The son of a teacher, Hans Schwing was born on 5 Sep 1921 in Friedewald, a municipality in the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district near Bad Hersfeld. He had a younger brother and sister. He learnt to fly gliders in the HJ. He enlisted in the Luftwaffe in 1940. In April 41 he started his ab initio training at Klagenfurt and by November 1942 he was training with JFS 7 in Nancy, France. His unit became 2./JG 107 in January 1943. He went to 1./EJG Süd (in Orange, France) in mid-1943 before being posted to 6./JG 77 in July 1943, to undergo training on the Macchi 205 Veltro fighter - Uffz. Schwing was apparently an Italian speaker. However he was injured in a take-off accident attempting to get airborne with other machines on 20 December 1943 - damages were assessed at 90%. This would be one of the last reported losses of a Macchi 205 in II./JG 77 as 5. and 6. Staffel finally received their Bf 109s barely one week later. Schwing recovered from his injuries and returned to his Staffel but was (most likely) shot down and killed in combat with Spitfires on 18 March 1944 in the vicinity of Cassino. (reported missing when he failed to return from an afternoon sortie over the Nettuno bridgehead/Cassino area) His crashed Bf 109 'yellow 7' was only discovered several days later. He was buried at Fiuggi close to the site of his crash. His logbook returned to the family lists 739 flights including over 500 at Klagenfurt. Also returned with his effects was a 'blood-encrusted' wallet which he was carrying when he was shot down. This detail was noted in correspondence in 1989 received from his sister, Marga. Schwing's younger brother was also KIA with his Heer unit - killed in the West in January 1945 (Alsace) when his vehicle hit a mine..
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JG 77 in Italy - September, October 1943