Ernst-August Roth

Ernst-August Roth (born April 19, 1898 in Potsdam , † September 26, 1975 in Ahrensburg ) was a German lieutenant general .

Life

In January 1916, Roth joined the Imperial Navy as a midshipman and completed his training at the Mürwik Naval School and on the training ship SMS Freya . In May 1916 he came on board the liner SMS Preußen and then completed his training as a pilot. On September 22, 1916, he was transferred as a pilot to the Second Sea Aviation Division, on October 12, 1916, he was appointed Ensign to the Sea and on March 17, 1918, he was promoted to Lieutenant in the Sea . Until the end of the war he flew missions in the North Sea from Norderney and Zeebrugge . After the end of the war in the Reichsmarine , Roth initially worked as a first lieutenant at sea and company officer in the Wangerooge naval artillery department. From February 1919 he was first officer on a minesweeper for three years . He was then assigned to the coastal defense department before he worked as a company officer in the North Sea ship master division from April 1, 1927. On September 28, 1928, Roth came to the ship of the line Silesia as an officer on watch . Under awarding of character as captain lieutenant he retired from active service on March 31, 1928th

Subsequently, Roth was involved in the secret reconstruction of German naval aviation. From September 26th to November 6th, 1926 he was the representative of the "Navy Air" at the international disarmament conference in Geneva . From 1928 to 1931 he held the position of chief pilot and deputy head of the sea ​​testing center . Until the end of 1933, the sea aviation specialist then served in the naval command in the further development of the naval air force.

On January 1, 1934, Roth was reactivated with his rank in the Reichsmarine and two days later transferred to the secret air force and the Reich Ministry of Aviation . From September to December 1935, Roth headed a study commission for questions about the construction and operation of aircraft carriers , which undertook a trip to Japan to get to know aircraft carriers in operation and to exchange documents on aircraft carrier technology for German naval technology. On November 16, 1935, the construction contracts for the first two German aircraft carriers were received by the shipyards and carrier know-how was urgently needed. From July 1936 to September 1937, Roth was the commander of the Parow Naval Aviation School . After that he was commander of Coastal Aviation Group 106 on the North Sea until March 1939 .

As a lieutenant colonel and from July 1, 1939, Roth was from April 1939 to July 1940 Chief of Staff at the General of the Air Force with the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy . In 1941 he led Kampfgeschwader 28 in the German-Soviet War , u. a. during the air raids on Moscow . On November 13, 1941, he received the German Cross in Gold. He was then a pilot in Sicily from December 11, 1941 to mid-January 1942, worked as a commodore in a bomb squadron and on February 11, 1943, was appointed major general to pilot in Lofoten / Kirkenes . As a pilot in the north, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on November 6, 1943 . From April 19 to August 18, 1944, Roth was the pilot's leader in Drontheim . Subsequently transferred to the leader reserve of the OKL , Roth was appointed Commanding General of the German Air Force in Norway on October 10, 1944 and promoted to Lieutenant General on January 1, 1945.

After the end of the war he was in British captivity from June 9, 1945 , from which Roth was released on March 15, 1948.

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 3: OZ. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1992. ISBN 3-7648-2208-2 , pp. 125-126.
• Paul Schenck (ed.): E-posts Travemünde and Tarnewitz. Volume 2, Luftfahrt-Verlag Walter Zuerl, Steinebach-Wörthsee, ISBN 3-87500-024-2 , pp. 320-332.

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. 640.