Robert Fuchs (officer)

Robert Fuchs (born May 11, 1895 in Berlin-Reinickendorf , † January 15, 1977 in Göttingen ) was a German major general in the Air Force in World War II .

Life

At the beginning of the First World War in August 1914, Fuchs voluntarily joined the 1st Guard Uhlan Regiment of the Prussian Army . There he was appointed lieutenant in the reserve on August 7, 1915 . After the end of the war in the active officer rank, he remained in the newly founded Reichswehr, where he was promoted to first lieutenant on April 1, 1925 . From March 1926, he trained as a pilot at the private air shipping company Magdeburg and studied aeronautical engineering at the Technical University of Berlin-Charlottenburg .

On September 30, 1932, he completed his studies with a degree in engineering . In the meantime he also held the rank of captain . After he became head of a company in Infantry Regiment 17 in October 1932 , he switched to the Reich Aviation Ministry (RLM) on October 1, 1933 as a consultant in the technical office. On 1 October 1934, he took a job as an instructor at the Aviator technology school Jüterbog ( jüterbog airfield ) before April 1, 1935 as the squadron commander 153 (later the 4th season of the combat squadron kampfgeschwader 3 ) in Finsterwalde took . After his promotion to major on November 1, 1935, he took over as group commander of III. Group of this squadron, which was stationed in Altenburg .

From November 1, 1936 he took part in the Spanish Civil War as commander of Kampfgruppe 88 of the Condor Legion . Here he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on March 1, 1937 , before being transferred to the RLM / Ob.dL leader reserve on August 15, 1937 . On November 1, 1938, he was promoted to colonel and on February 1, 1939, he took over the position of inspector of technical training in the RLM. On September 29, 1939, meanwhile the Second World War had begun, he took over the Kampfgeschwader 26 as a squadron commodore . This squadron, with its twin-engine Heinkel He 111 bombers , he led into the campaign in the west that began on May 10, 1940 .

On April 6, 1940, he was the first soldier of the bomber weapon to receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross . On October 16, 1940 he was reassigned to the Führerreserve , briefly interrupted by the representation of the acting squadron commodore of Kampfgeschwader 26 from November to December 1940. It was not until December 28, 1942 that he took over as commander of the Air Force Jäger Regiment 33 of the 17th. Air Force Field Division again a command.

On July 1, 1943, he gave this up and became division commander of the 22nd Air Force Field Division and from August the 20th Air Force Field Division . On September 1, 1943, he was promoted to major general here and a little later he took over the 1st Air Division, which he led until May 8, 1945. Then he was taken prisoner of war .

Web links

• Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey: Air Force Officer Career Summaries, Sections A – F. (PDF) 2016, p. 818 , accessed on May 5, 2017 (English).