General Major Georg Weiner began his military career as a flying ace

Flying ace

A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...

 during World War I, being credited with nine aerial victories. He would continue in Germany's military service, rising to the rank of Generalmajor during World War II.

Early life

Georg Weiner was born in Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

, Germany on 22 August 1895. He joined the German Army

German Army

The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...

 early in World War I, on 22 August 1914.

Promotions and appointments

22 November 1914: Enlisted as Gefreiter

Gefreiter

Gefreiter is the German, Swiss and Austrian equivalent for the military rank Private . Gefreiter was the lowest rank to which an ordinary soldier could be promoted. As a military rank it has existed since at least the 16th century...

14 January 1915: Promoted to Unteroffizier

Unteroffizier

Unteroffizier is both a specific military rank as well as a collective term for non-commissioned officers of the German military that has existed since the 19th century. The rank existed as a title as early as the 17th century with the first widespread usage occurring in the Bavarian Army of the...

 and Fahnenjunker

16 April 1915: Appointed as Fahnrich

Fähnrich

Fähnrich is a German and Austrian military rank in armed forces which translates as "Ensign" in English. The rank also exists in a few other European military organizations, often with historical ties to the German system. Examples are Sweden, Norway and Finland . The French Army has a similar...

25 June 1915: Commissioned as Leutnant

Duty assignments

22 November 1914: Began service in the ranks of the 103rd Infantry Regiment

1 January 1915: Promoted to lead an infantry platoon and company

2 August 1915: Assigned to staff duty as an Ordnance Officer with 244th Reserve Infantry Regiment

20 March 1916: Detached for pilot training with 5th Flying Replacement Battalion and at the Military Flying School at Halberstadt

Halberstadt

Halberstadt is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and the capital of the district of Harz. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road and the Magdeburg–Thale railway....

2 September 1916: Assigned to pilot's duty with Jagdstaffel 38

4 November 1916: Advanced training with 7th Flying Replacement Battalion, Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

21 November 1916: Assigned to Jagdstaffel 20

Jagdstaffel 20

Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 20 was a fighter squadron of the Luftstreitkräfte, which was the forerunner to the Luftwaffe.-History:Jasta 20 was founded in the 2 Armee sector on 25 October 1916. On 24 December 1916, it suffered its first casualty. In turn, on 11 March 1917, the unit scored its first...

 as a pilot

24 June 1917: Hospitalized with wound in the Naval Hospital in Brugges

15 July 1917: Posted to training and inspection duties

17 August 1917: Transferred to pilot's duty with Kest 3

5 September 1918: Appointed as Staffelführer

Staffelführer

Staffelführer was one of the first paramilitary ranks used by the German Schutzstaffel in the early years of that group’s existence...

to command Jagdstaffel 3

List of aerial victories

See also Aerial victory standards of World War I

Aerial victory standards of World War I

During World War I, the national air services involved developed their own methods of assessing and assigning credit for aerial victories.The victory scores of the pilots represented at List of World War I flying aces often cannot be definitive, but are based on itemized lists that are the best...

