Walther Wever (general)

Infobox Military Person
name=Walther Wever
lived= 11 November 1887 – 3 June 1936
placeofbirth=Meinerzhagen
placeofdeath=


caption=
nickname=|allegiance=flagicon|German Empire German Empire (to 1918)
flagicon|Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
serviceyears=
rank=Generalleutnant
branch=Luftwaffe
commands=Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff
unit=
battles= World War I
awards=
relations=Walther Wever (son)
laterwork=

Walther Wever (11 November 1887 in Meinerzhagen - 3 June 1936) was a pre-war Luftwaffe Commander.

Military career

On 1 September 1933 he became the Commander of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, and later became Chief of Staff of the Luftwaffe, a post he held up until his death.Wever was a supporter of the Strategic bomber and recognised its importance as early as 1934. He supported the aviation companies like Junkers and Dornier, in their respective projects to produce the Ju 89 and Dornier Do 19 "Ural Bomber".

However after his death, his successors Ernst Udet and Hans Jeschonnek favoured smaller aircraft as they did not expend as much material and manpower. They were proponents of the dive-bomber (Junkers Ju 87) and the doctrine of close support and destruction of the opposing airforces on the 'battle-ground' rather than through attacking enemy industry. As a result, high-speed medium-bombers like Heinkel He 111, Dornier Do 17, Junkers Ju 88 were developed, with much initial success.

On 6 June 1936 Wever flew from Berlin to Dresden, to give a lecture at the Luftkriegsakademie to a gathering of Luftwaffe cadets; when he received the news of the passing of a World War I German hero. He immidiately set off for Berlin. On his return journey the Heinkel He 70 Blitz that he was flying had not been properly examined during preflighted checks, and the aileron gust locks were not removed. The aircraft was airborne when the wing dipped, the Heinkel stalled & went into a tailspin, and exploded in flames killing Wever and his flight engineer.

After Wever's death, a bomber unit, Kampfgeschwader 4 "General Wever" was named after him.His son, also named, Walther Wever was a fighter pilot, who was killed in action in April 1945.

References

*Corum, J.F. (1999). "Staerken und Schwaechen der Luftwaffe" in Mueller, R. & Volkmann, H.E. (Ed.) Die Wehrmacht: Mythos und Realitaet. Muenchen: Oldenbourg Verlag.

*Bombers of the Luftwaffe; Joachim Dressel and Manfred Griehl;DAG Publications;1994; ISBN 1-85409-140-9
*http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/military/ural_bomber.htm The Ural bomber Concept: Wever's Dream