[Below: Hans-Joachim Marseille, looking suave and a bit devious, in rare color]

[Below: Hans-Joachim Marseille, blue eyes shining]

[Below: Hans-Joachim Marseille, September 1942. Courtesy of the Bundesarchiv.]

[Below: Hans-Joachim Marseille]

[Below: Hans-Joachim Marseille. Note his German Cross in Gold (left pocket) and Iron Cross 1st Class (right pocket) medals. The ribbon seen attached to his button represents an Iron Cross 2nd Class. Marseille also was awarded the Honorary Cup of the Luftwaffe, the Pilot/Observer Badge in Gold with Diamonds (presented by Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring), the Medaglia d'Oro-the highest Italian award for bravery (presented by Benito Mussolini in Rome), the Africa Cuffband (posthumously), and the Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold with Pennant "300" (standing for 300 missions). Not to mention his coveted Knight's Cross, with Oakleaves, Swords and Diamonds. He was a true hero.]

[Below: Marseille reading Signal Magazine.]

[Below: Marseille standing with another Knight's Cross winner.]

[Below: Marseille in the cockpit.]

[Below: Marseille explaining to a comrade the details of his last mission.]

[Below: Marseille in the cockpit.]

[Below: Marseille and Fritz Dettmann.]

[Below: Award time.]

[Below: Painting kills on Marseille's rudder. I'm surprised they didn't run out of room! By the end of his short and brilliant career he earned 158 kills.]

[Below: Marseille's rudder with 136 kills.]

[Below: Marseille posing next to one of his aerial victories, a Hurricane Mk IIB of No. 213 Squadron RAF, February 1942. Courtesy of the Bundesarchiv.]

[Below: Marseille with his mother Charlotte in 1942.]

[Below: Marseille and his fiance, Hanneliese Kupper.]

[Below: Marseille (2nd from right) with fiance Hanneliese Kupper during leave at Berlin Palast after an award ceremony.]

[Below: Marseille speeaks with teenagers from Hitlerjugend about his exploits in North Africa.]

[Below: The final picture taken of Hans-Joachim Marseille in the evening prior to his death.]

[Below: Crash site of Hans-Joachim Marseille.]

[Below: Marseille's broken body.]

[Below: Ludwig Franzisket gently removes Marseille's Knight's Cross and other medals to be given to his family.]

[Below: Marseille's coffin draped with Germany's flag.]

[Below: Marseille's funeral. His Italian comrades also attended with his countrymen.]

[Below: Marseille's funeral.]

[Below: Marseille's funeral.]

[Below: In 1989 his family, countrymen, comrades and former enemies gathered in Egypt to honor him. What a superb human being he must have been. And on a side note, Marseille would fly back to the area after a battle to look for the pilots of the planes he had downed, in hopes of helping them. If they didn't have time to parachute out he would sift through the remains and find their dogtags and other personal identification items and deliver them to their base! This was quite a daring thing to do, and his superiors ordered him not to do it any longer, but being who he was, he still did it.
They broke the mold when the gods made Hans-Joachim Marseille. R.I.P. Star of Africa.]