Wolfgang von Gronau

Wolfgang von Gronau
Birth name	Hans Wolfgang Gronau
Birth date	25 February 1893
Place of birth	Berlin, Province of Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	23 October 1977 (aged 84)
Place of death	Frasdorf, Bavaria, West Germany
Resting place	Dune Cemetery, List auf Sylt
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Kaiserliche Marine Freikorps (Grenzschutz Ost) 23px DLV Luftwaffe
Years of service	1911–1918 1919 1933–1936 1936–1945
Rank	Oberleutnant zur See DLV-Fliegervizekommodore Generalmajor
Awards	Iron Cross House Order of Hohenzollern
Relations	∞ 1918 Irma Hell ∞ 1935 Hertha Seelmann-Mirow

Hans Wolfgang Gronau, as of 1913 von Gronau (25 February 1893 – 17 March 1977), was a German aviation pioneer and Luftwaffe general. During World War II, he was the German air attaché and the chief of the Luftwaffe liaison staff in Imperial Japan.

Life

After attending school and achieving his Abitur, Gronau joined the Imperial Navy on 1 April 1911 and received basic infantry and seamanship training that same year. This was followed by training at the naval school (Marineschule) and special courses until 1913. He experienced the outbreak of the First World War on the large cruiser SMS "Von der Tann", where he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on 1 August 1914. From here he transferred to the battleship SMS "Brandenburg" as an adjutant in August. However, since he was very interested in flying, he was assigned to the Norderney naval aviation station in March 1915, where he learned the basics of flying. He then obtained his pilot's license from the glider department on Borkum. He worked as a flight director on the "Answald" until December 1915. The "Answald" was one of a total of five cargo ships that were confiscated or taken over by the Imperial Navy of the German Empire during the First World War and converted into mother ships for seaplanes.

From 1916, von Gronau was deployed to the Warnemünde naval aviation test command in the area of ​​test and acceptance aviation. He was also involved in the testing of torpedo aircraft. On November 1st of the same year, he was appointed 1st Adjutant of the II Naval Aviation Division and from there in November 1917, also as 1st Adjutant and First Lieutenant, he moved to the staff of the Commander of the Aviation of the High Seas Fleet. From there he was given command as head of the Naval Aviation Station in Wilhelmshaven, which he held until December 31st, 1918. In the confusion of the transition from the Empire to the Republic, the dissolution and later reorganization of the armed forces, he was assigned to the Eastern Border Guard in the General Command in Oppeln from January 1919 and was discharged from military service on 24 November 1919.

After various attempts to gain a foothold in civilian jobs, von Gronau became an employee of the German Commercial Pilot School (DVS) on 1 October 1925 and was responsible as a clerk for pilot training for the naval leadership (Marineleitung) of the Reich Defense Ministry. Since Germany was not allowed to maintain military aviation due to the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, the courses held were declared as private or civilian pilot training. In 1926, he returned to Warnemünde and headed the small seaplane department of the DVS. In the same year, he set an altitude record for seaplanes with the Heinkel HE 5 D-937 floatplane, which was internationally recognized as the first German world record after the war. On 1 October 1926, he moved from Warnemünde to Sylt and became head of the German Commercial Pilot School in List. Over the next few years, he mainly looked after stability and the necessary specialist staff at the site and from 1928 he continued to expand the training station in List on Sylt. In Königsberg, he was a member of the Academic Aviation Association Rossitten.

In addition to his training activities, von Gronau planned a cross-Atlantic flight and was supported by the companies of "Dornier" and "Shell". As early as 1927, the DVS had bought the Amundsen whale N 25, with which von Groanu and his three-man crew made a flight to Iceland in 1929 in preparation for a flight to the USA. His crew consisted of the co-pilot Eduard Max Lorenz Zimmer (1904–1989), who was a flight instructor in List on Sylt at the time, the Swabian mechanic Franz "Franzl" Xaver Hack (1904–1964) and the radio operator Fritz Albrecht. For the first flight in 1930, only one flight veteran was available, an old Dornier DO-J Wal with the registration D-1422, with which (as N 25) the polar explorer Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen had attempted to fly to the North Pole in 1925.

