Gen.Kdo. Fliegerkorps VIII

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Gen.Kdo .Fliegerkorps VIII

(FpN: L 26180)


Kommandierender General:

Gen.Oberst Dr.-Ing. Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen (5 Oct 39 - 30 Jun 42)

Gen.d.Flieger Martin Fiebig (1 Jul 42 - 21 May 43)

Gen.d.Flieger Hans Seidemann (21 May 43 - 28 Apr 45)


Probable Subordination:

Luftflotte 2(25 Oct 39 - 13 May 40)

Luftflotte 3(13 May 40 - Aug 40)

Luftflotte 2(Aug 40 - Jan 41)

Luftflotte 4(Jan 41 - May 41)

Luftflotte 2(Jun 41 - 3 Aug 41)

Luftflotte 1(3 Aug 41 - 28 Sep 41)

Luftflotte 2(28 Sep 41 - 5 Dec 41)

Ob.d.L.(5 Dec 41 - May 42)

Luftflotte 4(May 42 - Jul 44)

Luftflotte 6(Jul 44 - 28 Apr 45)


Subordinate Units:

Ln.-Rgt. 38 (Oct 40 - 28 Apr 45)


Formation. (Oct 39)

Formed 3 October 1939, possibly at Oppeln/Silesia, by renaming and expanding Stab/Fliegerdivision z.b.V.[1]


Phony War West and Attack on France, Belgium and.Holland. (Oct 39 - Jun 40)

25 Oct 39: Stab reassigned to Luftflotte 2 and transferred to Schloss Dyck at Grevenbroich/34 km NW of Köln.[2]

10 May 40: Stab at Schloss Dyck in Grevenbroich Lfl.2.[3]

10 May – 22 Jun 40: campaign in the West.[4]


Air Offensive Against England (Battle of Britain). (Jul 40 - Jan 41)

Jul 40: Stab in Deauville/NE France.[5]

Nov – Dec 40: on standby for Operation “Felix”, the planned attack on and capture of Gibraltar.[6]

Jan 41: transferred from Deauville to Baden near Vienna for reassignment to Luftflotte 4, then a week or so later to Romania.[7]


Balkan Campaign. (Feb 41 - May 41)

Feb 41: transferred from Romania to Bulgaria.[8]

5 Apr 41: Balkan campaign - Stab at Gorna Dzumaja (Blagojevgrad)/Bulg.[9]

16 Apr 41: Stab moved forward to Bitolj/Macedonia, to Volos/NE Greece on 23 April and then to Athens on 30 April.[10]

20 May 41: with a powerful force of 716 aircraft based in southern Greece, supported the airborne/air-landing assault on Crete that began this date.[11]


Central Russia. (Jun 41 - Jul 41)

21 Jun 41: transferred from Athens to NE Poland during the first half of June for the invasion of the Soviet Union commencing 22 June 1941 - Stab at Vigry near Suwalki-Dubowo/NE Poland.[12]

Jun – Jul 41: provided tactical air support for advance of AOK 9 and Pz.Gruppe 3 at Bialystok, Minsk and drive on Smolensk.

18 Jul 41 Stab at Lepel.[13]

3 Aug 41: released from Lfl.2 central sector and reassigned to Lfl.1 northern sector for the advance on Leningrad from the Lake Ilmen area.[14]


North Russia. (Aug 41 - Sep 41)

8 Aug 41: Stab at Nikolskaya/SW Lake Ilmen.[15]

29 Aug 41: Stab at or near Lyuban/SE Leningrad.[16]

28 Sep 41: released from Luftflotte 1 and reassigned to Luftflotte 2 for Operation "Taifun", the drive on Moscow beginning 2 October, with Stab at Smolensk-Stabna.[17]


Central Russia. (Oct 41 - Apr 42)

10 Oct 41: Stab transferred from Smolensk to Lipitzki/40 km N of Vyazma to cover the drive toward Kalinin.[18]

12 Nov 41: Stab now at Mozhaisk to the west of Moscow.[19]

Nov 41: with departure of Luftflotte 2 for the Mediterranean around 15 November, VIII. Fliegerkorps gradually assumed command of all air units in the central sector of the Russian front effective at the end of November.[20]

Feb 42: Stab once again at Smolensk-Stabna.[21]

