Franz Hrdlicka

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Franz Hrdlicka
Born15 October 1920
Maxdorf, Czechoslovakia
Died25 March 1945(1945-03-25) (aged 24)
Betzenrod
Cause of deathKilled in action
Buried
Tutzing, New Cemetery
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service/branchBalkenkreuz (Iron Cross) Luftwaffe
Years of service1939–1945
RankHauptmann (captain)
UnitJG 77
JG 2
Commands heldI./JG 2
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Franz Hrdlicka[Note 1] (15 October 1920 – 25 March 1945) was a Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. During his career Franz Hrdlicka was credited with 60 aerial victories.

Career[edit]

Hrdlicka was born on 15 October 1920 in Maxdorf in Mähren, present-day the suburb Dvorska of Brno in the Czech Republic. He volunteered for service in the Luftwaffe in late 1939.

On 6 August 1942, Hrdlicka was shot down and wounded in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 (Werknummer 7021—factory number) near the airfield at Kastornoje, approximately 75 km (47 mi) west of Voronezh.[1]

On 27 September 1944 he was shot down and wounded in combat with Supermarine Spitfires near Arnhem but managed to bail out.[2] Following his 44th aerial victory, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 9 August 1944. He was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2—2nd Fighter Wing) in mid-October 1944. There he first commanded the 1. Staffel as Staffelkapitän (squadron leader).[3]

Group commander and death[edit]

On 18 December 1944, Hrdlicka was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of the I. Gruppe of JG 2 "Richthofen". He succeeded Hauptmann Kurt Hoffmann who temporarily had led the Gruppe after its former commander, Major Walter Matoni had been injured on 5 December.[4]

Hrdlicka was shot down by United States Army Air Forces fighters and killed in action on 25 March 1945 near Betzenrod, present-day a suburb of Schotten, Hesse.[2] His remains were recovered on 8 September 1951. He had been nominated for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) which was not approved.[5]

Summary of career[edit]

Aerial victory claims[edit]

Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and state that he claimed at least 44 aerial victories. This figure includes 24 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and at least 20 over the Western Allies, including three four-engined heavy bombers.[6]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 83194". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km2). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.[7]

Chronicle of aerial victories
  This and the # (hash mark) indicates those aerial victories listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock without an explicit sequence number.
  This and the ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike, Bock, Mathews and Foreman.
Claim Date Time Type Location Claim Date Time Type Location
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –[8]
Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941
1 6 July 1941 12:47 I-16[9] 5 10 October 1941 10:10 Il-2[10]
2 6 August 1941 15:33 MiG-3[11] 6 22 October 1941 11:00 R-5[12]
3 12 August 1941 13:14 SB-2[13] vicinity of Odessa 7 17 November 1941 13:39 I-153[14]
4 25 September 1941 15:00 I-153[10]
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –[8]
Eastern Front — 17 March – 30 April 1942
8 17 March 1942 12:38 DB-3[15] 10 24 March 1942 13:00 I-16[15]
9 19 March 1942 15:20 I-153[15]
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –[8]
Eastern Front — 1 May – 7 November 1942
11 8 May 1942 12:11 MiG-1[16] 18 21 July 1942 18:45 Hurricane[17]
# 11 May 1942 12:28 DB-3[18] 19 21 July 1942 19:20 Hurricane[17]
13 14 June 1942 14:51 I-153[19] 20 24 July 1942 05:46 LaGG-3[20]
14 6 July 1942 18:03 P-40[21] 21 24 July 1942 05:50 U-2[20]
15 12 July 1942 17:09 Yak-1[22] 22 25 July 1942 18:13 Pe-2[20]
16 13 July 1942 10:45 Il-2[22] 23 31 July 1942 15:47 Il-2 PQ 83194[23]
17 21 July 1942 16:34 LaGG-3[17] 24 6 August 1942 18:04 Pe-2 PQ 82153[24]
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –[8]
Mediterranean Theater, North Africa — 1–31 December 1942
25 20 December 1942 07:50 P-40 PQ 13 Ost 62732[25]
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –[8]
North Africa — 1 January – May 1943
26 1 January 1943 10:55 P-40 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of airfield Zazur[26]
20 km (12 mi) northwest of Buerat 		29?[Note 2] 24 March 1943 08:35 Spitfire 10 km (6.2 mi) south-southeast of Gabès[27]
27 1 March 1943 14:58 P-38?[Note 3] southeast of Thélepte[26]
20 km (12 mi) northwest of Buerat 		30 26 March 1943 10:50?[Note 4] Spitfire 10 km (6.2 mi) south-southeast of El Hamma[27]
28 13 March 1943 17:45 P-39 52 km (32 mi) west-southwest of Sfax[27] 31 1 April 1943 18:10 Spitfire 22 km (14 mi) east of El Guetter[27]
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –[8]
Mediterranean Theater, Italy — June – 31 December 1943
32 20 June 1943 08:35 P-38 PQ 13 Ost 28134, west of Chinisia Airfield[28] 35 9 July 1943 07:28 P-40 28 km (17 mi) east-northeast of Castelvetrano Airfield[28]
33 4 July 1943 11:28 Spitfire 90 km (56 mi) east of Syracuse[28] 36 19 August 1943 11:12 P-51 PQ 03 Ost 59274, east of Stromboli[29]
34 5 July 1943 11:40 B-17 35 km (22 mi) west of Syracuse[28] 37 9 November 1943 12:05 P-38 PQ 04 Ost 75712[29]
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –[8]
Mediterranean Theater, Italy — 1 January – 8 September 1944
38 6 February 1944 08:10 P-51 PQ 14 Ost S/22423[30] 42 4 June 1944 11:20 Spitfire PQ 14 Ost UB[30]
northwest of Pistoia
39 20 March 1944 12:15 Spitfire PQ 14 OST S/FA-7[30]
south of Elba 		43 26 June 1944 12:18 B-24 PQ 14 Ost N/5338[30]
40 18 April 1944 08:12 P-51 2 km (1.2 mi) southwest of Bracciano[30]
southwest of Lake Bracciano 		44 5 July 1944 13:08 P-47 PQ 14 Ost S/BE-1/1[30]
Sansepolcro
41 29 May 1944 11:44 B-24 PQ 14 Ost S/66373[30]
southeast of Zagreb
– Stab III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" –[8]
Western Front — 18–31 December 1944
45 23 December 1944 12:03 B-26 PQ 05 Ost ON-5[31]
Roetgen

