World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseRobert Greim was born to a Bavarian police captain. During WW1, he served in the German artillery and later, in 1915, transferred to the air service. After achieving 8 aerial kills as a fighter pilot, he was named the commanding officer of Jagdgruppe 10 and later Jagdgruppe 9. He would achieve a total of 28 kills when the war ended. He was awarded the Pour le Mérite medal in Oct 1918 and at the same time was awarded the Military Order of Max Joseph; the latter made him a knight (Ritter) and allowed him to add the style "von" to his name. During the inter-war years, Robert von Greim was unable to remain in the small German military, thus he planned to change his career by studying law. Before he became established as an attorney, however, he was invited by the Republic of China to modernize the Chinese Air Force. In China, he founded a flying school despite his belief that Chinese people made poor pilots. As the Nazi party gained influence, he returned to Germany. In 1933, he was asked by Hermann Göring to build the German Air Force, and readily accepted. In 1934, he was made the commandant of Luftwaffe's first fighter pilot school. In 1938, he was given command of the Luftwaffe department of research at the rank of Generalmajor. Later in the same year, he was made the commanding officer of Jagdgeschwader 132 "Richthofen". When the European War began in 1939, he was made a commanding officer at the Luftflotte level and played a role in the invasion of Poland, Norway, Soviet Union, as well as the Battle of Britain. In the Battle of Kursk, his personal involvement in the deployment of ground support missions won him Oak Leaves to his the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross medal. On 25 Apr 1945, Generaloberst Greim flew into enveloped German capital of Berlin as a passenger in a Fw 190 fighter, and then flew from Gatow toward the Channcellery in a Storch aircraft; the Storch aircraft was damaged by anti-aircraft fire, causing a wound to Greim's right foot, but his mistress Hanna Reitsch was able to land in the Tiergarten. After seeing Adolf Hitler, he was promoted to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) and was given command of the Luftwaffe; he was the last German officer to be promoted to that rank and would become the last commanding officer of the Luftwaffe. He left Berlin on 28 Apr on Hitler's orders. He was captured in Austria by US soldiers on 8 May. As he was to be transferred to the Soviets, fearing torture, he committed suicide less than a month later. He was buried at a community cemetery in Salzburg, Austria.

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