Apr 42: relieved at Smolensk by V. Fliegerkorps (Luftwaffenkdo. Ost), the Stab is said to have returned to Germany for a one-month rest and refit.[22]


South Russia. (May 42 - Apr 44)

May – Jun 42: arrived from Germany at the beginning of May to provide support for an offensive by AOK 11 to retake eastern Crimea and then capture the Russian fortress at Sevastopol, with Stab at Bakhchisarai/Crimea.[23]

23 Jun 42: transferred to the Kursk area for the advance on Voronezh, which was the opening phase of the German summer campaign aimed at Stalingrad and the oil fields in North Caucasia.[24]

Jul 42: Stab transferred to Rossosh, then mid-July to Tatsinskaya to support Pz.AOK l's drive toward Astrakhan.[25]

Aug 42: operations against the Soviet bridgehead at Kalach/190 km SE Voronezh on the Don.[26]

Oct 42: location of the Stab unclear (still at Tatsinskaya?), but it had a forward command post in the western outskirts of Stalingrad that had the city and the east bank of the Volga under constant observation and was able to coordinate air attacks using ground-to-air radio. Stab ordered to "tropicalize" for transfer to the Mediterranean, but this never occurred.[27]

20-23 Nov 42: Stab transferred to Oblivskaya/148 km west of Stalingrad.[28]

26 Nov 42: Oblivskaya overrun by Russian tanks and Stab evacuated to Tatsinskaya.

Dec 42 – Jan 43: operations around Stalingrad in support of encircled AOK 6 and air supply and ground counterattack measures being taken to relieve it.[29]

24 Dec 42: Tatsinskaya taken by Soviet armor; Stab temporarily at Skosyrskaya/26 km N of Tatsinskaya and 42 km W of Morosovskaya.

26 Dec 42: command post now at Rostov.[30]

Jan 43: Stab/VIII. Fliegerkorps at Fp. Sverevo/110 km NNE of Rostov.[31]

2 Feb 43: Stabskp./VIII. Fliegerkorps reported destroyed at Stalingrad.[32]

Feb – Mar 43: air supply and ground support operations for the Kuban Bridgehead in the Taman Peninsula, with Stab in or near Feodosiya/Crimea.[33]

Mar 43: relieved by I. Fliegerkorps at the end of March and transferred to Kharkov-Belgorod area to prepare for Operation "Zitadelle". Stab said to be in Kharkov then moved to Mikoyanovka on 3 and 4 Jul 43.[34]

30 Jun 43: Stab pending movement to Mikoyanovka/30 km S of Belgorod.[35]

Jul – Aug 43: Operation "Zitadelle" aimed at eliminating the Kursk salient and defensive operations east and southeast of Kharkov.[36]

Sep 43: after retreating from the Kharkov area in mid-August, the Stab withdrew westward toward the Dnieper while supporting German forces falling back toward Kiev.

Oct 43: Stab at Belaya Tserkov/75 km SW Kiev.[37]

Jan 44: Stab at Tarnopol/l15 km ESE Lvov.[38]

Feb 44: Stab at Vinnitsa/W Ukraine.[39]

Mar 44: Stab at Stanislawow/130 km SSE Lvov.[40]


Poland. (Apr 44 - Jan 45)

Apr 44: Stab now at Krosno/170 km SE Kraków.[41]

May – Jun 44: Stab at Lublin/C Poland. When the huge Soviet Belorussian offensive began on 22 June, VIII. Fliegerkorps was quickly forced to pull back west of the Vistula.[42]

26 Jun 44: Stab at Lubien/130 km west of Warsaw.[43]

Jul 44: Stab at Gorno/Poland.[44]

Sep 44: Stab at Witkowice/Poland (175 km W of Warsaw?).[45]

17 Sep 44 Witkowice.[46]

Oct – Dec 44: Stab at Kraków/S Poland.[47]

11 Jan 45 Kraków - personnel strength of the Stab reported as 31 officers and 283 NCOs and men. On 12 January, the Russians opened their biggest offensive of the war forcing the Germans to withdraw through Silesia into northern Czechoslovakia.[48]


Silesia and North Czechoslovakia. (Jan 45 - Apr 45)

1 Feb 45: Stab at Schweidnitz/47 km SW Breslau in Silesia under Luftflotte 6 until 13 February.[49]

25 Jan – 2 Feb 45: briefly designated as Luftwaffenkommando Schlesien during this 9 day period, either in fact or through some sort of clerical error.

