his mind and convinced him that he should become an aviator. As a teenager, he had ambitions to become an airline pilot with Deutsche Luft Hansa. He acquired the nickname Pritzl because of his affection for Pritzl candy bars. The Great Depression prevented Bär from gaining a civil pilot license; three separate licenses were required by airlines. In 1934, he joined the Reichswehr and was assigned to the 3. Kompanie of Kraftfahrabteilung 4 (3rd Company of the 4th Motor Vehicle Battalion) as a mechanic. He served in this position until the following year, when he was transferred to a combat wing of the Luftwaffe. A few months later, he was accepted for pilot training, receiving his transport aircraft pilot's training. From 1 November 1937 to 31 March 1938, Bär attended the flight school at Oldenburg and was then transferred to the flight school at Hildesheim. He was transferred again, attending the flight school at Ludwigslust where he attained his Luftwaffe Advanced Pilot's Certificate (Erweiterter Luftwaffen-Flugzeugführerschein), also known as 'C'-Certificate, confirming proficiency on multi-engine aircraft, on 16 May 1938. Bär then attended the blind flying school Blindflugschule 2 (BFS 2—2nd blind flying school) at Neuburg an der Donau from 7 July to 14 August 1938. He was transferred to I./Jagdgeschwader 135, the core of the future Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51), on 1 September 1938, usually flying the Junkers Ju 86. The Squadron Leader (Staffelkapitän) Douglas Pitcairn noticed Bär's flying talents and tried to convince Bär to become a fighter pilot. Initially Bär refused, but after he illegally conducted some aerobatics in the Ju 86 leading to an engine failure, he reluctantly accepted and became a fighter pilot. World War II Stationed on the border with France, Bär achieved his first victory—a Curtiss P-36 Hawk—on 25 September 1939 during the Phoney War air skirmishes with the Armée de l'Air (French Air Force). This earned him the Iron Cross 2nd Class () on 29 September 1939 which was presented to him by Hugo Sperrle. During the Battle of France, he was credited with two more aerial victories before adding a further 10 during the Battle of Britain and was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class () on 6 July 1940. During this time, he had several emergency landings in badly damaged aircraft and was shot down over the English Channel on 2 September 1940 by a Spitfire. Bär was summoned to appear before