Hellmut von Rabenau

Hellmut von Rabenau
Birth name	Hellmut Siegfried Eitel-Friedrich von Rabenau
Birth date	8 January 1915 (1915-01-08)
Place of birth	Cottbus, Province of Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	⚔ 11 November 1943 (1943-11-12) (aged 28)
Place of death	Mediterranean Sea
Allegiance	Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine Luftwaffe
Years of service	1934–1935 1935–1941 1941–1943
Rank	Major
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Iron Cross Front Flying Clasp Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty German Cross in Gold
Relations	∞ 1940 Elisabeth Lindner

Hellmut Siegfried Eitel-Friedrich von Rabenau (8 January 1915–11 November 1943) was a German officer of the German Navy and the German Air Force, finally Major in WWII.

Life

Promotions

Grave of the parents

After Gymnasium and Abitur, Hellmut von Rabenau joined the Reichsmarine as an officer candidate on 8 April 1934 (Crew 34) with Peter Ottmar Grau and others. The swearing in took place on 1 May 1934. He received his mandatory naval training (II. Schiffsstammabteilung der Ostsee, Stralsund) and on training ships like the sailer "Gorch Fock", the cruiser "Emden" and the battleship "Schlesien". He also attended the Naval School (Marineschule, Flensburg-Mürwik) and many courses (artillery, signal, torpedo) in 1935/36. He returned to the Naval School on 20 June 1936 for extensive officer training until 2 April 1937. From 5 to 9 January 1937, he had been on board the the steamer "Hecht" (navigation instruction trip). On 3 April 1937, he was transferred to the destroyer Z 4 "Richard Beitzen". From 2 to 31 October 1937, he served with the Luft-Kreis-Kommando VI (See) .On 1 November 1937, he was commanded to the aviation school (Sea) in Bug, where he first trained to be an observer, then a naval pilot. On 1 September 1938, he was transferred to the 1st Squadron/Küstenfliegergruppe 306 (Marinegruppe Ost) in Dievenow. The Coastal Aviation Group 306 took part in the Poland Campaign flying reconnaissance.

On 22 September 1939, von Rabenau was having engine trouble and landed his Heinkel He 60 (K6+QH) on the sea, which subsequently drifted into Swedish territory vic Ystad. He was seized and interned, although he later reported, it was like a vacation among very friendly Swedes. In June 1940, he was released and repatriated. He received much needed leave to his family until 28 August 1940, marring on 27 August and returning to duty on 29 August. He then served with the Küstenfliegergruppe 106 (Marinegruppe West) and flew long-range reconnaissance over the Atlantic Ocean. On 10 February 1941, he was trasferred to the new 4th Squadron of the Kampfgeschwader 40 in Lüneburg where he would have his first experience as an observer in a Heinkel He 111. On 4 October with effect from 1 October 1941, Captain von Rabenau officially transferred from the Kriegsmarine to the Luftwaffe.

From 15 November 1941 to 12 February 1942 he attended flight school (Flugzeugführerschule A/B 10) in Warnemünde. From 13 February to 20 May 1942, he served with the 2nd group/Kampfschulgeschwader 2 for further training over the Mediterranean Sea. From 21 May to 4 September 1942, he returned to the Flugzeugführerschule A/B 10 and then attended the Flugzeugführerschule (C) 14 in Prague-Gbell from 5 September to 15 January 1943. He was then was commanded to the Student Company of the instrument flight school or Blindflugschule in Vienna-Aspern (BFS 4) from 15 January to 18 March 1943 flying from the south of the Reich to the north and training over Denmark. From 19 March to 8 June 1943, he served in the 4th Group/Kampfgeschwader 26 and from 9 June to 20 August 1943 with with Kampfgeschwader 102 in the area of Riga. On 21 August 1943, he returned to the Kampfgeschwader 26 and was appointed commander of the 1st Group (I./KG 26).

Targets near Oran and Algiers were attacked. After the Allied invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943, the I. and III. Group/KG 26 deployed against the Allied invasion units. The groups also continued to fly missions against Allied convoys entering the Mediterranean from Gibraltar. After the Allied invasion of Reggio in Sicily, the two wing groups, which had already suffered heavy losses, were also used against these invasion forces. After the Italian surrender on 8 September 1943, the squadron flew missions against the Italian Navy and from 9 September 1943 against the Allies who landed near Salerno.

