Greim, Robert Ritter von, born 22-06-1892 in Bayreuth,
the son of the police captain, Ludwig Greim, was an army cadet before World War I and initially served in the artillery before transferring to the German Air Service
, Fliegertruppe, in 1915. On 10-10-1915, while flying two-seaters in FFA 3b as an artillery spotting observer, Greim claimed his first aerial victory: a Farman. He also served with FAA 204 over the Somme. After undergoing pilot training, Greim joined FA 46b on 22-02-1917. He transferred to Jagdstaffel 34 in April 1917. He scored a kill on 25-05-1917, and on the same day he received the Iron Cross First Class
. In June 1918, Greim had an encounter with a Bristol Fighter, and his aircraft lost its cowling. This struck and damaged his top wing, along with the lower left inter plane strut, but he managed to land the machine successfully. He returned to Jasta 34
in October 1918, the unit which had been commanded by WWI flyer ace, Manfred von Richthofen
and brother Lothar until his death in action on April 21. The unit would score 89 confirmed aerial victories during the war, including three enemy observation balloons. In turn, they would suffer eleven killed in action, one killed in a flying accident, five wounded in action, one injured in an accident, and five taken prisoner of war. Richthofen was awarded with the Bavarian Military Order of Max Joseph
This latter award made him a Knight, Ritter, and allowed him to add both this honorific title and the style ‘von’ to his name. Thus Robert Greim became Robert Ritter von Greim. After the war, Ritter von Greim was unsuccessful in finding a place in the Reichswehr was asked by Chiang Kai Shek’s






















The plane was rocked by Soviet antiaircraft bursts as it flew eastward over the Tiergarten toward the Brandenburg Gate and the Chancellery. An armor-piercing shell crashed into the underside of the Storch, and a gaping hole appeared in the cockpit flooring. Greim slumped over with his right foot shattered. As the plane began to dive out of control, Hanna reached over and grabbed the stick. She managed to right the craft as it was showered with shell splinters. Then she calmly steered downward to a safe landing, as planned, on the broad Charlottenburger Chaussee near the Brandenburg Gate.
She flagged down a passing German staff car, and the pair rode to the Chancellery.

After General Greim’s foot was treated in the bunker dispensary, Hitler entered to greet his last two visitors.
Hanna was shocked to see that he appeared to have lost touch with reality. His head drooped, his eyes were glassy, and his arms twitched continually. His moods swung from despair to hope, and back again. The Führer declared bitterly that Goering (see Goering-Fock) (see Sonnemann)










After emotional farewells, Hanna and Field Marshal Greim left the bunker. Around midnight on April 28, Hanna helped Greim, hobbling on crutches, to an SS armored car. The darkness was illuminated by burning buildings, and as they rode through the ruined streets to the Brandenburg Gate, they could hear the rattle of small arms fire. Hidden near the famous gate was a single-engine, two-seater Arado Ar-96
advanced trainer. The Fieseler Storch that had brought them to Berlin had been destroyed by Soviet shellfire.

Hanna hurriedly helped Greim aboard the small monoplane. There was no time to lose; Berlin was afire and swarming with Soviet troops. Hanna gunned the 12-cylinder piston engine and taxied the Arado along the smoky east-west axis road
as shells crashed down nearby and Russian searchlights fingered the dark sky. Hanna increased speed and managed to lift the plane amid a hail of fire. Skimming above the shattered rooftops, she tried to dodge the persistent searchlights. Antiaircraft bursts rocked the little trainer.

“Miraculously,” the aviatrix reported later, “not a single shot touched the plane.” Switching to full power, she climbed away from the city and headed northward. On the outskirts of Berlin, she plunged gratefully into a low cloud formation, emerging 12 miles away and free of Soviet gunfire and fighters. She touched down at Rechlin at 3 am.
Field Marshal Greim duly ordered the remnants of the Luftwaffe
into the air battle over Berlin and went to confront Himmler. The Gestapo leader denied that he had betrayed Hitler and admitted later that Greim had “reproved” him. Shortly afterward, Hanna and Greim learned of the Führer’s suicide. On 8 May, the same day as the surrender of the Third Reich, Ritter von Greim was captured by American soldiers in Austria.

Death and burial ground of Greim, Robert Ritter von.







Message(s), tips or interesting graves for the webmaster: robhopmans@outlook.com
Leave a Reply