Konrad Loerke

Konrad Loerke (born January 26, 1909 in Prökuls near Memel , † 1975 in Buschhoven near Bonn ) was a German naval officer. In 1959 he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the French Legion of Honor for an act in World War II .

Reich and Kriegsmarine

Loerke joined the Reichsmarine in 1929 and served on torpedo boats and destroyers . From April 1939 to May 2, 1942, Kapitänleutnant Loerke was first officer on the destroyer Hermann Schoemann (Z 7) . During this time he was - after Commodore Friedrich Bonte and his staff had fallen at Narvik - from April 16 to May 30, 1940 with the management of the business of the 1st Admiral Staff Officer (1st Asto) with the (also acting ) leader of the destroyers (FdZ), and from July to October 1940 he was acting commander of the destroyer.

In June 1942 he became commander of the torpedo boat Möwe , in August 1942 of the torpedo boat Jaguar , which at that time were in the shipyard for repairs . In October 1942 he took over command of the torpedo boat Falke , with which he was stationed in La Pallice and from February 1943 in Brest . In March 1943, he was the Mediterranean offset, where he in the newly formed 4th Geleitflottille in La Spezia commander of No. TA 11 provided by the Navy into service former French torpedo boat L'Iphigénie was and the boat until the dissolution of the flotilla in Commanded August 1943. On April 1, 1943 he was promoted to corvette captain. On May 19, 1943, he received the German Cross in Gold . When, also on May 19, 1943, the French mail and passenger ship Général Bonaparte was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS Sportsman about 40 nautical miles from Nice , Loerke hurried, who took off with his boat and the sister boat TA 10 (ex French La Pomone ) on the voyage from La Spezia to Toulon , took the two torpedo boats to the sinking site and, despite the presence of the enemy submarine, took a total of 148 survivors, including many women and children, on board and brought them afterwards Toulon.

On August 21, 1943 Loerke became the first in command of the newly commissioned destroyer Z 39 , which he commanded until the end of the war. From August to December 1944 he was also a naval liaison officer to Army Group North , while his boat was in the shipyard after being hit by bombs on June 23, 1944.

Post-war years

After the war Loerke was first head of personnel at the German mine clearance service in Cuxhaven , later at the German Navy, among other things, a naval attaché in Paris and from 1959 commander of the 3rd ship master department in Glückstadt .

After the end of the war, Konrad Loerke was initially wanted as a war criminal in France , as he was accused of torpedoing the Général Bonaparte in May 1943 . However, his true role in the disaster was testified by the survivors.

Honors

On February 19, 1959, Loerke, meanwhile a frigate captain and German naval attaché in France, was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Legion of Honor in Paris by Admiral Henri Nomy , the French Admiral's Chief of Staff, for his rescue act during the war . He was the first German naval officer to receive this honor.

On February 22, 1967, Loerke was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, 1st Class .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Memelland local family register (accessed October 15, 2013)
2. ↑ Leader of Destroyers on deutsches-marinearchiv.de
3. ↑ France honors Memel naval officer. In: The Ostpreußenblatt. Vol. 10, episode 15, April 11, 1959, p. 4 (PDF; 9.9 MB)
4. ↑ Marin allemand décoré de la légion d'honneur. (with photos)
5. ↑ Federal Gazette of March 1, 1967, p. 1.