No.	Date/time	Aircraft	Foe	Result	Location	Notes
1	23 March 1917		Nieuport Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars.-Beginnings:...	Destroyed	Vendeuil Vendeuil Vendeuil is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France....
2	6 March 1918		Spad Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés SPAD was a French aircraft manufacturer between 1911 and 1921. Its SPAD S.XIII biplane was the most popular French fighter airplane in World War I.-Deperdussin:...	Destroyed	Eschen Eschen Eschen is a municipality in the north of Liechtenstein. As of 2005 it has a population of 4,150, and covers an area of 10.3 km². It is the fourth largest city in Liechtenstein.-External links:*...	Victim was from Escadrille 81
3	18 May 1918 @ 0940 hours		Spad	Destroyed	Southwest of Armaucourt Armaucourt Armaucourt is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France....	Victim was from Escadrille 90
4	1 June 1918 @ 0650 hours		Airco DH.4 serial number A7482	Destroyed	Antullen	Victim was from No. 55 Squadron RAF No. 55 Squadron RAF No. 55 Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1916 at Castle Bromwich as a unit of the Royal Flying Corps. No. 55 Squadron was the last RAF Squadron to operationally fly the Handley Page Victor, in its Victor K.2 in-flight refuelling tanker role. It was subsequently a...
5	7 September 1918	Fokker D.VII Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...	Airco DH.9 Airco DH.9 The Airco DH.9 - also known after 1920 as the de Havilland DH.9 - was a British bomber used in the First World War...	Destroyed	Dasburg Dasburg Dasburg is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. Before Napoleon it was a part of Luxembourg....	Victim was from the RAF's Independent Air Force Independent Air Force The Independent Air Force , also known as the Independent Force or the Independent Bombing Force and later known as the Inter-Allied Independent Air Force, was a World War I strategic bombing force which was part of the British Royal Air Force and used to strike against German railways, aerodromes...
6	7 September 1918	Fokker D.VII	Airco DH.9	Destroyed	Burscheid Burscheid Burscheid is a town in the Rheinisch-Bergischer district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town is known for its sub-communities and the town centre with its marketplace and churches....	Victim was from the Independent Air Force
7	16 September 1918 @ 1330 hours	Fokker D.VII	Airco DH.9 s/n F5712	Destroyed	Alteckendorf Alteckendorf Alteckendorf is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-Geography:Alteckendorf is located at an altitude of 117 metres above sea level, in between the Vosges Mountains and Germany. The Landsgraben stream, a tributary of the Zorn, flows through the village...	Victim was from No. 55 Squadron RAF
8	17 September 1918	Fokker D.VII	Breguet 14 Breguet 14 -See also:-References:*Tomasz J. Kowalski, Samolot Breguet 14, TBiU no.197, Warsaw 2002, ISBN 83-11-09461-6...	Destroyed	Falkenberg
9	5 October 1918	Fokker D.VII	Airco DH.9a	Destroyed	Heimbach Heimbach Heimbach is a town in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, in the Eifel hills, approx. 20 km south of Düren. Heimbach is the city with the smallest number of residents in North Rhine-Westphalia...	Victim was from No. 110 Squadron RAF No. 110 Squadron RAF -Formation and World War I:No. 110 Squadron RFC was formed on 1 November 1917, at Rendcomb, Gloucestershire and was equipped with B.E.2c aircraft. The squadron moved to Kenley the following year and re-equipped with the DH.9A - the first squadron to employ this aircraft. Its original complement of...

Promotions and appointments

1 April 1925: Promoted to oberleutnant

Oberleutnant

Oberleutnant is a junior officer rank in the militaries of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Translated as "Senior Lieutenant", the rank is typically bestowed upon commissioned officers after five to six years of active duty...

1 February 1930: Promoted to hauptmann

Hauptmann

Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the dated meaning of "head", i.e...

1 April 1935: Promoted to major

Major

Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

1 March 1937: Promoted to oberstleutnant

Oberstleutnant

Oberstleutnant is a German Army and Air Force rank equal to Lieutenant Colonel, above Major, and below Oberst.There are two paygrade associated to the rank of Oberstleutnant...

1 June 1939: Promoted to oberst

Oberst

Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...

Duty assignments

29 November 1918: Demobilization duties with 6th Flying Replacement Battalion, Jagdstaffel 5

Jagdstaffel 5

Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 5, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 5, was founded on 21 August 1916, as one of the first fighter squadrons of the predecessor to the Luftwaffe, the Luftstreitkräfte.It was founded upon KEK Avillers, itself an early attempt to utilize fighter planes as winged weapons...

1 June 1919: Pilot with Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

's Artillery Flying Squadron Großenhain

Großenhain

Großenhain is a Große Kreisstadt in the district of Meißen, Saxony, Germany.-History:...

