Hugo Broch

Hugo Broch
Birth date	6 January 1922(1922-01-06)
Place of birth	Leichlingen, Rhine Province, Prussia, German Reich
Allegiance	National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Luftwaffe
Years of service	1940–1945
Rank	Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
Unit	JG 54 (de)
Battles/wars	World War II Eastern Front Courland Pocket (de)
Awards	Iron Cross German Cross in Gold Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Other work	Employee with Agfa

Hugo Broch (b. 6 January 1922) was a German officer of the Wehrmacht and fighter pilot (Jagdflieger) of the Luftwaffe during World War II. The fighter ace was credited with shooting down a total of 81 Allied aircraft during 324 combat missions (Feindflüge). On 6 January 2024, Hugo Broch and Heinz Rafoth, the last two living recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (after the death of Lorenz Neumayr), celebrated their 102nd and 101st birthdays respectively.

Life

Bf 109 flown by Unteroffizier Hugo Broch, Staff/II. Gruppe/JG 54, Riga-Spilve, Latvia, October 1944

Leutnant a. D. Hugo Broch was a member of the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients.

After completing school and an apprenticeship, Hugo Broch joined Luftwaffe Construction Company (Luftwaffen-Baukompanie) 42/XII of the Air Fleet 3 (Luftflotte 3) on 15 January 1940 and then received basic training in the Flight Candidate Battalion. From 10 November 1940 to 29 October 1941, he attended the A/B 63 pilot school in Marienbad and Karlsbad in the Sudetengau as well as in Vilseck in the Upper Palatinate, then from 18 November 1941 to 10 February 1942 the fighter pilot preschool in Saxony Kamenz, where he acquired the pilot's badge on 28 November 1941. Broch was trained as a fighter pilot from 27 May to 2 November 1942 at the Fighter Pilot School 2 in Zerbst.

After Hugo Broch trained for three weeks in Bussac, France, in the 1st Squadron of the Supplementary Fighter Group East, he was assigned to the 6th Squadron (II. Gruppe/JG 54). He gained his first experiences at the Eastern Front as a Kaczmarek under the squad leaders Horst Ademeit and Heinrich “Bazi” Sterr (⚔ 1944). On 7 March 1943, he reported his first victory, shooting down a LaGG-3 of the Soviet Red Air Force, but this was not credited, because there were no witnesses to confirm this, only then were German pilots credited; the first recognized aerial victory occurred on 13 March 1943, shooting down a Soviet Ilyushin Il-2.

From Orel, Broch took part in Operation Citadel from May 1943 as part of the 1st Flieger Division of Air Fleet 6. As a result of the counter-offensive near Orel, the air base of the 6th squadron had to be relocated to the Reich Commissariat for Ukraine in Kiev. On 28 August 1943, Broch finally achieved his 20th aerial victory. In October 1943, the squadron was ordered to Zhytomyr as a result of the Battle of the Dnieper. From 9 December 1943 to 2 February 1944, Hugo Broch was stationed in Biarritz, southern France, and from 4 March to 29 June 1944 in Liegnitz, Lower Silesia, as a flight instructor in the Supplementary Fighter Group East, but returned to his 6th squadron on 16 August 1944 back to Wenden in Livonia. After Broch was stationed briefly in Riga on 22 September 1944 and in Libau in Courland from October onwards, he was transferred to the 8th Squadron of the II Group in November 1944, which was also in Libau, and from there he also flew mainly over Courland.

Stationed in Cīrava for three months, the sergeant received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross from the then "Commander-in-Chief of Air Fleet 1" General der Flieger Curt Pflugbeil on 12 March 1945. He and his squadron moved to Heiligenbeil in East Prussia in March 1945. His last four victories against the Russians were on 23 March and 26 March 1945, downing two enemies on each day. On 8 May 1945, the 2nd Lieutenant flew to Flensburg, where he was taken prisoner by the British for 80 days.

After being released from captivity, Hugo Broch gained a foothold in civilian life and was employed at Agfa AG in Leverkusen until he retired. Hugo Broch was a very active signer of autographs and memorabilia for years. In the summer of 2017, at the age of 95, he became the first former Luftwaffe pilot to fly in a Spitfire of the Royal Air Force (taking of in Biggin Hill), which was covered by the BBC and reported by major British newspapers such as the Daily Mirror, The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail.

Promotions

• 1.11.1940 Gefreiter (Private E-2/Lance Corporal)
• 1.7.1943 Unteroffizier (NCO/Corporal/Junior Sergeant)
• 1.11.1944 Feldwebel (Staff Sergeant)
  • at the same time named Oberfähnrich (Senior Officer Cadet)
• 1.1.1945 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)

Awards and decorations

• Pilot Badge (Flugzeugführerabzeichen) on 28 November 1941
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (7 April 1943)
  • 1st Class (11 August 1943)
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe
  • in Bronze (26 March 1943)
  • in Silver (10 June 1943)
  • in Gold (23 August 1943)
• Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg) on 8 November 1943 as Unteroffizier and pilot
• German Cross in Gold on 26 November 1943 as Unteroffizier (NCO) in the 6. Staffel/Jagdgeschwader 54
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 12 March 1945 as Feldwebel and pilot in the 8. Staffel/Jagdgeschwader 54
• Courland Cuff Title / Cuff band "Kurland" (Ärmelband „Kurland“) on 20 April 1945 as Leutnant and pilot in the 8. Staffel/Jagdgeschwader 54

Further reading

• Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 (in de). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7. 
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile (in de). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. 
• Patzwall, Klaus D. / Scherzer, Veit (2001) Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II (in de). 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 (in de). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2. 
• Schumann, Ralf / Mehwitz, Rolf (2018) Hugo Broch – "Ein Grünherz-Jäger", in: Ritterkreuzträger Profile, Nr. 18 (in de). Stengelheim, Germany: UNITEC-Medienvertrieb.