13-17 Feb 45: Stab transferred via Hermannstadt (near Pardubitz) to Senftenberg (Žamberk)/148 km E of Prague.[50]

24 Apr 45: elements at Chrudim.[51]

28-29 Apr 45: Senftenberg - Stab/VIII. Fliegerkorps combined with Stab/Luftgaukommando VIII and renamed Luftwaffenkommando VIII (see there).[52]



Nahkampfführer VIII. Fliegerkorps

(FpN: L 26180)


also as:Nahkampfführer VIII d.Lw.
Nahkampfführer 8
Nakafü 8
Nahkampfführer Nord/VIII. Fliegerkorps
Nahkampfführer Süd/VIII. Fliegerkorps



Führer

Gen.Maj. Martin Fiebig (15 Nov 41 - Apr 42)



Formation. (Nov 41)

Formed o/a 15 November 1941 at Orel in Central Russia (ex~Nahkampfführer II. Fliegerkorps) as a component of Gen.Kdo. VIII. Fliegerkorps. Responsible for tactical air support for designated ground units engaged in the heavy offensive/defensive fighting around Moscow.[53]


Central Russia. (Dec 41 - Apr 42)

Dec 41: Stab divided into two components: Nakafü Nord/VIII. Fliegerkorps at Seshchinskaya/40 km SE of Roslavl, and Nakafü Süd/VIII. Fliegerkorps at Orel.[54]

c.15 Jan 42: Nakafü Nord/VIII. Fliegerkorps disbanded and used to form Stab/2. Fliegerdivision.[55]

12 Apr 42: Nakafü Süd/VIII. Fliegerkorps disbanded and used to form Stab/1. Fliegerdivision.[56]



Flugbereitschaft Gen.Kdo. Fliegerkorps VIII

Code: 3G+_ _ (to Jun 41)



Formation, History and Losses. (Nov 39? - Apr 45?)

Date of formation and disbandment unknown. Officially designated Führungskette VIII. Fliegerkorps until approximately June 1941.[57]


16 Nov 39: Fi 156 crashed while landing at Mönchen Gladbach, 100%, 1 injured.

9 Jan 40: Fi 156 taxied into a tree near Rheydt, 20%.

16 May 40: Fi 156 damaged taxiing at Neufchâteau (probably Belgium), 50%.

16 Jun 40: a man from the Stab was reported WIA when strafed on the ground by a fighter at Auxerre/150 km SSE of Paris.

3 Sep 40: Bf 109E damaged while taxiing at Fp. St-Mards – Le Plessis, 50%.

21 Mar 41: Fi 156 damaged taking off from a landing ground in Bulgaria.

19 Aug 41: Fi 156 crash landed at Fp. Dno/N Russia, 25%.

13 Oct 41: Fi 156 shot down by a fighter near Kalinin, 100%, Oberst i.G. Rudolf Meister plus another WIA.

25 Jun 42: man from the Stab reported WIA on the ground at Shchigry/NE of Kursk.

10 Nov 42: Fi 156 damaged taxiing at Fp. Tatsinskaya.

27 Nov 42: Fi 156 damaged undercarriage landing at Fp. Stalingrad-Gumrak, 50%.

11 Dec 42: Bf 108 damaged taxiing at Fp. Tatsinskaya, 10%.

13 Dec 42: Fi 156 damaged taxiing at Fp. Morosovskaya, 10%.

9 Jan 43: W 34 (BB+BD) reported missing – no details, 100%, 3 MIA.

16 Jan 43: Fi 156 damaged during a winter storm at Fp. Armavir/N Caucasia, 35%.

21 Jan 43: Fi 156 struck the ground at Fp. Makeyevka/12 km E of Stalino, 80%.

17 Feb 43: He 111 P-2 crashed at Fp. Nikolayev/S Ukraine, 100%, 2 killed.

28 Apr 43: Fi 156 crash landed at Fp. Kharkov-North, 30%.

2 May 43: Ar 79 bombed on the ground during enemy air attack on Fp. Kharkov-Voichenko, 40%, pilot WIA.

21 May 43: Fi 156 rammed by another aircraft at Fp. Melitopol, 100%.

2 Jun 43: Fi 156 damaged taxiing at Fp. Kharkov-Alexeyevka, 40%.

12 Jun 43: Fi 156 bombed on the ground during enemy raid on Fp. Kharkov, 45%.

13 Aug 43: Fi 156 crashed in Pl.Qu. 3916 (not located) due to technical problems, 60%.

25 Oct 43: Fi 156 damaged at Fp. Nikolayev due to engine failure, 15%.

[This Flugbereitschaft continued in service into 1944 and perhaps 1945, but details have not been found.]


