Gerhard Bassenge

Gerhard Bassenge was born in Ettlingen, the Grand Duchy of Baden in the German Empire on 18 November 1897.[1]

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.[2]

In 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. In 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. In 1937, Bassenge was assigned as Chief of Staff under Generalmajor Kurt Student.

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, 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.

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.[8]

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.[8] 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.[3]

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.[9] While serving in this post, he was promoted to Generalmajor on 1 January 1943. One month later, he was appointed to command Fortress Area Tunis-Bizerte, Tunisia

Gerhard Bassenge at Trent Park.
back row from left to right: Otto Elfeldt, Ferdinand Heim, Gerhard Bassenge
front row from left to right: Friedrich Freiherr von Broich, Heinrich Eberbach, Georg Neuffer, Hans Reimann.

Bassenge was captured 9 May 1943 at Metline, 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.[8] 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 Generalleutnant Georg Neuffer.[10] 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 fervent Nazis, the views of Bassenge and Thoma caused considerable dissension with the Hitlerites.[11] 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.[12] Bassenge died 13 March 1977 at Lübeck, Germany.

1. 1914 Iron Cross First Class with 1939 Bar
2. Romanian Order of Michael the Brave, Third Class on 19 September 1941 (per Royal Decree No. 2628)[8]
3. German Cross in Gold on 15 July 1942 as Oberst im Generalstab in the General Staff of the Deutsche Luftwaffenmission Rumänien (German Air Force Mission Romania)[13]

• Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914-1918. Norman Franks, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1993. ISBN 0-948817-73-9, ISBN 978-0-948817-73-1.
• Albatros Aces of World War I Part 2, Greg Vanwyngarden. Osprey Publishing, 2007. ISBN 1-84603-179-6, ISBN 978-1-84603-179-3.
• Fokker D.VII Aces of World War I, Norman Franks. Osprey Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-84176-533-3, ISBN 978-1-84176-533-4.
• German Order of Battle, Volume Two: 291st–999th Infantry Divisions, Named Divisions, and Special Divisions in WWII, Samuel W. Mitcham, Stackpole Books, 2007.
• Jagdstaffel 2 Boelcke: Von Richthofen's Mentor, Greg Vanwyngarden. Osprey Publishing, 2007. ISBN 1-84603-203-2, ISBN 978-1-84603-203-5. ISBN 0-8117-3437-4, ISBN 978-0-8117-3437-0
• Moral Combat: Good and Evil in World War II, Michael Burleigh. Harper, 2011. ISBN 0-06-058097-6, ISBN 978-0-06-058097-1.
• Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.