Fritz Morzik

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Fritz Morzik, second from the right
Fritz Morzik after the European flight in Berlin-Tempelhof, 1930

Friedrich-Wilhelm "Fritz" Morzik (born December 10, 1891 in Passenheim , † June 17, 1985 in Freudenstadt ) was a German pilot , flight instructor and, with the rank of major general, commander of German transport aircraft in World War II .

Life

Morzik was the son of a mill operator . It was one of the very few generals in the Wehrmacht whose father belonged to the working class. Even before the beginning of World War I , Fritz Morzik was an observer in a field pilot unit (FFA) of the German Army . In 1915 he was trained as a pilot and member of the "300 'Pascha" aviation division of the " Asia Corps ", which operated in the Middle East in support of the Turkish government. After the war he worked briefly for the Police Flieger-Staffel in Breslau , from 1921 to 1922 for " Deutsche Aero Lloyd " in Berlin and from 1923 to 1928 at the Junkers aircraft factory in Dessau . He then worked as a flight instructor at the German Aviation School (DVS) in Braunschweig . In 1928 he became vice director of the traffic aviation school in Staaken near Berlin, and finally its director.

Morzik was also active as a sports pilot. In 1929 he was the first winner of the “Wanderpreis des Internationale Rundfluges” (called “ Europaflug ”, French: “Challenge International de Tourisme”) and won the second event in 1930 with Messerschmitt aircraft. After his Messerschmitt M29 had not proven itself in preparatory flights for the 1932 competition , Elly Beinhorn was forced to forego participation in his favor and to cede her aircraft, a Heinkel He 64 , to him. Morzik finished second. He also took part in the fourth and final event in 1934 . Because of an engine failure, Morzik could not finish this competition. He was the only pilot to take part in all four competitions. After his victory in 1929, Morzik was awarded the " Golden Band of the Sports Press ".

On May 1, 1934, Fritz Morzik joined the German Air Force with the rank of captain and became the commander of an aircraft piloting school. During the Second World War, from August 1, 1939 to August 1, 1941, he was squadron commodore of Kampfgeschwader zbV 1 . Subsequently, he was General der Transportflieger, initially with the rank of Colonel , from October 1, 1943 in that of Major General . As such, he organized the supplies for the soldiers during the five-month battle of Demyansk in early 1942. On April 16, 1942, Morzik received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross .

On February 10, 1945 Morzik was appointed "Air Transport Chief of the Wehrmacht at the OKL". He took over the previous tasks of the XIV. Fliegerkorps as well as those of the general of the transport aircraft .

Fonts

  • The German transport aircraft in World War II . The story of the "infantry of the air". Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1966.

literature

  • Wolfgang J. Huschke: The Raisin Bomber. The Berlin Airlift 1948/49, its technical requirements and their successful implementation . Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-8305-1485-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Reinhard Stumpf : The Wehrmacht Elite Structure of rank and origin of the German generals and admirals 1933-1945. (Military history studies), Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 1982, ISBN 3-7646-1815-9 , p. 272.
  2. ↑ Frontflieger.de
  3. ↑ Biographies about Junkers ( Memento from February 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Aviation until 1945
  5. ↑ The precise dates are not known.
  6. ^ Peter Supf: The book of German flight history , Stuttgart 1958, pp. 642–643.
  7. ↑ Evelyn Zegenhagen: "Dashing German Girls". Aviators between 1918 and 1945. Wallstein, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-8353-0179-5 , p. 122f.
  8. ↑ Wolfgang J. Huschke: The Raisin Bomber. The Berlin Airlift 1948/49, its technical requirements and their successful implementation. 2nd Edition. Berliner Wiss.-Verl., Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-8305-1485-5 , p. 18.
  9. ↑ Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 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. 551.
personal data
SURNAME Morzik, Fritz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Morzik, Friedrich-Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pilot and officer, most recently major general
DATE OF BIRTH December 10, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Passenheim
DATE OF DEATH June 17, 1985
Place of death Freudenstadt