Hans Ritter – General der Luftwaffe beim Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine

Original Postwar Signature on a Postwar Photo of Hans Ritter. General der Flieger Hans Ritter (2 March 1893, Harburg an der Elbe † 21 May 1991, Munich) began his military career on 1 April 1912 when he entered the Imperial Navy as a cadet. He trained aboard the Hertha and served on several capital ships before transferring to naval aviation in 1916. As a seaplane pilot, he served in Kurland and Flanders, later becoming Adjutant of the I. Seeflieger-Abteilung. After the war, he remained in the Reichsmarine, where he continued his naval and aviation career, eventually transferring to the Luftwaffe in 1935.

During the Second World War, Ritter rose to General der Flieger. He served as General der Luftwaffe beim Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine, Inspector of the Naval Air Arm in the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, and Commander of the Marinefliegerverbände. Promoted to Generalmajor in 1939, Generalleutnant in 1940, and General der Flieger in 1942, he held several high-level posts before being placed in the Führerreserve in September 1944 and formally released from service in January 1945.

Captured by Soviet forces in July 1945, Ritter was taken to the USSR, where a Soviet military tribunal sentenced him. He was released in the mid-1950s and lived in Munich until his death in 1991.

Item Details:

• Original postwar signed photograph of General der Flieger Hans Ritter.

• Size: small size.

• Condition: very good.