Luftflotte 4 was established on March 18, 1939, in Vienna following the annexation of Austria, emerging from the pre-existing Luftwaffenkommando Österreich to serve as a primary operational arm of the German Luftwaffe throughout the Second World War. Under the initial leadership of Generaloberst Alexander Löhr, the command structure was carefully organized to project tactical and strategic air power across southeastern Europe and the southern sectors of the Eastern Front. During the opening stages of the conflict, elements participated in the invasion of Poland and subsequently played a pivotal role in the Balkans Campaign, orchestrating devastating air raids such as the bombing of Belgrade in April 1941. As the war expanded, the fleet shifted its core operational focus to support the Axis advance deep into Soviet territory during Operation Barbarossa, providing crucial tactical and strategic air support to Heeresgruppe Süd. Operating across vastly shifting headquarters locations from Vienna through Ukraine, Romania, and Hungary, the command controlled numerous subordinate formations including I. Fliegerkorps, VIII. Fliegerkorps, and various specialized tactical groups. Under the subsequent command of Generalfeldmarschall Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, who took over in July 1942, Luftflotte 4 concentrated its efforts heavily on the southern theatre, notably spearheading the aerial campaign during the catastrophic Battle of Stalingrad. Despite facing mounting Soviet air superiority and severe logistical exhaustion, subsequent commanders including Generaloberst Otto Deßloch and Generalleutnant Alexander Holle continuously restructured the remaining assets to conduct defensive operations across Hungary and Austria. As the military situation deteriorated rapidly in the spring of 1945, the command was officially redesignated as Luftwaffenkommando 4 on April 21, 1945, and subordinated directly to Luftflotte 6, bringing its active wartime history to a close just weeks before the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Generaloberst Otto Deßloch (1889-1977) was born on 11 June 1889 in Bamberg and died on 13 May 1977 in Munich after a long career that spanned both world wars and culminated in his rise to Generaloberst in the Luftwaffe. He entered the Bayerische Armee on 20 July 1910 as Fahnenjunker in the 5. Chevaulegers-Regiment „Erzherzog Friedrich von Österreich“, receiving promotion to Leutnant in October 1912; early in the First World War he was severely wounded on a reconnaissance ride, recovered, volunteered for the Fliegertruppe, trained first as an observer and then as a pilot, served with Feldfliegerabteilung 8 and Jagdstaffeln, commanded Jagdstaffel 17 as Staffelführer, and later directed the Fliegerschule in Gersthofen, earning the Eisernes Kreuz II. and I. Klasse, the Bayerischer Militärverdienstorden IV. Klasse mit Schwertern und Krone, the Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz, and the Ehrenbecher für den Sieger im Luftkampf. After the armistice he led the voluntary Fliegerstaffel „Deßloch“ with Freikorps Epp against the Bavarian Soviet Republic, transferred into the Reichswehr as Rittmeister and later Major in cavalry regiments while attending the secret Lipetsk fighter-pilot school in 1926–27, then joined the expanding Luftwaffe as commander of flight-training schools and successively as Kommodore of Kampfgeschwader 155 and Kampfgeschwader 55, reaching Generalmajor on 18 January 1939 and taking command of the 6. Flieger-Division. In the Second World War he became Kommandierender General of the II. Flak-Korps on 3 October 1939; during the 1940 Westfeldzug his Flak units, employed innovatively in the ground role against enemy armour while supporting Heeresgruppe B, destroyed some 200 tanks by mid-June, an achievement specially praised in an OKW after-action report that brought him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 24 June 1940 as the 74th recipient while still Generalmajor and Kommandierender General of the II. Flak-Korps, followed by promotion to Generalleutnant on 19 July. Transferred to the Eastern Front, he commanded the I. Flak-Korps from May 1942 and simultaneously the Luftwaffenkommando Kaukasus through the winter of 1942–43; between 12 May 1942 and 7 March 1943 his Flak-Korps alone accounted for 842 enemy aircraft and 1 168 tanks, particularly distinguishing itself in the defensive battles around Zaporozhye–Ssinelnikow–Dnepropetrovsk, successes that earned him multiple mentions in the Wehrmachtbericht and paved the way for his appointment on 11 June 1943 as Oberbefehlshaber of Luftflotte 4 in succession to Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen. Promoted Generaloberst on 1 March 1944, he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz (the 470th award) on 10 May 1944 precisely for these sustained leadership achievements on the southern Eastern Front as Oberbefehlshaber of Luftflotte 4 and earlier of the I. Flak-Korps. Briefly ordered west in August 1944 to take over Luftflotte 3 after the collapse of the front in France, he returned that September to Luftflotte 4 (later Luftwaffenkommando 4) and in the final days assumed command of Luftflotte 6; among his other decorations were the Spange to both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz, the Ostmedaille, the Combined Pilot-Observer Badge in Gold with Diamonds, and Romanian awards. Interned until 1948, he thereafter devoted himself mainly to equestrian sport until his death at the age of eighty-seven.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftflotte_4
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