Hans-Jürgen Hepe was born on 30 October 1912.

He took part in the Spanish Civil War as a member of the Legion Condor.

At 10:30 on 12 February 1937, 18 I-16s (and probably four I-15s) scrambled towards Madrid to intercept three Ju 52/3ms and 16 He 51s. The fighters became involved in combat with each other, and the Soviet pilots returned to claim seven He 51s shot down. All victories were claimed by the I-16s from 1^a/21 (Escuadrilla Kolesnikov) and claiming pilots were leitenant Pavel Putivko, leitenant Petr Khara, Petr Shevtsov, leitenant Prokopiy Akulenko, starshiy leitenant Aleksandr Tarasov while leitenant Dmitriy Lesnikov and Nikolay Vinogradov claimed a shared. The last was claimed as a shared by Andrey Morozov together with the two other pilots in his group. There were no losses among the Republican aircraft but the I-16s flown by Lesnikov, Putivko, Morozov and Tarasov returned with battle damage.
The Kapitän of 1.J/88, Hauptmann Werner Palm (He 51B-1), and Unteroffizier Hepe (He 51B-1) were both shot down in flames by I-16s over the Jarama area after that Hepe had claimed an I-16 (claimed as a ”Boeing”). Although both men were wounded, they were able to use their parachutes to jump to safety, landing in Nationalist territory.

Hepe ended the Spanish Civil War with 1 biplane victory.

Hepe was promoted to Leutnant on 1 August 1939.

He continued to serve during the Second World War, initially in JG 2.

Around 30 March 1940, Oberleutnant Hepe was appointed as Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 2.

On 16 May, he was posted to 5./JG 2

He was appointed as Staffelkapitän of 4./JG 2 on 28 October and remained there until 17 May 1942.

On 2 July 1941 and after having taken off from Abbeville-Drucat, Oberleutnant Hepe was shot down during aerial combat 1 km southwest of Cassel (16.5 km north-east of St. Omer) in Bf 109 F-2 WNr. 6758. He was wounded but managed to bail out successfully.

On 1 April 1942, he was promoted to Hauptmann.

Hepe served as Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 2 from 31 July 1942 until he was shot down by B-17s on 29 May 1943. He bailed out, wounded, in the vicinity of Langan.
He did not return to combat after this.

On 25 June, he was awarded the Ehrenpokal.

Hepe served as Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 2 from 31 July 1942 until he was shot down by B-17s on 29 May 1943. He bailed out, wounded, in the vicinity of Langan. He had taken-off from Triquervill in FW 190 A-4 WNr. 145675.
He did not return to combat after this.

Officially, he left the command of 1./JG 2 on 30 June 1943.

He was the Kommandeur of I./JGr 105 from September 1943 until 15 September 1944.

In December 1944 he joined I./JG 400.

Hepe ended the war with 1 biplane victory and a total of 14.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1937
1	12/02/37	10:30-	1	I-16 (a)	Destroyed	Heinkel He 51 B-1		Jarama area	1.J/88
	1940
2	16/05/40	15:03	1	Hurricane	Destroyed	Bf 109 E		Mons	5./JG 2
3	18/05/40	12:50	1	Hurricane	Destroyed	Bf 109 E		Antwerpen	5./JG 2
	1941
4	06/04/41	13:40	1	Blenheim	Destroyed	Bf 109		6km N Plouestat	4./JG 2
5	21/06/41	16:45	1	Spitfire (b)	Destroyed	Bf 109		Boulogne-Hardelot	4./JG 2
6	21/06/41	16:47	1	Spitfire (b)	Destroyed	Bf 109		Boulogne-Hardelot	4./JG 2
7	23/06/41	20:19	1	Blenheim (c)	Destroyed	Bf 109			4./JG 2
8	23/06/41	20:19	1	Spitfire (c)	Destroyed	Bf 109			4./JG 2
9	02/07/41	12:55	1	Spitfire (d)	Destroyed	Bf 109			4./JG 2
10	13/10/41		1	Spitfire	Destroyed	Bf 109			4./JG 2
	1942
11	19/08/42	12:25	1	Spitfire	Destroyed	Bf 109		5km N Dieppe: 500m	1./JG 2
12	08/09/42	14:37	1	Spitfire	Destroyed	Bf 109			1./JG 2
	1943
13	16/04/43	13:46	1	Spitfire	Destroyed	Bf 109		2km SW Plouguin: 7000 [Finistère]	1./JG 2
14	01/05/43	14:45	1	B-17	Destroyed	Bf 109		20km N St. Brieuc: 0-5m	1./JG 2

Biplane victories: 1 destroyed.
TOTAL: 14 destroyed.
(a) Claimed as a ‘Boeing’.
(b) Claimed during RAF No. 11 Group Circus 17.
(c) Claimed during RAF No. 11 Group Circus 20.
(d) Claimed during RAF No. 11 Group Circus 29.

Sources:
Aces of the Legion Condor – Robert Forsyth, 2011 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 978-1-84908-347-8
Aces of the Luftwaffe
Aircrew Remembered
Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries – Henry L. deZeng IV and Douglas G. Stankey
The Legion Condor - Karl Ries and Hans Ring, 1992 Schiffer Publishing, ISBN 0-88740-339-5
The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
Additional information kindly provided by Johannes Matthews.