1 October 1919: Seconded to Airbase Großenhain

8 May 1920: Assigned to ground duty as technical officer with Light Motor Vehicle Column 4

1 October 1920: Platoon leader with Motor Transport

Motor transport

Motor transport refers to the operation and maintenance of a military vehicle fleet , and sometimes to the servicemembers to operate and maintain them. Traditionally, motor transport organizations are responsible for a unit's military trucks and associated equipment, as well as the transport of...

 Battalions

1 April 1925: Began weapon technology studies at the Technical Studies College Dresden

Dresden University of Technology

The Technische Universität Dresden is the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, the largest university in Saxony and one of the 10 largest universities in Germany with 36,066 students...

, which led to his Diploma in Engineering

Diploma in Engineering

The Diploma of Engineering Studies aims to provide students with the ability to communicate effectively in English; a sound knowledge of basic engineering, scientific, computing and mathematical techniques; a knowledge of, and ability to apply, basic problem solving techniques; and basic knowledge...

, awarded 21 March 1932

1 April 1932: Assigned as advisor in the Army Weapons Office

1 April 1933: Posted to staff duty with various motor transport battalions

1 April 1935: Transferred into Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

 as Battery Chief of Flak Battalion Lubeck

15 March 1936: Director of the Luftwaffe's Test Site in Rechlin

Rechlin

Rechlin is a municipality in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. The town's airport has a long history and was the Luftwaffe's main testing ground for new aircraft designs during the Third Reich....

1 December 1936: Staff duty with Fighter Group I/137 at Bernburg

Bernburg

Bernburg is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the district of Salzlandkreis. It is situated on the river Saale, approx. 30 km downstream from Halle. The town is dominated by its huge Renaissance castle featuring a museum as well as a popular, recently updated bear pit in its...

1 March 1937: Appointed to command Fighter Group I/137

Duty assignments

1 June 1939: Assigned to command the 71st Flying Training Regiment

27 May 1940: Tasked as Airport Area Commandant, Jessau/Insterburg

1941: Served as Air Region Column Leader for Holland

1942: Served as Air Region Column Leader for Italy and North Africa

1 July 1943: Assigned as Director of the travel staff with the Luftwaffe personnel office

1 April 1944: Transferred to reserves of the OKL

1 July 1944: Assigned to special duties with Air Region Command VI

28 February 1945: Retired from military service

Post World War II

Generalmajor Georg Weiner was detained by the victorious Russians in the aftermath of the War, and imprisoned in the Soviet Union on 5 October 1945. He would not be released until 26 September 1949.

He died on 24 January 1957 in Gottingen

Göttingen

Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...

, Germany.

Honors and awards

1914 Iron Cross

Iron Cross

The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....

 first and second class

Pilot's Badge

Ritterkreuz second class Albrechts Order with Swords

Ritterkreuz service medal second class with swords

Black Wound Badge

Wound Badge

Wound Badge was a German military award for wounded or frost-bitten soldiers of Imperial German Army in World War I, the Reichswehr between the wars, and the Wehrmacht, SS and the auxiliary service organizations during the Second World War. After March 1943, due to the increasing number of Allied...

Aviator's Commemorative Badge

Honor Cross for Combatants

Honour Cross for Combatants

The Honour Cross for Combatants was one of three versions of the Cross of Honor to be awarded.- Recipients :* Walther von Brauchitsch* Wilhelm Keitel* Günther von Kluge* Erwin Rommel* Albert Kesselring* Erwin von Witzleben* Erich von Manstein...

Wehrmacht Long Service Award

Wehrmacht Long Service Award

The Wehrmacht Long Service Award was a military service decoration of Nazi Germany issued for satisfactory completion of a given years of military service...

 fourth to the first class

Africa Sleeve Band

Reference

• Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914-1918. Norman Franks
  Norman Franks
  Norman Leslie Robert Franks is an English writer who specialises in aviation books on the pilots and squadrons of World Wars I and II.-Biography:...
  
  , Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1993. ISBN 0948817739, 9780948817731.
• Fokker D VII Aces of World War 1, Part 2: Aircraft of the Aces 63: Osprey Aircraft of the Aces. Norman Franks, Greg VanWyngarden. Osprey Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1841767298, 9781841767291.