Luftwaffe Obstlt Walter Paul Liebing

[Bob Lyons]

Gents,
I have in my possession the prelim RK document for Walter Paul Liebing, a Luftwaffe Oberstleutnant at the end of the war, who was awarded the Knights Cross on the 2nd of February 1945 as a Major, and Cmdr of Fallschirmjaeger Regt 23, 2. Fallschirmjaeger Div.
Liebing started out in the Polizei, then transferred to the Luftwaffe and qualified as a pilot, then served in this capacity in Russia, before again transferring to the ground troops in September of '42.
My query regarding Liebing, is: was he para qualified, or was he a Luftwaffe ground troops officer, who was put in charge of paras at the end of the war, his name comes up in all of the para related Knights Cross lists, but I can't find any reference to him ever having qualified as a paratrooper.
My list of his awards are as follows:
30.07.1940 EK II
02.09.1941 EK I

21.07.1931 DRL Sports Badge in Bronze
02.10.1936 Military Service Medal IV Class
14.06.1941 Frontflugspange Bronze (Aufklaerer)
20.03.1944 Infantry Assault in Silver
30.03.1944 Close Combat Clasp in Bronze (I have this doco as well)

2.2.1945 Knights Cross

Apparently he was also recommended for the Oak Leaves, but it never got through the processing before the war ended.

Was he a qualified paratrooper??

Many thanks in advance for any further information on him, I would be very grateful.

Bob Lyons

[trbooks]

Liebing

I'm writing a book about the RKT of the Fallschirmjager and I haven't found any reference to Liebing having been awarded the Parachutist Badge, neither have I found photographic evidence.

I was intrested to see you have two award documents of his....if you still have them would you be able to scan them and send to me and I will give you full credit in my new book?

Thanks for any help.

Jeremy Dixon