VEFER Walter (Wever)

Vefer, Walter (Wever), (1887-1936), lieutenant-general aviation, the first Chief of General Staff of the Luftwaffe. He was born in Posen (now Poznan, Poland). Military service began in the Kaiser's army in 1905. In 1914 he fought on the Western Front as commander of the platoon. In 1915 Veferu was given the rank of captain, and he was sent to the General Staff, where, despite his low rank, proved himself an able tactician and organizer. In 1917 Vefer became adjutant general Erich Ludendorff. After the 1-st World War Vefer continued to serve in the management personnel of the Reichswehr, which earned great respect for the commander of the armed forces of the Weimar Republic, Colonel General Hans von Zeekta. In 1926 Veferu was given the rank of Major, and in 1930 - Colonel. In 1933 he became head of department of military educational institutions.

. Minister of War of the Third Reich, General Werner von Blomberg, understanding the need to create the Luftwaffe in competent leaders, has transferred to the agency of its best staff officers, among whom was Vefer
. In his address Blomberg said that the army is losing the future Chief of General Staff. Vefer (by this time, Lieutenant-General) in an incredibly short period of time will attend to all the problems of the Luftwaffe and identified priority areas of development. He persuaded Goering and Milch in the need for a heavy long-range bombers that can reach the Urals. Thanks to his energy, and in 1936 were ready for flight testing "Junkers-89 and Dornier-19". Vefer had the art to get along with people and make them his, despite prevailed in the higher echelons of Nazi power fierce intrigue, denunciations and slander. His reputation remained unsullied, that was very rare in the Nazi regime. Firmly believing in the idea of National Socialism, Vefer said that the Luftwaffe would be a new national-socialist, or will not exist at all.

Vefer done a lot for the construction of new military aircraft of Germany. But as the pilot, he left much to be desired. Apparently, this circumstance in no small part led to his death. June 3, 1936 after a speech to military cadets in the Dresden air school Vefer was due to fly to Berlin. As soon as he raised his "Heinkel-70" in the air like that, with full fuel tanks, lost control, crashed into the ground and exploded.

. Wept at the funeral Vefera Reich Marshal Goering made a speech: "He was an inspiration to us all - purposeful, modest, great man and a brilliant officer
. There are no words to describe his contribution to the common cause. The fact that the Luftwaffe exist today - to the credit of his tireless work. "

. Death Vefera provided, as later became clear, strong impact on the entire course of 2-nd World War, because without it, four-engine bomber was never put into mass production
. And the Germans were unable to support the military operations of the fleet in the Battle of the Atlantic ", . failed to inflict a crushing blow to the industrial and military targets in the UK, . a production capacity of the Soviet Union in general were out of range of Luftwaffe planes.,

. As Chief of General Staff of the Luftwaffe Vefera was replaced by Alfred Kesselring.