8th Air Corps (Germany) explained

Unit Name:	8th Air Corps VIII. Fliegerkorps
Dates:	19 July 1939 – 26 January 1945
Branch:	Luftwaffe
Size:	Corps
Notable Commanders:	Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen

8th Air Corps (VIII. Fliegerkorps) was formed 19 July 1939 in Oppeln as Fliegerführer z.b.V. ("for special purposes"). It was renamed to the 8th Air Corps on 10 November 1939. The Corps was also known as Luftwaffenkommando Schlesien between 25 January 1945 and 2 February 1945 and was merged with Luftgau-Kommando VIII on 28 April 1945 and redesignated Luftwaffenkommando VIII.

Commanding General and officers

Rank	Surname	Date
		10 November 1939 - 30 June 1942^[1]
Generalmajor		1 July 1942 - 21 May 1943^[2]
Generalmajor		21 May 1943 - 28 April 1945^[3]

Chief of Staff

Rank	Surname	Date
	Hans Seidemann	27 December 1939 - 10 October 1940^[4]
		15 October 1940 - 14 March 1942^[5]
Oberstleutnant		15 March 1942 - 24 October 1942^[6]
Oberstleutnant		26 October 1942 to 11 June 1943^[7]
Oberst	Erich Schult	12 June 1943 - 1 October 1943^[8]
Oberst	Thorsten Christ	1 October 1943 - 18 November 1944^[9]
Oberst	Helmut Sorge	24 March 1945 - 28 April 1945^[10]

First General Staff Officer

Rank	Surname	Date
	Lothar von Heinemann	1 March 1940 - 19 February 1942^[11]
Hauptmann	Helmut Sorge	20 February 1942 - 15 March 1942^[12]
Oberstleutnant	Torsten Christ	15 March 1942 - 30 March 1942^[13]
Major		26 May 1942 - 4 November 1942^[14]
Hauptmann	Hans Meffert	10 April 1943 - 24 January 1944^[15]
Major	Ernst-Günther Moeller	15 December 1943 - 28 April 1945^[16]

Subordinate to

-	Unit	from	to
	10 November 1939	13 May 1940
	13 May 1940	August 1940
Luftflotte 2	August 1940	January 1941
	January 1941	June 1941
Luftflotte 2	June 1941	July 1941
	July 1941	28 September 1941
Luftflotte 2	28 September 1941	December 1941
	December 1941	May 1942
Luftflotte 4	May 1942	July 1944
	July 1944	April 1945

See also

• Luftwaffe Organization

Sources

• Book: Caldwell . Donald L. . Muller . Richard R. . Richard R. Muller . 2007 . The Luftwaffe over Germany: Defense of the Reich . London, UK . Greenhill Books . 978-1-85367-712-0.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2023-09-09. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2016. PDF. 1087. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section L–R.
2. Web site: 2023-09-09. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2017. PDF. 1090–1091. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section A–F.
3. Web site: 2022-10-23. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2016. PDF. 393–394. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section S–Z.
4. Web site: 2022-10-23. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2016. PDF. 393–394. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section S–Z.
5. Web site: 2023-09-08. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2016. PDF. 363. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section L–R.
6. Web site: 2022-10-23. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2016. PDF. 723–724. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section S–Z.
7. Web site: 2023-09-09. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2017. PDF. 429. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section G–K.
8. Web site: 2023-09-11. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2016. PDF. 294. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section S–Z.
9. Web site: 2023-09-08. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2017. PDF. 717. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section A–F.
10. Web site: 2023-09-11. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2016. PDF. 573–574. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section S–Z.
11. Web site: 2023-09-11. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2017. PDF. 429. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section G–K.
12. Web site: 2023-09-11. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2016. PDF. 464. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section S–Z.
13. Web site: 2023-09-11. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2017. PDF. 717. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section A–F.
14. Web site: 2023-09-11. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2017. PDF. 563–564. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section G–K.
15. Web site: 2023-09-11. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2016. PDF. 344. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section L–R.
16. Web site: 2023-09-11. Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey. 2016. PDF. 462. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries, Section L–R.
17. For the meanings of abbreviations, see Luftwaffe#Organisation_and_chain_of_command
18. [Leo Niehorster]
19. Karl-Heinz Frieser, Klaus Schmider, Klaus Schönherr: Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg. Band 8: Die Ostfront 1943/44 – Der Krieg im Osten und an den Nebenfronten. Hrsg.: Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt. DVA, München 2007, ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2, S. 90–92
20. [Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv|Bundesarchiv/Militärarchiv]
21. Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv: ZA 3/839: Bruno Maaß: Unterstellungsübersichten fliegende Verbände, 1943–1945