Hugo Sperrle

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Hugo Sperrle
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Hugo Sperrle

Hugo Sperrle (February 7, 1885 - April 2, 1953), was a German field marshal of the Luftwaffe during World War II.

He joined the German Army in 1903 and transferred to the Luftstreitkräfte (German Army Air Service) at the start of World War I, serving as an observer to the end of the war.

Sperrle joined the Freikorps at the end of the war after the disbanding of the Air Service, before rejoining the German Army.

He entered the newly formed Luftwaffe in 1935 and served as commander of the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War, with Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen serving as his chief of staff.

He led the German Air Fleet 3 against France in May and June 1940. In July 1940, he was made a generalfeldmarschall of the Luftwaffe. Sperrle advised that Britain's Royal Air Force had to be destroyed to ensure a successful invasion of Britain. Air Fleet 3, stationed in northern France, played a major role in the Battle of Britain, from June 1940 to April 1941.

Field Marshal Sperrle was captured by the Allies and charged with war crimes in the High Command Trial at the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials but was acquitted. He died in Munich in 1953.

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German Field Marshals (Generalfeldmarschall) of World War II (in alphabetical order)

Werner von Blomberg | Fedor von Bock | Walther von Brauchitsch | Ernst Busch | Hermann Göring | Robert Ritter von Greim | Wilhelm Keitel | Albert Kesselring | Ewald von Kleist | Günther von Kluge | Georg von Küchler | Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb | Wilhelm List | Erich von Manstein |Erhard Milch | Walter Model | Friedrich Paulus | Walther von Reichenau | Wolfram von Richthofen | Erwin Rommel | Gerd von Rundstedt | Ferdinand Schörner | Hugo Sperrle | Maximilian von Weichs | Erwin von Witzleben

Honorary: Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli

 
German Grand Admirals (Großadmiral) of World War II

Erich Raeder | Karl Dönitz