Hugo Sperrle

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Hugo Sperrle, 1940
Hugo Sperrle, 1935

Hugo Sperrle (born February 7, 1885 in Ludwigsburg , † April 2, 1953 in Munich ) was a German officer, most recently Field Marshal General of the Air Force , and Commander-in-Chief of Air Fleet 3 during World War II .

Life

Empire and First World War

Sperrle's military career began in 1903 when he joined the infantry regiment "Grand Duke Friedrich von Baden" (8th Württembergisches) No. 126 as a flag junior . After various uses and promotions, Sperrle signed up for pilot training at the beginning of the First World War .

In late 1914 he was promoted to captain . In December 1915 he became the leader of Field Aviation Division 42 . In February 1916, Sperrle crashed his plane and was seriously injured. Just two months later he reported for duty again, but Sperrle was not given a new command until July. In the further course of the First World War he became the commander of the aviators of the 7th Army . Sperrle has received several awards, including both classes of the Iron Cross and the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords.

Weimar Republic

Hugo Sperrle (with hat) in Spain in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War

After the war, Sperrle was taken over by the Reichswehr and from March 1, 1925, he was employed in the Reichswehr Ministry, where he was in the air raid protection group (also known as Fliegergruppe) as head of Section I (as successor to Helmut Wilberg ) until August 15, 1927 and then up to January 31, 1929 as a group leader (again as Wilberg's successor; Hellmuth Felmy succeeded him as group leader ) played a decisive role in planning the line-up of the still camouflaged air force. He was promoted to major on October 1, 1926 , to lieutenant colonel on February 1, 1931, and finally to colonel at the end of 1933 . On February 28, 1934 he resigned from the Reichsheer and joined the Reich Aviation Ministry .

time of the nationalsocialism

Pre-war period

The covert construction of a new German air force began as early as early 1934 ; Sperrle's skills and knowledge in this area were used by being appointed commander of the 1st Flieger Division. On October 1, 1935, Sperrle was promoted to major general and transferred to Munich as commanding general and commander in Luftkreis V.

At the Spanish Civil War Sperrle took the first commander of the Condor Legion in part. After returning from Spain, Sperrle was promoted to General der Flieger on November 1, 1937 . On April 1, 1938, he took over command of Air Force Group Command III in Munich.

Second World War

With the beginning of the Second World War , Luftwaffe Group Command III became Luftflotte 3 , which was used exclusively in the west. After the victory over France , Sperrle was one of the generals who were promoted to field marshals on July 19, 1940. After the Battle of Britain in 1940/41, due to the attack on the Soviet Union in the west, only relatively weak air forces remained, which were subordinate to Sperrle's Luftflotte 3.

On D-Day of the Allied invasion on June 6, 1944, Sperrle was under control of around 400 aircraft, but less than half of them were operational. Accordingly, Sperrle's ability to counter the Allied air forces was limited. It fell out of favor with Hitler , was released in August 1944 and was not used again until the end of the war.

post war period

Hugo Sperrle in Nuremberg

After the war, Sperrle was charged with the High Command of the Wehrmacht . Of the 14 accused, he and General Admiral Otto Schniewind were acquitted. Proceedings against him before the Munich Spruchkammer also ended with acquittal in June 1949.

After that, Sperrle lived in seclusion in Thaining near Landsberg am Lech . On April 2, 1953, Sperrle , who suffered from rectal cancer, died during an operation in a hospital in Munich . He was first buried in Thaining, then reburied in the Schwabstadl military cemetery near the Lechfeld air base on the initiative of the Order of the Knight's Cross .

Awards

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Hugo Sperrle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl-Heinz Völker: The Development of Military Aviation in Germany 1919-1933 . In: Contributions to military and war history , ed. from the Military History Research Office (series of publications by MGFA), Volume 3, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt , Stuttgart 1962, pp. 136, 162, 173.
  2. ↑ André Stirenberg: Field Marshal Hugo Sperrle: A Life for the duty Volume II Books on Demand, 2016. ISBN 978-3741226977 , p 1005th
  3. ^ Robert Deininger: Augsburg. Portrait of an aviation city . A never-ending aviation story . Augsburg 1995, p. 91 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Ranking list of the German Imperial Army. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin, p. 121.
  5. ^ Jörg Nimmergut : German medals and decorations until 1945. Volume 4. Württemberg II - German Empire. Central Office for Scientific Order Studies, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-00-001396-2 , p. 2441.
  6. ^ Jörg Nimmergut: German medals and decorations until 1945. Volume 4. Württemberg II - German Empire. Central Office for Scientific Order Studies, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-00-001396-2 , p. 2092.
  7. ↑ 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. 712.
personal data
SURNAME Sperrle, Hugo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer and field marshal in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Ludwigsburg
DATE OF DEATH April 2, 1953
Place of death Munich