Sigismund Freiherr von Falkenstein
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File:BW-Brigadegeneral Sigismund Freiherr von Falkenstein.jpg
Sigismund Freiherr[1] von Falkenstein in the uniform of a BW-Brigadegeneral
Sigismund Hans Balduin Maria Freiherr von Falkenstein[2] (b. 14 September 1903 in Münster, Province of Westphalia, German Empire; d. 2 June 1972 in Bückeburg) was a German officer of the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, at last Generalmajor of the Luftwaffe in WWII. He also served in the newly founded Bundeswehr (BW) as a Brigadegeneral.
Career
File:Sigismund Freiherr von Falkenstein, Unterschrift.jpg
Signature as Generalmajor
File:Sigismund Freiherr von Falkenstein, Stadtfriedhof Bückeburg.JPG
Grave at the Stadtfriedhof in Bückeburg
- Entered the Army in the 16th Mounted-Regiment (01 Oct 1922-30 Apr 1931)
- Retired (30 Apr 1931)
- Secret Flying Training (01 May 1931-30 Sep 1932)
- Reactivated into the Army in the 16th Mounted-Regiment (01 Oct 1932-30 Jun 1933)
- Retired (30 Jun 1933)
- Secret Flying Training (01 Jul 1933-30 Sep 1934)
- Reactivated to the Army and Detached to the War Academy (01 Oct 1934-30 Sep 1935)
- Transferred to Luftwaffe Service (09 Mar 1935)
- Detached to the Air War Academy (01 Oct 1935-31 Dec 1935)
- Advisor and Group-Leader in the Training-Department and General-Staff-Officer with the Inspector of Bomber Flying (01 Jan 1936-31 Mar 1938)
- Squadron-Captain in the Bomber-Flying-Group Giebelstadt (01 Apr 1938-31 Oct 1938)
- General-Staff-Officer with the Chief of the General Staff of the Luftwaffe (01 Nov 1938-31 Jan 1939)
- Director of the Training-Department, Reichsluftfahrtministerium (01 Feb 1939-30 Sep 1939)
- Group-Commander in Bomber-Wing 27 ‘Boelcke’ (01 Oct 1939-31 May 1940)
- General-Staff-Officer in the OKW Department of State Defence (01 Jun 1940-31 Mar 1942)
- Chief of the General-Staff of the X. Flying-Corps (01 Apr 1942-30 Apr 1943)
- Chief of the General-Staff of the Luftwaffe-Command South East (01 May 1943-31 Oct 1943)
- Chief of the General-Staff of the Luftwaffe-Commander Centre (01 Nov 1943-08 Feb 1944)
- Chief of the General-Staff of Air-Fleet Reich (09 Feb 1944-12 May 1944)
- Commander of the 3rd Flying-Division/3. Flieger-Division (01 Jun 1944-08 May 1945)
- In Soviet Captivity (09 May 1945-10 Oct 1955)
- Kriegsgefangenenlager 5110/48 Woikowo: Voikovo prison camp, or Camp No. 48, was a prisoner-of-war and internee camp maintained by the Main Administration for Affairs of Prisoners of War and Internees of the NKVD in the Soviet Union. The camp was designated by the Soviet authorities for the high-ranking officers of the German Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS and was unofficially known as the "Generals camp".
- Released (10 Oct 1955)
- Entered the Bundeswehr (Luftwaffe) for Suitability and Training (01 Mar 1957-03 Sep 1957)
- Commander of the Luftwaffe-Academy at the Operations-Academy of the Bundeswehr (04 Sep 1957-31 Mar 1959)
- Commander of the Luftwaffe Department at the Operations-Academy of the Bundeswehr, Hamburg (01 Apr 1959-30 Sep 1962)
- Retired (30 Sep 1962)[3]
Family
Sigismund was the son of Generalmajor Erich Karl Paul Freiherr von Falkenstein and his wife Antonie Wilhelmine Maria, née Schmidt.
Marriage
In WWII, Sigismund Freiherr von Falkenstein married his young fiancée Irene Susanne Maria Klara von Watzdorf (b. 1916 in Meißen), daughter of Rudolf von Watzdorf (1874–1944), landowner, district deputy and chairman of the German national faction of the Upper Silesian provincial parliament and member of the Prussian State Council (Gutsbesitzer, Kreisdeputierter und Vorsitzender der deutschnationalen Fraktion des oberschlesischen Provinziallandtages sowie Mitglied des preußischen Staatsrates).
Promotions
- Fahnenjunker (1 October 1922)
- Fähnrich (15 September 1924)
- Oberfähnrich (15 September 1925)
- Leutnant (1 December 1925)
- Oberleutnant (1 July 1928)
- Hauptmann (1 April 1934)
- Major (1 April 1937)
- Oberstleutnant i. G./im Generalstab (1 July 1940)
- Oberst i. G./im Generalstab (1 April 1942)
- Generalmajor (1 October 1943)
- Brigadegeneral of the Bundeswehr (1 March 1957)
Awards and decorations
- Flugzeugführerschein A2 on 1 May 1931
- Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 2nd Class for 18 years on 2 October 1936
- Flugzeugführerabzeichen (Wehrmacht) on 17 July 1937
- Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
- War Merit Cross (Kriegsverdienstkreuz), 2nd Class with Swords
- Grand Imperial Order of the Red Arrows, Gold Medal on 19 September 1941 as Major i. G. in the 3rd department (3. Abteilung)/Generalstab der Luftwaffe/Ministry of Aviation (German: Reichsluftfahrtministerium, abbreviated RLM)
- German Cross in Gold on 19 May 1943 as Oberst i. G. and Chief of the General Staff (Chef des Generalstabs) of the X. Fliegerkorps
External links
- von Falkenstein, Sigismund, Lexikon der Wehrmacht
References
- ↑ Regarding personal names: Freiherr is a title of German nobility (Deutscher Adel), somtetimes translated as Baron, not a first or middle name, but connected with the surname, for example Sigismund Freiherr von Falkenstein, not Freiherr Sigismund von Falkenstein. The female forms are Freifrau, if married, and Freiin, if not.
- ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Adeligen Häuser (Deutscher Uradel), 1922, p. 259
- ↑ Generalmajor Sigismund Freiherr von Falkenstein