Bruno Dilley

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Bruno Dilley (born August 29, 1913 in Gumbinnen ; † August 31, 1968 in Landsberg am Lech ) was a " Stuka " pilot in the German Air Force during World War II and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross .

Early career

Dilley obtained his officer's license at the Higher Police School Potsdam-Eiche before joining the Air Force as a lieutenant in 1935. On June 1, 1938, he was transferred to the 3rd squadron of Group I of Stuka Squadron 1 as a squadron captain.

Second World War

On September 1, 1939 at 4:45 a.m., it was Dilley who flew the Luftwaffe's first combat mission in World War II. His job was to prevent the Dirschau bridge from being destroyed. With the first bomb dropped in World War II, Dilley destroyed the explosive line, but the bridge was later destroyed by the Polish troops. After 23 further missions in the context of the attack on Poland , his squadron was relocated to Norway in April 1940 for the Weser Exercise company and then to France from June 14, 1940 . After the Battle of Britain his squadron took part in the Balkan campaign, where Dilley was forced to make an emergency landing in the Yugoslav mountains behind enemy lines , but escaped capture with his radio operator. After further deployments in Africa , Dilley was withdrawn from the front in autumn 1941 and became head of the aviation school in Wertheim .

In January 1942 he was transferred to the Eastern Front as group leader of the I. Group of Stuka Squadron 2 "Immelmann" . Here he was caught by flak fire on February 12, 1942 near Staraya Russa and shot down. When attempting an emergency landing, his plane overturned and Dilley was rescued from the wreck by his radio operator, unconscious. It was only three days later and in freezing cold that they reached their own lines in the Demyansk pocket . In June of the same year Dilley was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross after 325 enemy flights. The following winter, he was shot down three more times, but each time he avoided capture. On January 8, 1943, he received the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross for 600 enemy flights, and in October 1943 he took over the post of commander of the pilot school in Metz until the end of the war . By the end of the war he had completed nearly 700 enemy flights.

armed forces

In 1956 Dilley joined the German Armed Forces as commander of the A pilot school in Landsberg ; he ended his career as a lieutenant colonel and commander of the Reutlingen defense district .

Awards

literature

  • Holger Nauroth: Stukageschwader 2 "Immelmann". A documentary about the most successful German Stukageschwader. Verlag KW Schütz, Preussisch Oldendorf 1988, ISBN 3-87725-123-4 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 273.
personal data
SURNAME Dilley, Bruno
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pilot and knight's cross carrier in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH August 29, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Gumbinnen
DATE OF DEATH August 31, 1968
Place of death Landsberg am Lech