Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp

Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp
Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp
Born	(1897-11-19)19 November 1897 Bothkamp, Province of Schleswig-Holstein, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Died	27 February 1976(1976-02-27) (aged 78) Kirchbarkau, Schleswig-Holstein, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Luftstreitkräfte Luftwaffe
Years of service	1916–18 1935–45
Rank	Oberst
Unit	JG 77, JG 2, NJG 101
Commands held	JG 2
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Battle of France Battle of Britain
Awards	Iron Cross (WW I) II. Class I. Class Aviator badge (WW I) Albert Order II. Class with swords Military Order of St. Henry House Order of Hohenzollern Aviator badge (WW II) Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4. Class Clasp to the Iron Cross II. Class 1939 Clasp to the Iron Cross I. Class 1939 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations	Walter von Bülow-Bothkamp (brother)

Oberst Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp (19 November 1897 – 27 February 1976) Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Iron Cross was a German fighter ace notable for being one of the few two-war aces in history. After scoring six victories in World War I, he became a Luftwaffe ace in World War II, with 12 additional victories.^[1]

Early life and World War I

Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp was a child of nobility, born in his family's castle in the village of Bothkamp in the Schleswig-Holstein Province of Germany.^[2] He began his military service with Saxon Hussar Regiment No. 18 when he was 17, before learning to fly in August 1916. In December 1916 he joined the German air service. He was one of three brothers (the others being Walter and Conrad) to serve in the Fliegertruppe during World War I. He first flew two seaters with FFA 53, which became FA 272 (A), as a reconnaissance pilot adjusting artillery fire, before becoming a fighter pilot with Jasta 36, which was commanded by his brother Walter who fell on 6 January 1918.

During his time with Jasta 36, Harry von Bulow-Bothkamp shot down an Airco D.H.4 on 12 October 1917, followed by five additional enemy fighters. His last victory came on 21 July 1918, over Major R.N. Freeman, CO of No. 73 Squadron. His notable win was his fourth, over British 10-kill ace Captain Cecil Clark of No 1 Squadron, who was wounded and taken prisoner.^[3] Harry was discharged from the service by order of the Kaiser on 25 August 1918. Harry was the last survivor of four brothers; the oldest, Friedrich, was killed in 1914, and Conrad died in a flying accident on 26 September 1918 while commanding part of the Aviation Battalion of the Finnish Air Force.^[4]

Harry had earned the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern and Iron Cross for his service.^[5]

Between the wars

After World War I he returned to school (Gymnasium) receiving his Abitur and went to University studying agriculture. Together with Paul Bäumer he founded the Bäumer Aero in Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel to produce airplanes. The company went bankrupt in the course of the Great Depression.

He rejoined the German military aviation as a Hauptman (Captain) in 1935, in the newly established Luftwaffe. The following year, he was promoted to Major and assigned as the original commanding officer of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen", also known as JG II.^[6] In 1939, he became Inspector of the Nationalsozialitische Fliegerkorps, the Luftwaffe's civil reserve.^[2]

World War II and beyond

During the beginning of World War II, he commanded Gruppe II./JG 77 from November, 1939 onwards. He then became Commodore of Jagdgeschwader 2 in April 1940. He led this unit during the blitzkrieg into France during May and June 1940. Despite being over 40 years old, he vanquished at least 12 opponents in this campaign. This performance as a fighting commander of JG 2 earned him another promotion, to Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel), and he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 22 August 1940.

On 1 September 1940, he was reassigned to Nachtjagdschule 1 (Night Fight School 1). He remained in command of this unit through its redesignation as Nachtjagdgeschwader 101 (NJG 101), until October, 1943. He commanded the 5th Fighter Division from November, 1943 and then commanded Jafu 4 on the western front from March 1944 to September 1944. He ended the war back with the Nationalsozialitische Fliegerkorps.^[7]

He died of natural causes in Kirchbarkau, near his ancestral castle, where he was buried in the same plot as his brothers.

Awards

Iron Cross (1914)
- 2nd Class (23 June 1916)
- 1st Class (30 May 1917)
Aviator badge (WW I) (3 March 1917)
Albert Order II. Class with swords (9 May 1917)
Military Order of St. Henry (7 October 1918)
House Order of Hohenzollern (9 October 1918)
Aviator badge (WW II) (4 February 1935)
Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4. Class (2 October 1936)^[8]
Clasp to the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (22 August 1940 as Oberstleutnant of the Reserves and Geschwaderkommodore of JG 2 "Richthofen")^[9]

References

Citations

Bibliography

Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (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] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
Nauroth,Holger- Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen", A Photographic History (ISBN 0-7643-2094-7) - Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, PA, 2005
Ringlstetter,Herbert - Helmut Wick, An Illustrated Biography Of The Luftwaffe Ace And Commander Of Jagdgeschwader 2 During The Battle Of Britain (ISBN 0-7643-2217-6) - Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, PA, 2005
Scherzer, Veit (2007). 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] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.

Military offices
Preceded by Oberst Gerd von Massow	Commander of Jagdgeschwader 2 Richthofen 1 April 1940 – 2 September 1940	Succeeded by Major Wolfgang Schellmann
Preceded by none	Commander of Jagdfliegerführer Süddeutschland February, 1943 – June, 1943	Succeeded by 5. Jagd-Division
Preceded by Generalleutnant Walter Schwabedissen	Commander of 5. Jagd-Division September, 1943 – 11 November 1943	Succeeded by Generalleutnant Joachim-Friedrich Huth
Preceded by Oberst Josef Priller	Commander of Jagdfliegerführer 4 1 April 1944 – 31 August 1944	Succeeded by disbanded

Aviation in World War I

People and aircraft	Commanders Aces Aircraft of the Entente Powers Aircraft of the Central Powers Zeppelins

Campaigns and battles	Strategic bombing German Cuxhaven Bombing of cities Aerial reconnaissance Fokker Scourge Flight over Vienna Bloody April Battles

Entente Powers air services	British air services Royal Flying Corps Royal Naval Air Service Royal Air Force Australian Flying Corps Canadian Air Force (1918–20) French Air Service Imperial Russian Air Service Royal Italian Air Corps United States Army Air Service Greek air services Army Air Service Naval Air Service

Central Powers air services	Imperial German Air Service Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops Ottoman Aviation Squadrons Bulgarian Army Aeroplane Section

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen"

Wilhelm Balthasar¹ (Oak Leaves) Otto Bertram Kurt Bühligen (Oak Leaves & Swords) Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp Hans Hahn (Oak Leaves) Horst Hannig² (Oak Leaves) Herbert Huppertz³ (Oak Leaves) Karl-Heinz Krahl Erich Leie Siegfried Lemke Werner Machold Walter Matoni Egon Mayer (Oak Leaves & Swords) Rudolf Pflanz Erich Rudorffer⁴ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Wolfgang Schellmann Siegfried Schnell (Oak Leaves) Bruno Stolle Helmut Wick (Oak Leaves) Josef Wurmheller (Oak Leaves & Swords)

¹ Knight's Cross with JG 1. ² Knight's Cross with JG 54. ³ Knight's Cross with JG 51. ⁴ Oak Leaves and Swords with JG 54.

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