Herbert Rieckhoff

Herbert Joachim Rieckhoff (born December 25, 1898 in Berlin , † November 30, 1948 in Eßlingen am Neckar ) was a German officer , most recently Lieutenant General in the Air Force in World War II .

Life

Rieckhoff occurred on 11 January 1915, the army and took in the infantry at the First World War in part. Later he switched to the air force , where he saw the end of the war as a lieutenant in 1918.

In 1920 he left the Reichswehr and went to the police, where he was promoted to captain and, from 1925, trained as a pilot. He joined the NSDAP on May 1, 1932 and the SS in July 1932 .

In February 1934 he went to the German Air Sports Association , a cover organization of the future Air Force. On June 1, 1934, he switched to the Luftwaffe as a captain and took on duties as a department head in the Reich Ministry of Aviation . From 1935 to 1937 a general staff training followed, in which he was promoted to major . On April 1, 1937 he took over as squadron captain of the 8th squadron of Kampfgeschwader 152, where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on February 1, 1938 . He then moved to the General Staff of the Air Force and from February 1939 to the staff of Air Fleet 2 . On August 17, 1939, he took over combat squadron 30 as a squad commodore . With this he took part in the Weser Exercise Company, the Western Campaign and the Battle of Britain. After he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on July 5, 1940, he moved to Kampfgeschwader 2 as a commodore on October 21 . With this he took part in the German-Soviet War , u. a. during the air raids on Moscow . On October 13, 1941, he moved to Luftflotte 1 as Chief of the General Staff, where he stayed until February 23, 1943. Then took command of Fliegerführer 1 in Luftflotte 1, where he was promoted to major general and awarded the German Cross in Gold . On June 15, 1943, he took over as commander of the 3rd Air Division, before becoming commander of Air War School 2 in Berlin-Gatow on January 1, 1944 . After his renewed promotion to Lieutenant General on July 1, 1944, he held the post of Commanding General and Commander in Luftgau V in Stuttgart. On April 2, 1945, he was finally transferred to the Führerreserve, where he saw the end of the war and was taken prisoner by the Allies. From this he was released on March 5, 1948 and moved to Switzerland.

He is the author of the book Trumpf oder Bluff ?, 12 years German Air Force .

Web links

• Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey: Air Force Officer Career Summaries, Section L – R. (PDF) 2017, p. 674 , accessed on April 12, 2018 (English).