In acknowledgment of Richthofen’s key role in the victory, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross and jumped two ranks to General der Flieger.

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Moving to Normandy, Richthofen reorganized his forces for the Battle of Britain. The first phase, which consisted of attacking British shipping in the English Channel, was another success for the VIII Flieger-korps, which consisted mostly of Stukas. But the next phase, the air battle over Britain itself, was a disaster. While the Stukas survived far better against antiaircraft fire than Richthofen had predicted, they were still easy prey for Allied fighters. In attacks against the RAF airfields in southern England, Richthofen’s Stukas took such heavy losses from RAF fighters that they were quickly pulled from the battle.

Over the next several months Richthofen rebuilt his force. In early 1941 he was ordered to Bulgaria to support the German army’s attack into Greece. In a three-week campaign his air corps enabled the German Twelfth Army to rapidly overrun Greece; they also inflicted heavy losses on Allied shipping. In the Greece and Crete campaigns, the Royal Navy lost four cruisers and eight destroyers to Luftwaffe attacks; dozens of merchantmen and transports were also sunk. But while Richthofen had another blitzkrieg victory to his credit, he had no time to rest. The invasion of Russia was about to begin and his air corps was needed to support Army Group Center’s advance towards Moscow.

By now, the Germans believed they had perfected the blitzkrieg style of warfare. In the first weeks of battle, Richthofen’s air corps destroyed thousands of Soviet aircraft on the ground. With complete air superiority, the VIII Fliegerkorps attacked Russian transportation and destroyed Russian fortifications. Encircled Russian armies, like those at Smolensk, were superb targets for the German airmen.

Richthofen continued to develop new tactics for his forces. Luftwaffe personnel in armored vehicles on the front lines controlled air strikes just in front of German troops. Luftwaffe support improved dramatically in accuracy and effectiveness, while friendly fire incidents were reduced. Throughout the summer and fall of 1941 Richthofen’s force shifted between the northern and central fronts, always supporting the main effort of the advance. By November 1941 the VIII Fliegerkorps was at the gates of Moscow with victory in sight.

However, the fundamental weaknesses of the Wehrmacht played a key part in sparing Moscow. Deep into Russia, front line units ran out of fuel and parts. By November 1941 the panzer divisions were at a fraction of their strength because most of their tanks and motor vehicles had broken down. It was a similar story for the Luftwaffe: only 20 percent of Richthofen’s aircraft were operational.

While snow and bitter cold hampered operations, the Germans had also underestimated the Russians’ ability to replace their colossal losses. On December 6, dozens of fresh, well-equipped Russian divisions hit the Germans outside Moscow in a surprise counteroffensive. As the Germans reeled back, Richthofen used his handful of flyable planes in a campaign that gave the army time to sort out new defenses.

The main German effort next shifted to the south, where they planned to drive all the way to Russia’s main oil fields at Baku. But first, the Germans needed to eliminate the Russian armies on the flank in the Crimea. The commanders selected to lead this operation were Gen. Erich von Manstein, commander of the Eleventh Army, and Wolfram von Richthofen, now a colonel general.

The two generals met in the spring of 1942 and immediately found common ground. Richthofen noted that Manstein, unlike other senior army generals, was “surprisingly mellow and accommodating. He understood everything. It was completely uplifting.” Manstein remarked that the strong and accurate air support from Richthofen’s units “pulled the infantry forward” through successive Russian defense lines with relatively low losses. For the next year, the two men would form one of the most productive command partnerships of the war.

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