(Photo courtesy of Gareth Collins)
Generalmajor Eberhard Herwarth von Bittenfeld
Born: 16 May 1890 in Gera
Died: 15 Jan 1957 in Munich (München)
Promotions:
Fähnrich (13 Mar 1909); Leutnant (27 Jan 1910); Oberleutnant (25 Feb 1915); Hauptmann (16 Sep 1917); Major (01 Apr 1929); Oberstleutnant (01 Oct 1932); Oberst (01 Sep 1934); Charakter als Generalmajor (01 Jan 1938); Generalmajor (01 Apr 1940)
Career:
Entered the Army as Platoon and Company Leader, then Adjutant in the 5th Guards-Grenadier-Regiment (13 Mar 1909-26 Jul 1917)
Ordinance-Officer with the Staff of the Guards-Reserve-Corps (27 Jul 1917-22 Aug 1917)
Adjutant of the 5th Guards-Infantry-Brigade (23 Aug 1917-23 Jun 1918)
General-Staff-Officer of the 11th Infantry-Division (24 Jun 1918-11 Dec 1918)
With the 5th Guards-Grenadier-Regiment (12 Dec 1918-12 May 1919)
With the Staff of the 4th Division (13 May 1919-15 Feb 1920)
Officer Of The Army in the RWM (16 Feb 1920-30 Sep 1920)
General-Staff-Officer with the Staff of the 2nd Division (01 Oct 1920-31 Mar 1926)
Company-Chief in the 3rd Infantry-Regiment (01 Apr 1926-28 Feb 1929)
General-Staff-Officer with Group-Command 1 (01 Mar 1929-31 Aug 1929)
Chief Of Operations (Ia) with the Staff of Military-District-Command I (01 Sep 1929-30 Sep 1930)
With the Staff of Infantry-Leader I (01 Oct 1920-30 Sep 1932)
With the Staff of the 17th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1932-31 Mar 1934)
Transferred to Luftwaffe Service as Officer with Special Duties of the RLM – Detached to the Technical College Braunschweig (01 Apr 1934-31 Dec 1934)
Instruction-Group-Leader at the Air-District-Weapons-School II, Berlin-Gatow (01 Jan 1935-31 May 1935)
Detached to Air-District-Command II (01 Jun 1935-30 Sep 1935)
Representative of the Commander of Air-District-School II (01 Oct 1935-30 Sep 1937)
Commander of the Reichs Institute for Air Protection (01 Oct 1937-31 Mar 1938)
Chief Of Staff of the Reichs Air Protection Federation (01 Apr 1938-14 Nov 1938)
Detached to Military-Replacement-Inspection Berlin (15 Nov 1938-02 Jan 1939)
Commander of Military-District-Command Breslau I (03 Jan 1939-31 Mar 1940)
Airport-Area-Commandant II/2, Warsaw and Location-Senior of the Luftwaffe in Warsaw (01 Apr 1940-03 Nov 1942)
Arrested and Held in the Wehrmacht-Remand-Camp Berlin – the arrest and the later condemnation took place on operation of the SS-Reich-Security-Head-Office with the reproach of ‘Polish Friendliness’ and ‘Sabotage of Führer-Instructions’ because he had opposed the NS-Civil-Administration activities in the General-Government Poland (03 Nov 1942-31 Jan 1943)
Condemned by 4th Senate of the Reichs War Court because of ‘Military Disobedience’ to 3 Years Imprisonment and Loss of Rank and Loss of all Honours of the First and Second World Wars (07 Dec 1942)
Confirmation of Judgement by Hitler (31 Jan 1943)
Completion of Punishment in Torgau, Fortress Zinna (31 Jan 1943-31 Dec 1943)
Punishment Probation with Front Line Service (31 Dec 1943)
Soldier with the Flying-Replacement-Battalion XI, Neumünster – Again in the Spring of 1944 was brought before a Court Martial because of ‘Violation of the Reichs War Court’ because of his political background. This 2nd Judgement was not confirmed however, probably due to the intervention of friends in the RLM. He was now Detached from Front Probation to be extracted by the Gestapo (01 Jan 1944-11 Jul 1944)
Detached to Front Service with the 1st Flak-Battalion 1001 (V 1) and the Invasion Front (12 Jul 1944-02 May 1945)
Front Probation was Regarded as fulfilled. The RLM requested the abolition of his Loss Of Rank, which no longer took place in the confusions of the last months of the war. Promoted Gefreiter 01 Feb 1945; Unteroffizier 01 May 1945 (24 Dec 1944)
In US Captivity (09 May 1945-00 Jul 1945)
Released (00 Jul 1945)

Decorations & Awards:
- 1914 EK I
- 1914 EK II
- RK II. Klasse des Herzogl. Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden mit Schwertern
- Verwundetenabzeichen, 1918 in Silber
- Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
- Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV. bis I. Klasse
- Flugzeugbeobachter-Abzeichen


Back to ABR Homepage