Franz Hrdlicka Explained

Franz Hrdlicka
Birth Date:	15 October 1920
Birth Place:	Maxdorf, Czechoslovakia
Death Place:	Betzenrod
Placeofburial:	Tutzing, New Cemetery
Death Cause:	Killed in action
Serviceyears:	1939–1945
Rank:	Hauptmann (captain)
Unit:	JG 77 JG 2
Commands:	I./JG 2
Battles:	World War II Eastern Front Mediterranean Campaign Defence of the Reich
Awards:	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Franz Hrdlicka^[1] (15 October 1920 – 25 March 1945) was a Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. During his career Franz Hrdlicka was credited with 60 aerial victories.

Career

Hrdlicka was born on 15 October 1920 in Maxdorf in Mähren, present-day the suburb Dvorska of Brno in the Czech Republic. He volunteered for service in the Luftwaffe in late 1939.

On 6 August 1942, Hrdlicka was shot down and wounded in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 (Werknummer 7021—factory number) near the airfield at Kastornoje, approximately west of Voronezh.

On 27 September 1944 he was shot down and wounded in combat with Supermarine Spitfires near Arnhem but managed to bail out. Following his 44th aerial victory, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 9 August 1944. He was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2—2nd Fighter Wing) in mid-October 1944. There he first commanded the 1. Staffel as Staffelkapitän (squadron leader).

Group commander and death

On 18 December 1944, Hrdlicka was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of the I. Gruppe of JG 2 "Richthofen". He succeeded Hauptmann Kurt Hoffmann who temporarily had led the Gruppe after its former commander, Major Walter Matoni had been injured on 5 December.

Hrdlicka was shot down by United States Army Air Forces fighters and killed in action on 25 March 1945 near Betzenrod, present-day a suburb of Schotten, Hesse. His remains were recovered on 8 September 1951. He had been nominated for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) which was not approved.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and state that he claimed at least 44 aerial victories. This figure includes 24 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and at least 20 over the Western Allies, including three four-engined heavy bombers.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 83194". 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
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941
1	6 July 1941	12:47	I-16		5	10 October 1941	10:10	Il-2
2	6 August 1941	15:33	MiG-3		6	22 October 1941	11:00	R-5
3	12 August 1941	13:14	SB-2	vicinity of Odessa	7	17 November 1941	13:39	I-153
4	25 September 1941	15:00	I-153
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Eastern Front — 17 March – 30 April 1942
8	17 March 1942	12:38	DB-3		10	24 March 1942	13:00	I-16
9	19 March 1942	15:20	I-153
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Eastern Front — 1 May – 7 November 1942
11	8 May 1942	12:11	MiG-1		18	21 July 1942	18:45	Hurricane
	11 May 1942	12:28	DB-3		19	21 July 1942	19:20	Hurricane
13	14 June 1942	14:51	I-153		20	24 July 1942	05:46	LaGG-3
14	6 July 1942	18:03	P-40		21	24 July 1942	05:50	U-2
15	12 July 1942	17:09	Yak-1		22	25 July 1942	18:13	Pe-2
16	13 July 1942	10:45	Il-2		23	31 July 1942	15:47	Il-2	PQ 83194
17	21 July 1942	16:34	LaGG-3		24	6 August 1942	18:04	Pe-2	PQ 82153
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Mediterranean Theater, North Africa — 1–31 December 1942
25	20 December 1942	07:50	P-40	PQ 13 Ost 62732
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – North Africa — 1 January – May 1943
26	1 January 1943	10:55	P-40	10km (10miles) southwest of airfield Zazur 20km (10miles) northwest of Buerat	29?	24 March 1943	08:35	Spitfire	10km (10miles) south-southeast of Gabès
27	1 March 1943	14:58	P-38?	southeast of Thélepte 20km (10miles) northwest of Buerat	30	26 March 1943	10:50?	Spitfire	10km (10miles) south-southeast of El Hamma
28	13 March 1943	17:45	P-39	52km (32miles) west-southwest of Sfax	31	1 April 1943	18:10	Spitfire	22km (14miles) east of El Guetter
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Mediterranean Theater, Italy — June – 31 December 1943
32	20 June 1943	08:35	P-38	PQ 13 Ost 28134, west of Chinisia Airfield	35	9 July 1943	07:28	P-40	28km (17miles) east-northeast of Castelvetrano Airfield
33	4 July 1943	11:28	Spitfire	90km (60miles) east of Syracuse	36	19 August 1943	11:12	P-51	PQ 03 Ost 59274, east of Stromboli
34	5 July 1943	11:40	B-17	35km (22miles) west of Syracuse	37	9 November 1943	12:05	P-38	PQ 04 Ost 75712
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 – Mediterranean Theater, Italy — 1 January – 8 September 1944
38	6 February 1944	08:10	P-51	PQ 14 Ost S/22423	42	4 June 1944	11:20	Spitfire	PQ 14 Ost UB northwest of Pistoia
39	20 March 1944	12:15	Spitfire	PQ 14 OST S/FA-7 south of Elba	43	26 June 1944	12:18	B-24	PQ 14 Ost N/5338
40	18 April 1944	08:12	P-51	2km (01miles) southwest of Bracciano southwest of Lake Bracciano	44	5 July 1944	13:08	P-47	PQ 14 Ost S/BE-1/1 Sansepolcro
41	29 May 1944	11:44	B-24	PQ 14 Ost S/66373 southeast of Zagreb
– Stab III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" – Western Front — 18–31 December 1944
45	23 December 1944	12:03	B-26	PQ 05 Ost ON-5 Roetgen

Awards and decorations

• Aviator badge
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold
• Wound Badge (1939)
  • in Black
• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 13 September 1942 as Leutnant and pilot
• German Cross in Gold on 12 July 1943 as Oberleutnant in the II./Jagdgeschwader 77
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 August 1944 as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän of the 5./Jagdgeschwader 77

References

Bibliography

• Web site: Bergström . Christer .

  sv:Christer Bergström

  . Identifying a Luftwaffe Planquadrat . Bergström Black Cross/Red Star website . 6 February 2024 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20181222042030/http://www.bergstrombooks.elknet.pl/bc-rs/planquadrat.htm . 22 December 2018 . dead.
• Book: Dixon , Jeremy . 2023 . Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe: Knight's Cross Holders 1943–1945 . Barnsley . . 978-1-39903-073-1.
• 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 . 2015 . Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 2 G–L . Walton on Thames . Red Kite . 978-1-906592-19-6.
• 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.
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• 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 . 2003 . Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 6/II—Unternehmen "BARBAROSSA"—Einsatz im Osten—22.6. bis 5.12.1941 . The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 6/II—Operation "BARBAROSSA"—Action in the East—22 June to 5 December 1941 . de . Eutin, Germany . Struve-Druck . 978-3-923457-70-0.
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Notes and References

1. Alternative spelling is Herdlicka.