Hellmuth Bieneck

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class="fn" colspan="2" style="background-color: #B0C4DE; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" | Hellmuth Bieneck
colspan="2" style="background-color: #B0C4DE; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" |
colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa; line-height: 1.5em;" | File:General der Flieger Hellmuth Bieneck.png
Birth date 7 November 1887 (1887-11-07)
Place of birth Krotoschin, Regierungsbezirk Posen, Province of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date 8 March 1972 (1972-03-09) (aged 84)
Place of death Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
Allegiance File:Flag of the German Empire.svg German Empire
File:Flag of Germany (3-2 aspect ratio).png Weimar Republic
File:Flag of the NSDAP (1920–1945).svg National Socialist Germany
Service/branch File:Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army
File:War Ensign of the Reichswehr, 1919 - 1935.png Reichswehr
File:Luftwaffe eagle.png Luftwaffe
Years of service 1907–1945
Rank General der Flieger
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Iron Cross
House Order of Hohenzollern
German Cross

Hellmuth Bieneck (7 November 1887 – 8 March 1972) was a German officer of the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally General der Flieger of the Luftwaffe in WWII.

Life

Hellmuth was born in 1887 as son of lord of the manor (Groß Elsingen) and domain tenant (Birkenstein) chief bailiff (Oberamtmann) Premier-Lieutenant a. D. Carl Maximilian Theodor Bieneck (b. 10 November 1852) and his wife Wilhelmine Pauline Martha, née Scholtz (b. 9 October 1864). He was baptized in Posen on 4 December 1887. His brothers were: Gustav Carl (b. 25 December 1884), Wolfgang (b. 28 May 1886) and Hubert Hans Otto Julius Fritz (b. 2 January 1891).

Military career (chronology)

