Hans - Georg von Seidel Hans - Georg von Seidel ( 11 November 1891 – 10 November 1955 ) was a German military leader who served in the German Army during World War I and in the " Luftwaffe " ( German Air Force ) during World War II . Seidel was promoted to the rank of " General der Flieger " ( General of the Air ) . Seidel served for most of World War II as the head of German Air Force organization , armament , maintenance , and supply . He was a practical realist who distanced himself from his idealist boss Hans Jeschonnek , " Luftwaffe " Chief of Staff , an unquestioning follower of Adolf Hitler . Seidel attempted to implement the expansive Nazi war plans but suffered from heavy combat losses of materiel and men . After the war , Seidel was chosen leader of the high - ranking prisoners of war at Island Farm . Early career . Hans - Georg von Seidel was born in the farming village of Diedersdorf in the county of Lebus , a rural district in the Province of Brandenburg , Kingdom of Prussia , on 26 April 1896 . Seidel joined the German Army in Prussia in 1910 and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 1911 . He served as an officer in the German Army during World War I , and left the service in 1920 as a captain of cavalry . In 1934 , Seidel was called to serve in the military : this time in the Air Ministry with a promotion to major . Not yet a pilot , Seidel was detached in August 1935 to the flying school at Braunschweig to take the aerial observer course and the pilot course . He then attended the " Kampffliegerschule " ( bomber flying school ) at Jüterbog where he learned to fly multi - engine aircraft . At the end of 1935 , Seidel was posted to the General Staff of the German Air Force at the Air Ministry where he served as a department chief , and was soon promoted to lieutenant colonel . In March 1937 , Seidel accepted the command of an air group , " Aufklärungsgruppe 12 " ( Reconnaissance Group 12 ) and was simultaneously given command of the group ' s airfield at Stargard - Klützow . World War II . On 16 April 1938 Seidel was named " Generalquartiermeister der Luftwaffe " , the top staff officer in charge of supply and administration for the German Air Force , a position he held for the next six years . He served under Hans Jeschonnek , an ardent Nazi and an airman prone to making significant strategic mistakes , such as opposing the production of four - engine bombers in favor of dive bombers . To Jeschonnek , the Quartermaster General should have been his second - most important assistant after the Chief of Operations , but Jeschonnek suffered a cold relationship with Seidel . The two men worked hundreds of kilometres apart , with no contact for months on end , though their plans were intimately tied . On five occasions , Seidel requested a transfer and was refused each time . Seidel tried to keep the " Luftwaffe " supply lines from breaking , but Hitler ' s ideas and Jeschonnek ' s plans were too difficult to counter . Seidel agreed with top airman Hermann Göring and influential General Erhard Milch that their leader was a negative factor in air planning . After the war , Seidel said , " Hitler understood nothing about flying and cared less . " In 1939 , Seidel formed two " Flugzeug - Überführungsgruppen " ( aircraft ferry groups ) to streamline the delivery of new aircraft to combat air groups . Prior to this the aircraft were sometimes flown to combat groups by airmen posted to the Supply and Procurement Groups , and sometimes were picked up by combat fliers with a resulting disruption to manpower availability at the front . When Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 , the " Luftwaffe " was worked hard , and the supply chain was stretched taut . Before the attack , aviation gas reserves were at 400 , 000 tonnes and Seidel , promoted to major general the day the war started , demanded that they be increased to 600 , 000 tonnes , a six - month supply , before offensive operations were begun . His numbers " were ridiculed as ' exaggerated ' . " The expenditure of aerial munitions in the operation went beyond expectations , taking some 3 , 000 tonnes , a third of the total stock of explosives . Many aircraft were lost to Polish anti - aircraft fire , and some from fighter aircraft opposition and operational accidents . Seidel reported that as of 28 September 1939 , 285 aircraft were lost to all causes , while 279 additional aircraft were damaged more than ten per cent and required major repairs . Aircrew losses were 189 dead , 126 wounded , and 224 missing , with 195 more casualties among " Luftwaffe " ground personnel and " Fliegerabwehrkanone " ( flak ) units . Seidel saw that aircraft testing areas were needed behind front lines , so that newly delivered aircraft could be assessed and given minor field modifications appropriate to their employment in battle . He established such testing areas , and also used them for final assembly of any light aircraft shipped by rail . In autumn 