Gustav Sprick

Gustav "Micky" Sprick (29 November 1917 – 28 June 1941) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Sprick was credited with 31 victories in 192 missions. All his victories were recorded over the Western front.

Military career
Sprick joined the Luftwaffe in 1937. After completing his pilot-training Fähnrich Sprick was posted to JG 26 on 23 September 1939, and assigned to 8./JG 26 (8th squadron of the 26th Fighter Wing). On 10 May 1940, the opening day of Fall Gelb (the invasion of the West), the now Leutnant Sprick shot down his first enemy aircraft: a Dutch Fokker T-5 twin-engined bomber, over Breda in Holland. He was very successful during the French campaign, having scored nine victories by the fall of France, and been promoted to Oberleutnant. He was shot down however, on 14 June near Évreux, by RAF (Royal Air Force) Hurricane fighters after claiming one of their number. But he managed to crash-land uninjured and was rescued by German troops.

On 8 August 1940 he was promoted to Staffelkapitän (Squadron leader) of 8./JG 26. His Gruppe, III/JG 26 had a formidable team of leaders during the Battle of Britain, with the experienced Kommandeur Adolf Galland and Gerhard Schöpfel (9. Staffel), with the ‘young lions’ Sprick (8. Staffel) and Joachim Müncheberg (7. Staffel). These four pilots all had 10 or more victories and over the next 2 months shot down over 50 aircraft between them.

Sprick himself scored 11 victories in the battle, including a pair of Hurricanes of 85 Sqn on 31 August (his 14th & 15th victories). He was awarded the Ehrenpokal (Goblet of Honour) on 8 September, and then the coveted Ritterkreuz (Knight’s Cross) on 1 October after gaining his 20th victory on 28 September. By the end of 1940, with the battle falling back into a relatively quiet period, his score had increased to 23. (Müncheberg had 23, Schöpfel had 22 and Galland with 58!)

June 1941 marked the invasion of the Soviet Union in the east. With the majority of the Luftwaffe involved in Operation Barbarossa, it left just JG 26, JG 2 and JG 1 defending the west. Coinciding with this, the British started their own air offensive, taking the fight to the Germans over France. Now, however, the roles were reversed, and it was the RAF fighters that found themselves vulnerable, operating at the limit of their range. Sprick quickly racked up 8 victories in the last fortnight of June.

On 28 June, III/JG 26 was ordered to intercept the RAF Circus No. 26, en route to attack the Comines power station. 8./JG 26 was jumped from above by Spitfires and in the ensuing melee, while performing a split-S manoeuvre, the wing of Sprick’s new Bf 109 F2 (Werk Nr 5743) sheared off. He crashed to his death near Holque, inland from Calais.

Oberleutnant Gustav Sprick was credited with 31 victories in 192 missions, all over the Western Front.

Awards

 * Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 1 October 1940 as Leutnant and pilot in the 8./JG 26 "Schlageter"