Walter Krupinski

Walter Krupinski (second from right) next to Günther Rall in the Ukraine in 1943 .

Walter Krupinski (* 11. November 1920 in Domnau / county Friedland ( East Prussia ); † 7. October 2000 in Neunkirchen-Seelscheid ) was an officer and fighter pilot of the German air force of the Second World War . After an interim period at the " Organization Gehlen ", the predecessor of today's Federal Intelligence Service , he joined the newly founded air force of the German Armed Forces in 1955 , from which he resigned as Lieutenant General . From 1974 to 1976 he was the commanding general of the Air Fleet Command .

childhood

Krupinski spent his childhood in Braunsberg in East Prussia. His father, Friedrich Krupinski, had entered the civil service after leaving the Reichswehr in 1924, first with the East Prussian State Insurance Institute, and later as a bailiff. The work took him to Königsberg in 1929 before the family moved to Braunsberg in 1933. Krupinski's mother, Auguste Krupinski, b. Helmke, raised him and his two brothers Paul and Günther. Contrary to what was later claimed in the Nazi propaganda, Krupinski had no contact with gliding in his youth , although this would have suggested the proximity to the then high-performance gliding center in Rossitten . Instead he turned to sailing and joined the Marine HJ group in Braunsberg in 1936 . During this time he also acquired the small patent . Krupinski finished school on March 21, 1939, and was drafted into the Reich Labor Service (RAD) on April 1, 1939 , which he had to complete in Freystadt near Deutsch-Eylau .

Wehrmacht

After completing the RAD in early September 1939, Krupinski was drafted into the Air Force on October 1, 1939. His first application in 1937 was still for the Navy , which, however, did not accept him due to a lack of performance in the aptitude test and instead recommended that he apply to the Air Force. Krupinski then successfully completed the associated tests in February 1939.

Training as an officer and aviation training

Krupinski's first military unit was the Air Force Training Regiment 10, which was based in Neukuhren, north of Braunsberg . After just six weeks, the future officers were transferred to the Luftwaffe air war schools; On November 1, 1939, Krupinski went to Berlin-Gatow to the Luftkriegsschule 2, where the officers' course and basic aviation training took place. On June 24, 1940 Krupinski received the last flight license to be acquired in Gatow and was promoted to ensign in the same month . After his superiors had determined his suitability as a fighter pilot, he was transferred to Vienna-Schwechat to the fighter pilot school 5. There he later met well-known fighter pilots such as Hans-Joachim Marseille and Walter Nowotny , as well as Paul Galland, brother of General Adolf Galland . At that time the school commander was the bearer of the Pour le Mérite Eduard Ritter von Schleich. The training at the gates of the Austrian capital was followed by a short interlude in Merseburg . However, Krupinski did not make many flights with the local hunting group. He and the other flight students were therefore delighted that they were finally transferred to the supplementary group of Jagdgeschwader 52 in Krefeld at the beginning of November 1940 . Later the training was relocated to Cognac in the south of France because of the better weather . At the end of January 1941 Krupinski was promoted to lieutenant and at the end of February was transferred to Group II of Jagdgeschwader 52 in Belgium.

Western Front 1941

Krupinski was assigned to the 6th season under Rudolf Resch in Maldegem . However, the new pilots did not come to many missions because, unlike the more experienced pilots, they were not allowed to fly freely to England, but were ready to sit in the most literal sense: They were buckled into the Messerschmitt Bf 109 of the squadron and waited for attacks by the Royal Air Force . In the meantime, the squadron moved to Raversijde near Oostende , but there was no major fighting there either. Ahead of the company Barbarossa was the II./JG 52 near a roundabout way to Sobolewo Suwalki relocated to the air support of Army Group ensure middle.

Eastern Front 1941–1944

On August 16, 1941, Walter Krupinski scored his first aerial victory over an I-18. The group followed the rapid advance of the Wehrmacht , aimed at Moscow , until it finally got stuck about 30 kilometers from the Russian capital in winter. In addition to the Central Army Group, it also supported the Northern Army Group, which was to take Leningrad . By the end of 1941, Krupinski had scored six more kills. While he was at home over Christmas 1941, his squadron suffered heavy losses as they were used as infantry due to the bad weather . It was then reorganized and reorganized in Jesau , the old group commander was replaced by Johannes Steinhoff , and Gerhard Barkhorn was given the fourth squadron as the new squadron captain.

By August 22, 1942, he was able to shoot down 50 enemy aircraft, for which he was awarded the German Cross in Gold . After 56 victories in the air, he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on October 29, 1942 . From January to March 1943 he was employed as a trainer in the hunting supplement group east. In the meantime promoted to first lieutenant , he was appointed on March 15, 1943 to the command of the 7th squadron. After 174 victories in the air, on March 2, 1944, he was awarded the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Western Front 1944–1945

After 177 kills and shortly before being awarded the oak leaves, Krupinski joined the Reich Defense on April 18, 1944 and from then on led the 1st squadron of Jagdgeschwader 5. Promoted to captain on May 1, 1944 , he was his successor in mid-May 1944 von Günther Rall Commander of the II. Group of Jagdgeschwader 11, with which he was also deployed on the invasion front in Normandy. From September 27, 1944 he led the III. Group of Jagdgeschwader 26. At the end of the war he had completed 1,100 enemy flights; he had been awarded a total of 197 aerial victories.

