Hans Krug - volunteer of Aviación Nacional or Legion Condor pilot?

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durb
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Hans Krug - volunteer of Aviación Nacional or Legion Condor pilot?

#1

Post by durb » 22 May 2015, 17:55

Has anyone knowledge if the Luftwaffe ace pilot (JG 26) Hans Krug participated in the Spanish Civil War? He had in his plane the motto: "Vista, suerte y al toro" which comes directly from the SCW top ace García Morato.

Just a curious sidenote: a pilot called "Johann Krug" participated in the SCW flying He 51 but despite his Germanic name he was not a Legion Condor pilot but may have been (a Austrian?) volunteer in the Aviación Nacional? Who could this enigmatic "Johann Krug" be - Hans Krug? Or do we find Hans Krug directly from the list of pilots of Legion Condor?

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Ironmachine
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Re: Hans Krug - volunteer of Aviación Nacional or Legion Condor pilot?

#2

Post by Ironmachine » 22 May 2015, 21:32

Another curious sidenote: there was a Portuguese volunteer pilot named Augusto Krug flying with the Aviación Nacional in the SCW. He first flew He 51s as part of 1-G-2, and on 14 August 1938 his plane was damaged in combat (though he was able to land the plane without further damage). These facts are attributed to Johann Krug in http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=39883
I'm looking for info on a Johann Krug, a German volunteer in the Nationalist Air Force (not Legion Condor).
He suposedly flew He 51s in 1-G-2.
He claimed a Potez 542(?) on 27 December 1936 over Teruel (his only claim in Spain).
Suffered a mid-air collision on 16 February 1937 (Nationalist pilot F. Bofill Dedofeu KIFA).
His He 51 seems to have been damaged in combat on 14 August 1938.
So it seems that there is quite a bit of confusión with the Krugs in the SCW. :D


durb
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Re: Hans Krug - volunteer of Aviación Nacional or Legion Condor pilot?

#3

Post by durb » 22 May 2015, 23:40

Augusto Krug is certainly not the Hans Krug of Luftwaffe JG 26 or "Johann" Krug. Also the claim on Potez 540 on 27.12.1936 and the collision with another Nationalist pilot on 1937 are not to be attributed to him as Antonio Krug participated in aereal operations of 1-G-2 only since August 1938.

Maybe Hans Krug was the guy who claimed the Potez 54 back in Dec. 1936 or collided with F. Bofill back in Feb. 1937, but who knows....

However the fact that Hans Krug had "Vista, suerte y al toro" painted with a big bird in his "Emil" in 1940 suggests that he had some connection to Spanish Civil War but who knows...

Looking some of my books on the aviators in SCW I found one annoying feature when searching for Hans Krug: they do not have proper person index or well-made tables of names organized by unit level as an appendix at the end of book - instead the long lists of names are running in confusing manner in the bodytext which a) does not make the text and story fluent and readable b) makes it much harder to find info about some person than well-made index or appendix table. This in my opinion is a sign of poorly made editing work. For example the book of Patrick Laureau on Legion Condor (Luftwaffe in Spain 1936-1939) would have been significantly better with some careful editing and crosschecking (or proof reading), but I guess they did not have time for that because there was a hurry to get the book published...

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Ironmachine
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Re: Hans Krug - volunteer of Aviación Nacional or Legion Condor pilot?

#4

Post by Ironmachine » 23 May 2015, 08:11

durb wrote:Augusto Krug is certainly not the Hans Krug of Luftwaffe JG 26 or "Johann" Krug.
Yes, I know. I was only stating that some of the "facts" about that "Johann Krug" that can be found in the web are not correct.

Regarding "Johann Krug", he is mentioned in an old article by Jesús Salas Larrazábal. But he is mentioned as "Joan Krug" (maybe he was Spaniard with German ancestry?). Anyway, he is only mentioned as being part of the first He-51 units in October-December 1936, and then as having crashed with Bofill's aircraft, after that crash Krug was sent to the hospital. No further mention of Krug in the article. Maybe his injuries were so serious that he did not see further service?

durb
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Re: Hans Krug - volunteer of Aviación Nacional or Legion Condor pilot?

#5

Post by durb » 24 May 2015, 16:05

"Joan" Krug may have been also of French ancestry (for example from Alsacien)...

But is Hans Krug to be found from the namelist of Legion Condor?

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