Germany, Luftwaffe. A Rare Promotion Document for Oberstleutnant Horst-Günther von Fassong, Fighter Ace and Bodenplatte KIA

(Luftwaffe Ernennungsurkunde für einen Leutnant zum Oberstleutnant). Constructed of off-white paper stock with black ink, featuring a typewritten inscription elevating Leutnant Horst-Günther (rendered as Horst) von Fassong to the rank of Oberleutnant, issued by the Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe (Supreme Commander of the Luftwaffe) on 26 March 1942 with an effective date of 1 April 1942, certified by the facsimile signature of Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, measuring 25 cm (w) x 35 cm (h), demonstrating some foxing and fatigue to the edges, a scarce document in better than very fine condition.

Footnote: Horst-Günther von Fassong was born in Kassel on 27 April 1919. He initially began his military service in the Heerwith Aufklärungsabteilung 7 of the 4. Panzer-Division, before transferring to the Luftwaffe in May 1940 to train as a fighter pilot. After completing flight training, he was posted to 3./Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" (JG 51) in early 1941, then operating on the Channel Coast. With the opening of Operation Barbarossa, JG 51 moved east, and von Fassong scored his first two aerial victories on 3 July 1941 by shooting down Soviet I-16 fighters near Rogachev. Over the next three years he became one of JG 51's leading fighter pilots, amassing the majority of his victories against Soviet aircraft while flying both the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and later the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. 

Promoted through the officer ranks to Oberleutnant, von Fassong was appointed Staffelkapitän of 10./JG 51 in February 1943. He steadily increased his score through late 1943 and into 1944, and was awarded the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 20 September 1943 and the German Cross in Gold on 17 October 1943. In May 1944 he was transferred to the Reich Defence force and assumed command of III./Jagdgeschwader 11 (III./JG 11) as Gruppenkommandeur. In this new role he engaged heavy bomber formations of the United States Army Air Forces and was credited with several four-engined bombers among his victories. For his success as both a leader and combatant, he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 27 July 1944 as a Hauptmann and commander of III./JG 11.

Von Fassong's exact victory total remains disputed. Historian Ernst Obermaier credited him with approximately 75 to 80 victories, while other researchers, including Mike Spick, credited him with as many as 136 aerial victories, including approximately 90 on the Eastern Front and 46 in the West, among them four heavy bombers. His career came to an end during Operation Bodenplatte, the Luftwaffe's massive New Year's Day offensive against Allied airfields in support of the stalled Operation Wacht am Rhein (the Battle of the Bulge). On 1 January 1945, while leading III./JG 11 in low-level operations near Maastricht, his Fw 190 A-8 was attacked by American P-47 Thunderbolts. According to his wingman, Unteroffizier Armin Mehling, von Fassong's aircraft was hit, burst into flames, and crashed near Asch, resulting in his death at the age of 25.