Gotthard Handrick

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On the winner's podium from right to left: Silvano Abbà (2nd) and Gotthard Handrick (1st), delivering the Hitler salute , Charles Leonard (3rd), saluting

Karl Hermann Gotthard (t) Handrick (born October 25, 1908 in Zittau , † May 30, 1978 in Ahrensburg ) was a German athlete and fighter pilot in World War II .

Life

After passing high school, Handrick joined the Reichswehr in 1929 . Due to his athletic achievements, he was sent to the Wünsdorf sports school near Berlin. He won the gold medal in the modern pentathlon at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin . Until Lena Schöneborn's Olympic victory at the 2008 Olympic Games, no German athlete achieved a place in the top three in this discipline.

In the Spanish Civil War he was from July 18, 1937 to September 10, 1938 commander of Jagdgruppe 88 in the Condor Legion . As a pilot he flew a Messerschmitt Bf 109 -D in this civil war , the spinner of which was painted with the Olympic rings. In the Spanish Civil War, he achieved five aerial victories until his return to Germany in 1938. He was awarded the Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords.

In the Second World War he was in the Air Force . He had been with Jagdgeschwader 26 since May 1, 1939, until June 24, 1940 as group commander of Group I with the rank of major . Kurt Fischer became his successor as commander of the I. Group. Handrick was commodore of the squadron from June 24 to August 21, 1940 ; his successor there was Adolf Galland . From October 7, 1940 to June 22, 1941 he led the III. Group of Jagdgeschwader 52 , which had been moved to Bucharest- Pipera during this period and also supported the fighting for the island of Crete . He belonged to Jagdgeschwader 5 in Norway from its formation in 1942, most recently as a squad commodore. In June 1943 he was transferred to Austria to the 8th Hunting Division . There he headed the staff of the fighter pilot in Ostmark as colonel in 1944 . At the beginning of 1945 he was part of the planning staff of the Bodenplatte company . For the period of the Second World War, ten more aerial victories are added to him.

After the war, Handrick worked as a businessman first in Witten an der Ruhr and then in Hamburg, there as a representative for Daimler-Benz . After he had finished his professional career, he lived in Ahrensburg , where he also died.

Handrick was awarded the German Cross in Gold on October 17, 1943 . In addition, he was awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd and 1st class.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Caldwell 1991. p. 4
  2. ↑ a b The Messerschmitt Bf 109 in Spain, 6 • 56 - A case in point, and a source of confusion , on zi.ku.dk, seen June 26, 2010 (English)
  3. ↑ Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" at ww2.dk, as seen on June 26, 2010
  4. ↑ Interview with World War II Luftwaffe General and Ace Pilot Adolf Galland , Interview with Galland by Colin D. Heaton from 1994, on historynet.com, viewed June 26, 2010 (English)
  5. ↑ Caldwell 1991. p. 8.
  6. ^ Section in the portrait of Günther Rall on der-deutsche-jagdflieger.de, seen June 26, 2010
  7. ↑ History 1940 ( Memento of the original from February 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website jg52.de, viewed June 26, 2010  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jg52.de
  8. ↑ Jagdgeschwader 5 "Eismeerjäger" - 1942, Part 1 ( Memento of the original from July 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the LUFTWAFFE SIG HOME PAGE , on luftwaffe.no, seen June 26, 2010  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.luftwaffe.no
  9. ↑ JG 5 in 1943, Part I ( Memento of the original from April 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the LUFTWAFFE SIG HOME PAGE , on luftwaffe.no, seen June 26, 2010  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.luftwaffe.no
  10. ^ Horst Boog, Gerhard Krebs, Detlef Vogel: Germany and the Second World War, Volume VII: The Strategic Air War in Europe and the War in the West and East Asia, 1943-1944 / 5 , Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 303, online at books.google.de, viewed June 26, 2010
  11. ↑ Jagdverband 44, Aviation Elite Units 27, Heroes or Outcasts? ( Memento of the original from March 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on ospreypublishing.com, viewed June 26, 2010  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ospreypublishing.com
  12. ↑ Toliver & Constable, p. 397
  13. ↑ Richard D. Mandell: The Nazi Olympics , University of Illinois Press, 1987, ISBN 0-252-01325-5 , in the foreword, p. XIII, online at books.google.de, viewed June 26, 2010 (English)
  14. ↑ Patzwall, Scherzer 2001, p. 163
  15. ↑ List of pilots of the Condor Legion in the Spanish Civil War, on luftwaffe.cz, as seen on June 26, 2010
personal data
SURNAME Handrick, Gotthard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Handrick, Karl Hermann Gotthard (full name); Handrick, Gotthardt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German athlete and fighter pilot
DATE OF BIRTH October 25, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Zittau
DATE OF DEATH May 30, 1978
Place of death Ahrensburg