Horst Carganico
Major
¨
Horst Carganico was born on 27 September 1917 at Breslau.
He was the son of General der Flieger, Victor Carganico. Horst joined the
Luftwaffe in 1937 as a Fahnenjunker. He learned to fly at pilot school
at Berlin-Johannisthal. At the outbreak of World War 2, Carganico was serving
as Technical Officer on the staff of JG 1. From spring 1940, he served
as Adjutant of II./JG 77. He served in Norway with this unit arriving there
on 11 April 1940. He gained his first victory on 21 June 1940 when he claimed
a RAF Hereford near Bergen. He had, in fact, shot down a RAF Beaufort attempting
to bomb the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst near Bergen. Several victories
followed before II./JG 77 was transferred to the Channel Coast on 9 November
1940. He claimed his fifth victory on 30 November, when he shot down a
RAF Blenheim bomber. A promotion to Oberleutnant occurred around this time.
Carganico was appointed Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 77 on 1 January 1941 and
joined the unit operating from Sola, Norway. He transferred with the unit
to Kirkenes in May 1941. He then served as Staffelkapitän with JG zbV which
was formed from 1., 14. and 15./JG 77. On 25 July, he claimed a Russian
flying boat shot down. Carganico was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 25 September
for achieving 27 victories: only the second fighter pilot in the north
to do so (first was Hugo Dahmer). In January
1942 I./JG zbV was incorporated into JG 5 as I./JG 5. 1./JG 5 was renamed
6./JG 5 in March 1942. Carganico retained leadership of the Staffel through
these changes. In spring 1942, he claimed 23 victories in the six weeks
to the end of June. Hauptmann Carganico was appointed Gruppenkommandeur
of II./JG 5 in April 1942. Carganico suffered engine failure in Bf 109
F-4 (W.Nr. 10 256) on 22 July necessitating a forced landing at Murovskij.
He returned to his unit the next day. On 12 August, Carganico was part
of a Schwarm escorting a reconnaisance Fw 189 over the Liza front and Murmansk.
The formation was intercepted by Russian fighters and in the ensuing combat
Carganico’s aircraft received hits. The damage was sufficient to
force an emergency landing in Bf 109 F-4 (W.Nr. 10 132) near Motovsk. He
evaded capture and returned safely to his unit the next day.
Commander II./JG 5 Hauptmann Horst Carganico is sitting on engine cowling
of his Bf 109F-4 trop (W.Nr.10 132) "<<". Note Caranico`s personal
emblem - Mickey Mouse
On 26 March 1944 Hauptmann Carganico was appointed
Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 5 participating in the Reichsverteidigung. Following
aerial combat with USAAF B-17 four-engined bombers on 27 May 1944, he was
killed when Bf 109 G-5 (W.Nr. 110 087) crashed into the ground after hitting
high tension cables while Carganico was attempting to make a forced landing
near Chevry, France.
Horst Carganico shot down 60 enemy aircraft in about
600 missions. He recorded six victories over the Western
front.
Victories : 60
Awards : Knight`s Cross
Units : JG 77, JG z.b.v., JG 5
