Hans Döbrich

Hans Friedrich Döbrich (24 March 1916 – 6 April 1984) was a Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Hans Döbrich was credited with 65 victories. All his victories were recorded over the Eastern Front.

Hans Döbrich
Born	(1916-03-24)24 March 1916 Sonneberg, Saxe-Meiningen
Died	6 April 1984(1984-04-06) (aged 68) Vienna, Austria
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Luftwaffe
Years of service	1939–1945
Rank	Oberleutnant (first lieutenant)
Unit	6./JG 5
Battles / wars	World War II Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations	Albin Döbrich (father)

Career

Döbrich was born on 24 March 1916 in Sonneberg, at the time in Saxe-Meiningen within the German Empire, present-day in Thuringia.^[1] He was the fourth and youngest child of the Austrian sculptor Albin Döbrich and his wife Anna, née Eckl. He had an older brother Albin, and two older sisters, Josephine and Hertha.^[2]

Döbrich, as a member of 6. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 5 (JG 5—5th Fighter Wing), participated in battles on the northern flank of the Eastern Front in the Soviet Arctic. On 19 July 1942, he made a forced landing 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of Murmashi Russia in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 trop (Werknummer 10169—factory number) "Yellow 9" following aerial combat. Döbrich, who had been injured, walked back to his unit, returning on 26 July.^[3]

Wounded in combat to end of war

On 16 July 1943, whilst flying Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 20088), Döbrich was wounded by enemy fighters after downing two aircraft and was forced to bail out 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of the Rybachy Peninsula into Petsamo Fjord, Finland.^[4] He was rescued by a Kriegsmarine Minenräumboot (minesweeper) and taken ashore and then flown on a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch to a Luftwaffe hospital at Kirkenes. While hospitalized, he was awarded awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 19 September 1943. The presentation was made at the hospital by Generalmajor Ernst-August Roth, at the time Fliegerführer Nord.^[5][6]

In December 1943, Döbrich was released from the Luftwaffe hospital in Kirkenes and spent Christmas with his family. Since he still hadn't fully recovered from his injuries, he spent most of 1944 in the Luftwaffe hospital 4/XVII in Vienna, interrupted by occasional visits to his family. In 1944, Döbrich was promoted to Fahnenjunker-Feldwebel and to Leutnant (second lieutenant) on 1 November 1944.^[7]

His total victory tally was at least 65 victories achieved in 248 missions, an additional 19 victories were unconfirmed. All his victories were recorded over the Eastern Front.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Döbrich was credited with 65 aerial victories.^[8] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 65 aerial victory claims, plus one further unconfirmed claim, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.^[9]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 36 Ost 39172". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km²). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.^[10]

