Herbert Büchs (20 November 1913 – 19 May 1996) was a Lieutenant General of the German Air Force and a former

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

staff officer in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

's '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' (OKW) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. As second

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

to General

Alfred Jodl Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl (; born Alfred Josef Baumgärtler; 10 May 1890 – 16 October 1946) was a German Wehrmacht Heer, Army ''Generaloberst'' (the rank was equal to a four-star full general) and War crime, war criminal, who served as th ...

with the rank of major he is notable for being present in the conference room when the 20 July plot bomb exploded in 1944.

Biography

Büchs was born in Beuthen, Upper Silesia, where he graduated from the Catholic secondary school in 1933. He then studied

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

at the Universities of

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

and

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. He joined the air force in 1935 and became a fighter pilot. In 1939 at the outbreak of World War II he was an operations officer and in June 1941 he flew a Junkers Ju 88 during

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

and his right arm was injured by machine gun fire. On 1 November 1943 he was appointed as a General Staff Officer with the Wehrmacht Operations Staff at

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

's headquarters. He briefed him on the air war at daily situation conferences and on one occasion had to report the loss of 300 aircraft. In July, 1944, Büchs was injured by the briefcase bomb planted by Claus von Stauffenberg in a failed assassination attempt on Hitler. He recovered from his injuries. In 1945, he was taken prisoner by the Americans. He was released from custody in 1948. In June 1946 he provided testimony as a witness at the Nuremberg Trials. He then worked in civil engineering on projects in the Middle East and in 1957 rejoined the military and became an aerial tactics instructor at the '' Bundeswehr'' Staff College. He later rose to be deputy director of Leadership on the Air Force Command Staff and Chief of Staff of the Federal Armed Forces Operations Staff.http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-46437600.html Herbert Büchs in Der Spiegel 1967. Retrieved 6 July 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchs, Herbert 1913 births 1996 deaths German World War II pilots German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States People from Bytom Military personnel from the Province of Silesia Lieutenant generals of the German Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff of the Federal Armed Forces Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany