Gerhard Friedrich

Gerhard Friedrich

Nickname	Gerd
Born	16 September 1917 Berlin-Johannisthal, Germany
Died	16 March 1945 (1945-03-17) (aged 27) Stuttgart, Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Luftwaffe
Years of service	1939–1945
Rank	Major
Unit	NJG 1, NJG 4, NJG 6
Battles/wars	World War II Eastern Front North African Campaign
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Gerhard "Gerd" Friedrich (16 September 1917 – 16 March 1945) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace of World War II. He was one of night fighter ace scored 33 victories. All of his victories were recorded at night.

Friedrich started his career as a transport pilot. Then he transferred to Luftwaffe and participated in the invasion of Crete. Then He received training as a night fighter pilot and began his night-fighting era when he was posted to III./NJG 1 at the beginning of 1942. Friedrich claimed his first victory on the night of 16/17 June when he shot down a Royal Air Force (RAF) Wellington.^{[Notes 1]}

Friedrich was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 15 March 1945. On the night of 16/17 March 1945, Friedrich collided with a RAF Lancaster four-engine bomber near Stuttgart. Friedrich and his crew were killed in Ju 88 G-6 along with the seven crew of the British bomber.

Awards

German Cross in Gold (1 October 1944)
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 15 March 1945 as Major and Gruppenkommandeur of the I./NJG 6^[1]

Notes

^ For a list of Luftwaffe night fighter aces see List of German World War II night fighter aces

References

^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 187.

"Aces of the Luftwaffe". Gerhard Friedrich. http://www.luftwaffe.cz/friedrich.html. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945. Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.

Persondata
Name	Friedrich, Gerhard
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 September 1917
Place of birth	Berlin-Johannisthal, Germany
Date of death	17 March 1945
Place of death	Stuttgart, Germany