Georg Michalek

Born17 June 1913

Vienna, Austria-Hungary

Died2 September 1992 (aged 79)

São Paulo, Brazil

Allegiance

Nazi Germany

Branch

Luftwaffe

Georg Michalek
Born	17 June 1913 Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died	2 September 1992(1992-09-02) (aged 79) São Paulo, Brazil
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Branch	Luftwaffe
Service years	?–1945
Rank	Major (major)
Unit	JG 3 Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe West
Commands	I./JG 3 Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe West JG 108
Conflicts	World War II Battle of Britain Eastern Front Battle of Stalingrad Defence of the Reich
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Georg Michalek (17 June 1913 – 2 September 1992) was a Luftwaffe ace and 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. During his career Georg Michalek was credited with between 59 and 62 aerial victories.

Michalek was born 17 June 1913, in Vienna, then the capital of Austria-Hungary.^[1] Mickalek was attached to the Austrian Air Force in 1935 as a Leutnant in an anti-aircraft regiment.^[2] After the Anschluss in March 1938, he became a member of Jagdgeschwader 138 (JG 138—138th Fighter Wing), in the German Luftwaffe.^[3] In March 1938, the Luftwaffe initiated the formation of a single Gruppe (group) at Wien-Aspern Airfield. On 1 April, this unit became the newly formed I. Gruppe (1st group) of JG 138 also referred to as the "Wiener-Jagdgruppe" ("Vienna fighter group"), largely staffed with former Austrian Air Force personnel. On 1 November, the Gruppe was re-designated and became I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 134 (JG 134—134th Fighter Wing), and again renamed on 1 May 1939, becoming the I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 76 (JG 76—76th Fighter Wing). Initially equipped with the Fiat CR.32 while 3. Staffel received the Messerschmitt Bf 109 B.^[4] At the start of World War II, Michalek was serving in Jagdgeschwader 52.^[3]

World War II

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Obermaier, Michalek was credited with at least 59 aerial victories, including six over the Western Allies.^[14] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 49 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front.^[15]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 35 Ost 92114". 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.^[16]

Chronicle of aerial victories
Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location
– 4. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 – Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 1 November 1941
12	16 July 1941	18:45	R-Z^[17]		25	12 August 1941	18:15	I-153	5 km (3.1 mi) west of Kyiv^[18]
13	20 July 1941	15:40	I-153^[17]		26	17 August 1941	09:05	DB-3^[18]
14	21 July 1941	18:45	I-153^[17]		27	21 August 1941	17:50	DB-3^[19]
15	23 July 1941	11:25	DB-3^[17]		28	22 August 1941	09:51	R-5^[20]
16	26 July 1941	06:35	I-153^[18]		29	22 August 1941	09:52	R-5	west of Dnjepropetrowsk^[20]
17	26 July 1941	11:15	V-11^[18]		30	22 August 1941	09:55	R-5^[20]
18	31 July 1941	12:15	I-16	5 km (3.1 mi) south of Kyiv^[18]	31	25 August 1941	11:10	SB-3^[20]
19	3 August 1941	13:15	I-153^[18]		32	31 August 1941	13:02	V-11^[20]
20	8 August 1941	14:40	DB-3^[18]		33	1 September 1941	16:40	SB-3^[20]
21	9 August 1941	09:50	DB-3^[18]		34	6 September 1941	16:48	SB-3	8 km (5.0 mi) north of Koteberda^[20]
22	9 August 1941	09:53	DB-3^[18]		35	18 October 1941	13:12	I-61^[21]
23	11 August 1941	16:18	Pe-2^[18]		36	19 October 1941	12:38	Pe-2^[21]
24	11 August 1941	16:20	Pe-2^[18]		37	22 October 1941	10:22	I-16^[21]
– Stab I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" – Eastern Front — 6 January – August 1942
38	8 May 1942	12:06	MiG-3^[22]		51	5 July 1942	06:30	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 92114, Gnesdowka^[23]
39	2 June 1942	14:34	I-153^[22]		52	5 July 1942	19:04	Yak-4^[23]
40	11 June 1942	06:45	Il-2^[22]		53	7 July 1942	18:37	Yak-1^[23]
41	11 June 1942	12:15	Su-2^[22]		54	8 July 1942	18:45	LaGG-3^[23]
42	22 June 1942	15:36	MiG-3^[24]		55	8 July 1942	18:55	LaGG-3^[23]
43	22 June 1942	18:25	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 70232^[24]	56	9 July 1942	05:02	LaGG-3^[23]
44	22 June 1942	18:27	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 70232^[24]	57	22 July 1942	13:25	Il-2	5 km (3.1 mi) northeast of Lisow^[25]
45	23 June 1942	19:20	LaGG-3	north of Kupjansk^[24]	58	22 July 1942	13:32	MiG-1	3 km (1.9 mi) east of Ssurowikino^[25]
46	23 June 1942	19:23	LaGG-3	south of Monatschiwowka^[24]	59	22 July 1942	13:37	MiG-1^[25]
47	28 June 1942	13:04	Yak-4	PQ 35 Ost 72272^[24]	60	23 July 1942	12:39	Il-2^[25]
48	28 June 1942	19:05	LaGG-3	PQ 35 72124^[24]	61	23 July 1942	12:41	Il-2^[25]
49	4 July 1942	14:45	LaGG-3	western edge of Voronezh^[23]	62	23 July 1942	12:45	Il-2^[25]
50	5 July 1942	06:25	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 92184, Gnesdowka^[23]

Awards

Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class^[3]
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 4 November 1941 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 4./Jagdgeschwader 3^[26]^[27]
Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 18 May 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän^[28]

World War II

Group commander

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

Awards

References

Citations

Bibliography

Related Articles

v t e Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet"
Viktor Bauer (Oak Leaves) Franz Beyer Emil Bitsch Eberhard von Boremski Kurt Brändle (Oak Leaves) Max Bucholz Walther Dahl¹ (Oak Leaves) Kurt Ebener Siegfried Engfer Wolf-Udo Ettel² (Oak Leaves) Wolfgang Ewald Gustav Frielinghaus Hans Fuß Werner Gerth Gordon Gollob³ (Oak Leaves, Swords & Diamonds) Hans Grünberg Horst Haase Ludwig Häfner Hans von Hahn Josef Haiböck Alfred Heckmann Ekhard Hübner Lothar Keller Heinz Kemethmüller Joachim Kirschner (Oak Leaves) Karl-Heinz Langer Wilhelm Lemke (Oak Leaves) Werner Lucas Günther Lützow (Oak Leaves & Swords) Helmut Meckel Helmut Mertens Georg Michalek Wilhelm Moritz Leopold Münster (Oak Leaves) Klaus Neumann Walter Oesau⁴ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Walter Ohlrogge Klaus Quaet-Faslem Detlev Rohwer Helmut Rüffler Franz Ruhl Georg Schentke Hans Schleef Winfried Schmidt Werner Schröer⁵ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Franz Schwaiger Kurt Sochatzy Hans Stechmann Ekkehard Tichy Willy Unger Hans Weik Franz von Werra Otto Wessling (Oak Leaves) Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke⁶ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Oskar Zimmermann
¹ Oak Leaves with JG 300. ² Oak Leaves with JG 27. ³ Swords and Diamonds with JG 77. ⁴ Knight's Cross with JG 51. ⁵ Knight's Cross and Oak Leaves with JG 27. ⁶ Knight's Cross with JG 53.