Otto Hoffmann von Waldau

Otto Hoffmann von Waldau (* 7. July 1898 in Bankau ; † 17th May 1943 at Petritsch ) was a German Luftwaffe General of the Air Force in World War II .

Life

Waldau entered during the First World War on December 13, 1915 as a volunteer in the Dragoon Regiment "King Friedrich III." (2nd Silesian) No. 8 a. After his promotion to lieutenant on March 22, 1917, he served there as a platoon leader and finally as an orderly officer . In addition to both classes of the Iron Cross, he received the Wound Badge in black for his work . After the end of the war, he moved in December 1918 to the staff of the Guard Cavalry Rifle Division . On October 1, 1919, he was transferred to the Reichswehr-Reiter-Regiment 8, where he again served as platoon leader. During his service there, which lasted until 1924, he completed pilot training in Switzerland from 1920 to 1923 . In 1924 he was transferred to the 3rd Division in Berlin as a picture officer and promoted to first lieutenant in August 1925 . From October 1928 to September 1931 he took part in the leadership assistant training , the camouflaged general staff training. He then served on the staff of the 7th Division and on the staff of the 3rd (Prussian) cavalry regiment in Rathenow until he was transferred to the Reichswehr Ministry in January 1932 and promoted to Rittmeister in March 1933 .

From there, on April 1, 1935, he was transferred to the German embassy in Rome , where he became an air force attaché while transferring to the air force . As early as May 31, 1935, he was recalled to Germany and until September 30, 1936 he was employed as a consultant in the General Staff of the Air Force in the Reich Aviation Ministry . After a year as commander of the 1st group in Kampfgeschwader 153 from October 1936 to September 1937, he returned to the Air Force General Staff as chief of the 3rd division. He then served in the General Staff of the Air Force as chief of the training staff and then from February 1939 beyond the beginning of the Second World War to April 10, 1942 as chief of the air force command staff. In this position he was promoted to major general on July 19, 1940 and on March 1, 1942 to lieutenant general.

On April 12, 1942, Waldau was appointed Pilot Africa ; he held this position until the end of August 1942. For his achievements in North Africa he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on June 28, 1942 . In September 1942 he was appointed commanding general of the X. Air Corps in Athens and on January 1, 1943, he was appointed chief of the Air Force Command Southeast. On January 30, 1943, he was promoted to General der Flieger.

On May 17, 1943, his courier machine crashed due to a technical defect at Petritsch in Bulgaria .

literature

• Dermot Bradley (ed.), Karl Friedrich Hildebrand: The Generals of the German Air Force 1935-1945. The military careers of the aviation, anti-aircraft, paratrooper, air intelligence and engineer officers. Part II, Volume 3: Odebrecht – Zoch. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1992, ISBN 3-7648-2207-4 , p. 113f.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1930, p. 160
2. ↑ Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 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. 399.