Gustav Sprick | |
---|---|
Nickname | “Micky” |
Born | November 29, 1917 |
Died | June 28, 1941 | (aged 23)
Place of birth | Biemsen, Germany |
Place of death | Holque, France |
Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
Service/branch | Luftwaffe |
Years of service | 1935–1941 |
Rank | Oberleutnant |
Unit | JG 26 |
Battles/wars | |
Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Gustav "Micky" Sprick (29 November 1917 – 28 June 1941) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Sprick was credited with 31 victories in 192 missions. All his victories were recorded over the Western front.
Military career[]
Sprick joined the Luftwaffe in 1937. After completing his pilot-training Fähnrich Sprick was posted to JG 26 on 23 September 1939,[1] and assigned to 8./JG 26 (8th squadron of the 26th Fighter Wing). On 10 May 1940, the opening day of Fall Gelb (the invasion of the West), the now Leutnant Sprick shot down his first enemy aircraft: a Dutch Fokker T-5 twin-engined bomber, over Breda in Holland. He was very successful during the French campaign, having scored nine victories by the fall of France, and been promoted to Oberleutnant. He was shot down however, on 14 June near Évreux, by RAF (Royal Air Force) Hurricane fighters after claiming one of their number. But he managed to crash-land uninjured and was rescued by German troops.
On 8 August 1940 he was promoted to Staffelkapitän (Squadron leader) of 8./JG 26.[2] His Gruppe, III/JG 26 had a formidable team of leaders during the Battle of Britain, with the experienced Kommandeur Adolf Galland and Gerhard Schöpfel (9. Staffel), with the ‘young lions’ Sprick (8. Staffel) and Joachim Müncheberg (7. Staffel). These four pilots all had 10 or more victories and over the next 2 months shot down over 50 aircraft between them.
Sprick himself scored 11 victories in the battle, including a pair of Hurricanes of 85 Sqn on 31 August (his 14th & 15th victories). He was awarded the Ehrenpokal (Goblet of Honour) on 8 September,[3] and then the coveted Ritterkreuz (Knight’s Cross) on 1 October after gaining his 20th victory on 28 September.[4] By the end of 1940, with the battle falling back into a relatively quiet period, his score had increased to 23. (Müncheberg had 23, Schöpfel had 22 and Galland with 58!)
June 1941 marked the invasion of the Soviet Union in the east. With the majority of the Luftwaffe involved in Operation Barbarossa, it left just JG 26, JG 2 and JG 1 defending the west. Coinciding with this, the British started their own air offensive, taking the fight to the Germans over France. Now, however, the roles were reversed, and it was the RAF fighters that found themselves vulnerable, operating at the limit of their range. Sprick quickly racked up 8 victories in the last fortnight of June.
On 28 June, III/JG 26 was ordered to intercept the RAF Circus No. 26, en route to attack the Comines power station. 8./JG 26 was jumped from above by Spitfires and in the ensuing melee, while performing a split-S manoeuvre, the wing of Sprick’s new Bf 109 F2 (Werk Nr 5743) sheared off. He crashed to his death near Holque, inland from Calais.
Oberleutnant Gustav Sprick was credited with 31 victories in 192 missions, all over the Western Front.
Victories[]
No | Date | Time | Unit & Airfield | Gruppe Kommandeur[5] | Location / Planquad | Claimed Aircraft | Source / Comments[6] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 May 1940 | ? | 8./JG 26 – Essen | Maj Ernst, Fr. v.Berg | Breda | Fokker T.5 | Prien & Bock; of Dutch BomVA |
2 | 11 May'40 | 19:30 | 8./JG 26 – Essen | Maj Ernst, Fr. v.Berg | NW of Antwerp | Curtiss | Prien & Bock; of French GC I/4 |
3 | 17 May'40 | 18:30 | 8./JG 26 – Mönchen-Gladbach | Maj Ernst, Fr. v.Berg | Namur | Morane 406 | Prien & Bock |
4 ? | 31 May'40 | 15:40 | 8./JG 26 - Chievres | Maj Ernst, Fr. v.Berg | Furnes: 3000m | Hurricane | Prien & Bock |
5 | 2 Jun'40 | 9:25 | 8./JG 26 - Chievres | Maj Ernst, Fr. v.Berg | Dunkirk | Spitfire | Prien & Bock; of RAF 66, 266 or 611 Sqn |
- | 6 Jun'40 | - | 8./JG 26 – La Capelle | Maj Ernst, Fr. v.Berg | airfield strafe | Bloch 151 | Prien & Bock |
- | 6 Jun'40 | - | 8./JG 26 – La Capelle | Maj Ernst, Fr. v.Berg | airfield strafe | Bloch 151 | Prien & Bock |
- | 6 Jun'40 | - | 8./JG 26 – La Capelle | Maj Ernst, Fr. v.Berg | airfield strafe | Bloch 151 | Prien & Bock |
6 | 13 Jun'40 | 12:39 | 8./JG 26 – Les Thilliers | Hptm Adolf Galland | near Paris | Defiant | C.2036/II Nr 50935/40; of RAF 142 Sqn |
7 | 14 Jun'40 | 17:50 | 8./JG 26 – Les Thilliers | Hptm Adolf Galland | Abbeville | Hurricane | C.2036/II Nr 50935/40 |
8 | 12 Aug'40 | 12:20 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Maj Adolf Galland | NW of Margate | Hurricane | Prien & Bock; of 151 or 501 Sqn |
9 | 15 Aug'40 | 12:58 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Maj Adolf Galland | Channel, S of Dover | Spitfire | Prien & Bock; of 54 Sqn |
10 | 18 Aug'40 | 13:50 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Maj Adolf Galland | Canterbury | Hurricane | Prien & Bock; of 17 Sqn |
11 | 24 Aug'40 | 12:20 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | Ashford | Hurricane | Prien & Bock; of 151 Sqn |
