Gerhard Friedrich

Gerhard "Gerd" Friedrich (16 September 1917 – 16 March 1945) was a Luftwaffe fighter ace of World War II. He was one of night fighter ace scored 30 victories. All of his victories were recorded at night.

Gerhardt Friedrich
Nickname(s)Gerd
Born16 September 1917
Johannisthal, Kingdom of Prussia
Died16 March 1945 (1945-03-17) (aged 27)
Stuttgart
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service/branchBalkenkreuz (Iron Cross) Luftwaffe
Years of service1939–1945
RankMajor (major)
UnitNJG 1, NJG 4, NJG 6
Commands heldI./NJG 6
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross

World War II

World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. Friedrich started his Luftwaffe career as a transport pilot with Kampfgruppe zur besonderen Verwendung 104 (KGr.z.b.v. 104—Fighting Group for Special Use) and participated in the invasion of Crete.[1][2][Note 1]

Night fighter operations
A map of part of the Kammhuber Line. The 'belt' and night fighter 'boxes' are shown.

Following the 1939 aerial Battle of the Heligoland Bight, bombing missions by the Royal Air Force (RAF) shifted to the cover of darkness, initiating the Defence of the Reich campaign.[4] By mid-1940, Generalmajor (Brigadier General) Josef Kammhuber had established a night air defense system dubbed the Kammhuber Line. It consisted of a series of control sectors equipped with radars and searchlights and an associated night fighter. Each sector, named a Himmelbett (canopy bed), would direct the night fighter into visual range with target bombers. In 1941, the Luftwaffe started equipping night fighters with airborne radar such as the Lichtenstein radar. This airborne radar did not come into general use until early 1942.[5]

Friedrich received training as a night fighter pilot and began his night-fighting era when he was posted to III. Gruppe (3rd group) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing) at the beginning of 1942.[2] Friedrich claimed his first victory on the night of 16/17 June when he shot down a RAF Vickers Wellington at 03:08 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) west of Ijmuiden.[6] Serving with II. Gruppe (2nd group) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 (NJG 4—4th Night Fighter Wing), he claimed his fourth victory on 24 October when he shot down the Handley Page Halifax bomber W1188 from No. 103 Squadron near Bar-le-Duc.[1]

He was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 10. Staffel (10th squadron) of NJG 4 on 1 January 1943.[7] On 10/11 April, 502 RAF bombers attacked Frankfurt. In total, the RAF lost 22 aircraft, ten of which shot down by NJG 4, including a Wellington bomber claimed by Friedrich at 03:23. [8][9] On 16/17 April, during an attack of 327 bombers on Plzeň, Friedrich was shot down and wounded. He bailed out from his Messerschmitt Bf 110 and landed near Hochspeyer.[2][10]

On 1 August 1943, IV. Gruppe of NJG 4 became the I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 6 (NJG 6—6th Night Fighter Wing) and was based at Mainz-Finthen Airport.[11] On 12 July 1944, he was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I. Gruppe of NJG 6.[12] Friedrich was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 15 March 1945.[2]

The RAF targeted the Wintershall oil refineries at Lützkendorf, which lies east of Mücheln, with 244 Lancaster bombers and eleven de Havilland Mosquito fast bombers on the night of 14/15 March 1945.[13] In defense of this attack, Friedrich claimed three Lancasters shot down in timeframe 23:15 and 23:24.[14]

On the night of 16/17 March 1945, Friedrich collided with the Lancaster PB785 from No. 576 Squadron RAF, piloted by Flight Lieutenant Frank Edmund Dotten, near Stuttgart. Friedrich and his crew, Leutnant Lewerenz, Oberfeldwebel Giesen and Unteroffizier Meyer, were killed in their Junkers Ju 88 G-6 (Werknummer 621801—factory number) along with the seven crew members of the British bomber.[3][15]

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Obermaier and Spick, Friedrich was credited with 30 nighttime—aerial victories, claimed in an unknown number of combat missions.[3][16] Foreman, Parry and Mathews, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 33 nocturnal victory claims.[17] Mathews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces – Biographies and Victory Claims, listing Friedrich with 32 claims, all of which on the Western Front.[2]

Awards

Notes
  1. According to Obermaier, Friedrich served in Kampfgruppe zur besonderen Verwendung 106 (KGr.z.b.v. 106—Fighting Group for Special Use).[3]
  2. This claim is listed in Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945 but not in Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims.[2]
  3. Beacon "Christa"—Near Haguenau in approximately 48°47′N 7°47′E

References

Citations
  1. Bowman 2016a, p. 96.
  2. Mathews & Foreman 2014, p. 344.
  3. Obermaier 1989, p. 114.
  4. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 9.
  5. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 27.
  6. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 46.
  7. Bowman 2016b, p. 44.
  8. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 74.
  9. Bowman 2016b, p. 141.
  10. Bowman 2016a, p. 142.
  11. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 96.
  12. Bowman 2016b, p. 96.
  13. Bowman 2016b, p. 219.
  14. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 242.
  15. Bowman 2016b, pp. 221–222.
  16. Spick 1996, p. 245.
  17. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, pp. 46–242.
  18. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 50.
  19. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 61.
  20. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 70.
  21. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 72.
  22. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 112.
  23. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 152.
  24. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 153.
  25. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 156.
  26. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 161.
  27. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 166.
  28. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 172.
  29. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 187.
  30. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 215.
  31. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 216.
  32. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 232.
  33. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 233.
  34. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 234.
  35. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 236.
  36. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 237.
  37. Foreman, Mathews & Parry 2004, p. 238.
  38. Bowman 2016b, p. 221.
  39. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 123.
  40. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 187.
  41. Scherzer 2007, p. 320.

Bibliography
  • Bowman, Martin (2016a). Nachtjagd, Defenders of the Reich 1940–1943. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-4738-4986-0.
  • Bowman, Martin (2016b). German Night Fighters Versus Bomber Command 1943–1945. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Aviation. ISBN 978-1-4738-4979-2.
  • Chorley, W. R (1998). Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War: Aircraft and crew losses: 1945. Midland Counties Publications. ISBN 978-0-90459-792-9.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
  • Foreman, John; Mathews, Johannes; Parry, Simon (2004). Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939–1945. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-0-9538061-4-0.
  • Mathews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2014). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 1 A–F. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-18-9.
  • Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1939 – 1945] (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7.
  • Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
  • Spick, Mike (1996). Luftwaffe Fighter Aces. New York: Ivy Books. ISBN 978-0-8041-1696-1.
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