Hptm. Erich Woitke - Goblet of Honour?
 

Ref. to the past threads of TOCH members, saying Hauptmann Erich Woitke was awarded only with the Spanienkreuz, maybe EK I, maybe DKiG, it is interesting, that there is an offer in ebay from his Goblet of Honour, see

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...MEWA:IT&ih=023

Any ideas, any comments?
Cheers, Horst

Re: Hptm. Erich Woitke - Goblet of Honour?
 

Very interesting, Horst. I can't comment on the authenticity of this Pokal, but Woitke was a very interesting personality. He competed in the 1936 Olympics and had been a front-line pilot since the beginning of the war. Apparently he was reduced in rank on more than one occasion for speaking his mind with superiors. He was awarded the DKiG in 1944 by Goering for his superb leadership in combat whilst commanding Stab. III. JG 1. I'm still on the hunt for the Pokal awarded to my uncle, Hauptmann Dr. Albrecht Ochs, in October 1940.

Re: Hptm. Erich Woitke - Goblet of Honour?
 

Woitke was appointed Kommandeur of II./JG 52 on 2.11.40 by which time he had 9 claims against Western apponents in addition to 4 claims in Spain, so the award of the Ehrenpokal seems quite logical. However I doubt whether Woitke was ever awarded the Deutsches Kreuz. The latter being a very Nazi political award, Woitke was probably not very "politically correct." Certainly he is not listed among DKiG recipients.

Tom

Re: Hptm. Erich Woitke - Goblet of Honour?
 

Tom,

Just out of curiousity I'm not quite sure what you mean about the DKiG (German Cross in Gold) being a politically motivated award? Or do you mean a differant decoration? The German Cross in Gold was awarded for bravery in the field and served as a bridge between the Knights Cross and the EK1 or with respect to the LW the Ehrenpokal in many instances.

Certainly even Hans Jurgen Cramon von Taubadel who has been discussed at length (Geschwader kommodore JG53) in other threads was eventually awarded the DKiG and his wife, of non "aryan" background was what kept him most likely from being awarded the KC during the BoB.

Kind regards

Jeremy

Re: Hptm. Erich Woitke - Goblet of Honour?
 

Jeremy,

Unfortunately I cannot site any precise references for my impression and your example of Cramon-Troubadel is well taken. The DKiG could be awarded either for bravery or leadership qualities as was the case for Cramon-Troubadel.

The DKiG was however not specifically a bridge between EKI and the RK. Although a DKiG recipient first had to hold the EKI, there were numerous instances in which RK winners never received the DKiG or received the latter after the award of the RK. One example is Alfred Grislawski who grew up in an actively socialist family and was never a member of the Hitler Youth (this may be from Bergstrom's biography of Graf & Grislawski.)

Likewise the Ehrenpokal was completely outside the EK award system and was given at the discretion on Reichsmarschal Goering to carry on a tradition begun in the First World War.

If I run across any specific references, I will let you know.

Tom

Re: Hptm. Erich Woitke - Goblet of Honour?
 

Tom thanks for your response.

We are definatley in agreement.

Regards

Jeremy

Re: Hptm. Erich Woitke - Goblet of Honour?
 

Hello all,

Interesting -

Erich Woitke was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 52 on 11 Nov 40 and was awarded the EP on 4 Dec 40. All data from his Personalakten. His 9 victories to that date were gained with 6./JG 3 and he had additional two victories I know of over Spain.

Best regards,
Rob

Re: Hptm. Erich Woitke - Goblet of Honour?
 

Hallo,
here are some pictures from the honor goblet of Hauptmann Erich Woitke.
Best regards
waterloo