Alfred Erhard

Alfred Erhard (born April 15, 1899 in Aschaffenburg , † April 17, 1945 in Düsseldorf ) was a German officer , most recently Major General of the Air Force in World War II .

Life

Erhard joined the Bavarian Army on July 15, 1916 during the First World War and worked as a group and platoon leader and later in the rank of lieutenant as a company commander and MG officer in the staff of the 2nd Infantry Regiment "Crown Prince" . There he became an orderly officer on November 1, 1918 .

After the end of the war , Erhard served from February to mid-November 1919 in the same position at the Munich city command . On November 18, 1919, he joined the Bavarian police, where he remained until September 30, 1926. Erhard then completed his assistant leadership training at Military District Command VII by the end of September 1928. After completing it, he worked as an assistant officer at the Bavarian State Police Inspectorate until December 15, 1933 and then as a consultant there until August 31, 1935.

On September 1, 1935, Erhard was taken over as a captain in the air force, where he served in the 1st division of the 5th Flak Regiment until the end of September 1936. Then he was transferred to the 1st Division of the 28th Flak Regiment, where he was an officer in the staff and at the same time battery chief . From December 1, 1936 to December 22, 1937, Erhard completed general staff training at the Air War Academy in Berlin-Gatow . After its termination he was group commander in Kampfgeschwader 23 until August 31, 1938 . Here he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on April 1, 1937 .

From September 1938 to the end of January 1939 he served on the staff of the 7th Flieger Division . From February 1, 1939 to July 6, 1940 he was group leader III at Quartermaster General 2 in the Reich Aviation Ministry . From there he was delegated from July 7th to the end of November as a department commander to Flak Regiment 38. Erhard was then from December 1940 to November 1943 Chief of Staff of the Luftgau Command West France. He then led the 5th Flak Brigade until the end of July 1944 . On August 1, 1944, he took over the leadership of the 7th Flak Division , which he led until April 17, 1945, one day before its surrender in the Ruhr basin . On April 17th, he shot himself near Düsseldorf. On January 1, 1945, he was promoted to major general.

literature

• Dermot Bradley (ed.), Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand: The Generals of the German Air Force 1935-1945. The military careers of the aviator, anti-aircraft cartillery, paratrooper, air intelligence and engineer officers, including doctors, judges, intendants and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 1: Abernetty – v. Gyldenfeldt. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-2207-4 . P. 254f.

credentials

1. ↑ ^{a b} Samuel W. Mitcham: German Order of Battle: 291st-999th Infantry divisions, named infantry divisions, and special divisions in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3437-0 , pp. 330 ( google.de [accessed on May 4, 2019]).