Hugo Sperrle

Infobox Military Person
name=Hugo Sperrle
lived=birth date|1885|2|7|df=y — death date and age|1953|4|2|1885|2|7|df=y
placeofbirth=Ludwigsburg, Germany
placeofdeath=Munich, Germany


caption="Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle"
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|German Empire German Empire (to 1918)
flagicon|Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
serviceyears=
rank=Field Marshal
branch= Luftwaffe
commands=
unit=
battles=World War I
World War II
awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Spanish Cross
laterwork=

Hugo Sperrle (February 7 1885 - April 2 1953), was a German field marshal of the "Luftwaffe" during World War II.

Born in Ludwigsburg, he joined the German Army in 1903 and transferred to the Luftstreitkräfte (German Army Air Service) at the start of World War I, serving as an observer to the end of the war.

Sperrle joined the Freikorps at the end of the war after the disbanding of the Air Service, before rejoining the German Army.

He entered the newly formed Luftwaffe in 1935 and served as commander of the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War, with Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen serving as his chief of staff.

He led the German Air Fleet 3 against France in May and June 1940. In July 1940, he was made a "Generalfeldmarschall" of the Luftwaffe. Sperrle advised that Britain's Royal Air Force had to be destroyed to ensure a successful invasion of Britain. Air Fleet 3, stationed in northern France, played a major role in the Battle of Britain, from June 1940 to April 1941.

Field Marshal Sperrle was captured by the Allies and charged with war crimes in the High Command Trial at the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials but was acquitted. He died in Munich in 1953.

Further reading

*de icon [http://www.ritterkreuztraeger-1939-45.de/Luftwaffe/Sperrle-Hugo.htm Hugo Sperrle] .
* [http://www.britannica.com/dday/article-9344630 Sperrle, Hugo] in the Encyclopaedia Britannica's Guide to Normandy 1944