Death

16 Do 217s from II./KG.100, 23 He 111s from I./KG.26 and 17 Ju 88s from III./KG.26 are used against the Allied convoy KMS.31. 48 torpedo planes attack northeast Oran (Algeria) and sink the transports Birchbank (5151 GRT), Indian Prince (8587 GRT) and Carlier (7217 GRT). The also torpedoed French tanker Nivose (4763 GRT) sinks after collision. 7 planes are lost.

Hellmut von Rabenau was the pilot of one of these seven lost planes. He was killed in action when his He 111 H-11 (1H+FB) was lost while attacking the Allied convoy with torpedos vic Cap Ivi (Mostaganem). His remains as well as those of his crew members were never recovered. The wife had a memorial cross erected on the family grave plot in the Obernberg forest cemetery, Bad Salzuflen, Lippe district, North Rhine-Westphalia.

Family

Hellmut was the son of Dr. phil. Eitel-Friedrich Karl Balthasar von Rabenau (1884–1959), Protestant theologian and long-time pastor of the Old Prussian United Church and the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg, and his wife (∞ 19 March 1912) Elisabeth, née Riese (1892–1972). His uncles Otto Karl Hellmuth von Rabenau (1885–1970) and Paul Reinhart von Rabenau (1888–1937) were also naval officers. His aunt Margarethe Karoline Anna von Rabenau was married to Kurt Friedrich Oskar von Wodtke, brother of Major General Georg Eduard Johann von Wodtke. His cousin Paul Georg von Rabenau was a U-Boot commandant. Hellmut had five siblings:

• Reinhart Paul Johannes Rupprecht (b. 12 March 1913 in Jaffa), in WWII reserve officer and assessor at the war court (Kriegsgericht), Senior Staff Judge in the 3rd Panzer Division, Senior Staff Judge (Oberstabsrichter) in the 17th Panzer Division; after 1945: State Court Councilor (Landgerichtsrat) in Düsseldorf
• Maria Adele Gertrud Anna Hedwig (b. 7 September 1921 in Bethel near Bielefeld)
• Konrad Hugo Paul (1924–2016), Dr. theol. (dissertation 1955), theologian, binding researcher and local politician
• Eckhard Werner Götz von Rabenau (1926–2015), theologian, from 1995 to 1998 Director of the The Lutheran Council of Great Britain
• Hildburg Johanna Elisabeth (b. 10 July 1928 in Berlin-Schöneberg)

Marriage

On 27 August 1940 in Bad Salzuflen, 1st Lieutenant at Sea von Rabenau married his fiancée Elisabeth Lindner (b. 16 April 1913 in Reut i. W.). They had one son:

• Lothar Richard Reinhart Hellmut (b. 14 July 1941 in Stuttgart-Bad-Cannsatt; d. 23 April 2023), lawyer in Hünxe, Drevenack and family father

Promotions

• 8.4.1934 Offiziersanwärter (Crew 1934)
• 26.9.1934 Seekadett (Cadet at Sea)
• 1.10.1934 Ober-Matrose
• 1.1.1935 Ober-Stabs-Matrose
• 16.3.1935 Fähnrich zur See (supernumerary Officer Cadet)
• 1.4.1936 Fähnrich zur See (Officer Cadet)
• 1.1.1938 Oberfähnrich zur See (Senior Officer Cadet)
• 1.4.1938 Leutnant zur See (2nd Lieutenant at Sea)
• 1.4.1939 Oberleutnant zur See (1st Lieutenant at Sea)
• 1.9.1941 Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant Captain)
• 1.10.1941 Hauptmann of the Luftwaffe (Captain)
  • later received Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1.2.1942
• 1.11.1943 Major of the Luftwaffe

Awards and decorations

• DLRG basic certificate (Grundschein) of the German Life Saving Association (Abzeichnen der Deutschen Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft)
• German Reich Sport Badge (Deutsches Reichssportabzeichen) in Bronze
• Observer Badge (Beobachterabzeichen) in January 1938
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th Class
• Pilot Badge (Flugzeugführerabzeichen) on 30 November 1938
• Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 27 September 1940
  • 1st Class on 3 January 1941
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold on 16 June 1941
• Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty (Finnisches Freiheitskreuz), 3rd Class with Swords on 15 December 1941
• Combined Pilot and Observation Badge (Gemeinsames Flugzeugführer- und Beobachterabzeichen) on 1 September 1942
• German Cross in Gold on 1 January 1945 (posthumously)

Gallery

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