Hunting Association 44

On April 1, 1945, Walter Krupinski was visited by Adolf Galland and Johannes Steinhoff in Bad Wiessee. They offered him to fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 in Jagdverband 44 . In this association Galland gathered the most experienced fighter pilots in the Air Force. This association, which was set up on February 24, 1945, included Günther Lützow , Gerhard Barkhorn , Johannes Trautloft , Erich Hohagen and many others who had made a name for themselves up to this point. On April 16 and 26, Krupinski scored his last kills in the Second World War with the Me 262, which brought him to a total of 197 kills. Krupinski was also a witness of the serious start-up accident of Johannes Steinhoff, which marked him all his life. The Jagdverband 44 moved to Salzburg in the last days of April and surrendered to the Americans there. After numerous interviews based on his knowledge of the Me 262, Krupinski was released from American captivity on September 28, 1945.

Organization Gehlen

When the former General Reinhard Gehlen entered the service of the Americans at the end of 1945, his organization Gehlen needed men who knew about aerial warfare. Krupinski was hired and worked until 1953 to collect information about the armed forces in the Soviet sector. In general, there are many contradicting or missing information about this period of Krupinski's life, and he himself only marginally lifted this veil.

armed forces

Office blank

On April 7, 1953, Krupinski was appointed clerk in the Blank Office, the forerunner of what would later become the Federal Ministry of Defense . Since Germany did not have its own armed forces at that time, its main task was to evaluate reports from the Western Allies on the tactics of the fighter pilots and fighter-bombers and to draw conclusions from them for a possible German air force. Krupinski's "superior" in the Blank office, Johannes Steinhoff, was instructed in 1953 by the Americans in Fürstenfeldbruck on Lockheed F-80 and T-33 for this reason . Krupinksi himself was given the opportunity to refresh his flying skills in Wiesbaden in the summer of 1953. In addition, Krupinski helped decide which training aircraft the Air Force should acquire in order to train the pilots of the combat aircraft themselves sooner or later.

Training in Great Britain and Commodore in Büchel

After the first three German pilots had trained for the Air Force in the United States of America , the Bundeswehr received an identical offer from the Royal Air Force. In addition to Walter Krupinksi, Herbert Wehnelt and Gerhard Barkhorn were selected, who left for Great Britain on January 16, 1956. Farewell to Krupinski's unpopular staff work was a good thing; his aversion was to be shown even more frequently in his era in the Air Force of the Federal Republic. The training on training and emergency aircraft lasted until the end of September 1956, after which he returned to the ministry, but only for a short time.

From October 20, 1956, Krupinski was commissioned to set up the Luftwaffe 30 (WaSLw 30) weapons school in Fürstenfeldbruck and then to relocate it to the Büchel Air Base near Cochem, which the French had built a few years earlier in the Eifel . The task of the school should not lie in the basic training, rather the pilots who went through Krupinski's school should receive their training there on the first fighter-bomber of the Bundeswehr, the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak . The relocation of the weapons school began on July 12, 1957 with the relocation of the personnel responsible for the maintenance of the air base, at the beginning of October followed the first squadron (1./WaSLw 30) with 77 aircraft, of which 72 were F-84F under the Command from Gerhard Barkhorn. Due to the NATO doctrine, the German Air Force also made squadrons available for a nuclear strike; the first unit of this type was to emerge from the weapons school 30. On January 20, 1958, Gerhard Barkhorn left Büchel in the direction of Nörvenich to set up Fighter Bomber Wing 31, with effect from July 1 of the same year the school became Fighter Bomber Wing 33 , and Krupinksi automatically became its first commodore (until then he was "Commander") ). Under his encouraging Commodore, the squadron was already training the dropping and handling of nuclear weapons at this time, although the subordination to NATO did not take place until December 15, 1958 and the strike machines, i.e. a nuclear alarm in the event of war, only started in January 1960 had to be asked.

The years 1960 to 1962 were characterized by operational flight operations, but at this time it was already becoming clear which model would replace the aged F-84F. In previous years Krupinksi had been one of the experienced pilots who had been asked for an opinion on the alternatives. In December 1957 he was allowed to fly the Lockheed F-104 "Starfighter" in Palmdale, California , and at the end of May 1958 in Villaroche the French competitor, the Dassault Mirage III . In addition, the prototype Northrop N156 F was shortlisted, but Krupinski recommended the acquisition of the F-104. The decision in favor of the F-104 was also made on his recommendation, but mainly for reasons of industrial policy and military strategy.

The era of the most controversial aircraft in post-war history at JaboG 33 began at the beginning of August 1962 when the first two F-104G were transferred to Büchel, and on December 28th Krupinski handed over the squadron to Georg Wroblewski . Wroblewski and Krupinski knew each other from the Second World War, when his successor had been a squadron captain under his command.

