Burckhardt was born on 5 February 1919 in
Bremen, at the time a
federated state of the
Weimar Republic. He began his military with the
anti-aircraft artillery of the Luftwaffe, serving with this branch until June 1940. Following flight training, Burckhardt served with
Ergänzungsgruppe, a supplementary training unit, of
Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing). On 29 November 1941, this unit was ordered to relocate to North Africa and flew from
Bucharest Pipera Airfield via
Sofia to
Saloniki. The next day, the
Ergänzungsgruppe continued their journey and moved to
Athens where they stayed for two days when their orders were cancelled, returning to Bucharest Pipera Airfield on 3 December. In April 1942, Burckhardt was transferred to the
Gruppenstab (headquarters unit) of II.
Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 77, at the time based at
Sarabus on the
Eastern Front and fighting in the
Crimean campaign. There on 29 April, he
crash landed his
Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 (
Werknummer 7602—factory number) at Sarabus due to technical failures of the aircraft. On 1 May, II.
Gruppe moved to an airfield named Fernheim, located on the
Sea of Azov, approximately west-northwest of
Kirovske. Operating from Fernheim on 3 May, Burckhardt claimed his first aerial victory, a
Polikarpov I-153 fighter, over the
Kerch Strait during the
Battle of the Kerch Peninsula. On 14 July following aerial combat with
Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft, Burckhardt was forced to make a landing with a partially deployed
landing gear, resulting in minor damage to his Bf 109 F-4 (
Werknummer 13172). Burckhardt flew his last mission on the Eastern Front on 2 October, shortly after he fell ill with
jaundice and was hospitalized. On 12 November, Burckhardt was appointed
Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 4.
Staffel of JG 77, succeeding
Hauptmann Heinrich Setz who had been transferred. On 5 December, II.
Gruppe moved to North Africa where they were based at
Zarzur. On 7 January 1943, Burckhardt claimed a
Supermarine Spitfire fighter shot down south-southeast of
Buerat. His opponent may have belonged to the
Royal Air Force No. 92 Squadron. Three days later, he stepped on
land mine at Zarzur and was injured. In consequence,
Oberleutnant Heinrich Osswald replaced him as
Staffelkapitän. Following convalescence, Burckhardt was appointed
Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I.
Gruppe of JG 77 on 19 August. He succeeded
Oberleutnant Armin Köhler who had temporarily led the
Gruppe after
Major Heinz Bär had been transferred on 6 August.
Defense of the Reich On 22 December 1943, the commanding officer of 6.
Staffel of
Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1–1st Fighter Wing),
Hauptmann Harry Koch, was
killed in action. In consequence, Burckhardt was transferred to JG 1, taking command of 6.
Staffel as
Staffelkapitän on 25 December. According to the authors Prien and Rodeike, this transfer was considered a demotion and disciplinary action, a measure for redemption in combat. The authors state, that particularly
Oberstleutnant Johannes Steinhoff, the commander of JG 77 at the time, had a number of pilots transferred to JG 1 for redemption in
defense of the Reich combat, this measure included pilots Burckhardt, Bär,
Leutnant Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert,
Oberfeldwebel Alexander Preinfalk, and
Oberfeldwebel Herbert Kaiser. In consequence, command of I.
Gruppe of JG 77 was passed to
Hauptmann Theo Lindemann. On 19 February 1944, Burckhardt was transferred to III.
Gruppe of JG 1 where was given command of 7.
Staffel. Command of his former 6.
Staffel was then given to the previously demoted Bär. Burckhardt had requested transfer to III.
Gruppe, the reason for this request was that Burckhardt had difficulties adapting to the
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 while III.
Gruppe was still operating the Bf 109. On 22 April, the
United States Army Air Forces (USAAF)
Eighth Air Force sent 803
heavy bombers against German ground transportation, primarily targeting the
marshaling yard in
Hamm. JG 1 was
scrambled at 17:45 and vectored to vectored to a point of intercept over the
Rothaar Mountains where III.
Gruppe ran into a large formation of
North American P-51 Mustang fighters. For the loss of twelve of their own, III.
Gruppe pilots claimed four P-51 fighters shot down, including one by Burckhardt. In this encounter, Burckhardt was also shot down near
Edersee Dam. Forced to
bail out of his Bf 109 G at low altitude, he came under immediate fire by
strafing fighters, but was unhurt. On 2 July, Burckhardt fell ill with
Malaria and had to be taken off combat duties. Following various staff positions, he was transferred to III.
Gruppe of
Ergänzungs-Jagdgeschwader 2 (EJG 2—2nd Supplementary Fighter Wing) in early 1945 for conversion training to the then new
Messerschmitt Me 262 jet aircraft. Command of 7.
Staffel was then given to
Oberleutnant Fritz Bilfinger. In early March, Burckhardt commanded II.
Gruppe of
Jagdgeschwader 7 "Nowotny" (JG 7—7th Fighter Wing) at
Neumünster airfield in northern Germany. JG 7 "Nowotny" was the first operational jet fighter
wing in the world and was named after
Walter Nowotny, who was killed in action on 8 November 1944. Nowotny, a fighter pilot credited with 258 aerial victories and recipient of the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (), had been assessing the Me 262 under operational conditions. II.
Gruppe had just been formed in February 1945 under the command of
Major Hermann Staiger. ==Later life==