Luftgaukommando III commanding General

[torstenbel]

Hi Guys,

as part of a large and nice lot I have got the man's certificate of ownership to his wound badge in black. I have no reason to doubt its authenticity, but what puzzles me is the person that signed the certificate.

The cert was issued by Luftgaukommando III in Berlin-Dahlem on 20th July 1943 and it is signed by the commanding General for Luftgau III, a man in the rank of General der Flakartillerie. According to various online sources, the commanding General in Luftgau III at that time was a Walter Friedensberg and I could only find him shown as a Generalleutnant and not as a General der Flakartillerie. Also, the signature does not quite look like it would read Friedensberg to me???

Would anyone have any thoughts on this please... Cheers, Torsten.

[torstenbel]

I think that you can probably see everything you need to see on the large pic, but here is a close up of the signature...

[harmel]

Luftgau111

Hi have General der Flakartillerie Karl-Adolf Hauboldt,
as Cmdr then,looks like your man.
Regards Harmel

[torstenbel]

Hi have General der Flakartillerie Karl-Adolf Hauboldt,
as Cmdr then,looks like your man.
Regards Harmel

you are right, it does look like Hauboldt...but I thought that he was only the commander from 24th June 1940 and on 18th March 1943 Generalleutnant Walter Friedensberg took over command and the certificate is issued on 20th July 1943 and so that shoudl be Friedensberg's signature??? Or would it be the signature of the man who was in command at the time the injury occured, in which case Hauboldt would be correct?? I am still kind of confused?? Cheers, Torsten.

[Larry deZeng]

you are right, it does look like Hauboldt...but I thought that he was only the commander from 24th June 1940 and on 18th March 1943 Generalleutnant Walter Friedensberg took over command and the certificate is issued on 20th July 1943 and so that shoudl be Friedensberg's signature??? Or would it be the signature of the man who was in command at the time the injury occured, in which case Hauboldt would be correct?? I am still kind of confused?? Cheers, Torsten.

Torsten -

It's Gen.d.Flakart. Gerhard Hoffmann. He followed Friedensberg. Hoffmann's "official" date of appointment as Kommandierender General und Befehlshaber im Luftgau III was 01.08.1943, but he actually took over several weeks before that.

Gen.Lt. Alfred Haubold held the position from 24.06.1940 to 30.11.1940.

Source:
ZWENG, Christian. Die Dienststellen, Kommandobehörden und Truppenteile der Luftwaffe 1935-1945. Band 1: Nr. 1-10 (Osnabrück, 1999). p.174.

[torstenbel]

Torsten -

It's Gen.d.Flakart. Gerhard Hoffmann. He followed Friedensberg. Hoffmann's "official" date of appointment as Kommandierender General und Befehlshaber im Luftgau III was 01.08.1943, but he actually took over several weeks before that.

Gen.Lt. Alfred Haubold held the position from 24.06.1940 to 30.11.1940.

Source:
ZWENG, Christian. Die Dienststellen, Kommandobeh******246;rden und Truppenteile der Luftwaffe 1935-1945. Band 1: Nr. 1-10 (Osnabr******252;ck, 1999). p.174.

Hi there, thank you very much...if Hoffmann took over a couple of weeks earlier than the official date then it may well be him, bit still, the signature does not really look like Hoffmann??? From the Das Lexikon der Wehrmacht I get the following commanding Generals for Luftgau III:

1. April 1937 Generalleutnant Max Mohr

1. Juni 1937 General der Flieger Albert Kesselring

12. Oktober 1937 Generalmajor Graf von Sponeck

11. M******228;rz 1938 Generalmajor Hubert Weise

3. Oktober 1939 Generalmajor Gerhard Hoffmann

24. Juni 1940 Generalleutnant Karl Alfred Haubold

18. M******228;rz 1943 Generalleutnant Walter Friedensberg

1. August 1943 General der Flakartillerie Gerhard Hoffmann

20. Februar 1945 Generalleutnant Walter Boenicke

According to the above Friedensberg should have been the one who signed the certificate, but certainly not Haubold. Hoffmann...? maybe? To be honest, out of the three the signature probably looks most like it could read Friedensberg??? Its all very confusing ??... Cheers, Torsten.

[max history]

Just seen this. Harmel is correct. It is Karl-Adolf Hauboldt who was almost certainly in temporary command during a command change period when a permanent commander took over.
Max.

[torstenbel]

Hi max, that is possible of course and the signature does look like Hauboldt. Cheers, Torsten.