Friedrich-Wilhelm Morzik

Friedrich-Wilhelm "Fritz" Morzik (10 December 1891 – 17 June 1985) was a highly decorated Generalmajor in the Luftwaffe during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Friedrich-Wilhelm Morzik was captured in May 1945 by American troops and was held until 1947.

World War I
He trained as a pilot and served in World War I.

Interwar period
After the war he was an instructor in Communication Pilots School in Brunswick. In 1928 he became a vicedirector of Communication Pilots School in Berlin, then its director. He was connected with Lufthansa, the German national airline at that time.

Fritz Morzik was also an active sports pilot. He was a winner in the first International Tourist Plane Contest Challenge and the second Challenge in 1930. In the third Challenge in 1932 he was second. He took part in the fourth Challenge in 1934, but did not finish it due to engine breakdown. He was the only pilot to participate in all Challenges.

World War II
In 1935 he started service in the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), as a commandant of pilots' school. In World War II he became a head of Luftwaffe Transport Command, in a rank of Generalmajor.

After the war he wrote a detailed story of German transport aviation during the war: Die deutschen Transportflieger im Zweiten Weltkrieg (Frankfurt am Main, 1966) and German Air Force Airlift Operations (New York: Arno Press, 1968).

Awards and decorations

 * Iron Cross (1914)
 * 2nd Class
 * 1st Class
 * Kgl. Preuss. Flugzeugführer-Abzeichen
 * Cross of Honor
 * Sudetenland Medal with Prague Castle Bar
 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class
 * 1st Class
 * Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 16 April 1942 as Oberst and Geschwaderkommodore of Kampfgeschwader z.b.V. 1 and Lufttransportführer Ost of Luftflotte 1