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Diethelm Von Eichel-Streiber
Diethelm von Eichel-Streiber (10 August 1914 – 13 May 1996) was a German Luftwaffe officer in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. During the Spanish Civil War, he flew with ''Kampfgruppe'' 88 of the Condor Legion as an air observer. During World War II, he became a fighter ace credited with 96 aerial victories. With the exception of two aerial victories claimed over the Western Allies, the majority of his aerial victories were achieved on the Eastern Front. Early life and career Eichel-Streiber was born on 10 August 1914 in Oppershausen, at the time in the Province of Saxony within the German Empire, present-day in Thuringia. He was one of eight children of , a German politician and owner of the family estate in Berka vor dem Hainich, and his mother Hildegard von der Leyen zu Bloemersheim. In November 1937, he joined the Condor Legion and was posted to ''Kampfgruppe'' 88 as an air observer on a Heinkel He 111. On 14 April 1939, he was awarded the Spanish Cross in Gold wi ...
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Oppershausen
Oppershausen is a municipality in the Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis district of Thuringia, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe .... References Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis {{UnstrutHainich-geo-stub ...
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Balkans Campaign (World War II)
The Balkans campaign of World War II began with the Italian invasion of Greece on 28 October 1940. In the early months of 1941, Italy's offensive had stalled and a Greek counter-offensive pushed into Albania. Germany sought to aid Italy by deploying troops to Romania and Bulgaria and attacking Greece from the east. Meanwhile, the British landed troops and aircraft to shore up Greek defences. A ''coup d'état'' in Yugoslavia on 27 March caused Adolf Hitler to order the conquest of that country. The invasion of Yugoslavia by Germany and Italy began on 6 April 1941, simultaneously with the new Battle of Greece; on 11 April, Hungary joined the invasion. By 17 April the Yugoslavs had signed an armistice, and by 30 April all of mainland Greece was under German or Italian control. On 20 May Germany invaded Crete by air, and by 1 June all remaining Greek and British forces on the island had surrendered. Although it had not participated in the attacks in April, Bulgaria occupied part ...
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Berka Hainich Schloss1
Berka may refer to: Places in Germany *Bad Berka, in the Weimarer Land district, Thuringia *Berka/Werra, in the Wartburgkreis district, Thuringia *Berka vor dem Hainich, in the Wartburgkreis district, Thuringia *Berka (river), a river in Hesse Other *Berka of Dubá, medieval Czech aristocracy *Al-Berka, an administrative division of Benghazi, Libya See also *Burqa A burqa or a burka, or , and ur, , it is also transliterated as burkha, bourkha, burqua or burqu' or borgha' and is pronounced natively . It is generally pronounced in the local variety of Arabic or variety of Persian, which varies. Examp ...
, a type of garment {{disambig, geo ...
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Allies Of World War II
The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. Its principal members by 1941 were the United Kingdom, United States, Soviet Union, and China. Membership in the Allies varied during the course of the war. When the conflict broke out on 1 September 1939, the Allied coalition consisted of the United Kingdom, France, and Poland, as well as their respective dependencies, such as British India. They were soon joined by the independent dominions of the British Commonwealth: Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Consequently, the initial alliance resembled that of the First World War. As Axis forces began invading northern Europe and the Balkans, the Allies added the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Greece, and Yugoslavia. The Soviet Union, which initially had a nonaggression pa ...
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Fighter Ace
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually considered to be five or more. The concept of the "ace" emerged in 1915 during World War I, at the same time as aerial dogfighting. It was a propaganda term intended to provide the home front with a cult of the hero in what was otherwise a war of attrition. The individual actions of aces were widely reported and the image was disseminated of the ace as a chivalrous knight reminiscent of a bygone era. For a brief early period when air-to-air combat was just being invented, the exceptionally skilled pilot could shape the battle in the skies. For most of the war, however, the image of the ace had little to do with the reality of air warfare, in which fighters fought in formation and air superiority depended heavily on the relative availability ...
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Air Observer
An air observer or aerial observer is an aircrew member whose duties are predominantly reconnaissance. The term originated in the World War I, First World War in the British Royal Flying Corps, and was maintained by its successor, the Royal Air Force. An air observer's Aircrew brevet, brevet was a single wing with an O at the root. Although today sometimes a manned aircraft is still utilised for aerial observation, industry and the military use both satellites and Unmanned aerial vehicle, remotely piloted vehicles (RPV) for this function. The term is also used in some non-military contexts, such as Police aviation in the United Kingdom, police helicopter units. The first recorded RAF "kill" of the Second World War, on 20 September 1939, was by air observer Sergeant F. Letchford, aboard a Fairey Battle, flown by Flying Officer L.H. Baker. Observers were also issued with weapons, and expected to engage with enemy aircraft#Military, aircraft in the early days of military aviation ...
