Walter Grabmann
German flying ace (1905–1992)
Walter Grabmann (20 September 1905 – 20 August 1992) was a German general in the Luftwaffe during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Grabmann was credited with 7 aerial victories during the Spanish Civil War claimed in 137 combat missions.
Career
Grabmann joined the Police force in 1924, learning to fly and serving with the Luftpolizei (Air Police), assigned to Flight Surveillance North Bavaria, Fürth. He then enlisted in the Luftwaffe in October 1934, and served as Adjutant, Jagdgeschwader 134 "Horst Wessel" from March 1936.
From September 1938 to March 1939 Major Grabmann was Commander of Jagdgruppe 88 with the German Condor Legion in Spain, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes and early versions of the Messerschmitt Bf 109. He claimed a Polikarpov I-15, I-16 and an SB-2 bomber all shot down on 23 September 1938. Another SB-2 was downed on 10 October 1938, and a I-16 on 15 October. His last claim (an I-15) was on 4 January 1939.
Following his return to Germany, he was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I.(Zerstörer) Gruppe of Lehrgeschwader 1 (LG 1—1st Demonstration Wing) on 1 April 1939, succeeding Hauptmann Axel von Blomberg in this capacity. At the time, the unit was based at Barth and had just been equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter, the first Luftwaffe unit to receive this aircraft.
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This entry incorporates text from “Walter Grabmann” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.