Gerhard Bassenge General - Major Gerhard Bassenge began his military career during World War I when only 16 years old . He was promoted into the officer ' s ranks at age 17 , and served in the infantry on both the Western Front and the Eastern Front . He would then transfer into aviation and become an ace pilot credited with seven aerial victories . After Germany ' s defeat , he remained in service . He served in the ground forces while earning an engineering degree . He then transferred into the nascent " Luftwaffe " and found his technical skills used in the newly established Reich Air Ministry . He was one of the German officers most responsible for training the first German paratroopers . He was Chief of Staff of Luftflotte 2 as it was part of the Blitzkrieg into the Netherlands , Belgium , and France in the early days of World War , in early 1940 . He would follow that up by becoming Chief of Staff of Luftflotte 5 in Norway while it flew into the northern British isles in the Battle of Britain . After being part of a " Luftwaffe " mission to Romania , he would move on to take part in the North African Campaign in 1941 - 1943 . He was captured there on 9 May 1943 , and was held prisoner of war until 2 October 1947 . From birth through World War I . Gerhard Bassenge was born in Ettlingen , the Grand Duchy of Baden in the German Empire on 18 November 1897 . Bassenge began his military career in the early days of World War I , on 4 October 1914 , just shy of his 17th birthday . He became an Unteroffizier or noncommissioned officer ; he was also a Fahnenjunker or officer candidate . He was assigned as a platoon leader in the Imperial German Army ' s 29th Infantry Regiment . He was then ranked as a Fahnrich or ensign , the most junior officer rank in the German Army . On 27 January 1915 , while still only 17 years of age , he received a field promotion to Leutnant . While in the infantry , he served on both the Western Front and the Eastern Front . Entry into aviation . He transferred to the " Luftstreitkräfte " and began pilot training on 1 April 1916 . After training , he was assigned to Kampfstaffel 39 . After serving with Kampfstaffel 39 for some months , Bassenge was remanded for further training . On 17 January 1917 he began training as a fighter pilot . He was successful and was posted to a fighter squadron , Jagdstaffel 5 . On 13 April , he put in his first claim for an aerial victory , over a British pusher fighter ; the claim went unconfirmed because he only forced it to land . On 2 May , he was transferred to another fighter unit , the famed Jagdstaffel 2 . He was confirmed as a leutnant on 28 June 1917 ; his commission granted him over two years seniority in rank , back to 18 June 1915 . Photos taken of him at about this time show a slender man with an erect carriage standing next to or sitting on his Albatros D . III biplane fighter . This Albatros , as was the German custom , had been embellished beyond its factory finish of umber and two tones of green . As had all the Jasta 2 aircraft , its tail had been painted white . Its nose , cowling , struts , and wheel covers were painted gray . Bassenge ' s personal markings were superimposed – a black and white strip that ran back down the sides of the plane to where a wide black band edged in white encircled the fuselage . Aerial victories . See also Aerial victory standards of World War I Bassenge used this plane to score his first aerial victory on 20 October 1917 . At 1220 hours , he shot down Sopwith Camel serial number B2370 from No . 70 Squadron RFC south of Saint Quentin , France . On 6 November , it was followed by Sopwith Camel s / n B2441 from No . 65 Squadron RFC , destroyed over Staden , Belgium . However , Bassenge was severely wounded . The wound would sideline him until July 1918 . Bassenge used a new Fokker D . VII fighter to demolish another Camel , number D8197 , over Fere - en - Tardenois , France in the afternoon of 25 July 1918 . There was a lull in his wins after that . He did not destroy another British plane until 27 September ; this time , it was another first - line fighter that fell , a Royal Aircraft Factory SE . 5 a from No . 32 Squadron RAF that went down over Noyelles at 1735 hours . The following morning , at 0835 hours , it was Camel number F3220 from No . 203 Squadron RAF , destroyed between Ham and Lengelet . Less than a week later , he repeated his feat of back to back victories . On 4 October 1918 , a SE . 5a from No . 