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Waldemar Semelka
Waldemar Semelka (8 January 1920 – 21 August 1942) 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 was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. For the fighter pilots, it was a quantifiable measure of skill and combat success. Waldemar Semelka was killed on 21 August 1942 over Stalingrad, Soviet Union. During his career he was credited with 75 (or 65) aerial victories. Military career Upon completing his flight training ''Oberfähnrich'' Semelka was posted to 4. ''Staffel'' (4th squadron) of ''Jagdgeschwader'' 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing), a squadron of II. '' Gruppe'' (2nd group) of JG 52. In preparation of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, II. ''Gruppe'' of JG 52, without a period of replenishment in Germany, was ordered to airfields close to the German-Soviet demarcation line. While the '' Gruppenstab'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doubrava (Karviná District)
( pl, , german: Dombrau) is a municipality and village in Karviná District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,200 inhabitants. Etymology The name comes from the Slavic word ''dúbrava'', which means "oak forest". Between 1920 and 1924, the municipality was named ''Dombrová''. Geography Doubrava is located in the Ostrava Basin lowland in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia. There are several ponds in the municipality. History It is not clear when the village was founded, according to historians, it could have been around 1150. The first written mention of Doubrava is in a document of Pope Gregory IX issued in 1229 among villages belonging to Benedictine abbey in Tyniec, as ''Dubrowa''. In 1268 it was bestowed by Władysław Opolski to the newly established Orlová monastery. Politically it belonged then to the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz and Castellany of Cieszyn, which was ruled by a local branch of Piast dynasty. In 1327 the duchy b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suwałki
Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Suwałki is the largest city and the capital of the historical Suwałki Region. Until 1999 it was the capital of Suwałki Voivodeship. Suwałki is located about from the southwestern Lithuanian border and gives its name to the Polish protected area known as Suwałki Landscape Park. The Czarna Hańcza river flows through the city. Etymology The name derives from Lithuanian ''su-'' (near) and ''valka'' (creek, marsh), with the combined meaning "place near a small river or swampy area". History The area of Suwałki had been populated by local Yotvingian and Prussian tribes since the early Middle Ages. However, with the arrival of the Teutonic Order to Yotvingia, their lands were conquered and remained largely depopulated in the following ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tver
Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population: Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian Empire, with a population of 60,000 on 14 January 1913. It is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Tvertsa Rivers. The city was known as Kalinin ( rus, Кали́нин, Kalínin) from 1931 to 1990. The city is where three rivers meet, splitting the town into northern and southern parts by the Volga River, and divided again into quarters by the Tvertsa River, which splits the left (northern) bank into east and west halves, and the Tmaka River which does the same along the southern bank. History Medieval origins Tver's foundation year is officially accepted to be 1135,Charter of Tver, Article 1 although there is no universal agreement on this date and some estimates place it as late as the second half of the 13th centur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Typhoon
The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, the capital and largest city of the Soviet Union. Moscow was one of the primary military and political objectives for Axis forces in their invasion of the Soviet Union. The German Strategic Offensive, named Operation Typhoon, called for two pincer offensives, one to the north of Moscow against the Kalinin Front by the 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies, simultaneously severing the Moscow–Leningrad railway, and another to the south of Moscow Oblast against the Western Front south of Tula, by the 2nd Panzer Army, while the 4th Army advanced directly towards Moscow from the west. Initially, the Soviet forces conducted a strategic defence of the Moscow Oblast by constructing three defensive belts, de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barysaw
Barysaw ( be, Барысаў, ) or Borisov (russian: Борисов, ) is a city in Belarus near the Berezina River in the Minsk Region 74 km north-east from Minsk. Its population is around 145,000. History Barysaw is first mentioned in the Laurentian Codex as being founded (as Borisov) in 1102 by the Prince of Polotsk Rogvolod Vseslavich, who had the baptismal name of Boris. During the next two centuries, it was burned and then rebuilt south of where it was before. Half a millennium as part of Lithuania From the late 13th century to 1795, the town was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was itself involved in many unions – the Union of Krewo (1385) and Union of Lublin (1569). In 1500, during the Lithuanian–Muscovite War, Alexander Jagiellon resided in Barysaw Castle. In 1563, it was granted Magdeburg town rights by King Sigismund II Augustus. 1790s In the last years of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, troops were stationed here, including the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ilyushin DB-3
The Ilyushin DB-3, where "DB" stands for ''Dalniy Bombardirovschik'' ( Russian: Дальний бомбардировщик) meaning "long-range bomber", was a Soviet bomber aircraft of World War II. It was a twin-engined, low-wing monoplane that first flew in 1935. 1,528 were built. The DB-3 was the precursor of the Ilyushin Il-4 (originally designated DB-3F). Design and development The genesis of the DB-3 lay in the BB-2, Sergey Ilyushin's failed competitor to the Tupolev SB. Ilyushin was able to salvage the work and time invested in the BB-2's design by recasting it as a long-range bomber, again competing against a Tupolev design, the DB-2, to meet the stringent requirements of an aircraft capable of delivering a bombload to a range of at a maximum speed no less than . He had redesigned the BB-2 to take advantage of the radial Gnome-Rhône Mistral Major 14Kdrs engine, for which the Soviets had purchased a license in 1934 as the M-85, and had begun construction of the proto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polikarpov I-15
