Heinrich Hunger with His Crew

Leutnant Heinrich Hunger (left, Flugzeugführer in Stab Kampfgeschwader 2) posing with his crew, from left to right: Unteroffizier Grützner (Bordfunker), Oberfeldwebel Kloye (Beobachter), and Unteroffizier Berthold (Bordmechaniker/-schütze). The picture was taken after Hunger was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 5 July 1941. By then, the 22-year-old Kampfflieger (bomber pilot) from Weimar had completed 140 combat flights, including 79 against France and England in 1940/41, 29 during the Balkan campaign in April/May 1941 and 32 in the first two weeks of the war against Russia. He was one of the first bomber pilots to fly bombing mission on Moscow at the end of June 1941. After being awarded the Ritterkreuz, a vacation of several weeks followed at home. On the second day after their return, the crew was shot down by flak in their Dornier Do17Z near Novgorod (Leningrad area) on August 14, 1941. All four were able to parachute out, but over territory that was still under Russian control. When the German troops occupied Novgorod the next day, they found Hunger and his radio operator dead; no trace of the other two was found...

Source :
Ben Stovall photo collection
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=6198821043465589&set=gm.494132822226403&idorvanity=222855636020791

Karl Müller with His Comrades during Balkanfeldzug

Oberfeldwebel Karl Müller (at rear, standing with arm raised high) relaxes with other aircrew of 1.Staffel / I.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2 (KG 2) during a stopover at Bucharest during the Balkan Campaign in the spring of 1941. Müller was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 15th October 1942.

Source :
https://www.ebay.de/b/Militaria-Fotos-1918-1945/15504/bn_16578829

Karl Müller with His Pilot Comrades

Oberfeldwebel Karl Müller (centre), a bomber pilot with 1.Staffel / I.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2, relaxes with comrades on a French Airfield (probably Epinoy) during the Battle of Britain in 1940. Müller would be awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 15th October 1942.

Oberfeldwebel Karl Müller of Kampfgeschwader 2 (KG 2)

 

Karl Müller (28 August 1913 - 8 February 1943) received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 15 October 1942 as Oberfeldwebel and Flugzeugführer in 12.Staffel / IV.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2. The medal was awarded after flying 280 sorties as a bomber pilot.

Source :
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/25154/M%C3%BCller-Karl-Kampfgeschwader-2.htm

Hugo Sperrle with Heinrich Meyer and Karl Müller

From left to right: Oberleutnant Heinrich Meyer (Beobachter in 1.Staffel / I.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2), Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle (Chef Luftflotte 3) and Oberfeldwebel Karl Müller (Flugzeugführer in 12.Staffel / IV.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2). They were posed together on the occasion of Sperrle presenting the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes to Heinrich Meyer and Karl Müller on 15th October 1942. The medal was awarded after both were flying 280 sorties as a bomber pilot. Interesting enough that Field Marshal Sperrle himself is not wearing the Ritterkreuz that he received two years before!

 

From left to right: Oberleutnant Heinrich Meyer (Beobachter in 1.Staffel / I.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2) and Oberfeldwebel Karl Müller (Flugzeugführer in 12.Staffel / IV.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2).

Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle (left) looks on as a colleague aligns the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for Oberleutnant Heinrich Meyer (second from left). Oberfeldwebel Karl Müller (right) has already received his award and stands to attention.

Oberfeldwebel Karl Müller (Flugzeugführer in 12.Staffel / IV.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2).

Source :
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/24962/Meyer-Heinrich.htm
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/25154/M%C3%BCller-Karl-Kampfgeschwader-2.htm

Walter Bradel in Color

With a starting price of 8,500 euros, the photo album offered at the link below was compiled by a veteran of 9.Staffel / III.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2 (KG 2) and according to the seller contains some 42 wartime colour images. The album is dedicated to the former Staffelkapitän of 9./ KG 2 and later Geschwaderkommodore Major Walter Bradel (1911-1943). Features bucolic scenes taken at Soesterberg (Holland) 1940, Villacoublay, and Paris (France 1941). A number of the photos feature Oberleutnant (later Hauptmann) Walter Bornschein (1914-1944) including the latter's Ritterkreuz award ceremony and celebrations, views of the Staffelhund "Strolch", the Bornschein crew shortly before a sortie and in-flight, various images of a captured Short Stirling (forced to make an emergency landing on 4 June 1943, repaired, made flight-worthy and repainted with KG 2 codes according to the album caption) The last images are perhaps the most interesting, depicting the up-turned Dornier 217 in which Walter Bradel  was killed. During the night of 4 May 1943 to 5 May Angriffsführer England ordered a consolidated attack on Norwich. Involved were 43 aircraft from KG 2 under the command of Bradel, who was airborne from Soesterberg. The attack force was augmented by aircraft from II./KG 40 and 36 Ju 88s of KG 6. Bradel's Do 217 K was attacked by a British nightfighter, and suffered engine damage. Pilot Leutnant Ernst Andres was eventually forced to attempt an emergency landing near Landsmeer, Amsterdam. The aircraft was 80% damaged and Bradel was killed when the aircraft over-turned. Album can be viewed in Dortmund before committing to buy according to the seller's blurb:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Farbfotos-Luftwaffe-hohe-Ordenstrager-9-KG-2-Flugzeug-Plane-Beuteflugzeug-Camo-/321246746758?pt=Militaria&hash=item4acbcc5886

