Hans-Werner Grosse
German pilot
Hans-Werner Grosse (28 November 1922 – 18 February 2021) was a German Luftwaffe bomber pilot and glider pilot who established 50 world records approved by FAI Gliding Commission.
Early life
Grosse was born in Swinemünde, now Świnoujście in Poland, in 1922. In 1936 he learned to fly on a Hitler Youth school glider. He crashed once during his training and was seriously injured. At the age of 21 he became a power pilot and flew Junkers Ju 88 bombers in the Mediterranean theatre. He was shot down in a Ju 88 torpedo-bomber over the Mediterranean on 6 June 1944. He ditched at night with a burning engine 35 km south of Toulon. After some time in hospital in Paris, he was sent to Norway to fly Ju 88s against the Arctic Convoys.
After the war he settled in Lübeck. From 1950 he set up a regional specialist shop for jeans, other trousers and outerwear at Königstrasse 85, which he named Manchester Große after the fabric used for corduroy trousers.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Hans-Werner Grosse” is german pilot. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Hans-Werner, Grosse and German, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “german pilot” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q87886. VIAF identifies the subject as 4900148037709588350001. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1922, 2021, 1936 and 1944.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Hans-Werner Grosse”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Hans-Werner Grosse primary sources, Hans-Werner Grosse archive and Hans-Werner research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Hans-Werner Grosse”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Hans-Werner Grosse” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.