Hellmuth Felmy

Hellmuth Felmy (28 May 1885 – 14 December 1965) was a German general and war criminal during World War II, commanding forces in occupied Greece and Yugoslavia. A high-ranking Luftwaffe officer, Felmy was tried and convicted in the 1948 Hostages Trial.

Biography

Born Walter Hellmuth Wolfgang Felmÿ on 28 May 1885 in Berlin¹ to Otto Emil Alexander and Anna Martha Maria [Fleischer] Felmÿ. In 1904, he joined the Imperial Army and, in 1912, Felmy went to flight school to become a pilot for the Imperial Army Air Service. During World War I, Felmy commanded a squadron "Flying Detachment 300", on the Turkish Front. Felmy, together with his comrade, First Lieutenant Richard Falke, cut a British long-distance water pipeline in an airborne operation. This caused the British Expeditionary Force short-term supply problems. The attempted demolition of the important railway line near El Qantara, far behind the front line, on 25 May 1917, however, failed. After the war, he remained in the German military. Felmy alternated between infantry and aviation assignments in the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic. On 4 February 1938, Felmy was promoted to General der Flieger.

By the beginning of World War II, Felmy commanded Air Fleet 2 (Luftflotte 2) of the Luftwaffe. On 12 January, he was dismissed due to the Mechelen Incident and replaced by Albert Kesselring. The reputation of his sons, also members of the Luftwaffe, were also tarnished. In an effort to rehabilitate his family he joined the Nazi Party (against protocol).²

In May 1941, Felmy was called up by the High Command of the Armed Forces (, or OKW) to be the commander of , the military mission to . While Felmy was a , he was not responsible for commanding the air force component of the Special Staff. lasted from 20 May to 20 June, ending in failure. Felmy commanded the mission in Iraq from .