© H.L. deZeng IV, 2023


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References

  1. ↑ G.Tessin- Verbände und Truppen der Deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS 1939-1945. Teil 14: Die Luftstreitkräfte.
  2. ↑ C.Shores- Fledgling Eagles: The Complete Account of Air Operations During the ‘Phony War’ and Norwegian Campaign, 1940:98.
  3. ↑ U.Balke-KG 2/Teil 1:402.
  4. ↑ G.Tessin.
  5. ↑ Tessin.
  6. ↑ KTB/OKW 1940-1941 Teilband I, pp.150, 166, 196, 211, 222 and 259.
  7. ↑ Tessin.
  8. ↑ Tessin.
  9. ↑ O.Tuider- Die Luftwaffe in Österreich 1938-1945:119.
  10. ↑ M.Holm-website ww2.dk.
  11. ↑ C.Shores et al- Air War For Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete 1940-41:337-38.
  12. ↑ AFHRA Maxwell: decimal K113 Karlsruhe Collection.
  13. ↑ H.Plocher-The German Air Force Versus Russia, 1941.
  14. ↑ H.Plocher.
  15. ↑ NARA WashDC: RG 242 (T-311 Heeresgruppe Nord microfilms).
  16. ↑ PRO London: CX/MSS ULTRA daily summaries.
  17. ↑ T-313:232/960.
  18. ↑ K-O.Hoffmann-Ln.-/Bd. 2:138.
  19. ↑ T-313 microfilms.
  20. ↑ Tessin.
  21. ↑ Karlsruhe Collection.
  22. ↑ M.Holm.
  23. ↑ Karlsruhe Collection.
  24. ↑ H.Plocher-The German Air Force Versus Russia, 1942.
  25. ↑ Karlsruhe Collection.
  26. ↑ H.Plocher.
  27. ↑ Tessin; M.Kehrig - Stalingrad: Analyse und Dokumentation einer Schlacht. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1974).
  28. ↑ H.Plocher; M.Kehrig.
  29. ↑ H.Plocher.
  30. ↑ M.Kehrig, p.487-88.
  31. ↑ [Kameradschaft Ehemaliger Transportflieger]- Geschichte einer Transportflieger-Gruppe im II.Weltkrieg:156.
  32. ↑ T-321:115/001.
  33. ↑ H.Plocher- The German Air Force Versus Russia, 1943.
  34. ↑ Tessin; M.Holm.
  35. ↑ H.Plocher.
  36. ↑ H.Plocher.
  37. ↑ H.Plocher.
  38. ↑ PRO London: AIR 40 Air Ministry intelligence reports and lists based on ULTRA, “Y” Service intercepts, captured documents and PoW interrogations.
  39. ↑ Tessin.
  40. ↑ Tessin.
  41. ↑ AIR 40 Air Ministry.
  42. ↑ Tessin.
  43. ↑ Luftwaffen-Revue magazine, Heft (issue) 1/1985.
  44. ↑ Tessin.
  45. ↑ Tessin.
  46. ↑ T-501:222/954.
  47. ↑ Tessin.
  48. ↑ T-501:218/1276.
  49. ↑ T-321:50 (Luftflotte 6 Anlagen).
  50. ↑ T-321:50; T-321:17/8503.
  51. ↑ J.Rajlich/S.Kokoška/A.Janda-Luftwaffe Over Czech Territory 1945.
  52. ↑ Tessin.
  53. ↑ K.Mehner/R.Teuber- Die deutsche Luftwaffe 1939-1945: Führung und Truppe (Norderstedt: 1993); NARA WashDC: RG 242 microfilms.
  54. ↑ NARA microfilms, op.cit.
  55. ↑ NARA Microcopy T-312 roll 182/frame 530.
  56. ↑ ibid.
  57. ↑ BA-MA Freiburg: RL 2 III Meldungen über Flugzeugunfälle…..(Loss Reports – LRs); RG 242 microfilms.
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