Karl Bleckl

Karl Ludwig "Charly" Bleckl (26 September 1919 in Vienna - 26 March 2013 in Neufeld an der Leitha) was an Austrian Hauptmann in the Luftwaffe during World War II.

Career

Bleckl was born on the 26 September 1919 in Vienna and on 15 March 1938 joined the air force. First commanded at the air war College in Dresden, he received his flight training in Neuruppin and at the fighter school in Linz-Hörsching. As a lieutenant and engineer officer, he comes to the 02.06.1940 to the additional battle group 3 and the 08.08.1940 as Squadron leaders to a fighter unit, which was subordinate to the commanding Admiral of France to support the Navy. Bleckl was used as a transport and travel machine pilot and served also as pilot of the BdU Karl Dönitz. After Bleckl reported on the 08.10.1940 the fall combat flying, he came across the Stukaschule 1 on the 21.02.1941 to the supplement squadron of crash Fighter Squadron 1 and flew numerous missions over the Mediterranean Sea and on the eastern front with the III from the 13.05.1941 up to the 01.04.1943. Group of the squadron. Promoted on the 01.10.1941 to first lieutenant and appointed the captain of the 7 season in the spring of 1942, he is awarded with the Knight's cross on the 03.11.1942, as a first lieutenant and captain of the 7 season. To this award, Bleckl had fired 48 tanks, destroyed 9 bridges and numerous other war materials. After the change in the tank testing season to Rechlin, from 01.04 until 01.06.1943, it comes as captain of a season to the fall Fighter Squadron 101, the later Battle Squadron 101. There later promoted to captain, changes Bleckl to the 30.09.1944 as captain of a season and later as Group Commander Battle Squadron 4, with which he took part among other things on the Ardennes offensive and the fights in East Germany. There, on the 08.02.1945, he is severely wounded and brought to a hospital, where he was in American captivity, from which he was dismissed in January 1946.

He was then in 1956. Federal air force at first assumed the fighter-bomber school season in Graz and worked as a test pilot for foreign fighters. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and appointed the Commander of fighter bomber squadron 1 in Linz-Hörsching. Then appointed the Commander of the Austrian command, he finished his career in 1979 as a Colonel. On a total of about 950 enemy flights, of which 200 with the Fw 190 as battle pilot, he was shot down several times and four times jumped off with the parachute.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
• Wound Badge (1939)
• Pilot Badge
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Ground Attack Flyers in Gold with Pennant
• Sudetenland Medal
• West Wall Medal
• Eastern Front Medal
• Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe on 4 May 1942 as Oberleutnant and pilot
• German Cross in Gold on 27 July 1942 as Oberleutnant in the 7./Sturzkampfgeschwader 1
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 3 November 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelführer of the 7./Sturzkampfgeschwader 1