Viktor von Loßberg

Viktor von Loßberg
Born	14 March 1904 Posen
Died	24 May 1983(1983-05-24) (aged 79) Garmisch
Allegiance	Nazi Germany West Germany
Service / branch	Luftwaffe German Air Force
Years of service	1933–1945, 1956–1962
Rank	Oberst im Generalstab
Unit	Kampfgeschwader 26
Battles / wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Viktor von Loßberg (14 March 1904 – 24 May 1983) was a German air officer during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Loßberg was instrumental in conceiving the concept of Zahme Sau ("Tame boar"), a night fighter tactic of the Luftwaffe.

Career

Loßberg was born on 14 March 1904 in Posen, present-day Poznań in Poland, at the time in the Province of Posen, a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in the German Empire. He joined the military service of the Wehrmacht in late 1933 at Braunschweig. The Treaty of Versailles signed after World War I had prohibited Germany from having an air force. Before the Luftwaffe was unveiled in 1935 he was trained as a pilot at civilian flight schools.

Loßberg was involved in the testing and evaluation of various aircraft for use as night fighters. Generalfeldmarschall Erhard Milch favored the conversion of aircraft like the Junkers Ju 88 or Junkers Ju 188 because it did not influence production numbers. Josef Kammhuber preferred the new Heinkel He 219. The Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM—Reich Air Ministry) ordered a comparison test which was held 25–26 March 1943 at Rechlin. Loßberg was ordered to fly the Ju 188 E-1 in mock combat against the He 219 piloted by Werner Streib. The test proved the He 219 to be superior to the Ju 188.

Loßberg played a significant role in the development and introduction of the Zahme Sau night fighter system in mid-1943, which began the recovery of the German night defences against the increasing size of attacks by Royal Air Force Bomber Command and eventually replaced the Himmelbett (canopy bed) of the Kammhuber Line. In the introductory phase of Zahme Sau, Loßberg flew 39 night fighter missions from airfields operated by I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. In total he flew 39 missions without claiming any victories.

At the end of the war, Colonel von Loßberg was the last director of the Luftwaffe Technical Academy in Berlin-Gatow.

After the war Loßberg was involved in the establishment of the new Luftwaffe. From 1 Feb 1956 he commanded the preparatory office for Luftwaffe materiel in Bad Godesberg which in April 1956 moved to the USAF Air Station Erding. From 1 June 1956 through 31 March 1958 he was the first commander of the Luftwaffe Materiel Command ("Materialkommando der Luftwaffe", MatKdoLw). His first task was to build a supply regiment from several units which were transferred from the USAF.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (27 September 1939) & 1st Class (11 May 1940)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 17 October 1941 as Major and Gruppenkommandeur of the III./Kampfgeschwader 26

References

Bibliography

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer [in German] (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Kaiser, Jochen (2011). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kampfflieger—Band 2 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Bomber Flyer—Volume 2] (in German and English). Bad Zwischenahn, Germany: Luftfahrtverlag-Start. ISBN 978-3-941437-09-8.
• Remp, Roland (2000). Der Nachtjäger Heinkel He 219 [The Night Fighter Heinkel He 219] (in German). Oberhaching, Germany: AVIATIC Verlag GmbH. ISBN 978-3-925505-51-5.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.