Hans Geisler (General)

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Hans Geisler in February 1941

Hans Geisler (born April 19, 1891 in Hanover , † June 25, 1966 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) was a German officer , most recently General of the Air Force Aviators in World War II .

Life

Early years and World War I

Geisler joined the Imperial Navy on April 1, 1909 as a midshipman . First he completed his basic infantry training at the Naval School Mürwik and was then on board the large cruiser SMS Hertha until the end of March 1910 . Following this, he was taught again at the Mürwik Naval School until September 1911 and completed various courses. On October 1, 1911 Geisler was transferred to the liner SMS Nassau , where he witnessed the outbreak of the First World War .

Geisler gave up this on-board command on May 15, 1915 and transferred to the II. Naval Aviation Department as an observer , in which he remained until June 28, 1916. Then he worked in the same position until October 13, 1917 with the I. Sea Aviation Department . Then Geisler was after the end of the war until January 9, 1919 as an officer for special use with the naval flight chief, Captain Heinrich Otto Kranzbühler in Berlin .

Interwar period

Geisler visits a Sicilian airfield in May 1941.

Promotions

After this department was closed, Geisler was again an observer from January 10, 1919 to September 10, 1920, albeit at the Holtenau seafaring department . During this time he was also commissioned from June 3, 1920 with the management of the business as commander of this department. On September 11, 1920 Geisler moved as a company commander in the commanding department of the naval station of the Baltic Sea , where he was employed as an adjutant from October 12, 1920 to April 11, 1921 . On the following day, April 12, 1921, Geisler, meanwhile in the rank of lieutenant captain , was again transferred to command on board. Until November 8, 1921, he initially served in the 6th minesweeping semi-flotilla before he was appointed commander of the M 82 minesweeper on November 9, 1921 . Geisler held this position until September 14, 1922.

From September 15, 1922 to the end of March 1925, he again served as a company commander in the ship master division of the Baltic Sea. He then rose to April 1, 1925 as an aviator consultant in the staff of the Baltic Sea Naval Station. At the end of October 1925, Geisler gave up this position and completed the training as a guide assistant from October 26, 1925 to the end of March 1926 . Geisler then served from April 1926 to October 1928 as a consultant in the fleet department at the naval management of the Reichsmarine . Geisler held the post of head of the radio test command in Warnemünde from October 11, 1928 to October 4, 1932. On October 5, 1932, he was appointed chief officer of the Schleswig-Holstein liner , whose duties he fulfilled until the end of March 1933. In this function, Geisler was promoted to frigate captain on January 1, 1933. He was then from April 3 to August 31, 1933 department head in the naval department.

Transfer to the Air Force and World War II

Hans Geisler in May 1941 at the presentation of the Iron Crosses.

On September 1, 1933, Geisler joined the Luftwaffe, which was under construction, where he was employed as head of the training department in the Reich Aviation Ministry (RLM) until the end of September 1936 . On October 1, 1935, he rose to the position of Leader of the Naval Air Force (FdLuft), whose function he held until the end of March 1939. He was then from April to May 1939 an officer for special use with the RLM.

In the course of the general mobilization Geisler was deployed from June to September 4, 1939 as a general for special use in Luftflotte 2 . On September 5, 1939, the 10th Flieger Division was created, and Geisler was its commander until October 2, 1939. On this day the division was renamed X. Fliegerkorps , of which General Geisler was then commanding until the end of August 1942. During this time he also acted from June 3 to September 20, 1940, representing the head of training at the RLM. The X. Flieger-Korps took part under his command in the Weser exercise and was then stationed in Norway. From here it intervened in the Battle of Britain .

In December 1940 the relocation to Sicily took place to support the Italians in the Mediterranean and North Africa. After the occupation of Greece , the corps was transferred there in June 1941, and Geisler's headquarters were now in Athens . On August 31, 1942, Geisler gave command of the corps to Lieutenant General Otto Hoffmann von Waldau and was again an officer for special use with the RLM until October 1942. Geisler retired from active military service on October 31, 1942 and was not reactivated until the end of the war. He was not taken prisoner of war.

Awards

literature

  • Karl Friedrich Hildebrand: The Generals of the German Air Force 1935-1945, Part II, Volume 2: Habermehl-Nuber , Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1991, ISBN 3-7648-1701-1 , p. 351f.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ranking list of the German Reichsmarine , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1929, p. 43
  2. ↑ a b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 329.
personal data
SURNAME Geisler, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Geisler, Hans Ferdinand
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently General der Flieger in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH April 19, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Hanover
DATE OF DEATH June 25, 1966
Place of death Freiburg in Breisgau