Generalleutnant
Hans Ferdinand Geisler was put in command of the newly formed
Flieger-Division on 3 September 1939, based at
Blankenese. Initially its force was the
Heinkel He 111 bombers of
Kampfgeschwader 26. Geisler's Division was allocated the new
Junkers Ju 88 bombers which were still being brought into service with
Kampfgeschwader 25, on 7 September this was redesignated
Kampfgeschwader 30. The Corps was stationed in north Germany in February 1940 when some of its aircraft were involved in a disastrous
friendly fire incident that terminated the
Kriegsmarine's
Operation Wikinger. In early 1941, X. Fliegerkorps was transferred from Norway to
Sicily to support the build-up of the
Afrika Korps in Libya. On 12 January 1941, it had 80
Ju 88A-4 bombers of
LG 1 and 12 Ju 88D-5 reconnaissance planes at
Catania, 80
Ju 87R-1 ("Stuka") dive-bombers of
StG 1 and
StG 2 at
Trapani, 27
He 111H-6 torpedo bombers of
KG 26 at
Comiso and 34
Bf 110C-4 fighters of
ZG 26 at
Palermo. It was prominent in the axis effort to suppress
Royal Navy interference with the supply routes from Italy by reducing
Malta's effectiveness as a forward base. On 10 and 11 January 1941 X. Fliegerkorps planes sank and heavily damaged during
Operation Excess.
Bf 109E-7 fighters of
JG 26 and
JG 27 joined the offensive on Malta during February and March 1941. In the spring of 1940, the Luftwaffe assigned all flying units intended for the conquest of Norway (
Operation Weserübung) to the corps. The
X. Fliegerkorps was active there from April 1940 onwards to conquer the country and combat Allied naval operations. The Corps was moved out of Sicily in April 1941 for the
Invasion of Yugoslavia and
Greece. Maritime float planes replaced fighters and dive bombers while the Corps was stationed in
Greece. Strength on 10 May 1942 was 74 Ju 88 at
Eleusis and
Heraklion, 25 He 111 at Kalamaki, and 53
Ar 196A-3,
He 60c,
Fokker T.VIII and
Bv 138C-1 at
Skaramagas and
Kavalla. The Corps was crucial in securing air superiority and German victory during the 1943
Dodecanese Campaign. The Corps was renamed to
Kommandierender General der Deutschen Luftwaffe in Griechenland (commanding general of the German Luftwaffe in Greece) in March 1944 and disbanded on 5 September 1944 with the withdrawal of German forces from the country. ==Commanding officers==