Kurt Kuhlmey

Infobox Military Person
name=Kurt Kuhlmey
lived=birth date|1913|11|19|df=y — death date and age|1993|4|30|1913|11|19|df=y


caption=
placeofbirth=Insterburg, East Prussia
placeofdeath=Bonn
allegiance=flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (to 1945)
flagicon|West Germany West Germany
branch=Luftwaffe
serviceyears=1934-1945, 1956-1971
rank=Oberst
commands=1./StG 1, II/SG 3, SG 3, SG 2
unit=
battles=World War II
*Invasion of Poland (1939)
*Battle of France
*Battle of Norway
*Battle of Britain
*Battle of Malta
awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
laterwork=Generalmajor in the Bundeswehr

Kurt Kuhlmey (19 November, 1913 – 30 April, 1993) was one of the most famous Stuka pilots of World War II. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in July 1942.

Kuhlmey began his pilot career at the age of 15, when he began flying glider aircraft. He joined the "Luftwaffe" in 1934, where he was trained as a combat pilot. He was transferred in 1936 to the 162th dive bomber division in Schwer, where he began flying Stukas.

He participated in the campaigns in Poland, Norway, France, Great Britain, Malta (inluding the 10 January 1941 attack on HMS "Illustrious"), Soviet Union, and Finland, where he and his division arrived on 12 June 1944. Detachment Kuhlmey's actions in Finland was of great importance for the outcome of the Continuation War. The unit played an instrumental role in the halting of the Soviet fourth strategic offensive at the battles at Tali and Ihantala. The unit's merits were not recognized for a long time in Finland, due to the difficult position Finland was in during and after the war. At the end of the war he held the rank of colonel.

Kuhlmey joined the West German Air Force after WWII and retired a major general.

References

* Brütting, Georg. "Das waren die deutschen Stuka-Asse 1939 - 1945". Motorbuch, Stuttgart, 1995. ISBN 3-87943-433-6.
* Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. "Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945". Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.