Günter Schwartzkopff (5 August 1898 – 14 May 1940) was an officer in the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was the

namesake A namesake is a person, place, or thing bearing the name of another. Most commonly, it refers to an individual who is purposely named after another (e.g. John F. Kennedy Jr would be the namesake of John F. Kennedy). In common parlance, it may ...

of the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

General Schwartzkopff barracks in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

which was renamed the in ''Generalleutnant-Graf-von-Baudissin-Kaserne'' June 1994. Schwartzkopf was an important figure in the development of the dive-bomber arm in the pre-war Luftwaffe. He is credited with the title "Father of the ''

Stuka The Junkers Ju 87, popularly known as the "Stuka", is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the ...

''. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 24 November 1939 and posthumously promoted to ''

Generalmajor is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and R ...

''. He was killed on 14 May 1940 after his

Junkers Ju 87 The Junkers Ju 87, popularly known as the "Stuka", is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the ...

was shot down during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

Early life and career, World War I

Schwartzkopff was born on 5 August 1898 in Forbach (now Polska Wieś) in the German Empire. In October 1914, he joined the military service in the '' Heer'' as a ''

Fahnenjunker ''Fahnenjunker'' (short Fhj or FJ, ; ) is a military rank of the Bundeswehr and of some former German armed forces. In earlier German armed forces it was also the collective name for many officer aspirant ranks. It was established by the ''Pre ...

'' (officer cadet), serving with ''Infanterie-Regiment Nr.'' 41, an infantry regiment of the 1st Division. Schwartzkopff joined the '' Fliegertruppe'' in 1916 after being badly wounded in the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun ( ; ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in French Third Republic, France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Dive-bombing

World War II and legacy

On 14 May 1940, Schwartzkoff and his radio operator ''Feldwebel'' Heinz Follmer were

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

in their

B-2 (''Werknummer'' 5328—factory number) while flying a

ground attack Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS requires ...

mission south-west of Le Chesne. They were either shot down by

anti-aircraft artillery Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

, or by

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

fighters from No. 1 or No. 73 Squadron, near Châtillon-sur-Bar. Schwartzkopff was buried at the German war cemetery at

Noyers-Pont-Maugis Noyers-Pont-Maugis is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. Population Notable residents * Maurice Voirin See also *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the 447 communes of the Ardennes d ...

. Posthumously, he was awarded the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), 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. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...

() on 24 November 1940, and promoted to ''

'' in June 1944, the promotion backdated to 1 May 1940. The Air Force School of the

(Federal Armed Forces) in

was named General Schwartzkopff barracks in April 1965. The school was renamed in June 1994 to Lieutenant General Graf von Baudissin barracks. A lecture hall was named after him instead.

Awards and decorations

on 24 November 1940 as ''

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German language, German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the Army, ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, a ...

'' and ''

Geschwaderkommodore ''Geschwaderkommodore'' (short also ''Kommodore'') is a ''Luftwaffe'' position or appointment (not rank), originating during World War II. A ''Geschwaderkommodore'' is usually an OF5-rank of ''Oberst'' (colonel) or Kapitän zur See (naval captain ...

'' of ''Sturzkampfgeschwader'' 77

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwatzkopff, Gunter 1898 births 1940 deaths Military personnel from the Province of Posen Luftwaffe World War II generals Luftstreitkräfte personnel Luftwaffe pilots Prussian Army personnel Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Luftwaffe personnel killed in World War II Reichswehr personnel People from Poznań County Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Major generals of the Luftwaffe