On 18 August 1930, Gronau took off on his first east-west transatlantic flight in an old Dornier Wal D-1422. He and his crew managed to complete the northern air route across the Atlantic on the route Sylt–Iceland–Greenland–Labrador–New York in "only" 44 hours, 25 minutes of flight and 6,785 flight kilometers. When the crew landed on the Hudson River in New York City on 26 August 1930 at 16:30 in the afternoon, they received an enthusiastic welcome. In recognition of his achievement, he was received in the White House by Herbert Hoover, the President of the United States. At the time, he was director of the DVS (German Commercial Pilot School) in List on Sylt. He had planned this flight in secret and carried it out against the express prohibition of the responsible German ministry. Only when he reached Iceland did he inform the ministry in Berlin by radio with the words: "Will fly, assuming your consent, via Iceland to New York!" He also only informed his crew shortly beforehand of his plans, which caught them quite unprepared: Von Gronau's co-pilot managed the flight in worn, holey sneakers (anecdote by E. Zimmer). The last member of the crew to find out about everything was the newly engaged flight mechanic "Franzl" Hack, who only found out about it through the radio message. Von Gronau's superiors were anything but happy about this behavior and the disciplinary measures that had already been decided against him were only waived because his record flight was received with great enthusiasm internationally and by the German population. Von Gronau and his crew flew from New York to Chicago. The return journey to Germany took place by ship.

After his first successful North Atlantic flight, von Gronau was able to obtain a technically improved machine from Dornier in 1931, a new 8-ton J II Wal (Dornier Do J II b Bos), the flying boat now called the "Greenland Wal" with the registration D-2053. It was equipped with two BMW VIIa engines with 2 × 550 kW (750 hp) in tandem arrangement, a Sperry gyro horizon, which was new at the time, and an FT system with a direction-finding frame and a demountable antenna mast. D-1422, formerly N 25, landed on the snow-covered Oberwiesenfeld airfield in Munich in the winter of 1932 and ended up in the German Museum. There it was almost completely destroyed by air raids in 1944/45. An original tail segment/frame is in the Dornier Museum in Friedrichshafen.

In 1931, von Gronau flew a new whale over the Greenland ice sheet and Hudson Bay to Chicago. Von Gronau gained further fame when, in July 1932, he set off from the then commercial pilot school in List on Sylt to circumnavigate the world in the twin-engine Dornier-Wal seaplane with the registration D-2053, which brought him back to List in November 1932 after flying more than 44,000 km. On the world flight in 1932, 2nd pilot Zimmer was replaced by Ghert von Roth (1907–1942). He completed this world flight to Friedrichshafen via Iceland, Greenland, Canada, the USA, Alaska, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Karachi, Baghdad, Athens and Rome. After returning from his successful world flight in November 1932, Gronau and his crew Claude Dornier were celebrated in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. During the Second World War, whale flying boats were used as reconnaissance and sea rescue aircraft, among other things, and D-2053 was probably lost in the process. Its whereabouts are unknown.

He published travel reports and gave lectures on aviation. In 1933, he was given the title of Ministerial Counsellor in the Reich Aviation Ministry, but remained head of seaplane training. When the now five seaplane stations were transferred to the still camouflaged Luftwaffe on 1 April 1934, Gronau left. In 1933, von Gronau was also on the committee for the creation of transatlantic aircraft, from June 1934, he was vice president of the Aero Club of Germany and from 1935 vice president of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). From 1936 onwards, he served in the reserve for the Luftwaffe, being promoted annually as a reserve officer until he was reactivated on 1 January 1939 and was assigned as a lieutenant colonel to Training Wing 1 in Greifswald.

When in 1938/39, in the course of preparations for a possible war, the posts of military attachés were filled at several German embassies or legations, and experienced specialists were sought, especially for the air force, who had up-to-date experience in dealing with modern technology, von Gronau was one of those selected. From 15 April 1939, he was employed as Luftwaffe attaché in the German embassy in Tokyo, replacing Gerhard Matzky (1894–1983), who remained on site as military attaché. The German ambassador in Tokyo at that time was Eugen Ott. The position and perception of responsibility of the military attachés in Japan was of great importance for Germany in these years from two perspectives. On the one hand, there were alliance-related agreements between the two countries within the framework of the Anti-Comintern Pact concluded in 1936. These related primarily to Japan's political and military strategic orientation towards China and the Soviet Union. On the other hand, there were politicians and military officers in the Japanese leadership circles who, in the interest of hegemony over the USA, advocated their own regional alliances, which should also include the Soviet Union.

