Heinrich Burchard

Dipl.-Ing. Heinrich Burchard
Born	5 October 1894 Fulda
Died	11 April 1945 (aged 50) Quassel
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Deutsches Heer (1914–18) Reichswehr (1918–33) Heer (1933-35) Luftwaffe (1935–45)
Years of service	1914–45
Rank	General der Flakartillerie
Commands held	7. Flak-Division 19. Flak-Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II North African Campaign Defense of the Reich
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Dipl.-Ing. Heinrich Burchard^{[Note 1]} (5 October 1894 – 11 April 1945) was a highly decorated General der Flakartillerie in the Luftwaffe during World War II who commanded the several Flak-Divisions. 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. Heinrich Burchard committed suicide on 11 April 1945.

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class
  • 1st Class
• Wound Badge (1914)
  • in Black
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class
  • 1st Class
• Anti-Aircraft Flak Battle Badge
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 31 October 1944 as Generalleutnant and commander of the 7. Flak-Division^{[1][Note 2]}

Notes

1. In German an engineer's degree is called Diplom-Ingenieur (abbreviated Dipl.-Ing.)
2. Walther-Peer Fellgiebel has struck Heinrich Burchard from the list of Knight's Cross recipients. He noted that Burchard never received the Knight's Cross but the German Cross in Gold on 15 March 1943 instead.^[2]

References

Citations

1. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 150.
2. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 510.

Bibliography

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.

External links

• Ritterkreuztraeger 1939-1945
• World War 2 Awards.com
• Lexikon der Wehrmacht
• Heinrich Burchard @ Axis Biographical Research at the Wayback Machine (archived October 28, 2009)