In higher offices

Walter Krupinski's next station was a command authority: He became head of the “ Combat Units ” division in the Air Force Command Staff (Fü L) II 4. There it became very clear what superiors also expressed in assessments: Krupinski was not a fan of staff work, he was more interested in leadership of a squadron. During his time with the command staff, he also trained as a general staff officer at the command academy of the Bundeswehr . At the turn of the year 1964/65 it became clear that a training command in the USA should take over the coordination of the various courses in America, Werner Panitzki , the inspector of the Air Force, had Krupinski planned for this, not least because he knew that Krupinski was reluctant to be on the command staff wanted to stay. In July 1966, Krupinski was promoted to Brigadier General and first commander to Fort Bliss, Texas .

In the Texas border town it was Krupinski's task to set up the German Air Force Training Command USA, initially with very limited resources. Krupinski were thus subordinate to over 5,000 soldiers in about 20 locations spread across the United States. During his stay, Krupinski improved the cooperation between German and American units, until he was transferred back to Germany in November 1968.

Division commander and commanding general of the air fleet

Walter Krupinski's first assignment after his return, which he took up on November 19, 1968, was more of a small footnote, as a flight safety stage manager in Porz-Wahn , because Krupinski only held this task until April 1, 1969. On that day, when he was promoted to major general , Krupinski became commander of the 3rd Air Force Division in Münster , from 1970 in Kalkar and was thus the reconnaissance wing for fighter-bomber squadrons 31 in Nörvenich , 36 in Rheine , 38 in Jever , 41 in Husum , 43 in Oldenburg 52 in Stadum / Leck as well as various anti-aircraft missile units.

In this role, too, Krupinski was able to fly one or the other flight hour on the F-104G as a so-called practice holder, on June 19, 1970 he seriously damaged a starfighter at the Greek air base Tanagra because he misjudged his landing approach and only with the help of the safety cable system came to a stop before the end of the runway. After about a year, he handed over command of the division to Gerhard Limberg , who later became the Inspector of the Air Force, and moved as Chief of Staff to the 2nd Allied Tactical Air Force (ATAF) and thus to a command that deployed the coordinated various allied squadrons. The 2nd ATAF in Rheindahlen were subordinate to various German units as well as units of the Royal Air Force, and this air fleet was commanded by a British general. On October 29, 1974, he was appointed Commanding General of the Air Fleet and promoted to Lieutenant General a year later.

Affairs and dismissal

In 1974, during Krupinski's time as Commanding General of the Air Fleet, Helmut Schmidt was elected Federal Chancellor and the defense budget was further reduced. This also involved zero rounds in the bonuses for the Bundeswehr's aviation personnel, whereupon they publicly complained under spokesman Major Klaus Langer about the savings in salaries. After Langer had a fatal accident on March 23, 1976, the investigations revealed that he had been spied on by the Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD), although the MAD's competencies did not cover this. Krupinski is said to have been one of those who knew about it. Although this was never proven, it was the first time that it attracted attention, especially since he personally entered into a conflict with Schmidt's successor as minister, Georg Leber .

On November 8, 1976, he was adopted into retirement because of the Rudel affair .

Honors

• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (1942)
• German Cross in Gold (1942)
• Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross (1944)
• Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class (May 15, 1973)

See also

• List of German fighter pilots in World War II
• List of bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Fighter Pilots
• List of bearers of oak leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

literature

• Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general . Moosburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-9811615-5-7 .

Web links

• Luftwaffe flying ace, YouTube video, Krupinski in full.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Kurt Braatz, Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2010, p. 15 ff.
2. ↑ Paul Krupinski joined the Navy after completing school and completed his training as a submarine driver. Last used on U-771, it fell when the boat was sunk off the Norwegian coast by the British submarine HMS Venturer. See also the English entry on Krupinski .
3. ^ ^{A b} Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 18 ff.
4. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 22 ff.
5. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 25.
6. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 27 ff.
7. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 30 ff.
8. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 36.
9. ^ ^{A b} Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 40 ff.
10. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 48.
11. ^ ^{A b} Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 52 ff.
12. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, pp. 316-321.
13. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 61 and 63.
14. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 158.
15. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 166.
16. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 170.
17. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 177 ff.
18. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 184 ff.
19. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 187 f.
20. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 194.
21. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, pp. 201-204.
22. ^ ^{A b} Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 206 f.
23. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 218.
24. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 232 ff.
25. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 211 ff.
26. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 215 f.
27. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 246 f.
28. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 262.
29. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 253.
30. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 255.
31. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 260.
32. ↑ Krupinski himself said, " These goddamned guys from Bonn (meaning the Federal Ministry of Defense in Bonn, Goodie4711) don't even allow me a driver, according to the motto: The revenge of the little man, " Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 263.
33. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, pp. 263-270.
34. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 270.
35. ↑ 3rd Air Force Division of the German Armed Forces on Relichern.com, accessed on August 1, 2011.
36. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 271.
37. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 273 f.
38. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 280.
39. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 28.1
40. ↑ Kurt Braatz: Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general. , 2010, p. 282.
41. ↑ Office of the Federal President