German Soldiers

Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Werner Hozzel! October 16, 1910, Hamburg - January 7, 1997, Karlsruhe
Immediately after graduating from high school, he joined the Reichswehr, became a non-commissioned officer in 1932 and a lieutenant in 1934 in the 2nd Artillery Regiment.
During this time, he received pilot training, switched to the Air Force in 1935 and was promoted to first lieutenant in 1936.
From September 1938, squadron captain and from October captain, after the unit was renamed, he became group commander of the I. Group, Stuka Squadron 160, served with the unit in Poland and was subsequently commander of I./Stuka Squadron 1.
By May 8, 1940, the I. Group under Captain H. had achieved great success against targets in Norway and against Allied shipping in the North Sea, sinking 60,000 BRT of shipping, as well as the French destroyer "Bison" and the British destroyer "Afridi".
For this, he was one of the first Stuka pilots to be awarded the RK.
After further missions against England, in the Balkans, during "Merkur" and over the Mediterranean, he gave up the group on May 31, 1941.
From October 16, 1941, he, now a major, took over the Stuka Squadron 2 "Immelmann" and was later promoted to OTL.
He led the squadron in Army Group South with great success. In the Battle of Stalingrad alone, StG 2 flew up to 12,000 mission flights.
In February 1943, he led the "Battle Group Hozzel", formed from the remnants of StG 1, 2 and 77, against Russian advances near Dnepropetrovsk and received the EL for his leadership.
After the dissolution of the unit, he handed the squadron over to his successor on March 1, 1943, took over administrative tasks in the staff of Air Fleet 1, and became Chief of Staff/LF 1 in December 1944.
As such, he refused to be evacuated from Courland at the end of the war, went into Russian captivity with the rest of the staff, and did not return until January 16, 1956.
From September 3, 1956 to September 30, 1969, he served in the Air Force of the BW, most recently as a bride general.
He wore EKII September 14, 1939, EKI May 5, 1940, Frontflugspange (KF) silver, gold, RK May 8, 1940, EL April 14, 1943
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