Gerhard Michalski
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Gerhard Michalski
Gerhard Michalski (25 June 1917 – 22 February 1946) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator and wing commander during World War II. As a fighter ace, he is credited with 73 aerial victories in 652 missions, of which 59 victories were achieved over the Western Front including 13 four-engine bombers, and 14 over the Eastern Front. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, the highest award in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. Early life and career Michalski was born on 25 June 1917 in Augsdorf in the Province of Saxony of the German Empire. In 1936, he volunteered for military service in the Luftwaffe and was promoted to ''Leutnant'' in 1938. World War II Michalski joined 6. '' Staffel'' (6th squadron) of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 53 (JG 53—53rd Fighter Wing) in 1940. His first victory was on 31 March 1940, when he downed a French Morane Saulnier MS 406 fighter over the French border. Flying through the Batt ...
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Augsdorf
Augsdorf is a village and a former municipality in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Gerbstedt. Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt Gerbstedt {{MansfeldSüdharz-geo-stub ...
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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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Gruppenkommandeur
''Gruppenkommandeur'' is a Luftwaffe position (not rank), that is the equivalent of a commander of a group or wing in other air forces. A ''Gruppenkommandeur'' usually has the rank of Major or ''Oberstleutnant'' (Lieutenant Colonel), and commands a '' Gruppe'', which is a sub-unit of a ''Geschwader''. A ''Gruppe'' usually consists of three or four '' Staffeln'' (each of which is commanded by a ''Staffelkapitän''). See also *Organization of the Luftwaffe (1933–1945) Between 1933 and 1945, the organization of the Luftwaffe underwent several changes. Originally, the German military high command, for their air warfare forces, decided to use an organizational structure similar to the army and navy, treating the ... Military ranks of Germany Luftwaffe Air force appointments {{aviation-stub ...
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Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies south of Sicily (Italy), east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The official languages are Maltese and English, and 66% of the current Maltese population is at least conversational in the Italian language. Malta has been inhabited since approximately 5900 BC. Its location in the centre of the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, with a succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Knights of St. John, French, and British, amongst others. With a population of about 516,000 over an area of , Malta is the world's tenth-smallest country in area and fourth most densely populated sovereign cou ...
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Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Sicilian , demographics1_info1 = 98% , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , demographics1_title3 = , demographics1_info3 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code_type = ISO 3166 code , area_code = IT-82 , blank_name_sec1 = GDP (nominal) , blank_info_sec1 = €89.2 billion (2018) , blank1_name_sec1 = GDP per capita , blank1_info_sec1 ...
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Staffelkapitän
''Staffelkapitän'' is a position (not a rank) in flying units ( ''Staffel'') of the German Luftwaffe that is the equivalent of RAF/USAF Squadron Commander. Usually today a ''Staffelkapitän'' is of ''Oberstleutnant'' or ''Major'' rank. In the ''Luftwaffe'' of the Wehrmacht the ''Staffelkapitän'' usually held the rank of an ''Oberleutnant'' or ''Hauptmann''. For the first weeks of his assignment he was known as a ''Staffelführer'' (Squadron Leader), until he was confirmed in this position. If a Non-commissioned officer was tasked with this role, he was also referred to as a ''Staffelführer''. This title is not to be confused with ''Staffelführer'', a rank in the SS. See also *Organization of the Luftwaffe (1933–1945) Between 1933 and 1945, the organization of the Luftwaffe underwent several changes. Originally, the German military high command, for their air warfare forces, decided to use an organizational structure similar to the army and navy, treating the ... Refere ...
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Leeuwarden Air Base
Leeuwarden Air Base ( nl, Vliegbasis Leeuwarden) is a military airbase used by the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) - nl, Koninklijke Luchtmacht (''KLu''), . The airbase was formerly one of the two F-16 Fighting Falcon bases of the RNLAF. The airbase lies northwest of the capital of Friesland, Leeuwarden. Leeuwarden Air Base is also one of the three military airbases (together with Gilze-Rijen Air Base and Volkel Air Base) that organise the twice-in-three-years Luchtmachtdagen ('Air Force Days') of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, consisting of air shows and static exhibits. In 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2016 Leeuwarden Air Base hosted these public demonstration days. History The airport of Leeuwarden was built in 1938, and was used as an airport between Schiphol and Eelde. The airport was used only infrequently at first, but that changed after the Germans invaded the Low Countries in 1940. The Luftwaffe used the airport as a base for their fighter aircraft (including th ...
