flaming one of the B-17s which crashed at 15:32. Philipp then flew under the formation to the left when he was hit from the defensive fire of a
rear gunner on one of the B-17s which was lagging behind. Philipp then went into a dive and Rheinhardt asked by radio "what has happened?" His response was "Reinhardt, attack". Reinhardt, who had seen that Philipp had been hit, followed Philipp down until he disappeared in a lower cloud layer. More recent research has suggested that Philipp may also have been hit by a
P-47 "Thunderbolt" piloted by
Robert S. Johnson of the
61st Fighter Squadron. Philipp tried to return to his airfield, but was forced to bail out at low altitude at 15:45 between
Hardenberg and
Itterbeck, near
Wielen (). His parachute failed to open and the jump from an altitude of about mortally wounded him. His body was recovered and examined in the
field hospital in
Rheine the next day. The post mortem examination revealed extensive burns, particularly to the face, a laceration on the back of his head, multiple broken bones and flesh wounds as well as a particularly deep injury to his upper
abdomen and inner organs. From Rheine, on 10 October 1943 Philipp's body was transported to Meissen by train where it arrived the next day. The
Wehrmachtbericht announced his death on 12 October. The funeral at the
Trinitatisfriedhof (Trinitatis Cemetery) in Meissen, on 14 October 1943, was dominated by military, public and Nazi officials. His coffin, which was draped in the national flag of Nazi Germany along with his honors and decorations on a velvet cushion, was put on display on the entry steps of the town hall in Meissen. Present at the funeral along with his mother, his fiancée and other members of the family, were
Oberstleutnant Hannes Trautloft and
Generaloberst Alfred Keller, who delivered the
eulogy. Philipp's mother died on 7 May 1973, her
urn was buried next to her son. ==Summary of career==