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Alfred Franke
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Alfred Franke (20 September 1918 – 9 September 1942) was a German Luftwaffe ace and a posthumous recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. As a fighter pilot, he was credited with 60 aerial victories, four on the Western Front and 56 on the Eastern Front.

Key Information

Early life and career

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Frank was born on 20 September 1918 in Jena, then in Thuringia within the German Empire.[1] He joined the military service of Luftwaffe and following flight training,[Note 1] he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 53 (JG 53—53rd Fighter Wing) where he was assigned to 2. Staffel (1st squadron) in early 1940.[3] At the time, the Staffel was commanded by Hauptmann Rolf Pingel and subordinated to I. Gruppe (1st group) which was headed by Hauptmann Lothar von Janson and based at Darmstadt-Griesheim Airfield.[4]

World War II

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World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. On 10 May 1940, the first day of the Battle of France, I. Gruppe moved to Kirchberg. Flying from Kirchberg on 14 May, I. Gruppe flew missions in support of German forces fighting in the Battle of Sedan. That day, the Gruppe claimed 35 aerial victories, including the first two claims filed by Franke. On two separate missions, he claimed a Bloch MB.151 fighter and a Fairey Battle light bomber shot down south of Sedan.[5]

On 6 June, I. Gruppe moved to Mannheim-Sandhofen Airfield.[6] Following a maintenance overhaul of the aircraft, I. Gruppe moved to an airfield named Krzewicza located near Międzyrzec Podlaski, approximately 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Brest, from 12 to 14 June.[7]

Operation Barbarossa and Malta

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On 22 June, the Geschwader crossed into Soviet airspace in support of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, which opened the Eastern Front. I. Gruppe took off on its first mission at 3:40 am, escorting Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers.[8] On 1 July, Franke was shot down in aerial combat behind enemy lines, resulting in a forced landing in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 (Werknummer 12621—factory number). Initially reported as missing in action, he later returned to his unit unhurt.[9] On 16 July, he was shot down in his Bf 109 F-2 (Werknummer 5412) near Zhytomyr and was again reported as missing in action before returning unhurt.[10]

Eastern Front and death

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In early May 1942, I. Gruppe was transferred back to the Eastern Front. Prior to the relocation, the Gruppe received a full complement of 41 factory new Bf 109 F-4 aircraft at Schwäbisch Hall before heading for Prague Ruzyne Airfield on 28 May. The following day, I. Gruppe flew to Kursk. There, the Gruppe supported the German 4th Panzer Army in its advance towards Voronezh during Case Blue, the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942.[11]

On 9 September 1942, Franke was shot down in aerial combat with Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft and anti-aircraft artillery. His Bf 109 G-2 (Werknummer 13442) north of Stalingrad.[12] His victor may have been Kapitan Pavel S. Vinogradov of the 694 IAP, 228 ShAD.[13][Note 2] Posthumously, Franke was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 29 October 1942 for 59 aerial victories claimed.[14] He was also posthumously promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant).[15]

Summary of career

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Aerial victory claims

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According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Franke was credited with 60 aerial victories.[16] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 58 aerial victory claims. This figure includes 54 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and four over the Western Allies.[17]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 40773". The Luftwaffe grid map (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 360 square miles (930 km2). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.[18]

