Bio of Hauptmann Hans Thurner (1918-1944)

Johann "Hans" Thurner

Date of Birth: 24.10.1918 - Innsbruck, Tirol (Austria-Hungary)
Date of Death: 11.06.1944 - St. Pierre-Sur-Dives, Calvados, Normandy (France)
Buried: Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof La Cambe (France), Plot: 9. Row: 4. Grave: 124.

Promotions:
00.04.1938 Fahnenjunker
01.04.1940 Leutnant
01.11.1941 Oberleutnant
01.05.1944 Hauptmann

Career:
00.04.1938 A medical student, he entered the Luftwaffe as Kampfflieger (bomber pilot)
00.00.1938 - 04.07.1940 Ergänzungskampfgruppe 3
04.07.1940 Flugzeugführer in 9.Staffel / III.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 55 (KG 55)
00.06.1940 Participated in the Battle of England
00.00.1940 Adjutant III./KG 55, and then back to 9.Staffel in the fall 1940
22.06.1941 Participated in Operation Barbarossa
23.06.1941 Unhurt with He 111P-2 Werknummer 1382 coded "G1 + BT"
02.07.1941 - 00.09.1941 WIA in the right thigh with He 111P-2 Werknummer 1382 coded "G1 + BT"
00.09.1942 Technischer Offizier in Kampfgeschwader 6 (KG 6)
00.12.1942 Came down with dysentry and pneumonia, and hospitalized
04.12.1942 Technischer Offizier in III.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 55 (KG 55)
06.04.1943 Transferred to 9.Staffel / III.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 6 (KG 6)
16.06.1943 Attended Verbandsführerschule/KG 101
00.06.1943 - 26.09.1943 Staffelführer 6.Staffel / II.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 6 (KG 6)
00.07.1943 Operations over the Mediterranean Sea and over England
26.09.1943 - 28.02.1944 Staffelkapitän 6.Staffel / II.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 6 (KG 6)
01.03.1944 Gruppenkommandeur I.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 6 (KG 6)
11.06.1944 MIA after his 500th mission 10km south east of Saint Pierre sur Dives, France, in Ju 188 A-2 (3E+EB) during a mission over the Normandy invasion beachhead

Awards and Decorations:
00.00.19__ Flugzeugführerabzeichen
18.09.1940 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
30.09.1940 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
00.00.194_ Frontflugspange für Kampfflieger in Bronze
22.04.1941 Luftwaffe Ehrenpokale für besondere Leistungen im Luftkrieg
02.07.1941 Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz
06.08.1941 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as Leutnant and Flugzeugführer in 9.Staffel / III.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 55 (KG 55). Awarded in recognition of his 132 sorties over England in the timespan 05.07.1940-31.05.1941 against a variety of targets.
01.11.1943 Deutsches Kreuz in Gold
00.00.194_ Frontflugspange für Kampfflieger in Gold mit Anhänger und einzatszahl '400'
17.09.1944 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #587 (posthumously), as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur I.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 6 (KG 6). Awarded for his many successful sorties in the East, on the Italian front, over England in the first five months of 1944 and lastly on the Invasion front.

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In 1938 Hans Thurner joined the Luftwaffe as a cadet, where he was trained as a bomber pilot. As a lieutenant, he joined the 9th squadron of Kampfgeschwader 55 and flew missions against England in the fall of 1940. From June 1941 he flew over Russia and was awarded the Ritterkreuz for his successful missions on August 6, 1941. In September 1942 he joined Kampfgeschwader 6 as an Oberleutnant and technical officer, with which he again flew missions against England. From the summer of 1943 he flew in the Mediterranean and in 1944 again against England. On November 1, 1943 he was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold. At the beginning of 1944 he was promoted to commander of I. Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader 6 and on May 1, 1944 he was promoted to Hauptmann. On June 11, 1944, after around 500 enemy flights, he did not return from a mission. He is buried at Le Cambe. He was posthumously awarded the Eichenlaub on September 17, 1944.

Hans Thurner flew a total of 550 combat missions during his wartime career.

Unusual mission symbols can be seen on the rudder of a He 111 from 9/KG 55. The pilot, Leutnant Hans Thurner, is the man wearing a peaked cap. He would later be awarded the Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub but would be killed in action over Normandy in June 1944 whilst commanding I/KG 6. The aircraft is believed to be a He 111 P-2, werke nummer 2823.

This picture was taken in the late spring of 1944, and shows from left to right: Hauptmann Hans Mader (Gruppenkommandeur II.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 6) and Hauptmann Hans Thurner (Gruppenkommandeur I.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 6). Hans Mader (17 April 1915 - 3 July 1944) received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 3 September 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän 4.Staffel / II.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 54 "Totenkopf" (awarded in recognition of his 180+ bomber sorties flown); Johann "Hans" Thurner (24 October 1918 - 11 June 1944) received the Ritterkreuz on 6 August 1941 as Leutnant in III.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 55 (awarded in recognition of his 132 sorties over England in the timespan of 5 July 1940 - 31 May 1941 against a variety of targets). Thurner also received the Eichenlaub #587 for his Ritterkreuz posthumously on 17 September 1944 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur I.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 6 (awarded for his many successful sorties in the East, on the Italian front, over England in the first five months of 1944 and lastly on the Invasion front.).

Source :
ECPAD Archive
"Heinkel He 111: The Latter Years" by Chris Goss
"Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries: Section S-Z" by Henry L. deZeng IV and Douglas G. Stankey
https://de.metapedia.org/wiki/Thurner,_Hans
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/T/ThurnerH.htm
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/27321/Thurner-Hans.htm