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Jagdgeschwader 234
''Jagdgeschwader'' 234 was a fighter wing of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe in World War II. It operated during peacetime and conducted formation flying, simulated aerial combat, and firing on ground targets. Many of its pilots came from Jagdgruppe 88 (Legion Condor) operating in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Organisation Main article: Organisation of the Luftwaffe (1933–45) A Luftwaffe ''Geschwader'' (wing formation) was the largest homogenous flying formation. It typically was made up of three groups (''Gruppen''). Each group contained approximately 30 to 40 aircraft in three squadrons (''Staffeln''). A ''Jagdgeschwader'' could field 90 to 120 fighter aircraft. In some cases a wing could be given a fourth ''gruppe''. Each wing had a '' Geschwaderkommodore'' (wing commander) supporting by three '' Gruppenkommandeur'' (Group Commanders). Each squadron was commanded by a ''Staffelkapitän'' (squadron leader). The ''staffel'' contained approximately 12 to 15 aircraft. The identi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany quickly became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the government. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", alluded to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which Hitler and the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945 after just 12 years when the Allies defeated Germany, ending World War II in Europe. On 30 January 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany, the head of gove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pour Le Mérite
The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Eagle and the House Order of Hohenzollern, among the highest orders of merit in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order of merit was the highest royal Prussian order of bravery for officers of all ranks. After 1871, when the various German monarchy, kingdoms, grand duchy, grand duchies, duchy, duchies, principality, principalities and Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city states had come together under Prussian leadership to form the federally structured German Empire, the Prussian honours gradually assumed, at least in public perception, the status of orders, decorations, and medals of Imperial Germany, honours of Imperial Germany, even though many honours of the various German states continued to be awarded. The ' was an honour confe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gotthard Handrick
Gotthard Handrick (25 October 1908 – 30 May 1978) was a German Olympic athlete and German fighter pilot during the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Career Handrick was born on 25 October 1908 in Zittau, at the time in the Kingdom of Saxony as part of the German Empire. He won the gold medal in the modern pentathlon at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. In July 1937, Handrick was appointed '' Gruppenkommandeur'' (group commander) of ''Jagdgruppe'' 88 (18 July 1937 – 10 September 1938). This unit fought in the Spanish Civil War where he claimed five aerial victories while flying for the Legion Condor, including a Polikarpov I-15 fighter on 9 September 1937 and an Polikarpov I-16 fighter on 18 May 1938. He was later awarded the Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords () on 14 April 1939 for his service in the Spanish Civil War. Handrick was then given command of I. ''Gruppe'' of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 132 "Schlageter" on 11 September 1938 after his return from Spain. This unit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl-Heinz Leesmann
Karl-Heinz Leesmann (3 May 1915 – 25 July 1943) was a Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Karl-Heinz Leesmann was shot down on 25 July 1943, by a B-17 bomber that he was attacking. During his career he was credited with 37 aerial victories, 27 on the Western Front and 10 on the Eastern Front. Awards * Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class & 1st Class * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 23 July 1941 as '' Oberleutnant'' and Staffelkapitän of the 2./Jagdgeschwader 52 * German Cross in Gold on 27 July 1942 as ''Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian, and Swiss armies. While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has and originally had the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literally ...'' in the I./Jagdgeschwader 52Patzwall & ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers' Party (; DAP), existed from 1919 to 1920. The Nazi Party emerged from the Extremism, extremist German nationalism, German nationalist, racism, racist and populism, populist paramilitary culture, which fought against the communism, communist uprisings in post–World War I Germany. The party was created to draw workers away from communism and into nationalism. Initially, Nazi political strategy focused on anti–big business, anti-bourgeoisie, bourgeois, and anti-capitalism, anti-capitalist rhetoric. This was later downplayed to gain the support of business leaders, and in the 1930s, the party's main focus shifted to Antisemitism, antisemitic and Criticism of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In the martyrdom narrative of the remembering community, this refusal to comply with the presented demands results in the punishment or execution of an actor by an alleged oppressor. Accordingly, the status of the 'martyr' can be considered a posthumous title as a reward for those who are considered worthy of the concept of martyrdom by the living, regardless of any attempts by the deceased to control how they will be remembered in advance. Insofar, the martyr is a relational figure of a society's boundary work that is produced by collective memory. Originally applied only to those who suffered for their religious beliefs, the term has come to be used in connection with people killed for a political cause. Most martyrs are consid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freikorps
(, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, regardless of their own nationality. In German-speaking countries, the first so-called ("free regiments", Freie Regimenter) were formed in the 18th century from native volunteers, enemy renegades, and deserters. These, sometimes exotically equipped, units served as infantry and cavalry (or, more rarely, as artillery); sometimes in just company strength and sometimes in formations of up to several thousand strong. There were also various mixed formations or legions. The Prussian included infantry, jäger, dragoons and hussars. The French '' Volontaires de Saxe'' combined uhlans and dragoons. In the aftermath of World War I and during the German Revolution of 1918–19, consisting largely of World War I veterans were raised as paramilitar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Leo Schlageter
Albert Leo Schlageter (; 12 August 1894 – 26 May 1923) was a World War I veteran and German ''Freikorps'' member who became famous for acts of post-war sabotage against French occupation forces. Schlageter was arrested for sabotaging a section of railroad track and executed by the French military. The manner of his death fostered an aura of martyrdom around him, which was cultivated by German nationalist groups, in particular the Nazi Party. During the Third Reich, he was widely commemorated as a national hero. Life Schlageter was born in Schönau im Schwarzwald to Catholic parents. After the outbreak of the First World War, he became a voluntary emergency worker for the military. During the war, he participated in several battles, notably Ypres (1915), the Somme (1916) and Verdun, earning the Iron Cross second and first class. Following his promotion to leutnant, he took part in the Third Battle of Ypres (1917). After the war and his dismissal from the greatly reduced arm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jagdgeschwader 132
''Jagdgeschwader'' 132 (JG 132) was a fighter wing of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe before World War II. Formed in 1934 under the cover of ''Reklamestaffel Mitteldeutschland des DLV''. In 1938, the wing was renamed ''Jagdgeschwader'' 131 and in May 1939 became ''Jagdgeschwader'' 2 "Richthofen". The second formation of JG 132 in November 1938 was initiated by renaming ''Jagdgeschwader'' 234 to JG 132 which then became ''Jagdgeschwader'' 26 "Schlageter" in May 1939. I. ''Gruppe'' of JG 132 was given the honorary name "Richthofen", named after Manfred von Richthofen, in March 1935. With the reformation of JG 132 in November 1938, the ''Geschwader'' carried the honorary name "Schlageter", named after Albert Leo Schlageter. History JG 132 was the oldest fighter unit of the Luftwaffe, its roots dating back to 1934. The first element of JG 132 formed was I. '' Gruppe'' (1st group) under the cover name ''Reklamestaffel Mitteldeutschland des DLV'' (Advertisement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stab (Luftwaffe Designation)
The German language term ''Stab'' (literal translation: " staff") was used during World War II to designate a headquarters unit of the German ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). There were ''Stab'' units at the level of a '' Gruppe'' or ''Geschwader'' – units that were equivalent to wings and groups in the air forces of the English-speaking world. ''Stab'' units directly controlled aircraft as well as controlling those belonging to subordinate units. These command units used the mandated blue or green "staff aircraft" colour for the third character (the individual aircraft's letter) of their alphanumeric ''Geschwaderkennung'' wing code, to distinguish their aircraft from the rest of air units in the same unit. These units were divided in the following form, for the fourth and last character normally used to distinguish individual '' Staffeln'' (squadrons) from the letter "H" onwards in Luftwaffe wing codes: *''Geschwader Stab'' = A (third letter blue) *''Stab I Gruppe'' ("Staff U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Messerschmitt Bf 109 Variants
Due to the Messerschmitt Bf 109's versatility and time in service with the German and foreign air forces, numerous variants were produced in Germany to serve for over eight years with the Luftwaffe. Additional variants were produced abroad totalling in 34,852 Bf 109s built. Bf 109 A/B/C/D The Bf 109A was the first version of the Bf 109. Armament was initially planned to be just two cowl-mounted 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns. However, possibly due to the introduction of the Hurricane and Spitfire, each with eight 7.7 mm (.303 in) machine guns, experiments were carried out with a third machine gun firing through the propeller shaft. V4 and some A-0 were powered by a 640 PS (631 hp, 471 kW) Junkers Jumo 210B engine driving a two-blade fixed- pitch propeller, but production was changed to the 670 PS (661 hp, 493 kW) Jumo 210D as soon as it became available. The A-0 was not of a uniform type; there were several changes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arado Ar 68
The Arado Ar 68 was a German single-seat biplane fighter developed in the mid-1930s. It was among the first fighters produced when Germany abandoned the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles and began rearming. Design and development Designed to replace the Heinkel He 51, the Ar 68 proved to have admirable handling characteristics on its first flight in early 1934, despite Arado's inability to secure a sufficiently powerful engine for the prototype. Eventually, a Junkers Jumo 210 was installed and the Ar 68 went into production, though not before worries about the unforgiving nature of such a high-performance aircraft almost resulted in the cancellation of the project. The Ar 68 entered service with the ''Luftwaffe'' in 1936 and one of the first units was stationed in East Prussia. Soon, the fighter was sent to fight in the Spanish Civil War, where it was outclassed by the Soviet Polikarpov I-16. Arado responded by upgrading the engine of the Ar 68E, which soon became the ''L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