Chronicle of aerial victories
  This and the ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike, Bock, Mathews and Foreman.
Claim Date Time Type Location Claim Date Time Type Location
– 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 53 –[15]
Battle of France — 10 May – 25 June 1940
1 14 May 1940 11:20 MB.151 south of Sedan[19] 3 31 May 1940 20:12 DB-7 vicinity of Saint-Quentin[19]
2 14 May 1940 16:20 Battle south of Sedan[19]
– 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 53 –[20]
At the Channel and over England — 26 June 1940 – 6 June 1941
4 18 August 1940 15:32 Hurricane[21]
– 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 53 –[20]
Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 7 August 1941
5?[Note 3] 22 June 1941 17:37 Douglas west-southwest of Brest-Litovsk[22] 9 10 July 1941 12:17 DB-3[23]
6 24 June 1941 09:32 SB-3[22] 10 24 July 1941?[Note 4] 14:16?[Note 4] DB-3[24]
7 24 June 1941 09:34 SB-3[22] 11 26 July 1941 10:45 DB-3 east of Bila Tserkva[24]
8 6 July 1941 06:37 DB-3[23] 12 26 July 1941 11:00 (Il-2)[24]
– 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 53 –[25]
Eastern Front — 28 May 1942 – 9 September 1942
13 10 June 1942 15:37 I-61 (MiG-3)[26] 37 20 August 1942 10:59 Il-2 PQ 40773[27]
25 km (16 mi) northwest of Gumrak
14 24 June 1942 03:41 R-10[28] 38 21 August 1942 12:39 U-2 PQ 49881[29]
15 27 June 1942 09:16 MiG-1 10 km (6.2 mi) north-northeast of Schtschigry[28] 39 22 August 1942 09:40 Il-2 PQ 30894[29]
16 28 June 1942 04:06 MiG-1[28] 40 23 August 1942 05:43 I-180 PQ 49153[29]
17 1 July 1942 12:01 P-39[30] 41 24 August 1942 13:02 U-2 PQ 49244[31]
10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of Stalingrad
18 1 July 1942 12:08 P-39[30] 42 28 August 1942 14:35?[Note 5] MiG-1 PQ 40891[31]
40 km (25 mi) northeast of Stalingrad
19 26 July 1942 13:43 LaGG-3[32] 43 28 August 1942 14:44 LaGG-3 PQ 50781[31]
60 km (37 mi) east-northeast of Stalingrad
20 31 July 1942 13:59 MiG-1 PQ 39194[33]
15 km (9.3 mi) west-northwest of Kalach
44 29 August 1942 12:49 P-40 PQ 49251[31]
21 2 August 1942 12:29 Il-2 PQ 39163[33]
15 km (9.3 mi) south-southwest of Kalach
45 29 August 1942 12:56 MiG-1 PQ 49243[31]
22 2 August 1942 12:38 MiG-1 PQ 39281[33]
15 km (9.3 mi) east-northeast of Kalach
46 30 August 1942 16:10 I-180 PQ 49562[31]
23 4 August 1942 11:30 MiG-1 PQ 49753[34] 47 1 September 1942 10:45 Il-2 PQ 49253[35]
24 12 August 1942 04:27 Il-2 PQ 29894[36] 48 1 September 1942 10:46 Il-2 PQ 49324[35]
25 12 August 1942 04:33 Il-2 PQ 39773[36] 49 1 September 1942 15:43 Pe-2 PQ 49132[35]
26 12 August 1942 04:39 LaGG-3 PQ 39772[36] 50 3 September 1942 13:46 Yak-1 PQ 40873[35]
27 12 August 1942 10:48 MiG-3 PQ 49882[36] 51 4 September 1942 11:19 I-16 PQ 49361[35]
28 13 August 1942 17:41 Il-2 PQ 39333[36] 52 5 September 1942 05:35 MiG-1 PQ 49431[35]
29 13 August 1942 17:44 MiG-1 PQ 39194[36] 53 7 September 1942 13:30 Il-2 PQ 49283[35]
30 13 August 1942 17:51 Il-2 northeast of Kalach[36] 54 7 September 1942 17:16 I-153 PQ 49272[37]
31 14 August 1942 10:44 Il-2[27] 55 8 September 1942 06:44 Il-2 PQ 49391[37]
32 18 August 1942 05:33 MiG-3 PQ 49164[27] 56 8 September 1942 06:46 Il-2 PQ 49412[37]
33 18 August 1942 12:48 Il-2 PQ 40771[27]
25 km (16 mi) northwest of Gumrak
57 8 September 1942 06:49 Il-2 PQ 49332[37]
34 18 August 1942 12:53 MiG-3 PQ 40772[27]
25 km (16 mi) northwest of Gumrak
58 9 September 1942 13:48 Il-2 PQ 49182[37]
35 19 August 1942 15:42 Er-2 PQ 40774[27]
25 km (16 mi) northwest of Gumrak
59 9 September 1942 13:57 Il-2 PQ 49161[37]
36 20 August 1942 10:56 Il-2 PQ 30894[27]

Awards

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Notes

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References

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