Gerhard Grenzel
| Gerhard Grenzel | |
|---|---|
_von_Wolfgang_Willrich.jpg) Feldwebel Grenzel by Wolfgang Willrich | |
| Birth date | 13 May 1915 |
| Place of birth | Brandenburg an der Havel, Province of Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire |
| Death date | ⚔ 10 January 1941 (aged 25) |
| Place of death | Near Malta, Mediterranean Sea |
| Allegiance |  National Socialist Germany
|
| Service/branch |  Sturmabteilung Luftwaffe
|
| Rank | SA-Obersturmmann Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Iron Cross Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Gerhard Grenzel (13 May 1915 – 10 January 1941) was a German enlisted man of the SA as well as an officer of the Wehrmacht as Stuka pilot of the Luftwaffe. Along with Paul-Werner Hozzel, Martin Möbus and Elmar Schäfer, Grenzel belonged to the first dive bomber pilots to receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in WWII.[1] He was not only the first non-commissioned officer of the dive bombers to receive this high military honour but also the first NCO of the Wehrmacht.
Life
Grenzel joined the SA around 1933 (it is assumed, but not proven, that he was a member of the NSDAP) and the Luftwaffe in 1935. After training to be a pilot (Arado Ar 65, Heinkel He 50, Heinkel He 51, Henschel Hs 123 and Junkers Ju 87 B), he was eventually transferred to the Dive Bomber Wing 160 in Insterburg (East Prussia). The Stuka wing, with only one group, was incorporated into the Dive Bomber Wing 1 (Sturzkampfgeschwader 1) on 1 May 1939 as the 1st Group/StG 1. Grenzelnow belonged to the 2nd Squadron, which, however, only flew a few missions during the Poland Campaign in September 1939.
WWII
The 1st Group of Dive Bomber Wing 1 retrained on the Junkers Ju 87 R in Delmenhorst in March and April 1940. The group was the only Luftwaffe Stuka group to take part in the Norwegian campaign. From Kiel-Holtenau it was deployed over the Oslo area. The 1st Squadron was transferred to Trondheim / Vaernes on 9 April 1940. The squadron temporarily flew its missions from Josvatnet, a frozen lake near Trondheim. On 10 April 1940, the group headquarters and the 2nd and 3rd Squadrons moved to Stavanger-Sola.
On 24 April 1940, the group was reunited in Trondheim-Vaernes. Subordinated to the Trondheim pilot leader (Fliegerführer), the 1st Group fought against British troop accumulations and airfield occupancies. The group was also used against British naval warships of the Royal Navy off Norway and in the North Sea. Among the Stuka's warship victims were the destroyers Afridi and Bison (Polish) and the sloop Bittern, all sunk, while the heavy cruiser Suffolk, AA cruiser Cairo and many smaller ships were heavily damaged. On 8 May 1940, Grenzel was awarded the Knight's Cross for his success against Allied surface forces in the North Sea particularly off the coast of Norway, and simultaneously promoted to Feldwebel.
On 20 June 1940, the 1st Group moved to Evreux in France and took part in the final phase of the Western Campaign. After a brief refreshment in Beauvais, the group was placed under the command of Dive Bomber Wing 3 in Angers at the end of July 1940 and flew missions from the Caen area over the Channel (against convoys) and southern England during the Battle of Britain. He was commissioned as Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) on 1 August 1940 and appointed to leader of the 2nd Squadron/1st Group/StG 1 in September 1940. Due to heavy losses, the group was withdrawn from deployment in November 1940 and refreshed in Bergen-op-Zoom. At the end of December 1940 and the beginning of January 1941, the 1st Group was moved to Trapani on Sicily in association with the Dive Bomber Wing 2. On 10 January 1941, the group took part in the attacks on the British "Force A" convoy protection[2] together with the 2nd Group/Dive Bomber Wing 2 (II. Gruppe/StG 2).
Deat h
On 10 January 1941, 2nd Lieutenant Grenzel was flying his Ju 87 R-1 (Werknummer: 5854; A5 + DK) together with Feldwebel Otto Zupp (radio operator) during the first anti-ship mission by German Stuka pilots off Malta. After attacking the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, his plane and the plane of another crew (3. Staffel/StG 1) was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire and crashed burning into the sea in the area between Pantelleria, an Italian island in the Strait of Sicily, and Malta, trying hopelessly to return to Trapani.
Awards and decorations
- Pilot Badge (Flugzeugführerabzeichen)
- Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th Class
- Sudetenland Medal (Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938)
- Medal to Commemorate the Homecoming of the Memelland
- Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 8 May 1940 as Unteroffizier and Pilot in the 2nd Squadron/1st Group/Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 (Dive Bomber Wing 1)[3]
References
- ↑ Das waren die deutschen Stuka-Asse 1939-1945, Stuttgart 1976, p. 199
- ↑ The British began Operation Excess, a series of supply convoys to Malta, Alexandria and Greece. Force A was comprised of HMS Warspite, Valiant, Nubian, Mohawk, Dainty, Gallant, Greyhound, Griffin, Jervis and Illustrious to sail from Alexandria, covering convoys MC 4, MW 5 and ME 6 east of the Skerki Banks. Warspite was lightly damaged by a bomb. Illustrious was hit by five bombs, including one which failed to explode and a near miss disabled her rudder mechanism. A bomb striking a lowered elevator caused extensive hangar damage, with many casualties among aircraft maintenance personnel, nine Swordfish and five Fulmars destroyed. Fairey Fulmar fighters and AA gunners of the Royal Navy shot down at least seven aircraft on 10 January 1941, in defence of Illustrious, while one Fulmar was lost. Illustrious reached Malta at 21:30 and would suffer 126 dead and 91 wounded by the time she departed from Malta. HMS Illustrious was able to complete additional repairs after reaching Alexandria on 25 January but restoration of full combat effectiveness required a trip to United States shipyards. Gallant was beached in Malta's Grand Harbor at dawn of 11 January 1941 and never repaired. As Mohawk and the Force B cruisers steamed from Malta to rejoin Force A, they were surprised by 12 Ju 87 R dive bombers of II/St.G.2 attacking out of the sun at 15:20. Gloucester was hit by a bomb which failed to explode and Southampton was hit by two bombs, which killed eighty men and started fires, requiring the ship to be scuttled 180 nmi (210 mi; 330 km) east of Malta. A bomb exploded in Essex's engine room on 16 January 1941 killing 15 men and wounding 23 more.
- ↑ Grenzel, Gerhard (Sturzkampfgeschwader 1)
