Erica Barkhorn

Born in Kaisersberg, located near Libau, Gertrud volunteered to the military even before the Neuroi invasion and was assigned to the Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG2) as a regular officer after leaving the military academy. Soon after, she was transferred to the Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG52), piling up promotions along the way. She had a cat-and-dog relationship with (at the time) Pilot Officer Marseille, her subordinate back then. Marseille not only treated Gertrud like someone of lower rank, but also ridiculed her as a "hard-headed siscon". When her little sister Christiane was in a comatose state after being injured in the evacuation war, Gertrud's behavior shifted to that of almost suicidal recklessness, and a bitterness towards anyone not doing the same. However, she gradually recovered due to her contact with Sergeant Miyafuji. With Chris' convalescence and later awakening, she began to gallantly go visit her and send souvenirs from her place of deployment. It seems that Gertrud herself thought that she "had been trying to not show it in front of people", which greatly surprised Flying Officer Juutilainen.

At one point, she, Wiese, Hartmann and Krupinski had an audience with the Emperor of Karlsland. If Johanna hadn't been there, a hole would have opened in Barkhorn's stomach due to stress during that small trip. It was also around that time that she deepened her friendship with Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke and Hartmann. At the time, Nakajima Nishiki fought together with both Barkhorn and Hartmann... but pitifully, she was completely forgotten by the two.

Seeing how Angela Salas Larrazabal has a history in the División Azul, she might have met Hartmann and Barkhorn, two of the best Karlslander aces, during the evacuation of Karlsland.

During the Gallia evacuation war, Gertrud became the commander of the JG52 Gruppe II. However, the other members of the flying corps were scattered in the middle of the evacuation war, with only her and Flying Officer Hartmann remaining in the end. Afterwards, with the establishment of the 501st JFW, she joined in along with Wing Commander Wilcke and Flying Officer Hartmann in June 1941, becoming one of its founding members.

After the liberation of Gallia and the disbanding of the 501st JFW, Gertrud moved to Sint-Truiden (St. Trond), Belgica, along with Wing Commander Wilcke and Flying Officer Hartmann, engaging in Karlsland recapture operations.

She was the third person from Karlsland to achieve a shot-down record of 250 units, being awarded with a Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern). Within the Strike Witches' universe, she is one of the best-seven witches in terms of shot down count (the other six being Wilcke, Erica Hartmann, Heidemarie W. Schnaufer, Gundula Rall, Hanna-Justina Marseille and Hanna U. Rudel).

Ever since the 501st JFW was reformed in Romagna, Gertrud once performed a test flight on a Me262V1 - a new Jet Striker developed in Neue Karlsland. However, a defect in the machine caused her to suffer from heavy magic power consumption and made her crash from exhaustion.

She has something of a principle to not put anything in her room that could be described as extreme and, in a sense, tasteless. When she shared a room with Flying Officer Hartmann, a red boundary line was drawn in the center of the room as a method to not permit the trespassing of objects (junk). A fence was set on that boundary line, which Gertrud herself calls the Siegfried Line. The fence has stayed firm even after moving bases, though Hartmann appears to breach the "line" every so often, much to Gertrud's dismay.

A calm, cool and collected realist, Gertrud always tries to conduct herself in a rational manner. But since deep down she is a hot-blooded person, there are also times when her emotions get too worked up and she loses sight of her surroundings. She believes that a military member should abide by discipline and rules, but doesn't seem to try to impose her strict ideals much on anyone other than Flying Officer Hartmann.

She has a tendency to be too hard on others, though even moreso on herself. She's a stickler for rules and regulations, and dislikes when people are late. Gertrud is the type of person who never lets her guard down, however to her close friends Minna and Erica - both of whom she's known for a long time - she's slightly more open and friendly. Despite this closeness, or perhaps because of it, she yells at Erica for her laziness and lack of discipline constantly.

Gertrud has a serious siscon side, with a weakness for not only "little sisters" but also "little sister-like characters". The targets of her affections are those who resemble her own little sister, Chris, in appearance (like Sergeant Miyafuji) or those who she concludes that were "certainly raised by a gentle elder sister" (like Flying Officer Litvyak). Those like Pilot Officer Lucchini or Flying Officer Juutilainen are excluded, likely due to their laid-back and rather noisy personalities.

Gertrud's cooking specialty is the Eisbein. She usually isn't particular about how things taste, but that changes when she's cooking for her little sister.

Gertrud also happens to be terrible at handling complex machines, with her driving skill (or lack thereof) being especially dangerous. Despite hardly relying on Flying Officer Hartmann for anything on the ground, she tends to let the Hartmann take the wheel when they travel. This is perhaps the greatest indicator of just how poor Gertrud's own driving ability must be.

Gertrud's inherent magic is called Herculean Strength: Super Physical Strengthening (怪力〈超身体強化〉, Kairiki 〈Chō-shintai Kyōka〉) Classified in telekinesis-lineage, it far exceeds the Body Strengthening (肉体強化), Nikutai Kyōka) - one of the basic abilities of a Witch - in capacity and sustainability. This kind of ability circulates the magic power inside the body and expenditure is low since there is no external diffusion, making it possible to employ it for long periods of time. Because of that, Gertrud can hold heavy armaments that normal Witches cannot and, from the fact she can carry even more ammunition than others, this can be described as an ability suited for drawn-out combats. It also allows her to tear off iron chains and lift up steel frames of a few tons for a short time. It appears she's even capable of stopping a high speed Neuroi in its tracks with her bare hands, so it's hard to gauge the limits of her ability.

Gertrud can perform for a long time in combat with heavy armaments thanks to the special qualities of her inherent magic, and is a capable flying corps' combat leader. She is also skilled in drafting operation plans, arranging of equipment and human resources, and desk work about things such as management of supplies, making her a good fighter wing's adjutant. Within the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, she is the archivist in charge.

Despite her poor handling of machines, she has a knack for getting the hang of Striker Units, so it is not uncommon for her to rush into testing new units without training.

[https://worldwitches.fandom.com/wiki/Gertrud_Barkhorn]

Affiliations:

❖ Karlsland Air Force 2nd Fighter Wing (JG2)

❖ Karlsland Air Force 52nd Fighter Wing 2nd Flying Corps (Commander) (II./JG52)

Team: 501st Joint Fighter Wing

Rank: Flying Officer, Flight Lieutenant, Squadron Leader

Striker Units:

❖ FlakWolf Fw190D-6 Prototype (W.Nr0039) (1944)

❖ Messerscharf Bf109G-6 (White No.5)

❖ FlakWolf Fw190D-9 (White No.5) (1945)

❖ Messerscharf Me262V1

Weapons:

❖ MG42

❖ MG131

❖ MG151/20

❖ MK108

❖ BK-5

❖ Colt SAA Revolver

❖ others

Familiar: German Pointer