Hans Bertsch

Hans Bertsch
1st Lieutenant of the Reserves Dipl.-Ing. Bertsch (1937)
Birth date	14 November 1894(1894-11-14)
Place of birth	Metzingen, Oberamt Urach, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire
Death date	9 November 1959 (aged 64)
Place of death	Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Imperial German Army Luftwaffe
Rank	2nd Lieutenant of the Reserves Major of the Reserves
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross House Order of Hohenzollern
Relations	∞ 1925 Ilse Etter (b. 1903)
Other work	Graduate engineer

Hans Bertsch (14 November 1894 – 9 November 1959) was a German engineer as well as reserve officer of the Imperial German Army and the Wehrmacht, finally Major in World War II. Bertsch and his wife Ilse were both "denazified" after the war, it can therefore be assumed that they were both members of the NSDAP.

Life

After Abitur (Oberrealschule) and before his studies at university, Bertsch began his mandatory military service as a one-year volunteer (Einjährig-Freiwilliger) with the Feld-Artillerie-Regiment "Prinz-Regent Luitpold von Bayern" (2. Württembergisches) Nr. 29 in Ludwigsburg.

WWI

He was presumably still serving here when mobilization for the World War began on 2 August 1914. At some point during 1916, Bertsch transferred from the artillery to the Fliegertruppe and was trained as an observer with the Fliegerersatz-Abteilung 10 (FEA 10) in Böblingen. He was assigned to the Feldflieger-Abteilung 33 and in January 1917 (due to renaming) to the Flieger-Abteilung 33 (FA 33) and undertook dangerous reconnaissance flights with his pilot. In 1918, he served with the Kofl 2 (Kommandeur der Flieger) with the 2nd German Army (AOK 2). On 13 November 1918, he was released from military service.

Post-WWI

After WW1, he became a graduate engineer, procurator (listed as such 1927) and later director of the watch factory "Friedrich Mauthe G.m.b.H." in Schwenningen. He served as a reserve officer (1st Lieutenant of the Reserves) in the Luftwaffe and was promoted to Captain of the Reserves in 1938.

WWII

He was reactivated for WWII and was promoted to Major of the Reserves. In August 1941, he was appointed Chief Intelligence Officer (Ic) in the staff of the Koluft (Kommandeur der Luftwaffe) in the General Staff of the 9th German Army (AOK 9). On 5 March 1943, he was appointed Ic 1 (situation und war diary) with the staff of the Luftgaukommando XVII until 1945.

Post-WWII

After the war and his release as a POW, Bertsch returned to the watch factory. In 1953, he invented a self-winding device for clocks, in particular for wristwatches (worldwide patent application in 1954; CH331593A). His son Dipl.-Ing. Hanns Frieder Bertsch, who had married into the Mauthe family, also worked for the factory (United States patent for magnetic device for transforming an oscillatory motion into a rotary motion in 1971) and eventually became deputy managing director and then in January 1973 managing director (Geschäftsführer) until December 1974.

Awards and decorations (excerpt)

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Military Merit Order (Bavaria), 4th Class with Swords (BMV4⚔/BM4⚔)
• German Army Observer’s Badge (Abzeichen für Beobachtungsoffiziere aus Flugzeugen)
• Military Merit Medal (Württemberg) for Bravery in Gold (WMVM1/WgM) on 2 March 1917
• Military Merit Order (Württemberg), Knight's Cross on 2 August 1917
  • On 2 March 1917, Bertsch was already awarded the Württemberg Gold Military Merit Medal. However, upon award of the Knight’s Cross of the Württemberg Military Merit Order and in accordance with the Kingdom’s award regulations, he was no longer entitled to display the latter medal.
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (HOH3⚔)
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords

Gallery

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•