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Son of a Bavarian police captain. Greim was an army cadet before World War I and initially served in the artillery before transferring to the German Air Service ( Fliegertruppe ) in 1915. First flying two seaters Greim then joined the Jasta 34b flyers for a period in 1918, after Jasta 34b had been equipped with 'cast-off's from Jagdgeschwader (I). Even though the machines were second hand, they were warmly welcomed by Jasta 34b as being superior to the older Albatros and Pfalz fighters they had been previously equipped with. In June 1918 Greim had an encounter with a Bristol Fighter, and his aircraft lost its cowling. This struck and damaged his top wing, along with the lower left interplane strut, but he managed to land the machine successfully.
By the war's end he had scored 28 victories, and had been awarded the Pour le Mérite, and the Bavarian Max-Joseph Order. This latter award made him a Knight (Ritter), and allowed him to add the title 'von' to his name.
Greim was invited by Hermann Göring in 1933 to help rebuild the German Air Force and in 1934Events January-April January 1 Alcatraz becomes a federal prison. January 7 First Flash Gordon comic strip is published. January 10 Execution of Marinus van der Lubbe January 24 Einstein visits White House January 26 The Apollo Theater opens in Harlem, Ne was nominated for the command of the first school of fighter pilots. In 1938Events January -June January 3 The March of Dimes is established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. January 11 Frances Moulton is the first woman to become president of a US national bank. January 20 Wedding of king Farouk I of Egypt and Farida Zulficar in Cai he assumed command of the department of research techniques in the LuftwaffeThe Luftwaffe (literally, "air weapon", prounounced looft-vaaf-fa) is the air force of Germany. World War I Founded during World War I with the emergence of military aircraft, the Luftwaffe utilized a wide variety of aircraft. After the war ended, it was. Greim would be involved in the Battle of BritainA major campaign of World War II, the Battle of Britain is the name for the attempt by Germany's Luftwaffe to gain control of British airspace and destroy the Royal Air Force (RAF). Secondary objectives were to destroy aircraft production and intimidate t, and Operation BarbarossaOperation Barbarossa Unternehmen Barbarossa was the German codename for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II, which commenced on June 22, 1941. It was to be the turning point for the fortunes of Hitler's Third Reich, in that the. Hitler awarded Greim with the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, which made him the most highly decorated pilot in the two World WarGlobal War A world war is a military conflict affecting the majority of the world's countries. World wars usually span multiple continents, and are very bloody and destructive. The term is usually used to refer to World War 1 ( 1914 1918) and World War IIs.
When the SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR ( Russian: ; tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (SSSR) also called the Soviet Union ( ; tr. Sovetsky Soyuz , was a state in much of the northern region of Eurasia that existed from 1922 until 1 forces had reached Berlin and the Reich was all but doomed, Greim tried to convince Hitler to flee Berlin with him. Hitler refused but promoted Greim to Generalfeldmarschall, making him the last German officer to achieve the rank of Field Marshal. Hitler also made Greim head of the Luftwaffe, dismissing Göring for treason.
Wounded from his landing in Berlin, Greim was still able to leave the city and was later captured by American soldiers on the day of the surrender of the Third Reich. Greim, however was to be part of a Soviet-American prisoner exchange program and fearing execution, and torture at the hands of the Soviets committed suicide on May 24, 1945. His final words before taking potassium cyanide were: "I am the head of the Luftwaffe but I have no Luftwaffe."