Allegiance Nazi Germany Commands held 1./KG 40 Name Hans Buchholz | Service/branch Luftwaffe Battles/wars World War II | |
Died 19 May 1941(1941-05-19) (aged 32)
Atlantic Ocean Rank Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) of the Reserves | ||
Hans Buchholz (28 July 1907 – 19 May 1941) was a German Luftwaffe bomber pilot 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. He received this award for the destruction of 10 enemy merchant ships totaling 60,800 gross register tons (GRT), further damaging 8 ships of 48,000 GRT.
On 19 May 1941, Buchholz was killed in action flying a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 during the Battle of the Atlantic in an attack on the freighter Umgeni. He was shot down in Fw 200 C-3 "F8+DH" (Werknummer 0060—factory number) by the ships anti-aircraft artillery 500 kilometers (310 miles; 270 nautical miles) off the southwestern coast of Ireland, killing him and the first radio operator Oberfeldwebel Paul Schmidt. The rest of the crew—copilot Oberfeldwebel Otto Kroke, second radio operator Unteroffizier Erhard Milde, air mechanic Oberfeldwebel Erich Kielke, air gunner Feldwebel Kurt Brattke and the meteorologist Regierungsrat (a civil servant) Friedrich Keller—was rescued and taken prisoner of war.