Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 22, 2009

Werner Mölders (1913–1941) was a German Luftwaffe pilot. He was the leading German fighter ace in the Spanish Civil War; in World War II, he became the first pilot in aviation history to claim 100 aerial victories. The highly decorated Mölders was instrumental in the development of new fighter tactics which led to the finger-four formation. In 1938, he volunteered for service in the Condor Legion, which supported General Francisco Franco's Nationalist Falange in the Spanish Civil War, and shot down 15 aircraft. In World War II, he claimed 101 aerial victories for which he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. Banned from flying further combat missions Mölders was promoted to Oberst, and appointed Inspector General of Fighters. He was killed in an aircraft crash, in which he was traveling as a passenger. The German Wehrmacht of the Third Reich and the Bundeswehr of the Federal Republic of Germany both honoured him by naming two fighter wings, a destroyer and barracks after him. In the 1970s–1990s, he became part of a broader discussion in Germany over remembering the Holocaust and honouring decorated soldiers of the Third Reich. (more...)

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