The Polikarpov I-15 (russian: И-15) was a Soviet biplane fighter aircraft of the 1930s. Nicknamed ''Chaika'' (''russian: Чайка'', "Seagull") because of its gulled upper wings,Gunston 1995, p. 299.Green and Swanborough 1979, p. 10. it was operated in large numbers by the Soviet Air Force, and together with the Polikarpov I-16 monoplane, was one of the standard fighters of the Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, where it was called Chato (snub-nose). Design and development The design for the 14th fighter for the VVS, the I-14, started as an advanced (for the era) monoplane under the direction of Andrei Tupolev. He grew concerned that the design would not mature, and ordered two backup biplane designs as the I-14A and B just to be safe. Polikarpov had just been released from prison in August 1932, and was handed the I-14A project. When both the I-14 and I-14A were ordered into production, Polikarpov's design, a development of the I-5 fighter became the famo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erich Woitke
Erich Woitke (29 January 1912 – 24 December 1944) was a fighter pilot 'ace' serving in the German Luftwaffe during World War II. Early life Woitke was born 29 January 1912 in Mülheim, near Duisburg. Military career ''Leutnant'' Woitke served with the fighter unit 1./J 88 of the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War. He recorded his first victory on 27 September 1937, claiming a Republican I-16 "Rata". He claimed 3 more victories, all "Ratas" before returning to Germany. From the early stages of his career until his death, Woitke was considered outspoken, and anti-authoritarian, and his attitude to authority would lead him into conflict with his superiors on numerous occasions. He is reputed to have received the German Cross in Gold from Hermann Göring in person, only to hurl the award on the floor while making disparaging remarks. World War II In February 1940, ''Oberleutnant'' Woitke was made ''Staffelkapitän'', 6./JG 3, leading the unit through the Battle of France. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johannes Steinhoff
Johannes "Macky" Steinhoff (15 September 1913 – 21 February 1994) was a Luftwaffe fighter ace during World War II, German general, and NATO official. He was one of very few Luftwaffe pilots who survived to fly operationally through the whole of the war period 1939–45. Steinhoff was also one of the highest-scoring pilots with 176 victories, and one of the first to fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter in combat as a member of the Jagdverband 44 squadron led by Adolf Galland. Steinhoff was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, and later received the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and several foreign awards including the American Legion of Merit and the French Legion of Honour. He played a role in the so-called Fighter Pilots' Revolt late in the war, when several senior air force officers confronted Hermann Göring. Steinhoff joined the West German government's Rearmament Office as a consu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre (german: Heeresgruppe Mitte) was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa). On 25 January 1945, after it was encircled in the Königsberg pocket, Army Group Centre was renamed Army Group North (), and Army Group A () became Army Group Centre. The latter formation retained its name until the end of the war in Europe on 11 May after VE Day. Formation The commander in chief on the formation of the Army Group Centre (22 June 1941) was Fedor von Bock. Order of battle at formation Campaign and operational history Operation Barbarossa On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany and its Axis allies launched their surprise offensive into the Soviet Union. Their armies, totaling over three million men, were to advance in three geographical dir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolfram Freiherr Von Richthofen
Wolfram Karl Ludwig Moritz Hermann Freiherr von Richthofen (10 October 1895 – 12 July 1945) was a German World War I flying ace who rose to the rank of ''Generalfeldmarschall'' in the Luftwaffe during World War II. Born in 1895 into a family of the Prussian nobility, Richthofen grew up in prosperous surroundings. At the age of eighteen, after leaving school, he opted to join the German Army rather than choose an academic career, and joined the army's cavalry arm in 1913. On the outbreak of the First World War, Richthofen fought on the Western Front, winning the Iron Cross Second Class. In 1915 he was posted to the Eastern Front, where he stayed until 1917. The Richthofen family produced several notable personalities that would become famous during the First War. His cousins, the brothers Lothar and Manfred, both became flying aces and encouraged him to join the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (German Imperial Air Service). He did so, and joined Manfred's '' Jagdgeschwader 1'' (Fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Generaloberst
A ("colonel general") was the second-highest general officer rank in the German ''Reichswehr'' and ''Wehrmacht'', the Austro-Hungarian Common Army, the East German National People's Army and in their respective police services. The rank was equal to a four-star full general but below a general field marshal. The rank was equivalent to a '' Generaladmiral'' in the ''Kriegsmarine'' until 1945 or to a '' Flottenadmiral'' in the '' Volksmarine'' until 1990. It was the highest ordinary military rank and the highest military rank awarded in peacetime; the higher rank of general field marshal was awarded only in wartime by the head of state. In general, a ''Generaloberst'' had the same privileges as a general field marshal. A literal translation of ''Generaloberst'' would be "uppermost general", but it is often translated as "colonel-general" by analogy to ''Oberst'', "colonel", such as in countries in which the rank was adopted like Russia (, ''general-polkovnik''). "Oberst" deri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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