Gerhard “Gerd” Friedrich was born on 16 September 1917 at Berlin-Johannisthal. Friedrich initially served as a transport pilot. He participated in the invasion of Crete with KG z.b.v. 106. He underwent conversion training as a night fighter pilot and was posted to III./NJG 1 at the beginning of 1942. Friedrich claimed his first victory on the night of 16/17 June when he shot down a RAF Wellington twin-engine bomber. By October 1942, Oberleutnant Friedrich was serving with II./NJG 2. He gained at least one victory with this unit, when he shot down a RAF Halifax four-engine bomber near Bar-le-Duc on the night of 24/25 October as his fourth victory. Friedrich was serving with 8./NJG 4 by December 1942. He gained one victory with this unit claiming another Halifax shot down near Courouvre on the night of 6/7 October as his fifth victory. On 1 January 1943, Friedrich was appointed Staffelkapitän of 10./NJG 4. Friedrich gained a further three victories with 10./NJG 4. However, on the night of 16/17 April, his Bf 110 F-4 (W.Nr. 4755) was hit by return fire from RAF bombers he was attacking and he and his bordfunker were wounded. Both managed to bale out of the stricken aircraft near Hochspeyer. On 1 August 10./NJG 4 was redesignated 1./NJG 6. On the night 25/26 February 1944, Hauptmann Friedrich claimed a RAF Lancaster four-engine bomber shot down near Seeburg as his 10th victory. Friedrich was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./NJG 6 on 12 July 1944. He had 18 victories to his credit at this time. On the night of 11/12 September, Friedrich claimed a Lancaster shot down near Darmstadt to record his 20th victory. He claimed four Lancasters shot down near Pforzheim on the night of 23/24 February 1945 (26-29). On the night of 14/15 March, he claimed a further three Lancasters shot down (30-32). On 15 March 1945, Friedrich was awarded the Ritterkreuz for 29 victories. On the night of 16/17 March 1945, Friedrich collided with a RAF Lancaster four-engine bomber near Stuttgart at 21:00 hours. Friedrich and his crew were killed in Ju 88 G-6 (W.Nr. 621801) “2Z+LB” along with the seven crew of the British bomber.
    “Gerd” Friedrich was credited with 33 victories. All his victories were recorded at night.
 

No	Date	Time	A/c Type	Unit	Location / Comments
1	17.6.1942	3:08	Wellington	III./NJG 1	5km W Ijmuiden
2	20.6.1942	3:13	Wellington	III./NJG 1	10km N Zandvoort
3	26.7.1942	2:12	Wellington	III./NJG 1	6km W Zieuwent
4	24.10.1942	21:50	Halifax	II./NJG 2	Bar-le-Duc
5	6.12.1942	19:27	Halifax	8./NJG 4	Courouvre
6	9.3.1943	23:35	Lancaster	10./NJG 4	NW Rinuthalb
7	17.3.1943	0:16	Halifax	10./NJG 4	Börnloß
8	11.4.1943	3:23	Wellington	10./NJG 4	Luinbach-Weuir
9	6.9.1943	0:57	Halifax	1./NJG 6	Nr Mannheim-Sandhofer
10	26.2.1944	1:33	Lancaster	1./NJG 6	Seeburg
11	2.3.1944	4:04	Halifax	1./NJG 6	60km S Saarbrücken
12	18.3.1944	22:32	Halifax	1./NJG 6	Preist
13	31.3.1944	0:57	Halifax	1./NJG 6	NW Nürnberg
14	11.4.1944	0:03	Lancaster	1./NJG 6	Montdidier
15	11.4.1944	0:13	Halifax	1./NJG 6	Near Montdidier
16	28.4.1944	2:00	Halifax	1./NJG 6	W Friedrichshafen
17	28.4.1944	2:34	Halifax	1./NJG 6	Schaffenhausen
18	13.6.1944	1:25	Lancaster	1./NJG 6	Near Deelen
19	12.9.1944	0:15	Lancaster	I./NJG 6	S Darmstadt
20	12.9.1944	22:46	Lancaster	I./NJG 6	NW FuF “Christa”
21	28.1.1945	23:53	Lancaster	I./NJG 6	S Wildbad
22	1.2.1945	19:20	Lancaster	I./NJG 6	Ludwigshafen
23	2.2.1945	23:20	Lancaster	I./NJG 6	Karlsruhe
24	2.2.1945	23:25	Lancaster	I./NJG 6	Karlsruhe
25	21.2.1945	20:45	Halifax	I./NJG 6	10km SW Worms
26	23.2.1945	20:00	Lancaster	I./NJG 6	E Pforzheim
27	23.2.1945	20:08	Lancaster	I./NJG 6	E Pforzheim
28	23.2.1945	20:12	Lancaster	I./NJG 6	SE Pforzheim
29	23.2.1945	20:15	Lancaster	I./NJG 6	S Pforzheim
30	14.3.1945	23:15	Lancaster	I./NJG 6	-
31	14.3.1945	23:18	Lancaster	I./NJG 6	-
32	14.3.1945	23:24	Lancaster	I./NJG 6	-
33	16.3.1945	21:03	Lancaster	I./NJG 6	7km S Echterdingen / Lancaster I (PB785) “UL-L2” of 576 Sqn, RAF flown by F/L Dotten, 7 killed

Victories : 33
Awards : Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (1 October 1944)
                Ritterkreuz (15 March 1945)
Units : NJG 1, NJG 4, NJG 6