57 Facts About Martin Harlinghausen

Martin Harlinghausen was a German military aviator and general.

Martin Harlinghausen developed effective combat tactics and was highly decorated by Nationalist Spain.

Martin Harlinghausen was appointed chief of staff of the anti-shipping Fliegerkorps X in 1939.

In February 1941, Martin Harlinghausen was appointed commanding officer of the newly established Fliegerfuhrer Atlantik.

Martin Harlinghausen lobbied hard for the expansion of his forces but other military theatres received priority.

Martin Harlinghausen was simultaneously appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Kampfgeschwader 26 and Bevollmachtigter for das Lufttorpedowesen.

In January 1943 Martin Harlinghausen was given command of Fliegerkorps II and relieved five months later on 10 June.

Martin Harlinghausen returned to duty in October 1943 as chief of staff to the General der Kampfflieger.

Martin Harlinghausen was captured in 1945 and remained a prisoner of war until 1947.

Martin Harlinghausen served in the Bundesluftwaffe from 1957 to 1961.

Martin Harlinghausen either resigned his commission or was forced into retirement after disputes with superiors.

Martin Harlinghausen was born in Rheda, the German Empire in 1902.

Martin Harlinghausen joined the Reichsmarine on 1 April 1923 and trained on torpedo boats.

Martin Harlinghausen received his commission as Leutnant zur See in 1927 and the Oberleutnant zur See in 1929.

Martin Harlinghausen served under Geisler at Warnemunde naval base in 1931.

Martin Harlinghausen was given command of 1 seestaffel in 1937, an elevated to the position of Staffelkapitan.

Martin Harlinghausen expanded the target list to include coastal communications with bombs and small-arms fire.

Martin Harlinghausen preferred the He 59 for the aircraft's ability to sustain severe damage and remain airborne.

Martin Harlinghausen became the first pilot to sink a ship using an air-dropped torpedo when he sank a cargo ship off Valencia harbour on 21 July 1938.

In commanding in Spain, Martin Harlinghausen became a pioneer of attacking ships accurately with bombs.

Martin Harlinghausen continued to develop this neglected sphere in opposition to the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe.

Martin Harlinghausen was appointed as chief of staff, effective from 1 November 1939.

In September 1939, Martin Harlinghausen's Fliegerkorps carried out sporadic operations off Eastern England with some success.

Martin Harlinghausen was influential in ending production of the He 115 in favour of the He 111 for naval operations.

Martin Harlinghausen earned a reputation as one of the more aggressive commanders and excelled in his command of the ad hoc Fliegerfuhrer Trondheim.

On 30 April 1940 Martin Harlinghausen flew a patrol between Trondheim and Namsos in one of two staffel KuFlGr 506's He 115s.

Martin Harlinghausen was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 5 May 1940 for his service piloting Heinkel He 115s and commanding an ad hoc group named Fliegerfuhrer Stavanger.

Martin Harlinghausen's command made a significant operational contribution to the German victory in the Norwegian Campaign by rendering Allied sea communications insecure.

Martin Harlinghausen refined and developed ship-attack tactics that the Luftwaffe used over Great Britain in 1940.

On 3 November 1940 Martin Harlinghausen was credited with sinking a 6,000 grt ship, probably the 3,871 grt Kildale off Kinnaird Head bringing his claim total to approximately 100,000 grt.

The air corps moved to Axis-held Greece in June 1941, by which time Martin Harlinghausen had left the corps.

Martin Harlinghausen tried to secure assistance from the Regia Marina to help shut the straits.

Martin Harlinghausen's idea was for naval forces to patrol in darkness for his air corps could not see the enemy.

Martin Harlinghausen was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves 30 January 1941.

Martin Harlinghausen was part of the disastrous raid on British convoys moving through the Suez Canal.

On 28 February 1941 Martin Harlinghausen was appointed Fliegerfuhrer Atlantik.

Martin Harlinghausen's headquarters were stationed in the village of Branderion.

Martin Harlinghausen was responsible for organising fleet and U-boat support, meteorological missions and even coastal protection, although Kustenfliegergruppe, Minensuchgruppe existed for that purpose.

Martin Harlinghausen agreed with the operational methods of Karl Donitz at BdU, who favoured using the four-engine Focke-Wulf Fw 200 "Condors" to shadow convoys and direct U-Boats to their quarry; then to begin a coordinated air-sea attack to defeat the convoy.

Martin Harlinghausen was given meagre forces to achieve these ends owing to Hermann Goring's intransigence.

Martin Harlinghausen's command was effective, and often transmitted accurate locations of convoys but because of a paucity in submarines, they failed to respond.

Martin Harlinghausen remonstrated with Donitz who decided a more flexible approach was needed, rather than close cooperation.

Martin Harlinghausen frequently clashed with the Admiral over operational deployments, and opposed the shifting of air operations to interdict Gibraltar sea lanes as opposed to the Western Approaches.

Martin Harlinghausen's appointment coincided with the "First Happy Time", which was already rapidly approaching its end when Martin Harlinghausen took charge.

Three months into his leadership, Martin Harlinghausen was held responsible for the Luftwaffe's failure to prevent the loss of the battleship Bismarck, which sank on 27 May 1941.

In January 1942 Martin Harlinghausen was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Kampfgeschwader 26, an anti-shipping bomber wing.

Martin Harlinghausen had long been a supporter of torpedo bomber development.

Martin Harlinghausen soon lost one Staffeln to the Black Sea campaigns.

Martin Harlinghausen remained wing commander through the intensive attacks on Malta convoys in February 1942.

Martin Harlinghausen was responsible to the Commander in Chief South, Albert Kesselring, in the initial stages, who was given complete command of the Tunisian bridgehead.

Martin Harlinghausen was given command of Fliegerkorps II from February to May 1943.

In contrast, Martin Harlinghausen ordered his anti shipping units to abandon forward bases in Sardinia for the mainland, due to Allied air raids.

Martin Harlinghausen survived a month longer until dismissed from command on 10 June 1943 following a series of disputes with Kesselring.

In December 1944 Martin Harlinghausen was appointed Chef des Luftwaffenkommandos "West", a position he held until the cessation of hostilities.

Martin Harlinghausen was captured by American troops, and illegally held after the war ended.

Martin Harlinghausen served in the new West German Air Force from 1957 to 1961.

Martin Harlinghausen was sent into retirement, having been politically uncomfortable during his post-war career, after demanding a proper investigation in the 1961 F-84 Thunderstreak incident, after which Oberstleutnant Siegfried Barth, commander of Jagdbombergeschwader 32, was removed from his post without a proper investigation.