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

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-Fliegerabtei ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was the

namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

of the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

General Schwartzkopff barracks in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

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

Generalmajor is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...

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

Junkers Ju 87 The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', "dive bomber") was 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 Con ...

was shot down during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

Early life and career, World War I

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

Fahnenjunker ''Fahnenjunker'' (short Fhj or FJ, en, officer cadet; ) 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 establis ...

'' (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 (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Dive-bombing

World War II and legacy

On 14 May 1940, Schwartzkoff and his radio operator ''Feldwebel'' Heinz Follmer were killed in action in their

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

ground attack In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement ...

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

anti-aircraft artillery Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

, 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 See also *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes department of France. The communes co ...

. Posthumously, he was awarded the

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' ...

() 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

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

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-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...

'' and ''

Geschwaderkommodore {{unreferenced, date=May 2019 ''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 K ...

'' of ''Sturzkampfgeschwader'' 77

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwatzkopff, Gunter 1898 births 1940 deaths People 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 German military 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