Hptm. von Bothmer

[Dean M. Wick]

Gentlemen: Wondering if some one could confirm for me if Conrad von Bothmer and Phillip von Bothmer are the same man? If so ,did he serve in I/ZG-52 prior to transfering to II/NJG-1 as Gruppe Kdr. in late June,1940? And if possible,the position he held with that unit prior to transfer. Cheers. Dean

[Jaap Woortman]

As far as I can see Dean never received a reaction on his question. I have the same question.
Holm at www.ww2.dk says that Kommandeur of II./NJG 1 and later III./NJG 1 was Hptm. Conrad von Bothmer till November 1st, 1940. But Falck in ‘Falkenjahre’ called this Kommandeur, Philipp von Bothmer.
However the von Bothmer in J/88 and I./ZG 52 was a Dietrich von Bothmer. This Dietrich von Bothmer was, according to the VDK, buried at Duisburg-Waldfriedhof in grave 434 in block E, row 39. He was born at November 25th, 1912 in Hannover. His date of death, November 7th, 1940, fits well with what Falck describes in the book. He says that von Bothmer committed suicide in the days after Oktober 31st, 1940.
So, I almost can come to the conclusion that Holm’s Conrad and Falck’s Philipp are the same person as Dietrich von Bothmer. But why these different names?

Jaap Woortman

[Peter D Evans]

For the record Jaap, in their "Die Deutsche Luftwaffe - Zerstorer-und Nachtjagdverband, Teil 1" [VDM, 2006] Meyer & Stipdonk have him as Hptm.Dietrich von Bothmer, Kommandeure of Stab II./NJG1 from 22.06.40 until 01.07.1940 and Kommandeure of Stab III./NJG1 from 01.07.1940 until 07.11.1940.

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

[Larry deZeng]

We have only two in our data base: Conrad (Konrad) and Dietrich. Since Dietrich was no more after 7 Nov 40, then the following must be for Conrad?

18.02.43 trf from Kdo. der Erprobungsstellen d.Lw. to SKG 10. 25.05.43 in SKG 10, ordered to Erprobungskdo. 25 for temporary duty (canceled).

Conrad flew with 5./KG 26 during 1939-40.

Every little piece helps solve the puzzle.

HLdeZ/DGS

[Jaap Woortman]

Thank you guys.
I will send my thoughts together with your information and sources to Holm.
Hopefully Dean has now the answer to his question.
I will send him a pm.
In the appendix a picture of Dietrich von Bothmer from I./ZG 52.
Source: Axis History Forum.

Jaap

[Maximowitz]

Originally Posted by Jaap Woortman

However the von Bothmer in J/88 and I./ZG 52 was a Dietrich von Bothmer. This Dietrich von Bothmer was, according to the VDK, buried at Duisburg-Waldfriedhof in grave 434 in block E, row 39. He was born at November 25th, 1912 in Hannover. His date of death, November 7th, 1940, fits well with what Falck describes in the book. He says that von Bothmer committed suicide in the days after Oktober 31st, 1940.

Is there any information as to the reason behind his suicide Japp?

[Marcel Hogenhuis]

Hello Max,

von Bothmer took responsibility for a party celebrated by his nightfighter Gruppe which went out of hand (not unusual among air force pilots). As skulptures of Adolf Hitler bore remains of the eaten fish the night before - an act of blasphemy which was reported along NSDAP lines up to the highest levels - a severe response could be espected. von Bother did not want to wait for this punishment and shot himself in a hotel.

A detailed account can be found in Wolfgang Falck's book Falkenjahre

All the best and Happy New Year ! Marcel

[Chris Goss]

I have Dietrich von Bothmer's death notice-the person is exactly the same as what Jaap posted apart from he is a Hptm in the photo and it says:

Hptm und Gruppenkommandeur der Luftwaffe
gen. Hannover 25.11.12
verunglücht in November 1940
Inhaber des EK1 und 2 kl.1939
des Sapnienkreuzes in gold und anderer Auszeichnungen
vermählt mit Gerda Schlegtendal

[Maximowitz]

Very interesting Marcel, thank you for the reply. And a Happy New Year to you and all at 12 O' Clock High!

[Jaap Woortman]

René Brachten brought to my attention in an email that both Dietrich and Philipp could both be christian names of the same Hptm von Bothmer.
I think he could be right, but I have never seen his full name then.
Any thoughts or prove of this good idea?
René is not at home during these days and is able to check his files next week.

Jaap