Heinrich Krafft

Heinrich "Gaudi" Krafft (13 August 1914 – 14 December 1942) was a Luftwaffe 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. During his career he was credited with 78 aerial victories, 4 over the Western Front and 74 over the Eastern Front.

Heinrich Krafft
Nickname(s)	"Gaudi"
Born	13 August 1914 Bilin, Bohemia
Died	14 December 1942(1942-12-14) (aged 28) Belyi, Russia
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Army (1935–36) Luftwaffe (1936–42)
Years of service	1935–42
Rank	Hauptmann
Unit	JG 51
Commands	I./JG 51
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Netherlands Battle of France Operation Barbarossa
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

On 1 June 1942, Krafft succeeded Hauptmann Josef Fözö as Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I. Gruppe of JG 51.^[1]

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
• German Cross in Gold (25 January 1942)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 18 March 1942 as Oberleutnant of the Reserves and Staffelkapitän of the 3./Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders"^{[2][Note 1]}

Notes

1. According to Scherzer as Oberleutnant.^[3]

References

Citations

1. Aders & Held 1993, p. 247.
2. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 271.
3. Scherzer 2007, p. 469.

Bibliography

• Aders, Gebhard; Held, Werner (1993). Jagdgeschwader 51 'Mölders' Eine Chronik – Berichte – Erlebnisse – Dokumente [Fighter Wing 51 'Mölders' A Chronicle – Reports – Experiences – Documents] (in German). Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-613-01045-1.
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer [in German] (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• 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 [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.

Military offices
Preceded by Hauptmann Josef Fözö	Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 51 1 June 1942 – 14 December 1942	Succeeded by Hauptmann Rudolf Busch