Herbert Bauer was born on 16 April 1919 at Insbruck in Austria. Unteroffizier Bauer began his flying training with Flugzeugführerschule A/B 21 at Magdeburg on 3 May 1940, proceeding to Sturzkampffliegerschule 2 near Graz. Leutnant Bauer was posted to Ergänzungsstaffel/St.G 2 “Immelmann” on 15 February 1941. Bauer was transferred to I./St.G 2 flying the Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber and flew his first combat mission on 7 July 1941 in the Vitebsk area. Leutnant Bauer was awarded the Ehrenpokal on 8 December. On 2 April 1942, Oberleutnant Bauer was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold. On 24 April, he attacked Russian battleships and cruisers in the port of Kronstadt. During his attack he was badly wounded in the jaw by a machine-gun bullet. The injury was to keep him from combat duty until 25 February 1943. In June 1943, Bauer was appointed Staffelkapitän of 3./St.G 2. On 13 July, he recorded his 500th mission in the Charkow area. Oberleutnant Bauer was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 31 December for 700 missions. Bauer was promoted to the rank of Hauptmann on 1 May 1944. He flew his 1,000th mission in the Husi area of Rumania on 3 May. On 15 May 1944, Bauer was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./SG 103 based at Metz-Frescaty in France. Hauptmann Bauer was awarded the Eichenlaub (Nr 618) on 30 September for 1,000 missions. Bauer was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./St.G 2 on 7 November 1944. On 1 March 1945, Bauer was promoted to the rank of Major. During his combat service, Bauer was shot down several times including being being shot down by flak over the Kuban bridgehead and again near Bataisk, where he made an emergency landing at Taganrog. He was shot down by Russian fighters over Stuhlweißenburg and was forced to bale out wounded.
    Herbert Bauer was credited with 11 aerial victories, including one flying the Ju 87 Stuka and 10 flying the Fw 190, in 1,071 missions. In addition he claimed a further 12 unconfirmed aerial victories, 51 tanks and two tank platoons destroyed and recorded hits on the Russian Navy’s battleship “Oktjabrskaya Revoluzia” and a cruiser in the port of Kronstadt.

Tanks : 51
Victories : 11
Awards : Ehrenpokal (8 December 1941)
                Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (2 April 1942)
                Ritterkreuz (31 December 1943)
                Eichenlaub (30 September 1944)
Units : St.G 2, SG 103