1940 , Seidel was informed by Hermann Göring , leader of the " Luftwaffe " , of Adolf Hitler ' s plan to invade the Soviet Union the next summer . Along with other top air officers , Seidel was astonished at the idea and doubtful of success . He warned Göring that the " Luftwaffe " could not possibly cope with this demand . Göring insisted that there was no alternative , that he had already tried to change Hitler ' s mind . Mannerheim ' s birthday . Upon the occasion of the 75th birthday of the Marshal of Finland , Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim , Hitler flew to Finland to visit him . On the morning of 4 June 1942 at Immola airfield near Imatra , Seidel was the first German general to arrive , followed within a few hours by " Generaloberst " Hans - Jürgen Stumpff , " Generaloberst " Eduard Dietl , and then " Feldmarschall " Wilhelm Keitel who accompanied Hitler . Finnish and German officers reviewed troops in the airfield , then the officers met in a rail car for a few hours . The visiting Germans flew out in the evening . Eastern front . For the 800 , 000 " Luftwaffe " personnel on the Eastern Front , Seidel was able to work with Milch to secure extra woollen underwear , fur boots , and other winter wear . However , beginning in October 1942 during the Battle of Stalingrad , Seidel sought desperately to find enough aircraft to supply the surrounded Sixth Army by air – the Junkers Ju 52 transports of " Luftflotte 4 " ( Air Fleet 4 ) were not sufficient , and Hitler had ordered the army to stand and fight . On 23 November , Seidel ordered all German ministry , training , and staff aircraft of any size to join the airlift into Stalingrad . Some 600 aircraft flown by highly skilled instructors were taken from training facilities and sent east , with the result that some specialized training schools were closed . Aircraft as various as Heinkel He 111 bombers , Focke - Wulf Fw 200 Condor reconnaissance patrol bombers , Junkers Ju 90 airliners , and Junkers Ju 86 trainers were pressed into airlift service . Many that arrived at eastern air bases were pushed aside as useless until they could be winterized . By 19 December , the collection of aircraft were at their peak of delivery , with 289 tonnes of supplies dropped in 154 sorties on that day . The Sixth Army needed 700 – 800 tonnes each day , with food and munitions as top priority , but they received only a fraction of that , and some deliveries such as spices and summer clothing were completely useless to the troops . Severe winter conditions and unrelenting Soviet attacks took a heavy toll of the ground and air forces . Some 488 aircraft were lost along with some 1 , 000 of the " Luftwaffe " finest airmen . Seidel noted the great equipment losses in that theatre : " Of 100 , 000 " Luftwaffe " vehicles in the East , only 15 per cent still functioning early in January 1942 . " The aircraft evacuated 42 , 000 men , mostly wounded , with the last one flown out on 24 January 1943 . The Sixth Army surrendered on 3 February . Hitler blamed Göring for the disaster in East , after which Göring announced that he would court - martial Jeschonnek and Seidel for causing the failure of the Stalingrad airlift . Hitler forbade this action as he knew the two men were not at fault . Hitler considered Göring to be second only to himself in terms of guilt for the over - optimistic planning . From July 1944 to February 1945 Seidel served in Berlin as commander of " Luftflotte 10 " ( Air Fleet 10 ) , a training and replacement organization . Late in February he was named leader of the Reserve " Luftwaffe " High Command , a position he was to hold for a few months until the end of the war . Post - war . Seidel was taken prisoner of war on 6 May 1945 at Oberaudorf by American troops . On 17 May he was transferred to British supervision . On 9 January 1946 , Seidel was taken to Island Farm where he became the leader of the prisoners at Special Camp 11 . In that role he worked with Rear Admiral Hans Voss who was liaison to the British authorities . Seidel headed a group of German officers who ranked above him , ones charged with war crimes or being held as witnesses , including Field Marshal s Gerd von Rundstedt , Erich von Manstein , Ewald von Kleist , and Walter von Brauchitsch . He was interviewed for his views on the war , and gave his opinion that the invasion of Germany would have failed except for Allied air power disrupting German supply lines . He said that this was " the decisive factor . . . " On 12 May 1948 after three years of imprisonment , Seidel began the process of repatriation . In 1949 , Seidel gave a lecture about how the supply of aviation fuel was a major factor in the war . In the early 1950s , he corresponded with authors seeking further information about the war . Seidel died in Bad Godesberg on 10 November 1955 . A " Bundeswehr " barracks at Trier was named in his honor in 1965 : " General - von - Seidel - Kaserne " ( General von Seidel Barracks ) .