Walter Bradel (left) and Walter Bornschein (right)

 

Walter Bradel

Source :
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/KrackerDatabase/?s=100&q=baumbach,%20werner&qand=&exc1=&exc2=&search_type=&search_only=
http://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2013/11/photo-album-9-kg-2-kommodore-walter.html

Bio of Hauptmann Ernst Andres (1921-1945)

Full name: Ernst Andres
Nickname: Unknown
Date of Birth: 19 September 1921 at Pfullingen, Baden-Württemberg (Germany)
Date of Death: 11 February 1945 at Oelde, Nordrhein-Westfalen (Germany)
NSDAP Number: unknown
SS Number: unknown
Academic Title: unknown
Family Member: unknown
Physical Feature: unknown

Beförderungen (Promotion):
15.11.1939 Flieger
01.04.1940 Fahnenjunker
01.04.1940 Fahnenjunker-Gefreiter
01.06.1940 Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier
01.09.1940 Fähnrich
01.02.1941 Oberfähnrich
00.07.1941 Leutnant
01.06.1943 Oberleutnant
00.00.1944 Hauptmann

Karriere (Career):
15.11.1939 entered the Luftwaffe and assigned to 2./Fl.Ausb.Rgt. 61
21.08.1940 transferred to FFS C 3
24.08.1940 transferred to FFS C 1
18.12.1940 transferred to BFS 1
18.01.1941 transferred to Grosse KFS 4
10.05.1941 transferred to IV./KG 2
00.07.1941 transferred to 5./KG 2
00.00.1943 transferred to Stab/KG 2
05.05.1943 badly WIA during a raid on Norwich, crash landed vic Landsmeer near Amsterdam. 26.07.1944 - 19.11.1944 Staffelkapitän 8./KG 2
00.09.1944 transferred to night fighters
30.12.1944 Staffelkapitän 5./NJG 4
11-12.02.1945 KIA in Ju 88 G-1 (3C+FN) shot down by a RAF Mosquito while he was taking off from Gütersloh, crashed at Landmeer, N of Amsterdam
 
Orden und Ehrenzeichen (Medals and Decorations):
00.00.19__ Flugzeugführerabzeichen
00.00.19__ Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.19__ Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
00.00.19__ Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Schwarz
01.07.1942 Flugzeugbeobachterabzeichen
00.00.194_ Frontflugspange für Kampfflieger in Gold
03.12.1942 Deutsches Kreuz in Gold
20.04.1944 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as Oberleutnant and Flugzeugführer in Stab / Kampfgeschwader 2 (KG 2). Awarded after flying about 120 sorties.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• During the night of 4 May 1943 to 5 May Angriffsführer England ordered a consolidated attack on Norwich. Involved were 43 aircraft from Kampfgeschwader 2 (KG 2) under the command of KG 2's Geschwaderkommodore Walter Bradel, which took off from the airport of Soesterberg. The attack force was augmented by aircraft from II./Kampfgeschwader 40 and 36 Ju 88 from Kampfgeschwader 6. Bradel, who flying as an observer on a Do 217K piloted by Andres, was attacked by a British nightfighter, and suffered engine damage. Andres attempted an emergency landing near Landsmeer, Amsterdam. The aircraft was 80% damaged and Bradel and the aerial gunner Flieger Werner Becker were killed.
• Ernst Andres was killed on 11th February 1945 as Staffelkapitän 5. / Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 with the rank of Hauptmann.
• Credited with 130 bomber missions and 30 night fighter missions.

