Stefan Fröhlich (General)

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Stefan Fröhlich (born October 7, 1889 in Orsova ( German  Orschowa ), Kingdom of Hungary , Austria-Hungary , † October 2, 1978 in Duisburg ) was an Austrian, later German officer , most recently General of the Air Force Aviators in World War II .

Life

Promotions

Early years and World War I

On August 18, 1908, Fröhlich joined the Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces as an officer candidate , where he was assigned to Pioneer Battalion 1 . In this, he also served as a company officer until January 1911. After moving to Pioneer Battalion 12 on November 1, 1911, he served in the same function until April 1913. In May 1913, Fröhlich joined Sappeur Company 6 in Pola , where he was deployed as platoon commander until the outbreak of World War I was. With the beginning of the war he rose to the command of this company, which he then led in the first phase of the war until the end of December 1915 on the Eastern Front . On January 1, 1916, Fröhlich was appointed commander of Sappeur Company 13 , which he then led, also on the Eastern Front, until August 25, 1918. During the last months of the war, Fröhlich worked from August 26th to November 30th, 1918 as a company commander and teacher at the technical academy in Hainburg .

Interwar years

After the end of the war, Fröhlich was initially employed in the staff of the railway equipment depot in Korneuburg . From there, on October 11, 1920 , he was assigned to the 20 sapper battalion , where he remained until November 1923. On November 2, 1923, Fröhlich was appointed adjutant and company commander in Pioneer Battalion 2 ; a function that he held until September 13, 1929. The following day, Fröhlich was transferred to the Federal Ministry of the Army in Vienna , where he worked as a clerk for pioneering until June 14, 1934. On June 15, 1934, he was appointed advisor in the group of equipment for the air force and then on April 1, 1937 as their group leader. At the same time, by March 14, 1938, Fröhlich had already been commissioned to set up the flying school regiment, in whose function he was also the commander of the Zeltweg air base . After Austria was annexed to the German Reich, which had already taken place on March 12, 1938, Fröhlich joined the German Air Force with the rank of lieutenant colonel .

Second World War

Here he received a briefing from the Memmingen combat flying group until the end of 1938 . After the formation of Kampfgeschwader 76 , Fröhlich served there in January 1939 in its staff before he was appointed commander of the 1st group of this Kampfgeschwader on February 1, 1939. At the same time he acted as Air Base Command Wiener-Neustadt until mid-November 1939. In this Fröhlich denied the attack on Poland . On November 15, 1939 he rose to the rank of commodore of the combat squadron, which he led in the campaign in the west and in the Battle of Britain . For this, Fröhlich was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on July 4, 1940 . On July 19, 1941, Fröhlich gave up command of the squadron and on the following day, February 20, 1941, was appointed Pilot Africa . He held this position until April 10, 1942. His successor was Major General Theo Osterkamp . Fröhlich, on the other hand, was transferred to the Eastern Front, where a few days later, on April 12, 1942, he was appointed commander of the 2nd Flieger Division . In this position he was awarded the German Cross in Gold on May 11, 1942 . The division flew under his command until December 28, 1942, initially in the Brjansk area (Soviet Union) and from November in the Montfries area (France).

On December 29, 1942 Fröhlich rose to the commanding general of the IX. Air corps with command post in Soissons , later Beauvais . On September 3, 1943, he handed this command over to Major General Dietrich Peltz , who took over responsibility for the corps on the following day. Fröhlich himself, returned to Vienna, where he was appointed commanding general and commander of Luftgaus XVII (Vienna) on September 4, 1942. He held this position until the end of February 1944. From March to August 1944 he then served in the staff of Luftflotte 3 , where he led the X. Fliegerkorps until its dissolution. On September 1, 1944, Fröhlich was promoted to commander of the Southeast Air Force Command , which he managed until November 4, 1944. After the command was dissolved, Fröhlich initially joined the Führerreserve from November 4, 1944 until the end of February 1945, now without a command . On February 27, 1945 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Air Fleet 10 (replacement air force), which he led until April 28, 1945, the day it was disbanded. From April 28th to April 30th, 1945, Fröhlich retired from military service a few days before the end of the war. A prisoner of war did not follow.

Awards

literature

  • Karl Friedrich Hildebrand: The Generals of the German Air Force 1935-1945, Part II, Volume 1: Abernetty – v.Gyldenfeldt. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-1701-1 , pp. 323-324
personal data
SURNAME Happy, Stefan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian officer, most recently German General der Flieger in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Orșova , Kingdom of Hungary , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH 2nd October 1978
Place of death Duisburg