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Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabteilung'' of the Imperial Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 in accordance with the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which banned Germany from having any air force. During the interwar period, German pilots were trained secretly in violation of the treaty at Lipetsk Air Base in the Soviet Union. With the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Versailles Treaty, the ''Luftwaffe''s existence was publicly acknowledged on 26 February 1935, just over two weeks before open defiance of the Versailles Treaty through German rearmament and conscription would be announced on 16 March. The Condor Legion, a ''Luftwaffe'' detachment sent to aid Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War, provided the force with a valuable testing grou ...
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Knight's Cross Of The Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight's Cross was awarded for a wide range of reasons and across all ranks, from a senior commander for skilled leadership of his troops in battle to a low-ranking soldier for a single act of military valour. Presentations were made to members of the three military branches of the : the (army), the (navy) and the (air force), as well as the , the Reich Labour Service and the (German People storm militia), along with personnel from other Axis powers. The award was instituted on 1 September 1939, at the onset of the German invasion of Poland. The award was created to replace the many older merit and bravery neck awards of the German Empire. A higher grade, the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross, was instituted in 1940. In 1941, two higher grades ...
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Spanish Cross
The Spanish Cross (german: Spanien-Kreuz) was an award of Nazi Germany given to German troops who participated in the Spanish Civil War, fighting for nationalist general, later Spanish caudillo, Francisco Franco. History With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, Germany sent the Condor Legion, drawn from the German air force and army, to aid Franco's Nationalist forces. On 14 April 1939, Germany instituted the Spanish Cross as a decoration for the German airmen and soldiers who fought in the Condor Legion during the war. A number of German Navy ships served in Spanish waters, their crew also qualifying for the cross. The Spanish Cross was to be worn on the right breast below the pocket flap or, if awarded, below the Blood Order. After the death of the recipient, the award remains with the next-of-kin. The wear of Nazi era awards was banned in 1945. The Spanish Cross was not among those awards reauthorised for official wear by the Federal Republic of Germany i ...
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Defense Of The Reich
The Defence of the Reich (german: Reichsverteidigung) is the name given to the strategic defensive aerial campaign fought by the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany over German-occupied Europe and Germany during World War II. Its aim was to prevent the destruction of German civilians, military and civil industries by the Western Allies. The day and night air battles over Germany during the war involved thousands of aircraft, units and aerial engagements to counter the Allied strategic bombing campaign. The campaign was one of the longest in the history of aerial warfare and with the Battle of the Atlantic and the Allied Blockade of Germany was the longest of the war. The Luftwaffe fighter force defended the airspace of German-occupied territory against attack, first by RAF Bomber Command and then against the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in the Combined Bomber Offensive. In the early years, the Luftwaffe was able to inflict a string of defeats on Allied strategic air forces. ...
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Operation Donnerkeil
Unternehmen Donnerkeil (Operation Thunderbolt) was the codename for a German military operation of the Second World War. ''Donnerkeil'' was an air superiority operation to support the '' Kriegsmarine'' (German Navy) Operation Cerberus, also known as the Channel Dash. In 1941 ''Kriegsmarine'' surface vessels had carried out commerce raiding sorties in support of the German U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic. In January 1941 Operation Berlin was launched followed by Operation Rheinübung in May 1941. The dominance of the Royal Navy's surface fleet prevented the German units returning to ports in the Baltic Sea or Germany. The surviving ships, the battleships '' Scharnhorst'' and '' Gneisenau'' and the cruiser '' Prinz Eugen'', docked in the port of Brest, France. Throughout 1941 RAF Bomber Command attacked the ships in dock. The proximity of the ports to Royal Air Force (RAF) airfields allowed a large number of sorties to be flown against the targets in quick succession. The ...
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Battles Of Rzhev
The Battles of Rzhev (russian: Ржевская битва, Rzhevskaya bitva) were a series of Red Army offensives against the Wehrmacht between January 8, 1942, and March 31, 1943, on the Eastern Front of World War II. The battles took place in the northeast of Smolensk Oblast and the south of Tver Oblast. Due to the high losses suffered by the Soviet Army, the campaign became known by veterans and historians as the "Rzhev Meat Grinder" (russian: link=no, Ржевская мясорубка, Rzhevskaya myasorubka). Overview The major operations that were executed in this area of the front were: # #Rzhev–Vyazma strategic offensive operation (8 January – 20 April 1942) (russian: link=no, Ржевско-Вяземская стратегическая наступательная операция) of the Kalinin Front, Western Front, Bryansk Front, and Northwestern Front #* Sychyovka–Vyazma offensive operation (russian: link=no, Сычёвско-Вяземская нас ...
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