In order to avoid any dangers for Germany, Japan had to be kept stable as the Asian flank for the planned destruction of the Soviet Union. Obtaining the information required for this was one of the main tasks of the attachés stationed in Japan. This concerned above all information about the Japanese armed forces, the development of weapons and combat technology, but also their operational planning. From 1 June 1939, von Gronau was also responsible as air force attaché for the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. In January 1940, von Gronau was promoted to colonel and rose to major general in July 1943. But in working with the Japanese military, the air force attaché did not just gather information. In order to help improve the effectiveness of the Japanese Air Force, he handed over the top secret design documents for the latest jet-powered fighter aircraft, the Messerschmitt Me 163, and the V-1 winged missile. Due to the increasingly tense war and personnel situation in the military leadership areas, he was transferred to the command reserve of the Army High Command on 27 January 1945. With the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht, he was interned in Japan on 8 May 1945 and was taken prisoner by the US on 16 August 1945, from which he was released on 30 November 1947.

Wolfgang von Gronau returned to Germany from Japan at the end of 1947 and took up residence in Bavaria.

Family

Wolfgang came from an old family from the Duchy of Berg. He was the son of the Military Governor of Thorn General of the Artillery Johann "Hans" Karl Hermann Gronau (1850–1940), Knight of the Pour le Mérite with Oak Leaves, and his wife Emma Agnes Luise, née Gerischer (1867–1926). His father was raised to the hereditary Prussian nobility on 16 June 1913. Wolfgang had two brothers, both lost in WWI:

• Karl Wilhelm Albrecht (b. 25 July 1891 in Berlin), 2nd Lieutenant in the Flying Battalion 30, ⚔ 21 August 1914 near Brussels
• Hans Gerhard (b. 12 July 1897 in Charlottenburg), 2nd Lieutenant in the Feldartillerie-Regiment "General-Feldzeugmeister" (1. Brandenburgisches) Nr. 3, ⚔ 29 February 1916 in Bois de Hassoule near Fort Douaumont

Marriages

On 1 September 1918 in Baden-Baden, von Gronau married Irma Emilie Ernestine Hell (1895–1981). They had a daughter and two sons:

• Marie-Luise (b. 20 May 1920 in Groß-Grieben, East Prussia)
• Hans-Albrecht (b. 20 September 1922 in Schönwäldchen, Kreis Osterode)
• Hans-Joachim (b. 6 September 1929 in Berlin-Dahlem; d. 29 December 1933 ibid)

The first marriage ended in divorce in 1934. His second marriage was to Hertha Seelmann-Mirow (1901–1988) on 29 March 1935 in Berlin.

Promotions

German Navy

• 1 April 1911 Seekadett (Officer Candidate at Sea)
• 15 April 1912 Fähnrich zur See (Officer Cadet at Sea)
• 3 August 1914 Leutnant zur See (2nd Lieutenant at Sea)
• 26 April 1917 Oberleutnant zur See (1st Lieutenant at Sea)

Deutscher Luftsportverband

• 1933 DLV-Fliegerkapitän (Captain)
• 1934 DLV-Fliegerkommandant (Major)
• c. 1935/36 DLV-Fliegervizekommodore (Lieutenant Colonel)

Luftwaffe

• 1 March 1936 Hauptmann der Reserve (Captain)
• 1 August 1937 Major der Reserve
• 1 January 1939 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 1 January 1940 Oberst (Colonel)
• 1 July 1943 Generalmajor (Major General)

Awards, decorations and honours

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Badge for Marine Pilots on Seaplanes (Abzeichen für Marine Flugzeugführer auf Seeflugzeugen)
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (HOH3⚔)
• Aviator Commemorative Badge (Flieger-Erinnerungsabzeichen)
• DLV Pilots Badge (double wings)
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords
• Deutsche Olympia-Ehrenzeichen, I. Class (neck order)
• Order of the Crown of Italy, Grand Officer
• Commemorative Medal for 2600 Years of Japan on Ribbon, 1940
• Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, III. Class (neck order)

Honours

• Harmon Trophy (USA)
  • 1931 (national) together with Marga von Etzdorf
  • 1932 as Aviator Prize (Aviatrix = Amelia Earhart; Aeronaut = Ernst August Lehmann)
• A memorial stone at the start and finish location of List on Sylt commemorates his successful record flight.
• In the cities of Augsburg, Wiesbaden (Erbenheim) and Wuppertal (Unterbarmen) a street is named after him.
• Honorary Citizen of the Municipality of List on Sylt
• The Gronau Nunataks (69°27′N 30°15′W) and the Gronau Glacier (69°29′N 30°54′W) in northern King Christian IX Land, Greenland, were named after him.
• A street in the capital city of the Philippines, Manila was named after him, although misspelled as Von Granao.
• In addition, various awards were presented, e.g. from the Automobile Club of Germany (September 1930)