12 | 31 Aug'40 | 19:05 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | Folkestone | Hurricane | Prien & Bock; of 85 Sqn |
13 | 31 Aug'40 | 19:15 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | Folkestone | Hurricane | Prien & Bock; of 85 Sqn |
14 | 1 Sep'40 | 15:05 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | London | Hurricane | Prien & Bock; of 79 or 85 Sqn |
15 | 3 Sep'40 | 11:10 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | Thames Estuary, Rochester | Spitfire | Prien & Bock |
16 ? | 6 Sep'40 | 10:10 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | Channel, SW of Dungeness: 3500m | Spitfire | Prien & Bock |
17 ? | 11 Sep'40 | 19:30 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | Canterbury: 5000m | Hurricane | Prien & Bock |
18 | 17 Sep'40 | 16:36 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | Gravesend | Spitfire | Prien & Bock |
19 | 23 Sep'40 | 10:35 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | Thames Estuary | Spitfire | Prien & Bock; of 92 Sqn |
20 | 28 Sep'40 | 11:30 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | Canterbury: 7000m | Spitfire | Prien & Bock; of 501 Sqn |
21 | 15 Oct'40 | 13:45 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | ? | Spitfire | Prien & Bock |
22 ? | 25 Oct'40 | 14:30 | 8./JG 26 – Caffiers | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | Maidstone: 7000m | Spitfire | Prien & Bock |
23 | 17 Nov'40 | 10:22 | 8./JG 26 – Abbeville | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | E of Harwich | Spitfire | Prien & Bock |
? | 27 Nov'40 | 9:25 | 8./JG 26 – Abbeville | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | Deal | Spitfire | Prien & Bock; of RAF 421 Flt |
24 | 16 Jun 1941 | 16:35 | 8./JG 26 – Liegescourt | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | Channel, S of Dungeness | Spitfire | C.2033/I |
25 | 17 Jun'41 | 19:42 | 8./JG 26 – Liegescourt | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | N of Etaples | Hurricane | C.2036/II: Nr 64913/41; of 56 or 242 Sqn |
26 | 17 Jun'41 | 19:58 | 8./JG 26 – Liegescourt | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | ? | Hurricane | C.2036/II: Nr 64913/41; of 56 or 242 Sqn |
27 | 18 Jun'41 | 18:20 | 8./JG 26 – Liegescourt | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | ? | Spitfire | C.2036/II: Nr 64913/41; of 145 Sqn |
28 | 21 Jun'41 | 16:42 | 8./JG 26 – Liegescourt | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | W of Boulogne | Hurricane | C.2036/II: Nr 65565/41; of 1 Sqn |
29 | 21 Jun'41 | 16:55 | 8./JG 26 – Liegescourt | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | 20 km WNW of Boulogne | Spitfire | C.2036/II: Nr 65565/41 |
30 | 22 Jun'41 | 16:20 | 8./JG 26 – Liegescourt | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | near Gravelines | Spitfire | C.2036/II: Nr 65565/41; of 611 Sqn |
31 | 24 Jun'41 | 20:58 | 8./JG 26 – Liegescourt | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | near Gravelines | Spitfire | C.2036/II: Nr 65565/41 |
† | 28 Jun 1941 | - | 8./JG 26 – Liegescourt | Hptm Gerhard Schöpfel | near Holque | - |
Awards[]
- Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 1 October 1940 as Leutnant and pilot in the 8./JG 26 "Schlageter"[7]
References[]
- Citations
- Bibliography
- Caldwell, Donald L (1993). JG26 – Top Guns of the Luftwaffe Ballantine ISBN 0-87938-845-5
- Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) (in German). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 – Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtsteile [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]. Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
- Obermaier, Ernst (1989) (in German). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1941 – 1945]. Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7.
- Scherzer, Veit (2007) (in German). 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]. Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
- Weal, John (1996). Bf109D/E Aces 1939-41. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85532-487-3.
- Weal, John (1999). Bf109F/G/K Aces of the Western Front. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85532-905-0 includes picture of his aircraft (#26)
External links[]
- "Aces of the Luftwaffe". Gustav Sprick. http://www.luftwaffe.cz/sprick.html. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
- "Luftwaffe 39-45 Historia". Sprick, Gustav. http://www.luftwaffe39-45.historia.nom.br/ases/sprick.html. Retrieved 11 November 2005.
- "Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries". Sprick, Gustav. http://www.ww2.dk/Lw%20Offz%20-%20S-Z%20-%20April%202012.pdf. Retrieved 30 August 2013
- "Luftwaffe Fighter Claims". Sprick, Gustav. http://lesbutler.co.uk/claims/tonywood.htm. Retrieved 7 January 2013
- "The Luftwaffe, 1933-45". JG26. http://www.ww2.dk/air/jagd/jg26.htm. Retrieved 30 August 2013
- Franz Eisenach - Art prints and originals signed by Franz Eisenach at www.military-art.com
- Horrido1 - World War II Autographed Photos at home.pacbell.net
Military Offices held[]
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