Ritterkreuzträger of Kampfgeschwader 4 (KG 4) "General Wever"

Kampfgeschwader 4 „General Wever“ was formed on 1 May 1939 through the redesignation of Kampfgeschwader 253, receiving its honorary name from General Walther Wever, the prewar advocate of strategic bombing who had died in a 1936 aircraft accident, and initially based its Stab at Erfurt with I. Gruppe at Gotha, II. Gruppe at Erfurt and III. Gruppe at Nordhausen, equipped primarily with Heinkel He 111 bombers. Under its first Geschwaderkommodore, Oberst Martin Fiebig, the unit took part in the Polish campaign of 1939 and then in Unternehmen Weserübung against Norway and Denmark in 1940, where its crews distinguished themselves in attacks on ports and troop concentrations including Andalsnes, Namsos and Dombaas. During the Western Campaign it supported operations over the Netherlands, Belgium and France before transferring to bases in Holland for the Battle of Britain, conducting night bombing and minelaying missions against England, including raids on Coventry, until early 1941 when III. Gruppe temporarily left to join Kampfgeschwader 30 after converting to Junkers Ju 88. Elements of the Geschwader participated in the Balkan campaign and the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, operating under various Fliegerkorps on the Eastern Front and later supporting the Stalingrad airlift as well as the continuous defensive fighting that followed. From late 1943 parts of I. Gruppe converted to the Heinkel He 177 heavy bomber for longer-range missions, while the bulk of the unit continued flying He 111s in tactical bombing and supply roles during the retreats of 1943–1945, including operations over the Crimea, Hungary and the final relief efforts for Budapest and Breslau. Successive Geschwaderkommodore after Fiebig included Oberst Hans-Joachim Rath, Oberst Dr. Gottlieb Wolff, Oberstleutnant Heinz-Joachim Schmidt, Oberstleutnant Werner Klosinski and Major Reinhard Graubner, who led the remaining Gruppen until the unit surrendered to British forces on 8 May 1945.

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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER


General der Flieger Martin Fiebig (1891-1947) was born on 7 May 1891 in Rösnitz, Upper Silesia, and entered military service on 3 March 1910 as Fähnrich in Infanterie-Regiment „von Grolmann“ (1. Posensches) Nr. 18, serving as company officer before becoming battalion adjutant at the outbreak of the First World War and later transferring to aviation as pilot and squadron leader in a bomber wing until 1918. After postwar service involving secret aviation development work in the Soviet Union and time with Lufthansa, he rejoined the Luftwaffe, rising to Oberst by 1 June 1938 and assuming command as Kommodore of Kampfgeschwader 253, soon redesignated Kampfgeschwader 4 „General Wever.“ Leading this Geschwader through the Polish campaign and the Norwegian operations of Unternehmen Weserübung, where its crews achieved notable success against targets including Andalsnes, Namsos, Grong, Dombaas and Steinkjaer, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 8 May 1940 as Oberst und Geschwaderkommodore. Shot down over Holland on 10 May 1940 during the Western Campaign and briefly held as a prisoner, he later directed close-support units with the IV. and II. Fliegerkorps on the Eastern Front from 1941, commanded the 1. Flieger-Division, and on 1 July 1942 became Kommandierender General of the VIII. Fliegerkorps. For the outstanding leadership and combat achievements of this Fliegerkorps on the Eastern Front he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 23 December 1942 as its 168th recipient while holding the rank of Generalleutnant. Promoted to General der Flieger in early 1943, he subsequently commanded the X. Fliegerkorps and other higher formations until the war’s end, after which he was extradited to Yugoslavia, convicted of war crimes related to the 1941 bombing of Belgrade, and executed by hanging in Belgrade on 23 October 1947.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kampfgeschwader_4