Handrick was born on 25 October 1908 in Zittau, at the time in the Kingdom of Saxony as part of the German Empire.

[8] After he left JG 26, Handrick served with the Luftwaffenmission Rumänien (Luftwaffe Mission Romania) under the command of Generalleutnant (equivalent to major general) Wilhelm Speidel.

Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) from Hauptmann Alexander von Winterfeld who was transferred.

[13] While serving on the Eastern Front he claimed a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 fighter on 29 September and a Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber on 22 October 1941.

[15] In March 1942, Oberstleutnant Handrick transferred to command Jagdgeschwader 5 (JG 5—5th Fighter Wing) in Norway and Northern Russia.