(Luftwaffe Porträt mit Unterschrift). A wartime signed studio portrait of Luftwaffe Fighter Ace Hermann Graf, depicted in the uniform of a Major, with the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds clearly visible, the obverse featuring a handwritten blue ink autograph with a date of 19 December 1942, the reverse with an unused postcard arrangement, with a studio mark of “PHOTO-HOFFMANN, MÜNCHEN”, measuring 90 mm (w) x 141 mm (h), in extremely fine condition.
Footnote: A veteran of both the Eastern and Western Fronts of the Second World War, Hermann Graf became the first fighter pilot in the history of aerial warfare to claim 200 victories. He achieved such prominent status that, fearing his death in combat would damage national morale, in 1943 he was briefly withdrawn from active service and transferred to a pilot training school in France. However, due to manpower shortages, he was recalled to combat duty with the Luftwaffe in November of that year. Graf achieved the rank of Oberst and commanded his own fighter wing through the end of the war. He eventually flew a total of 830 combat missions, with 212 victories overall. Initially taken prisoner by US forces, he was extradited to the Soviet Union where he was held in captivity until 1949, before finally being repatriated to Germany. He retired to private life and died in Engen, West Germany on 4 November 1988.