Gustav "Micky" Sprick was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

 fighter ace

Fighter Ace

Fighter Ace was a massively multiplayer online computer game in which one flies World War II fighter and bomber planes in combat against other players and virtual pilots...

 and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Sprick was credited with 31 victories in 192 missions. All his victories were recorded over the Western front.

Military career

At the beginning of World War ІІ, Sprick was posted to JG 26 on 23 September 1939. Leutnant Sprick shot down his first enemy aircraft on 10 May 1940, a Dutch Fokker T-5 twin-engined bomber over Breda during the Battle of France

Battle of France

In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...

. Sprick was very successful during the French campaign having accrued nine victories by the fall of France. However, on 14 June he was shot down, near Évreux, by Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 (RAF) Hurricane fighters after claiming one of their number. He gained 11 victories in the Battle of Britain

Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...

. He was one of the leading aces of the battle.

He was awarded the Ritterkreuz (Knights Cross) on 1 October after gaining his 20th victory. By the end of 1940 his score had increased to 24.

While engaged in a dogfight with RAF Spitfires the right wing of his Bf 109 F-2 collapsed and he plunged to his death near Holque, France.

Awards

• Iron Cross
  Iron Cross
  The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
  
   (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
  Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
  The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
  
   on 1 October 1940 as Leutnant and pilot in the 8./JG 26 "Schlageter"

External links

• Franz Eisenach - Art prints and originals signed by Franz Eisenach at www.military-art.com
• Horrido1 - WWII Autographed Photos at home.pacbell.net