85 Squadron RAF fell over Joncourt , France ; the next day , it was a Camel over Crèvecœur . Bassenge would not win again before the armistice , and would end the war with seven victories . Between the World Wars . Peacetime duties and further education . Gerhard Bassenge remained in service , and took up mundane duties in the military of a defeated nation . He was posted to Doberitz aerodrome on 1 May 1919 , but his aviation assignment did not last . On 1 July 1920 , he was once again appointed a platoon leader , this time in motor transport with the 3rd Light Motorized Company ; on 1 October 1920 , he was shifted to the same position with the Prussian 3rd Infantry Regiment . He began studying engineering at the Technical University of Hannover . On 1 April 1925 , he was promoted to Oberleutnant . Exactly two years later , on 1 April 1927 , Bassenge completed his studies and was granted the title of Dip . Ing . or Certified Engineer . Simultaneously , he was transferred to the Reich Defense Ministry . One year later , on 1 April 1928 , he was posted to the staff of the Commandant of Münster . On 1 October 1928 , he was further assigned to staff duty with the Prussian 6th Infantry Regiment . On 1 February 1932 , he was promoted to Hauptmann , and subsequently assigned to command a company . Return to aviation . On 1 January 1934 , Bassenge transferred from the German Army to the " Luftwaffe " , which was then forming . His new assignment was as a consultant and Group Leader in the newly founded Reich Air Ministry . On 1 February 1935 , he was promoted to major . On 1 March 1937 , Bassenge received a very important and consequential assignment with multiple duties . He was assigned as Chief of Staff under Generalmajor Kurt Student , and was promoted to Oberstleutnant one month after his arrival . Bassenge ' s additional duties were command of the flying school and of Parachute School I at Stendal , while also commanding the parachute field at the same location . These multiple duties deeply involved Bassenge in establishing and training the first German paratroopers . On 1 June 1938 , he was reassigned to the Reich Air Ministry and seconded to work for the Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe . On 1 October 1938 duty , he was returned for duty in the Air Ministry , working on the " Luftwaffe " General Staff . He was promoted to Oberst on 1 May 1939 ; a month later , with the world on the brink of World War II , Bassenge was appointed Chief of Staff of Air Zone Command XVII in Wien , Austria . World War II and beyond . On 30 January 1940 , Gerhard Bassenge was appointed Chief of Staff of Luftflotte 2 under General der Flieger Albert Kesselring . Luftflotte 2 was heavily involved in the Blitzkrieg of the Netherlands and Belgium , as it included General Student and his " Fallschirmjäger " . It was also the air support for the attack on the British Expeditionary Force that ended at Battle of Dunkirk with its consequent evacuation . The Luftflotte then participated in the follow - up attack into France . On 1 August 1940 , Bassenge was transferred to be Chief of Staff of Luftflotte 5 in Oslo , Norway under Generaloberst Hans - Jürgen Stumpff . On 15 August , Luftflotte 5 became involved in history ' s first battle waged solely between opposing air forces , the Battle of Britain . However , before that battle ended , Bassenge had once again been transferred ; on 5 October 1940 , he was appointed Chief of Staff of a " Luftwaffe " mission to Romania . His next assignment took him to his final theater of service , North Africa . On 24 June 1941 , he became the Airfield Area Commandant there . He would serve in that post until 1 October 1942 , when he was named commanding officer of the 19th Luftwaffe Field Division . While serving in this post , he was promoted to General - Major on 1 January 1943 . One month later , he was appointed to command Fortress Area Tunis - Bizerte , Tunisia Bassenge was captured 9 May 1943 at Metheline , North Africa by the British . He was hastily transported to Britain , arriving at Camp 11 , Trent Park , on 16 May 1943 . He was logged into this luxurious camp for high - ranking prisoners as POW 18809 . His intake papers note him as having brown hair and blue eyes , being 5 ' 7 1 / 2 " tall , and weighing 162 lbs . His next of kin was listed as Lotte Bassenge . Camp 11 was " bugged " by British military intelligence , and on 10 July 1943 , a wiretap caught Bassenge being informed of war crimes by a horrified General - Leutnant Georg Neuffer . It is not known if Bassenge was previously unaware of Nazi atrocities , or if the conversation caught on the wiretap influenced him , but while in captivity , Bassenge became an advocate of Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma ' s views . General der Panzertruppe von Thoma , who was held prisoner along with Bassenge , believed that Hitler had gone insane and that the Nazi war effort was doomed . As the majority of German officers held prisoner were rabid Nazis , the views of Bassenge and Thoma caused considerable dissension with the Hitlerites . This schism among the German officers may have been responsible for Bassenge ' s transfer to Camp 300 ; he would be returned from there to Camp 11 on 23 July 1946 . On 1 October 1947 , he was transferred to Camp 186 ; he was repatriated the next day . Gerhard Bassenge would live 30 more years after his release from captivity . He died 13 March 1977 at Lübeck , Germany . Honors and awards . Listed in best semblance of chronological order :