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Chernyakhovsk
Chernyakhovsk (russian: Черняхо́вск) – known prior to 1946 by its German name of (Old Prussian: Instrāpils, lt, Įsrutis; pl, Wystruć) – is a town in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, where it is the administrative center of Chernyakhovsky District. Located at the confluence of the Instruch and Angrapa rivers, which unite to become the Pregolya river below Chernyakhovsk, the town had a population in 2017 of 36,423. History Chernyakhovsk was founded in 1336 by the Teutonic Knights on the site of a former Old Prussian fortification when Dietrich von Altenburg, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, built a castle called ''Insterburg'' following the Prussian Crusade. During the Teutonic Knights' Northern Crusades campaign against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the town was devastated in 1376. The castle had been rebuilt as the seat of a Procurator and a settlement also named ''Insterburg'' grew up to serve it. In 1454, Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon incorpor ...
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Morane Saulnier MS 406
Morane may refer to: * Morane, an uninhabited atoll in French Polynesia * Morane-Borel, a French aircraft manufacturer * Morane-Saulnier, a French aircraft manufacturer * Bob Morane, a fictitious character of novelist Henri Vernes * Robert and Léon Morane Robert Morane, (10 March 1886, Paris – 28 August 1968, Paris) and his brother Léon Morane (11 April 1885, Paris – 19 October 1918, Paris) were French aviation pioneers. Léon obtained his ''brevet'' (flying licence) on 19 April 1910 in a Bl ...
, the brothers who, together with Raymond Saulnier, founded the Morane-Saulnier Aircraft Company {{dab ...
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Jagdgeschwader 53
''Jagdgeschwader'' 53 (JG 53) was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. It operated in Western Europe and in the Mediterranean. ''Jagdgeschwader'' 53 - or as it was better known, the "Pik As" ''(Ace of Spades)'' Geschwader - was one of the oldest German fighter units of World War II with its origins going back to 1937. JG 53 flew the various models of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 throughout World War II. World War II Invasion of France; Battle of Britain The ''Geschwader'' commenced its wartime operations with a high proportion of its personnel experienced ex-Condor Legion pilots including Werner Mölders. On 14 May 1940, JG 53 claimed some 43 victories in one day. The Battle of France thus saw the Geschwader score heavily during May and June 1940, with some 275 claims against '' Armee de l'Air'' and Royal Air Force forces. While JG 53 was making a reputation for itself during the Battle of Britain, according to RAF Air Ministry intelligence summary no. 60, ''Reichsmarschall' ...
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Organization Of The Luftwaffe (1933–1945)
Between 1933 and 1945, the organization of the Luftwaffe underwent several changes. Originally, the German military high command, for their air warfare forces, decided to use an organizational structure similar to the army and navy, treating the aviation branch as a strategic weapon of war. Later on, during the period of rapid rearmament, the Luftwaffe was organized more in a geographical fashion. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), Germany was prohibited from having an air force, with the former German Empire's ''Luftstreitkräfte'' disbandment in 1920. German pilots were secretly trained for military aviation, first in the Soviet Union during the late 1920s, and then in Germany in the early 1930s. In Germany, the training was done under the guise of the German Air Sports Association (german: Deutscher Luftsportverband (DLV)) at the Central Commercial Pilots School (german: Zentrale der Verkehrs Fliegerschule (ZVF)). Following its 15 May 1933 formation in secret, ...
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Leutnant
() is the lowest Junior officer rank in the armed forces the German (language), German-speaking of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") from Middle High German «locum tenens» (in English "place holder") was derived from the French word about 1500. In most German-speaking armies it is the lowest officer rank (in German-speaking navies (English "Lieutenant at sea")). In the German Bundeswehr the ranks and belong to the rank group. In some other armed forces (such as the former National People's Army) there is the lower grade of Unterleutnant. From about 1500 until the middle of the 17th century the designation of was commonly used for any deputy to a commanding officer. So at the army level there was the appointment of (English "lieutenant-general"), at the regimental level there was that of (English "lieutenant-colonel"), and at the company level the was deputy to ...
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