Chronicle of aerial victories
This and the ? (exclamation mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike, Bock, Mombeek, Mathews, and Foreman.
Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location
– 6. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 5 –[9] Eastern Front and northern Norway, and Finland — 6 December 1941 – 31 December 1942
1	24 April 1942	09:22	Hurricane	1 km (0.62 mi) west of Murmansk[11][12]	23	21 August 1942	15:28	I-180 (Yak-7)[13][14]
2	29 April 1942	12:43	I-153	8 km (5.0 mi) west of Zapadnaya Litsa bight[12][15]	24	21 August 1942	15:33	Yak-1[13][14]
3	18 May 1942	—	Hurricane	10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of Murmansk[16][17]	25	25 August 1942	15:27	P-40[14][18]
4	19 May 1942	09:23	Hurricane	Murmashi[16][17]	26	2 September 1942	11:20	Yak-1[14][18]
5	19 May 1942	15:59	Hurricane	10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of Murmashi[16][17]	27	5 September 1942	08:28	P-40[14][18]
6	28 May 1942	12:18	Hurricane	5 km (3.1 mi) southwest of Kola[16][17]	28	8 September 1942	11:41	I-153[14][18]	vicinity of Kola
7	28 May 1942	12:20	Hurricane	4 km (2.5 mi) west of Kola[16][17]	29	8 September 1942	15:01	Hurricane[14][18]	vicinity of Kola
8	29 May 1942	23:15	Hurricane	southeast of Eyna Guba[16][17]	30	9 September 1942	10:49	Hurricane[14][18]	vicinity of Kola
9	30 May 1942	09:18	Hurricane	Kola Bay[16][19]	31	9 September 1942	11:01	Hurricane[14][18]	vicinity of Kola
10	2 June 1942	—	Hurricane	35 km (22 mi) west of Murmansk[19][20]	32	15 September 1942	14:20	P-40[18][21]
11	13 June 1942	16:01	Hurricane	10 km (6.2 mi) west of Murmansk[19][20]	33	15 September 1942	14:32?[Note 1]	Hurricane[18][21]
12	22 June 1942	22:36	Hurricane	5 km (3.1 mi) west of Kola[22][23]	34	19 September 1942	14:02	Hurricane[21][24]
13	23 June 1942	08:15	Hurricane	5 km (3.1 mi) west of Kola[22][23]	35	19 September 1942	14:05	Hurricane[21][24]
14	23 June 1942	15:33	Hurricane	8 km (5.0 mi) southwest of Kola[22][23]	36	22 September 1942	15:01?[Note 2]	Hurricane[21][24]	4 km (2.5 mi) west of Murmashi
15	24 June 1942	07:00+	Hurricane	10 km (6.2 mi) west of Kola[22][23]	37	27 September 1942	11:44	P-40[21][24]
16	24 June 1942	07:00+	Hurricane	8 km (5.0 mi) west of Kola[22][23]	38	27 September 1942	11:51	P-40[21][24]
17	29 June 1942	10:58	Hurricane	5 km (3.1 mi) east of Shonguy[22][23]	39	27 September 1942	15:57	Yak-1[21][24]
18	30 June 1942	21:00+	P-40	20 km (12 mi) southeast of Pechenga airfield[22][23]	40	30 October 1942	12:15	P-40[24][25]
19	7 July 1942	17:00+	I-180 (Yak-7)[22]	10 km (6.2 mi) west of Kola[23]	41	30 October 1942	12:23	P-40[24][25]
20	7 August 1942	17:15	P-40[13][26]		42	30 October 1942	14:55	P-40[24][25]
21	7 August 1942	17:21	P-40[13][26]		43	5 November 1942	11:04	P-39[24]?[Note 3]
22	13 August 1942	17:21	P-40[13][26]
– 6. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 5 –[27] Eastern Front and northern Norway, and Finland — 1 January – 16 July 1943
44	5 March 1943	16:30	Yak-1[28]	Lake Tolwand[29]	55	5 June 1943	03:50?[Note 4]	Hurricane[31][30]
45	10 March 1943	09:58?[Note 5]	P-39[28]	vicinity of Murmashi	56	5 June 1943	05:10?[Note 6]	Hurricane[31][30]
46	10 March 1943	10:03	P-40[28][29]	vicinity of Murmashi	57	5 June 1943	05:13?[Note 7]	Hurricane[31][30]
47	12 March 1943	14:22	P-40[28]	vicinity of Murmashi	58	15 June 1943	23:01	P-39[31][32]
48	12 March 1943	14:30	P-39[28]	vicinity of Murmashi	59	15 June 1943	23:06	P-39[31][32]
49	23 March 1943	14:18	P-40[33]	Shonguy[34]	60	20 June 1943	16:32	Hurricane[31]	Kandalaksha[32]
50	23 March 1943	14:23	P-40	PQ 36 Ost 39172, 14 km (8.7 mi) south of Murmansk[33][34]	61	21 June 1943	19:37	P-40	PQ 36 Ost 1723, 10 km (6.2 mi) west of Rutschi[31][32]
—	25 March 1943	—	Il-2		62	21 June 1943	19:40	P-40	PQ 36 Ost 2711, 4 km (2.5 mi) west of Rutschi[31][32]
51	27 March 1943	14:02	P-40[33][34]		63	9 July 1943	04:42	Il-2[31][35]
52	28 March 1943	11:42	P-40[33][34]		64	16 July 1943	—	P-40	west of Pechenga Bay[31][35]
53	3 June 1943	17:25?[Note 8]	P-39[36]	over sea[30]	65	16 July 1943	—	P-40	west of Pechenga Bay[31][35]
54	5 June 1943	03:48?[Note 9]	Hurricane[31][30]

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (26 April 1942)^[37]
  • 1st Class (26 May 1942)^[37]
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Fighter Pilots
  • in Silver (27 June 1942)^[38]
  • in Gold (26 October 1942)^[39]
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 17 August 1942 as Unteroffizier and pilot^[40]
• German Cross in Gold on 15 October 1942 as Unteroffizier in the 6./Jagdgeschwader 5^[41]
• Wound Badge in Black (16 July 1943)^[37]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 September 1943 as Feldwebel and pilot in the 6./Jagdgeschwader 5^[42][43]

Dates of rank

May 1942:	Unteroffizier[37]
1 November 1942:	Feldwebel[44]
1 August 1944:	Leutnant (second lieutenant), war officer, effective as of 1 August 1944[37]
April 1945:	Oberleutnant (first lieutenant)[37]

Notes

1. According to Mombeek claimed at 14:33.^[21]
2. According to Mombeek claimed at 15:00.^[21]
3. According to Mombeek, Mathews, and Foreman claimed as a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk.^[25][27]
4. According to Mombeek claimed at 03:51.^[30]
5. According to Mombeek claimed at 09:59.^[29]
6. According to Mombeek claimed at 05:18.^[30]
7. According to Mombeek claimed at 05:19.^[30]
8. According to Mombeek, Mathews and Foreman claimed at 17:35.^[30][27]
9. According to Mombeek claimed at 03:46.^[30]