Gotthard Handrick

Infobox Military Person
name=Gotthard Handrick
born=birth date|1908|10|25|df=y
died=death date and age|1978|5|30|1908|10|25|df=y
placeofbirth=
placeofdeath=


caption=
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=Luftwaffe
serviceyears=1929-1945
rank=Oberst
commands=III./JG 52, JG 26, JG 77, JG 5
unit=JGr 88, JG 26, JG 52, JG 77, JG 5
battles=Spanish Civil War
World War II
awards="Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords"
"German Cross in Gold"
laterwork=

Karl Hermann Gotthard Handrick (25 October 1908 – 30 May 1978) was a German Olympic athlete and fighter pilot.

He won the Gold medal in the Modern pentathlon at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. As a fighter pilot he participated in Spanish Civil War and claimed 5 aerial victories while flying for the Legion Condor. During World War II he claimed another 10 victories [Toliver & Constable, page 397] earning him the German Cross in Gold on 17 October 1943 [Patzwall and Scherzer 2001, p. 163.] .

In mid-1937 Handrick was put in charge of "Jagdgruppe 88" and assumed command of I./JG 26 after his return from Spain in July 1938. [Caldwell 1991. p. 4.] On 24 June 1940, the command of Jagdgeschwader 26 was handed over to Major Handrick, who passed command of I./JG 26 to Kurt Fischer. [Caldwell 1991. p. 8.]

References

* Caldwell, Donald L. "JG 26 Top Guns of the Luftwaffe". Ivy Books, 1991. ISBN 0-8041-1050-6.
* Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit. "Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 - 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II". Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.
* Toliver, Raymond F. and Constable, Trevor J., "Das waren die Deutschen Jagdflieger-Asse 1939-1945". Motorbuch Verlag, 1998. ISBN 3-87943-193-0.