Marquardt was born on 29 December 1922 in
Braunsberg, present-day Braniewo in Poland, at the time in
East Prussia a province of the
Weimar Republic's
Free State of Prussia. On 15 September 1941, he was posted to the
Jagdfliegerschule 5 (JFS 5—5th fighter pilot school), stationed at the
Le Havre – Octeville airfield in France. As of 1 February 1942, he served as a fighter pilot instructor and flew a number of operational sorties on the Channel Front with the operational squadron of JFS 5.
Eastern Front On 1 August 1943, Marquard was transferred to the 11.
Staffel (11th squadron) of
Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing) operating on the
Eastern Front. His transfer to JG 51 occurred during the Soviet
Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive Operation where it supported the
8th Army. The
Staffel was commanded by
Hauptmann Adolf Borchers and subordinated to IV.
Gruppe of JG 51 headed by
Major Hans-Ekkehard Bob. According to Obermaier, Marquardt claimed his first aerial victory on 2 October, shooting down an
Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft. On 22 June 1944, Soviet forces launched
Operation Bagration, the strategic offensive operation against
Army Group Centre. In consequence, IV.
Gruppe was moved to
Mogilev that day and to an airfield named Bayary located northeast of
Minsk and east of
Barysaw. Following the German retreat, the
Gruppe moved to an airfield at
Lida, which is west of Minsk, on 3 July. On 14 August, Marquardt claimed a
Yakovlev Yak-9 fighter near
Osowiec Fortress. Later that day, IV.
Gruppe retreated to an airfield at
Tilsit, present-day Sovetsk located on the south bank of the
Neman River. The next day, as part of the group expansion from three
Staffeln per
Gruppe to four
Staffeln per
Gruppe, 10.
Staffel was re-designated and became the 13.
Staffel while 11.
Staffel became the 14.
Staffel of JG 51. Marquardt was then transferred and served with 13.
Staffel which was commanded by
Leutnant Peter Kalden. On 28 August, IV.
Gruppe moved to
Modlin Airfield located approximately northwest of
Warsaw. Here, the
Gruppe predominately flew combat missions to the area north and northeast of Warsaw. The next day, Marquardt claimed a Yak-9 fighter shot down northeast of Warsaw. On 10 September, Marquardt was awarded
German Cross in Gold (). Following a brief period of little combat in central Poland, Marquardt became an "
ace-in-a-day" on 7 October, claiming two Il-2 ground-attack aircraft and a
Douglas A-20 Havoc bomber, also known as Boston, on the first mission of the day. Marquard and his
Gruppenkommandeur (group commander),
Hauptmann Heinz Lange, both received the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 18 November for 89 and 70 aerial victories respectively. On 14 April 1945, Marquardt was credited with his 100th aerial victory. He was the 102nd Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. On a transfer flight of new
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-9 to his unit, he was credited with four aerial victories over
Yakovlev Yak-3 on 25 April 1945. On 30 April, Marquardt accidentally ran his Fw 190 D-9 into a drainage ditch on a transfer flight. Due to lack of spare parts, the damage was not reparable and the aircraft was blown up to prevent it from falling to the enemy. On 1 May 1945 Marquardt became
Jagdgeschwader 51s last casualty of the war when he was shot down by
Royal Air Force Spitfires north of Berlin. Marquardt had led a flight of six
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-9 on an escort mission of 12 Fw 190 F-8 ground attack aircraft from
Redlin on a mission to Berlin. After completing the mission the aircraft returned to
Schwerin. During the landing approach the flight came under attack of 6
Spitfire Mk XIV from
No. 41 Squadron. Marquardt ordered his flight to cover the landing of the ground attack fighters while he and his
wingman,
Feldwebel Radlauer, attacked the Spitfires from below. Marquardt claimed one of the attackers but was shot down as well along with two other Fw 190s. Radlauer saw Marquardt's Fw 190 crash in flames but did not observe any sign of life. Marquardt was initially reported as
killed in action but he had bailed out injured and was taken to a hospital in Schwerin, where he was taken prisoner of war shortly after. ==Later life==