Hans Döbrich Explained

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.

Career

Döbrich was born on 24 March 1916 in Sonneberg, at the time in Saxe-Meiningen within the German Empire, present-day in Thuringia. 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.

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 20abbr=offNaNabbr=off 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.

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 20abbr=offNaNabbr=off west of the Rybachy Peninsula into Petsamo Fjord, Finland. 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 (German: 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.

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.

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. 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.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 36 Ost 39172". The Luftwaffe grid map (German: 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 360sqmi. These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3x in size.

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

Awards

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

Dates of rank

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

References

Bibliography

• Web site: Bergström . Christer .

  sv:Christer Bergström

  . Identifying a Luftwaffe Planquadrat . Bergström Black Cross/Red Star website . 11 January 2024 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20181222042030/http://www.bergstrombooks.elknet.pl/bc-rs/planquadrat.htm . 22 December 2018 . dead.
• Book: Fellgiebel , Walther-Peer .

  de:Walther-Peer Fellgiebel

  . 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 . de . Friedberg, Germany . Podzun-Pallas . 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Book: Mathews . Andrew Johannes . Foreman . John . 2014 . Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 1 A–F . Walton on Thames . Red Kite . 978-1-906592-18-9.
• Book: Mombeek , Eric . 2010 . Eismeerjäger—Zur Geschichte des Jagdgeschwaders 5—Band 3 . Fighters in the Arctic Sea—The History of the 5th Fighter Wing—Volume 3 . Linkebeek, Belgium . ASBL, La Porte d'Hoves . 978-2-930546-02-5.
• Book: Mombeek , Eric . 2011 . Eismeerjäger—Zur Geschichte des Jagdgeschwaders 5—Band 4 . Fighters in the Arctic Sea—The History of the 5th Fighter Wing—Volume 4 . Linkebeek, Belgium . ASBL, La Porte d'Hoves . 978-2-930546-05-6.
• Book: Obermaier , Ernst . 1989 . Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 . The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1939 – 1945 . de . Mainz, Germany . Verlag Dieter Hoffmann . 978-3-87341-065-7.
• Book: Patzwall . Klaus D. . Scherzer . Veit . 2001 . Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II . The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2 . de . Norderstedt, Germany . Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall . 978-3-931533-45-8.
• Book: Patzwall . Klaus D. . 2008 . Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg . The Honor Goblet for Outstanding Achievement in the Air War . de . Norderstedt, Germany . Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall . 978-3-931533-08-3.
• Book: Prien . Jochen . Stemmer . Gerhard . Rodeike . Peter . Bock . Winfried . 2006 . Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 9/III—Vom Sommerfeldzug 1942 bis zur Niederlage von Stalingrad—1.5.1942 bis 3.2.1943 . The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 9/III—From the 1942 Summer Campaign to the Defeat at Stalingrad—1 May 1942 to 3 February 1943 . German . Eutin, Germany . Struve-Druck . 978-3-923457-78-6.
• Book: Prien . Jochen . Stemmer . Gerhard . Rodeike . Peter . Bock . Winfried . 2012 . Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 12/I—Einsatz im Osten—4.2. bis 31.12.1943 . The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 12/I—Action in the East—4 February to 31 December 1943 . German . Eutin, Germany . Buchverlag Rogge . 978-3-942943-02-4.
• Book: Röll , Hans-Joachim . 2014 . Ritterkreuzträger Hans Döbrich—Mit dem Jagdgeschwader 4 "Eismeer" auf der Jagd über Tundra und Eismeer . Knight's Cross Recipient Hans Döbrich—With Jagdgeschwader 4 "Eismeer" on the Hunt over Tundra and Arctic Ocean . de . Würzburg, Germany . Flechsig . 978-3-8035-0052-6.
• Book: 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 . de . Jena, Germany . Scherzers Militaer-Verlag . 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Book: Weal , John . 2016 . Arctic Bf 109 and Bf 110 Aces . Aircraft of the Aces . 124 . . London, UK . 978-1-78200-798-2.
• Book: Zabecki . David T. . David T. Zabecki . Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History . Santa Barbara, California . . 2014 . 978-1-59884-981-3.