Dietrich Peltz

Dietrich Peltz (9 June 1914 – 10 August 2001) was a German World War II Luftwaffe bomber pilot and youngest general of the Wehrmacht.

As a pilot he flew approximately 320 combat missions, including roughly 130 as a bomber pilot on the Eastern Front, 90 as a bomber pilot on the Western Front, and 102 as a dive bomber pilot during the invasion of Poland and Battle of France.

Peltz was born on 9 June 1914 in Gera-Reuß, in Thuringia, at the time a Principality of Reuss-Gera.

He was the son of a factory director.

Aged 18 he had received a pilot's license and graduated in 1933 with his Abitur (diploma) from the Hermann Lietz country boarding school in Spiekeroog.

After his graduation, Peltz did an internship at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim in the years 1933–34.

Born in Gera, Peltz joined the Reichswehr, later renamed the Wehrmacht, of Nazi Germany in 1934.

He joined the military service of the Reichsheer as an officer candidate with the 1st company of the Kraftfahr-Abteilung 5 (5th Motor Vehicle Department) in Stuttgart-Cannstatt on 4 April 1934.

Here he served as a Kradschütze (motorcycle infantry) and was promoted to Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier (cadet-corporal) on 1 December 1934.

Initially serving in the Heer (Army), he transferred to the Luftwaffe (Air Force) in 1935.

He flew combat missions over Poland and France as a dive bomber pilot.

While attending the Kriegsschule (war school) of the Heer (Army) in Munich, he was promoted to Fähnrich (ensign) on 1 June 1935.

He was promoted to Oberfähnrich (senior ensign) on 1 October 1935 and transferred to the Air War School Klotzsche in Dresden.

He then received further training at the flight school in Salzwedel which he completed on 31 March 1936.

One day later, on 1 April, he was promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant) and on 20 April was officially transferred to Jagdgeschwader "Immelmann", named after the World War I fighter pilot Max Immelmann, at Lübeck-Blankensee.

During this assignment, he was posted to the blind-flying school at Wesendorf-Neuburg an der Donau.

In 1937, Peltz was appointed adjutant of the I. Gruppe (group) which was renamed to I. Gruppe of Sturzkampfgeschwader 168 (StG 168—168th Dive Bomber Wing) on 1 April 1938.

Following the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany, just as the Junkers Ju 87B came into service, this unit was moved to Graz and was referred to as II.

Gruppe of Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 (StG 2—2nd Dive Bomber Wing).

On 1 March 1939, Peltz was promoted to Oberleutnant (first lieutenant).

Two months later, on 1 May 1939, the Gruppe was again renamed and was known as I. Gruppe of Sturzkampfgeschwader 76 (StG 76—76th Dive Bomber Wing), sometimes referred to as Grazer Gruppe.

On this day, Peltz was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of the 1.

Staffel (1st squadron).

Peltz led 1.

Staffel in the Ju 87 dive bombing demonstration at Neuhammer, present-day Świętoszów, Poland, on 15 August 1939.

Observing the demonstration were the senior Luftwaffe commanders, including Generals Hugo Sperrle, Bruno Loerzer, and Wolfram von Richthofen.

He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 14 October 1940.

During Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Peltz was instrumental in developing bombing techniques which allowed precision bombing attacks.

This achievement earned him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 31 December 1941.

In early 1943, Peltz was appointed Inspector of Combat Flight, a role in which he oversaw the strategic development of the German bomber arm.

As of August 1943, he was appointed commanding general of the IX. Fliegerkorps (9th Air Corps) and was tasked with reviving the German bomber offensive as Angriffsführer England (attack leader England) against Britain and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords on 23 July 1943 for his leadership.

This initiative lead to a night-time strategic bombing campaign against southern England code-named Operation Steinbock, which ended in heavy losses for German bombers in early 1944.

Although a bomber expert, he was appointed commanding general of the II. Jagdkorps (2nd Fighter Corps) and was responsible for the planning of the unsuccessful Operation Bodenplatte, the attack of German fighters on Allied air bases in Belgium and the Netherlands.

He was tasked with the entire aerial Defense of the Reich in March 1945 and advocated the idea of "ramming" to halt the air campaign against Germany even at the risk of sustaining high losses.

His last service position was commanding general of I. Fliegerkorps (1st Air Corps).

He was then posted to a bomber unit leaders school before he was tasked to form a unit, I. Gruppe (1st group) of Kampfgeschwader 60 (KG 60—60th Bomber Wing), specialized in the use of precision-guided munitions against Allied shipping.

He then converted to the Junkers Ju 88 bomber and was assigned to Kampfgeschwader 77 (KG 77—77th Bomber Wing).

With this unit he flew further combat missions in the Battle of Britain.

After the war he worked for Krupp and Telefunken and died on 10 August 2001 in Munich.

Jagdgeschwader "Immelmann" was renamed to Sturzkampfgeschwader 162 (StG 162—162nd Dive Bomber Wing) and equipped with the early Junkers Ju 87A dive bomber.