Source :
"Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries" by Henry L. deZeng IV and Douglas G. Stankey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Andres
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwis38_c3Kn2AhU9_XMBHaUMDC0QFnoECAkQAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ritterkreuztraeger.info%2Frk%2Fa%2FA067Andres.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0e0CBOXy3Dz6Tq8RbQ_8rG
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/21540/Andres-Ernst.htm

Walter Bradel during Award Ceremony of KG 2

Hauptmann Walter Bradel (Gruppenkommandeur II.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2 "Holzhammer") during the Luftwaffe Ehrenpokal award ceremony, which were held at an unknown airfield in France, 1942. In the background we can see a parked Dornier Do 17. The picture was taken by Kriegsberichter Kühn from KBK Lw zbV (Kriegsberichter-Kompanie Luftwaffe zur besonderen Verfügung).

Source :
https://www.bild.bundesarchiv.de/dba/de/search/?yearfrom=&yearto=&query=Frankreich.-+Verleihung+von+Orden#

Bio of Hauptmann Rudolf Abrahamczik (1920-1996)

Full nama: Rudolf Franz Joseph Abrahamczik
Nickname: Rudi
Date of Birth: 17 April 1920 at Kurzendorf, Niederschlesien (Germany)
Date of Death: 4 December 1996 at Ibbenbüren, Nordrhein-Westfalen (Germany)
NSDAP Number: unknown
SS Number: unknown
Academic Title: unknown
Family Member: unknown
Physical Feature: unknown

Beförderungen (Promotion):
01.04.1941 Leutnant
01.05.1943 Oberleutnant
01.05.1944 Hauptmann

Karriere (Career):
15.11.1939 Entered the Luftwaffe
09.01.1940 Began to train with Flieger-Ausbildungs-Regiment 61
21.08.1940 Transferred to FFS C 1 (Flugzeugführerschule C 1)
18.12.1940 Transferred to BFS 1 (Blindflugschule 1)
18.01.1941 Transferred to Grosse KFS 4 (Kantonaler Führungsstab 4)
01.04.1941 Member of KG 2 (Kampfgeschwader 2)
21.08.1941 Transferred to 3.Staffel / I.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2
08.09.1942 Transferred to 6.Staffel / II.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 40
01.04.1943 Appointed Technischer-Offizier of II.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 40
20.06.1943 Transferred to 16.Staffel / V.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2 due to unit renaming
14.07.1943 Unhurt after bailing out of his Me 410 A-1 (U5+BJ) after having propeller problems
17.09.1943 - 06.02.1944 Staffelkapitän 14.Staffel / V.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2
06.02.1944 Staffelkapitän 4.Staffel / II.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 51
24.02.1944 - 14.10.1944 Staffelkapitän 12.Staffel / IV.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 51
00.08.1944 Retrained on Me 262
08.10.1944 - 30.04.1945 Staffelkapitän 2.Staffel / I.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 51

Orden und Ehrenzeichen (Medals and Decorations):
00.00.194_ Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.194_ Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
00.00.194_ Frontflugspange für Kampfflieger
21.09.1942 Luftwaffe Ehrenpokale für besondere Leistungen im Luftkrieg
12.01.1943 Deutsches Kreuz in Gold
29.02.1944 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän 14.Staffel / V.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 2. Awarded after flying about 165 bombing sorties

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* Rudolf Abrahamczik flew a total of 233 bombing sorties during World War II (including 69 with the Me 262). 69 were flown in the East and 164 in the West. He also flew 7 sorties as a fighter pilot, shooting down 3 aircraft in this capacity.

 

Source :
"Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries" by Henry L. deZeng IV and Douglas G. Stankey
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=2369018#p2369018
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/21454/Abrahamczik-Rudolf.htm

Ritterkreuz Action of Herbert Rieckhoff

 

Herbert Rieckhoff (25 December 1898 - 30 November 1948) received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 5 July 1941 as Oberst and Geschwaderkommodore KG 2 (Kampfgeschwader 2). The medal was awarded for his leadership of Kampfgeschwader 2 during its operations flying night raids against England as well as its missions in the Balkans. Above all he was recognized for his leadership of this unit in the East, specifically during the encirclement operations at Grodno and Smolensk, the advance to Schlüsselburg and the fighting at Lake Ilmen.

Source :
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=2338056#p2338056
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=2084423#p2084423
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/25958/Rieckhoff-Herbert.htm

General der Flieger Dipl.Ing. Johannes Fink

Dipl.Ing. Johannes Fink (28 March 1895 - 1 June 1981) received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20 June 1940 as Oberst and Geschwaderkommodore Kampfgeschwader 2. The medal was awarded for his unit's successes during the Polish and Western campaigns.

Source :
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=2289565#p2289565
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/22913/Fink-Johannes.htm