Awards and decorations[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Alternative spelling is Herdlicka.
  2. ^ This claim is not listed by Mathews and Foreman.[8]
  3. ^ According to Mathews and Foreman claimed as a Martin Baltimore.[8]
  4. ^ According to Mathews and Foreman claimed at 10:37.[8]
  5. ^ According to Scherzer on 18 October 1944 as Staffelkapitän in the II./Jagdgeschwader 77.[36]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Prien et al. 2006, p. 319.
  2. ^ a b Weal 2000, p. 116.
  3. ^ Obermaier 1989, p. 137.
  4. ^ Prien, Stemmer & Bock 2018, p. 176.
  5. ^ Dixon 2023, p. 159.
  6. ^ Mathews & Foreman 2015, pp. 558–559.
  7. ^ Planquadrat.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Mathews & Foreman 2015, p. 559.
  9. ^ Prien et al. 2003, p. 325.
  10. ^ a b Prien et al. 2003, p. 330.
  11. ^ Prien et al. 2003, p. 326.
  12. ^ Prien et al. 2003, p. 331.
  13. ^ Prien et al. 2003, p. 327.
  14. ^ Prien et al. 2003, p. 332.
  15. ^ a b c Prien et al. 2005, p. 300.
  16. ^ Prien et al. 2006, p. 296.
  17. ^ a b c Prien et al. 2006, p. 306.
  18. ^ Prien et al. 2006, p. 297.
  19. ^ Prien et al. 2006, p. 301.
  20. ^ a b c Prien et al. 2006, p. 307.
  21. ^ Prien et al. 2006, p. 303.
  22. ^ a b Prien et al. 2006, p. 305.
  23. ^ Prien et al. 2006, p. 308.
  24. ^ Prien et al. 2006, p. 309.
  25. ^ Prien et al. 2004, p. 314.
  26. ^ a b Prien et al. 2011, p. 456.
  27. ^ a b c d Prien et al. 2011, p. 457.
  28. ^ a b c d Prien et al. 2011, p. 458.
  29. ^ a b Prien et al. 2011, p. 459.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g Prien et al. 2021, p. 372.
  31. ^ Prien, Stemmer & Bock 2018, p. 182.
  32. ^ Dixon 2023, pp. 158–159.
  33. ^ Patzwall 2008, p. 106.
  34. ^ Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 200.
  35. ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 236.
  36. ^ Scherzer 2007, p. 406.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Bergström, Christer [in Swedish]. "Bergström Black Cross/Red Star website". Identifying a Luftwaffe Planquadrat. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  • Dixon, Jeremy (2023). Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe: Knight's Cross Holders 1943–1945. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-39903-073-1.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer [in German] (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.
  • Mathews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2015). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 2 G–L. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-19-6.
  • 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.
  • Patzwall, Klaus D. (2008). Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg [The Honor Goblet for Outstanding Achievement in the Air War] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-08-3.
  • Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2003). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 6/II—Unternehmen "BARBAROSSA"—Einsatz im Osten—22.6. bis 5.12.1941 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 6/II—Operation "BARBAROSSA"—Action in the East—22 June to 5 December 1941] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-70-0.
  • Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2004). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 8/II—Einsatz im Mittelmeerraum—November 1941 bis Dezember 1942 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 8/II—Action in the Mediterranean Theater—November 1941 to December 1942] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-74-8.
  • Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2005). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 9/I—Winterkampf im Osten—6 December 1941 bis 30 April 1942 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 9/I—Winter War in the East—6 December 1941 to 30 April 1942] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-76-2.
  • Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2006). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 9/III—Vom Sommerfeldzug 1942 bis zur Niederlage von Stalingrad—1 May 1942 bis 3 February 1943 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 9/III—From the 1942 Summer Campaign to the Defeat at Stalingrad—1 May 1942 to 3 February 1943] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-78-6.
  • Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2011). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 11/II—Einsatz im Mittelmeerraum—1.1 bis 31.12.1943 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 11/II—Action in the Mediterranean Theater—1 January to 31 December 1943] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-942943-00-0.
  • Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Bock, Winfried (2018). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 13/IV—Einsatz im Reichsverteidigung und im Westen—1.1. bis 31.12.1944 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 13/IV—Action in the Defense of the Reich and in the West—1 January to 31 December 1944] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-942943-19-2.
  • Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Bock, Winfried; Balke, Ulf (2021). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 14—Einsatz im Mittelmeerraum—1.1. bis 15.9.1944 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 14—Action in the Mediterranean Theater—1 January to 15 September 1944] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-942943-24-6.
  • 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.
  • Weal, John (2000). Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen". Aviation Elite Units. Vol. 1. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-046-9.
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