Friedrich Beckh

Friedrich Beckh (17 January 1908 – 21 June 1942) was 48 victory-Luftwaffe flying ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

He held the position of Geschwaderkommodore of fighter wing Jagdgeschwader 51 and Jagdgeschwader 52.

Beckh was born on 17 January 1908 in Nuremberg in the Kingdom of Bavaria.

He was a career soldier having joined the cavalry in 1926 as part of the-then 100,000 strong German Army.

He joined the Luftwaffe with the rank of Oberleutnant in 1935 and trained to be a fighter pilot but Beckh had no particular aptitude for flying.

By the time World War II broke out he had already occupied several positions on the General Staff and because of his age did not fly any combat sorties.

Instead, he was lecturing at the Air War Academy.

It was during 1940 as Jägerverbindungsoffizier in the Luftgaukommando Wiesbaden (fighter communications or liaison officer) that he became close friends with Werner Mölders, the two men served in Jagdgeschwader 134 Horst Wessel.

When Mölders became Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing) on 27 July 1940 he arranged for Beckh to transfer to his Geschwaderstab, as an officer on secondment from the General Staff.

Beckh was nonetheless an enthusiastic fighter pilot.

However, there was one further factor in Beckh's make-up that would constitute something of a handicap when flying fighters.

He was simply unable to see anything in the air.

In fact, Beckh's eyesight had deteriorated considerably since he had first joined the Luftwaffe.

On 1 March 1941, Beckh was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of IV.

Gruppe of JG 51, succeeding Oberleutnant Hans-Karl Keitel who was posted as missing in action.

Following the appointment, Mölders had assigned Leutnant Bernd Gallowitsch as Beckh's regular wingman.

Gallowitsch had good eyesight and compensated for Beckh's inabilities.

The assignment was based on a recommendation made by Prof. Dr. Paul Robert Skawran, a psychologist who had studied fighter pilot aptitudes and combat readiness with JG 51 at the time.

On 5 March, Beckh claimed his first aerial victory.

His opponent was a Royal Air Force (RAF) Supermarine Spitfire fighter from No. 610 Squadron which was shot down near Boulogne-sur-Mer.

On 15 June, IV.

Gruppe of JG 51 began transferring east and was located at an airfield named Krzewicze, located approximately 70 km west of Brest-Litovsk.

On 22 June, German forces launched Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

On 19 July 1941, Beckh was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of JG 51.

He succeeded Mölders in this capacity who transferred and appointed Inspekteur der Jagdflieger (Inspector of Fighters).

Command of IV.

Gruppe then passed on to Haupmann Karl-Gottfried Nordmann.

JG 51 was subordinated to II. Fliegerkorps (2nd Air Corps), which as part of Luftflotte 2 (Air Fleet 2).

JG 51 area of operation during Operation Barbarossa was over the right flank of Army Group Center in the combat area of the 2nd Panzer Group as well as the 4th Army.

During the opening weeks of Operation Barbarossa, Beckh had considerable success, mostly in tandem with his wingman Gallowitsch, who at the time was credited with around twenty victories.

The two pilots invariably returned from sorties with a victory each.

On 8 September, JG 51 supported Heinz Guderian's 2nd Panzer Army in the battles around Kiev.

That day, Beckh claimed the Geschwader's 2000th aerial victory.

However, on 16 September, during a fighter sweep, his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 (Werknummer 8988—factory number) was hit by anti-aircraft artillery, resulting in a forced landing 30 km east of Konotop.

During his convalescence, he was temporarily replaced by Major Günther Lützow as commander of JG 51.

Two days after being wounded in action, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) for 27 aerial victories, 23 of them on the Eastern Front.

Initially, he had insisted on leading the Geschwader from the ground.

However, the injury caused by the incendiary round which had punctured his left foot had turned into gangrene.

When Mölders visited him on 4 October, he immediately had him transferred to a Luftwaffe hospital in Munich-Oberföhring.