Richard Putzier

Richard Putzier (born February 25, 1890 in Zarnekow ( Pomerania ), † July 17, 1979 in Hamburg ) was a German officer , most recently General of the Air Force Aviators in World War II .

Early years and World War I

Putzier joined the Holstein Field Artillery Regiment No. 24 on March 17, 1911 as a flag junior . There he was promoted to lieutenant on August 18, 1912 and then served as a battery officer .

On August 2, 1914, at the beginning of World War I , he was transferred to Field Artillery Regiment No. 9 , where he was also used as a battery officer until the beginning of September 1914 . Putzier then reported to the air force , where he was trained as an observer with the 18th Division and then served in this function until mid-September 1915. From September 17 to November 30, 1915 he was an observer in the field pilot department 11 and then until mid-January 1917 in the pilot department A 210. There he was promoted to first lieutenant . On January 16, 1917, Putzier was transferred to the artillery pilot command in Wahn . Via the intermediate stations Army Air Park 4 (July 11, 1917) and Aviation Department A 250 (July 15, 1917), Putzier switched to the staff of the aviators in the 4th Army on July 19, 1917 . In mid-February 1918 he was transferred to Army Aviation Park 4, then on April 27, 1918 to Aviation Department 256 ( artillery ), with whose management he was entrusted.

Interwar years

After the demobilization of his department at Paderborn Air Base , which lasted from February to mid-May 1919, Putzier was transferred to Bromberg Air Base on April 16, 1919 , where he was stationed until July 18, 1919. After that he was at the liquidation point of his former regiment , the Field Artillery Regiment No. 24, until the beginning of March 1920. After his transfer to the Provisional Reichswehr , Putzier was assigned to 9th Artillery Regiment as a battery officer on March 4, 1920. From October 1920 to the end of March 1934 he served in the same function in the 3rd Artillery Regiment and from January 1921 in the 2nd Artillery Regiment . While he was part of this regiment, Putzier attended the Hanover cavalry school from November 20, 1920 to the end of September 1922 and was promoted to captain on June 1, 1922 . He then served in the 2nd Artillery Regiment as a battery officer, from April 1, 1923 on the staff of the III. Department in Itzehoe , from spring 1925 at the training battery in Schwerin and finally from summer 1925 as head of the 6th battery in Schwerin.

On October 1, 1929, Putzier was retired from the Reichswehr , presumably to camouflage a secret flight training carried out in the Soviet Union . As early as 1930 he was employed again in the Reichswehr, with the staff of III. Division of his last regiment, the 2nd Artillery Regiment, in Itzehoe, then in 1931/32 with the regimental staff in Schwerin. At the end of 1932 he was reappointed battery boss and promoted to major on February 1, 1933 .

On April 1, 1934, Putzier joined the Luftwaffe , which was in the process of being established , where he was listed as an officer in the Reich Aviation Ministry in Berlin until the end of the month . In May 1934, he was transferred to the Agricultural and Forestry Flight Test Institute in Prenzlau , the code name for the local fighter pilot course , where he stayed until the end of December 1935. On October 1, 1934, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and on January 1, 1936, he was appointed commander of the Faßberg Fighting School. This became the I. Group of Kampfgeschwader 157 “Boelcke” in April 1936 , and Putzier became the first commodore of this squadron. The squadron was renamed on March 1, 1937 in Kampfgeschwader 157 "Boelcke" , and Putzier remained its commodore until January 31, 1939. His promotion to colonel took place on October 1, 1937. On February 1, 1939, Putzier was promoted to Major-General appointed commander of the 3rd Flieger Division in Münster .

Second World War

With the dissolution of his staff on September 27, 1939 he became General z. b. V. with Luftflotte 4 , then from February 1, 1940 with Luftflotte 2 . On May 27, 1940, Putzier was appointed to represent the 7th Flieger Division ( paratroopers ), the previous commander of which, Lieutenant General Kurt Student , had been out of action due to an injury. On January 1, 1941, Putzier was promoted to lieutenant general. On January 21, 1941, he handed the division over to Lieutenant General Wilhelm Süssmann and became the commander of Luftgau Command I in Königsberg . In this position he was promoted to General der Flieger on July 1, 1942. From August 5 to 15, 1943 he was briefly in the Führerreserve with the staff of Luftflotte 1 , before he was appointed Commanding General of the Feldluftgau Command XXVI in Riga on August 16, 1943 , a position he held until August 31 1944 held. On March 20, 1944, he was awarded the German Silver Cross. After his return to Berlin, Putzier was appointed commander of the West Liaison Staff of the Air Force High Command on September 4, 1944 . On November 1, 1944, he was reassigned to the Führerreserve , then made available to the army on February 28, 1945 . His last post, from March 1, 1945 until the end of the war, was “Authorized Representative of the Fuehrer for Vehicle Use and Registration” in the Wehrmacht Motor Vehicle Department in the Wehrmacht High Command .

On July 15, 1945, Putzier was taken prisoner by the Western Allies , from which he was released on May 14, 1947.

literature

• Karl Friedrich Hildebrand: The Generals of the German Air Force 1935-1945. Part II, Volume 3: Odebrecht – Zoch. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1992, ISBN 3-7648-2207-4 , pp. 70-71.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Georg Tessin : German associations and troops 1918–1939. Biblio-Verlag 1974, p. 287 Outline viewable under google.books