Hermann Frommherz
Hermann Frommherz | |
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Born | 10 August 1891 Royal House Order of Hohenzollern; Military Karl-Friedrich Merit Order |
Generalmajor (Major General) Hermann Frommherz (10 August 1891 – 30 December 1964)
Early life
Hermann Frommherz was born in
World War I aerial service
Frommherz began as a two-seater pilot with the
On 3 March 1917, Frommherz was assigned to
Frommherz was injured in a crash on 1 May 1917. By October, when he had recovered, he was seconded to instructor duty with FEA 3. In December, he received Lübeck's Hanseatic Cross.[2]
Upon Frommherz's return on 1 March 1918 to Jasta 2 to fly a Fokker Dr.I Triplane on 1 March 1918, he began a string of 30 victories that ran from 3 June 1918 until the war's end. He had two victories in June, six each in July[4] and August, ten in September, four in October, and two on 4 November. Notable among his kills were the half dozen against the formidable Bristol F.2 Fighters. In the midst of his victory string, on 29 July 1918, he succeeded Hermann Göring as commanding officer of Jagdstaffel 27.[2]
Leutnant Frommherz had a good reputation as a commanding officer. Ernst de Ridder, when newly assigned to the Jasta, claimed he was allowed to retrain himself from the Fokker Dr.1 to the Fokker D.VII, then nurse-maided into combat with an experienced pilot to watch over him. As de Ridder stated, "He was so concerned about his boys." When de Ridder was wounded, Frommherz brought de Ridder's newly awarded Iron Cross to the hospital.[5]
De Ridder left a description of Frommherz's Fokker D.VII insignia. It consisted of the yellow nose and tail common to his Jasta, along with red and black chevrons of a Staffelführer (squadron leader) painted on top of the upper wing.[6]
Frommherz's blooming career now garnered him the Knight's Cross with Swords of the
After World War I
Postwar, Frommherz was active in the German Police Aviation Service. He also flew mail for
Beginning in 1922, the German high command ran a secret training site at Lipetsk in the Soviet Union.[8] Frommherz became an instructor there in 1925. He was also an instructor in China. From 1931 to 1932, he taught the pilots of Chiang Kai-shek's new air force fighter tactics.[2]
Frommherz returned to Germany to join the nascent Luftwaffe. He was Commanding Officer of I Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 134 ("Horst Wessel") from September 1938 until 1 November 1938 as Oberstleutnant; when it was reconstituted as JG 142, he continued in command until the first day of 1939.[9][10][11] As such, he was involved in the German invasion and conquest of Czechoslovakia, which had the code name Fall Grün (Case Green).[citation needed]
As a Major General, he was Commander of Jagdfliegerführer Deutsche Bucht from 1 April until 30 September 1942, following Werner Junck.[citation needed]
Post World War II
Hermann Frommherz returned to civic affairs in his native town of Waldshut. He died of a heart attack on 30 December 1964.[2]
Inline citations
- ^ Franks, VanWyngarden 2003, p. 81.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Franks et al 1993, pp. 111–112.
- ^ Franks 2002, p. 92.
- ^ "US Air Service over German Air Service" Query His 10th Victory July 28, 1918 was a Salmson Observation aircraft of the U.S. 12th Aero Squadron: Pilot 2/Lt AP Baker WIA/PoW and Observer 2/Lt JC Lumsden KIA.
- ^ Tegler, Eric (2001). "rabbit: Adventures of a WW I fighter pilot, The". Flight Journal.
- ^ Franks, VanWyngarden 2003, p. 82.
- ^ The Pour le Merite website http://www.pourlemerite.org/
- ^ Aviation of World War II website http://www.airpages.ru/cgi-bin/epg.pl?nav=ru11&page=lipetsk
- ^ Jagdgeschwader 142 "Horst Wessel" http://www.ww2.dk/air/jagd/jg142.html
- ^ Jagdgeschwader 134 "Horst Wessel" http://www.ww2.dk/air/jagd/jg134.html
- ^ Development of Luftwaffe fighter aircraft in 1937-39 years. https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://wunderwaffe.narod.ru/HistoryBook/LuftAces/Day/06.htm&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=6&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522hermann%2BFrommherz%2522%26start%3D60%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN
See also
- Jagdfliegerführer Deutsche Bucht Accessed 6 November 2008.
References
- ISBN 978-0-948817-73-1.
- ISBN 978-1-85532-960-7.
- Franks, Norman; VanWyngarden, Greg. Fokker D VII Aces of World War 1. Osprey Publishing, 2003. ISBN 978-1-84176-533-4.
- Franks, Norman (2004). Jasta Boelcke. London: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1904010760.
- VanWyngarden, Greg; Dempsey, Harry. Jagdstaffel 2 Boelcke: Von Richthofen's Mentor. Osprey Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84603-203-5.