From 5/6 January 1941 I./StG 1 staged from St Malo to Graz in Austria. By 23 January Hitschhold's "gruppe" moved into airfields at Otopeni, north of Bucharest in Romania. Hitschold moved down to Kraynitsi, south-south-west of Sofia in Bulgaria. On 6 April the group mustered 39 Ju 87s for operations. On this date it supported "Fliegerkorps" VIII operations in the Invasion of Yugoslavia and Battle of Greece. It bombed positions in Petric and played a role in the Battle of the Metaxas Line. Hitschhold may have been involved in Operation Retribution, the bombing and destruction of central Belgrade.