X. FliegerkorpsFor more details see

Luftwaffe Organization The Luftwaffe () was the aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 in accordance w ...

(10th Air Corps) was a formation of the German

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, which specialised in coastal operations. It was formed 2 October 1939, in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

from the 10. Flieger-Division.

Operational history

Generalleutnant Hans Ferdinand Geisler was put in command of the newly formed ''Flieger-Division'' on 3 September 1939, based at

Blankenese Blankenese () is a suburban quarter in the borough of Altona in the western part of Hamburg, Germany; until 1938 it was an independent municipality in Holstein. It is located on the right bank of the Elbe river. With a population of 13,637 as of ...

. Initially its force was the

Heinkel He 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and medium bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Due to restrictions placed on Germany a ...

bombers of ''Kampfgeschwader'' 26. Geisler's Division was allocated the new

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works. It was used extensively during the Second World War by the ''Luftwaffe'' and became one o ...

bombers which were still being brought into service with ''Kampfgeschwader'' 25, on 7 September this was redesignated ''Kampfgeschwader'' 30. The Corps was stationed in north Germany in February 1940 when some of its aircraft were involved in a disastrous

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy or hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while ...

incident that terminated the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

Operation Wikinger Operation Viking (German: ''Unternehmen Wikinger'') was a German naval sortie into the North Sea by six destroyers of the on 22 February 1940 during the Second World War. Poor inter-service communication and co-operation between the and th ...

. In early 1941, X. Fliegerkorps was transferred from Norway to

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

to support the build-up of the

Afrika Korps The German Africa Corps (, ; DAK), commonly known as Afrika Korps, was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its Africa ...

in Libya. On 12 January 1941, it had 80 Ju 88A-4 bombers of LG 1 and 12 Ju 88D-5 reconnaissance planes at

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

, 80 Ju 87R-1 ("Stuka") dive-bombers of StG 1 and StG 2 at

Trapani Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...

, 27 He 111H-6 torpedo bombers of KG 26 at

Comiso Comiso () is a ''comune'' of the Province of Ragusa, Sicily, Southern Italy. As of 2017, its population was 29,857. History In the past Comiso has been incorrectly identified with the ancient Greek colony of Casmene in Magna Graecia. Under the B ...

and 34 Bf 110C-4 fighters of ZG 26 at

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

.Wood, Tony & Gunston, Bill ''Hitler's Luftwaffe'' Crescent Books p.33 It was prominent in the axis effort to suppress

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

interference with the supply routes from Italy by reducing

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

's effectiveness as a forward base. On 10 and 11 January 1941 X. Fliegerkorps planes sank and heavily damaged during Operation Excess.Greene, Jack & Massignani, Alessandro ''The Naval War in the Mediterranean 1940-1943'' Chatham Publishing (1998) pp.133-136 Bf 109E-7 fighters of JG 26 and JG 27 joined the offensive on Malta during February and March 1941.Wood, Tony & Gunston, Bill ''Hitler's Luftwaffe'' Crescent Books p.33 In the spring of 1940, the Luftwaffe assigned all flying units intended for the conquest of Norway (

Operation Weserübung Operation Weserübung ( , , 9 April – 10 June 1940) was the invasion of Denmark and Norway by Nazi Germany during World War II. It was the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. In the early morning of 9 April 1940 (, "Weser Day"), Ge ...

) to the corps. The ''X. Fliegerkorps'' was active there from April 1940 onwards to conquer the country and combat Allied naval operations. The Corps was moved out of Sicily in April 1941 for the

Invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

.Wood, Tony & Gunston, Bill ''Hitler's Luftwaffe'' Crescent Books p.33 Maritime float planes replaced fighters and dive bombers while the Corps was stationed in

. Strength on 10 May 1942 was 74 Ju 88 at

Eleusis Elefsina () or Eleusis ( ; ) is a suburban city and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Athens metropolitan area. It belongs to West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is located in the Thriasio Plain, at the northernmost ...

and

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

, 25 He 111 at Kalamaki, and 53 Ar 196A-3, He 60c, Fokker T.VIII and Bv 138C-1 at Skaramagas and Kavalla.Wood, Tony & Gunston, Bill ''Hitler's Luftwaffe'' Crescent Books p.50 The Corps was crucial in securing air superiority and German victory during the 1943

Dodecanese Campaign The Dodecanese campaign was the capture and occupation of the Dodecanese islands by German forces during World War II. Following the signing of the Armistice of Cassibile on 3 September 1943, Italy switched sides and joined the Allies. As a ...

. The Corps was renamed to ''Kommandierender General der Deutschen Luftwaffe in Griechenland'' (commanding general of the German Luftwaffe in Greece) in March 1944 and disbanded on 5 September 1944 with the withdrawal of German forces from the country.

Commanding officers

Commanding general

* General der Flieger Hans Geisler, 2 October 1939 – 31 August 1942 * General der Flieger Bernhard Kühl (acting), 3 June 1940 – 20 September 1940 * General der Flieger Otto Hoffmann von Waldau, 31 August 1942 – 31 December 1942 * Generalleutnant

Alexander Holle __NOTOC__ Alexander Holle (27 February 1898 – 16 July 1978) was a German general (Generalleutnant) in the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the German involvement in the Spanish Civil War German involvement in the Spanish Civil War commence ...

, 1 January 1943 – 22 May 1943 * General der Flieger Martin Fiebig, 22 May 1943 – 1 September 1944

Chief-of-Staff

* Oberstleutnant Martin Harlinghausen, 1 November 1939 – 31.3.41 * Generalleutnant Ulrich Kessler (acting), 25 April 1940 – 21 May 1940 * Generalleutnant

Günther Korten Günther Korten (26 July 1898 – 22 July 1944) was a German Colonel General and Chief of the General Staff of the Luftwaffe in World War II. He died from injuries suffered in the 20 July plot, assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on 20 July 19 ...

, 1 April 1941 – March 1942 * Oberst Sigismund Freiherr von Falkenhausen, 1 April 1942 - March 1943 * Major Eckard Christian, 8 March 1943 – 2 June 1943 * Generalmajor

Walter Boenicke __NOTOC__ Walter Boenicke (15 December 1895 – 21 April 1947) was a German general (General der Flieger) in the Luftwaffe during World War II who commanded the 3. Flieger Division. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Boen ...

, June 1943 – 6 January 1944

References

;Notes ;References
X. Fliegerkorps @ Lexikon der Wehrmacht

{{Corps of the Luftwaffe A010 Military units and formations established in 1939 1939 establishments in Germany Military units and formations disestablished in 1944