Harro Harder, born on 28-11-1912 in Freiburg, 
Germany. Harro was appointed as Staffelkapitän in 2./JG 232 on 01-04-1936. 2/Jagdgeschwader 232 “Von Richthofen” 
was a fighter wing of Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe 
during the interwar period. It was formed on 01-04-1936 without a staff from a core of personnel from JG 132 (Gruppe Loerzer). Bruno Leopold Loerzer Generaloberst and Chief of the National Socialist Branch
of the Lutwaffe. Harder took part in the Spanish Civil War as a member of the Legion Condor. 
the Legion Condor (Condor Legion) under command of General Major Hugo Otto Sperrle 
lost about 300 to 400 men and over 100 aircraft, mainly due to fighting with the Republican Air Force and accidents.
Another shipment of 60 crated Heinkel He 51s, 
disguised as agricultural machinery, arrived in Seville on 18-11-1936, for assembly at Tablada.The arrival of these fighters heralded the adoption of Generalleutnant Hermann Lukas Plocher’s 
new unit designation for the fighter group as Jagdgeschwader 88. 
Plocher survived the war and died 08-12-1980 (aged 79). The Gruppe was to be led initially by Major Joseph August Baier, 
who fell ill and was replaced by Hauptmann Hubertus Merhart von Bernegg.The three Staffeln were established as 1.J/88 under Hauptmann Werner Palm, 2.J/88 under Hauptmann Siegfried Lehmann and 3.J/88 (intended to undertake ground-attack sorties) under Hauptmann Jürgen Ernst Hermann Wilhelm Roth, who led a new batch of pilots that had recently arrived via Cadiz. These included Feldwebel Peter Boddem, Oberleutnant Harder, Erwin Kley, Oberleutnant Günther Friedrich “Franzl” Lützow, 
Douglas Pitcairn, right 
and Leutnant Rolf Pingel. 
The original cadre of Heinkel pilots already in Spain were mustered into 4.Jagdgeschwader /88 under Hauptmann Herwig Knüppel.
On 19 March, as part of another reorganisation of the Legion Condor, Oberleutnant Günther ‘Franzl’ Lützow assumed command of 2.J/88 at the new north-eastern airfield at Vitoria. The Staffel was to operate the Bf 109 exclusively, with an initial strength of seven machines, while 1.J/88 under Oberleutnant Harder and 3.J/88 under Douglas Pitcairn retained the He 51, with a nominal strength of ten aircraft each. They operated from the new and old north-western airfields, respectively. Oberleutnant Harder was appointed Staffelkapitän of the 1.J/88 on 6 April.
On 30 April, Oberleutnant Harder flew another six sorties, during which his Kette from 1.J/88 (Heinkel 51) 
shot up nearly 40 more vehicles.
The Gruppenstab of J/88, together with 3.J/88 had moved, temporarily, to Escalona by 18:00 on 8 July, before transferring to Villa del Prado. That day Hauptmann Hubertus Merhart von Bernegg relinquished command of the Jagdgruppe to Hauptmann Karl Hermann Gotthard•Handrick. 
. Since the first appearance of modern pentathlon at the Olympics in 1912, Germany’s Gotthard Handrick became the first non-Swedish Olympic Champion in 1936. 
As of 2016 this remained Germany’s only Olympic triumph in men’s modern pentathlon. At the beginning of 1945, Handrick was part of the planning staff of the strategic operation Bodenplatte (Baseplate). Handrick was awarded the Spanish Cross with Swords, the German Golden Cross 
and the Iron Cross I. and II. Class. He survived the war and became a representative of Daimler-Benz in Hamburg. He passed away 30-05-1978 (aged 69 years 7 months 5 days) in Großhansdorf, Schleswig-Holstein.
Death and burial ground of Harder, Harro.
On 12-08-1940 Harro flying with the Jagdgeschwader 3 in a Messerschmitt Bf109E in a free hunt sortie to the area Isle of Wight to Portsmouth. Harro was shot down by RAF fighters and crashed in the Channel off the Isle of Wight, 12.35pm. Hauptman Harro Harder (FF, Gruppe Kommandeur) was killed. Harro washed ashore on 12.09.40 near Dieppe, now buried at German War Cemetery, Champigny-la-Futelaye, Block 17 Row 22 Grave 1229. Département de l’Eure, Haute-Normandie, France.
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