  • Entered Army Service (27 Mar 1907)
  • Officer-Aspirant and Company-Officer in the 4. Schlesisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 157 (27 Mar 1907-30 Sep 1912)
  • Company-Officer in the 9. Westpreußisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 176 (01 Oct 1912-31 May 1913)
  • Pilot-Training with the Fliegertruppe in Leipzig (01 Jun 1913-30 Sep 1913)
  • Pilot (Flugzeugführer) in the I. Flying-Battalion / Flieger-Bataillon Nr. 1 in Döberitz (01 Oct 1913-01 Aug 1914)
  • Pilot with the Fortress-Flying-Battalion Posen / Festungs-Fliegerabteilung Posen (02 Aug 1914-00 Aug 1914)
  • World War I: Pilot with the 36th Field-Flying-Battalion (Feldflieger-Abteilung 36), with the 17th Field-Flying-Battalion (Feldflieger-Abteilung 17), Kasta leader in the 4th Combat-Wing of the OHL (Kampfgeschwader der Obersten Heeresleitung 4; Kagohl IV), Kasta leader in the 7th Bomber-Wing of the OHL (Kampfgeschwader der Obersten Heeresleitung 7; Kagohl VII), leader of the Fliegerabteilung 243 (Artillerie), Leader of the 301st Flying-Battalion (Fliegerabteilung 301)
    • When the airfield at Jenin (Palestine) was overrun by the British on 18 September 1918, two days before the capture of Jenin, Bieneck was taken prisoner (POW).
  • Returned home and placed to the disposal of the Army (1919)
  • With the Air-Base at Brieg (1919-30 Sep 1920)
  • Commander of the 10th Company/16. Infanterie-Regiment in Oldenburg (01 Oct 1920-30 Jun 1925)
  • Flying-Expert in the Staff of the 6th Division (01 Jul 1925-30 Apr 1929)
    • In the summer of 1925, he was transferred to the 1st (Mecklenburg) Squadron of the 14th Cavalry Regiment (14. Reiter-Regiment) in Ludwigslust. He was then assigned to the staff of the 6th Division of the Reichswehr in Münster.
  • Retired from Army Service (30 Apr 1929)
    • This was only done as a camouflage because military flying was still prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles
  • Employed by the Army (01 May 1929)
  • Director of the secret Flying-Training at the Flying-School Lipezk, USSR (01 May 1929-01 Oct 1929)
  • Director of the secret Flying-Training in the RWM, Troop-Office (02 Oct 1929-30 Apr 1930)
  • Director of the secret Flying-Training at the Flying-School in Lipezk, USSR (01 May 1930-03 Oct 1930)
  • Director of the secret Flying-Training in the RWM, Troop-Office (04 Oct 1930-04 Apr 1932)
  • Director of the Group V of the German Commercial-Flying-School in Braunschweig (05 Apr 1932-31 Mar 1934)
  • Entered Luftwaffe Service (01 Apr 1934)
    • First as a state protection officer (Landesschutzoffizier) as Oberstleutnant a. D., then a Supplemental-Officer (Ergänzungsoffizier) as Oberstleutnant (E)
  • Training-Leader with the Inspection of Flying-Schools, RLM / Ausbildungsleiter bei der Inspektion der Fliegerschulen im Reichsluftfahrtministerium (01 Apr 1934-31 Mar 1935)
  • Chief of Staff of the Command of Flying-Schools and the Flying-Weapons-Schools / Chef des Stabes des Kommandos der Fliegerschulen und Fliegerwaffenschulen (01 Apr 1935-30 Sep 1936)
    • Now an active Oberst (Colonel)
  • Higher Flying Commander 5 / Höherer Fliegerkommandeur 5 (01 Oct 1936-30 Jun 1938)
  • Commander of the 4th Flying-Division (01 Jul 1938-31 Jan 1939)
    • He was appointed commander of the 4. Flieger-Division in Munich by renaming of his staff.
  • Commander of the Higher Luftwaffe School (Höhere Luftwaffenschule) in Berlin-Gatow (01 Feb 1939-24 Aug 1939)
    • The Air War School 2 (in the north) and the Air Engineering Academy (like the Air War Academy in the south) were also located on the airfield under the command of the local air base command. The Air District School II (Luftkreisschule II), which was renamed the Higher Luftwaffe School in 1937, was also relocated to Gatow. The Führer was regularly flown to Berchtesgaden by Hans Baur from the Gatow airfield, where the Führer squadron (Führerstaffel) was temporarily located, and there was also regular air traffic between the air base and the Rechlin testing center. Shortly before the end of the war, on 26 April 1945, Hanna Reitsch flew from Gatow airfield with Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim to the Führerbunker in Berlin, which was already completely surrounded. Female pilot Beate Uhse also flew for the last time from Gatow to northern Germany in 1945.
  • Commander of the Luftwaffe with Army-Group C / Heeresgruppe C (25 Aug 1939-24 Oct 1939)
  • Commander of the Luftwaffe with Army-Group B / Heeresgruppe B (25 Oct 1939-31 Dec 1939)
  • Commander of Higher Luftwaffe Schools / Kommandeur der Höheren Luftwaffenschulen (01 Jan 1940-16 Feb 1941)
  • Commanding General of the Air-Region-Command II and Commander in Air-Region II / Kommandierender General des Luftgaukommandos II und Befehlshaber im Luftgau II in Posen (17 Feb 1941-15 Jan 1943)
    • After the Poland Campaign, the Luftgaukommando II (new) was set up in Posen for the Warthegau and the northern part of the German General Government (Generalgouvernement). With the dissolution of Luftgau II at the beginning of 1943, the area of ​​the Posen airport area was ceded to Luftgau I, and the areas of the Warsaw and Baranowicze airport areas were ceded to Luftgau VIII.
  • Führer-Reserve OKL (15 Jan 1943-31 Jul 1943)
  • Detached to the Luftwaffe-Rest-Home (Luftwaffen-Erholungsheim) in Bordighera (10 Mar 1943-06 Apr 1943)
  • Detached into the Service-Area of Air-Region I, Königsberg (10 Mar 1943-06 Apr 1943)
  • Commanding General of the Air-Region-Command I and Commander in Air-Region I / Kommandierender General des Luftgaukommandos I und Befehlshaber im Luftgau I in Königsberg (16 Aug 1943-09 Aug 1944)
  • Führer-Reserve OKL (09 Aug 1944-31 Dec 1944)
  • Retired (31 Dec 1944)[1]

Promotions

  • 18 November 1907 Fähnrich (Officer cadet)
  • 18 August 1908 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) with a Patent from 17 September 1906
  • 18 November 1914 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
  • 18 Apr 1916 Hauptmann (Captain)
    • 1925 renamed Rittmeister when he joined the 14. Reiter-Regiment
  • 1 April 1929 Major
  • 1 October 1933 Oberstleutnant a. D. (Lieutenant Colonel, ret.)
  • 1 March 1935 DLV-Fliegervizekommodore of the Deutscher Luftsport-Verband
  • 1 April 1935 Oberst (Colonel)
  • 1 January 1938 Generalmajor
  • 1 January 1940 Generalleutnant
  • 1 July 1941 General der Flieger

Awards and decorations

Writings

  • Geschichte des Luftgaukommandos II Posen im zweiten Weltkrieg

References