Ibel was born on 2 January 1896 in
Munich, the capital of the
Kingdom of Bavaria within the
German Empire. He joined the Army as a cadet in July 1915, serving with the 1st Bavarian Pioneer battalion, and was commissioned as an officer in August 1916. When the war ended he remained in the German Army, serving with the First Engineer Battalion in Munich, becoming adjutant in mid 1919. In July 1928 he left the Army for pilot training at the
Lipetsk fighter-pilot school in the Soviet Union, where Luftwaffe aircrew were secretly trained. After returning to Germany, in May 1932 Ibel was promoted to Hauptmann, and served as an Instructor with the flight school (
Jagdfliegerschule) in
Schleissheim. In November 1935 he was promoted to Major. In May 1936, he was transferred to command
Jagdgeschwader 134 in
Dortmund. On 1 April 1936, I.
Gruppe (1st group) of
Jagdgeschwader 232 (JG 232—232nd Fighter Wing) a newly formed in
Bernburg and placed under the command of
Major Bruno Loerzer. The
Gruppe was equipped with the
Heinkel He 51 A and B, as well as with a few
Arado Ar 65. In consequence, Ibel was appointed
Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 1.
Staffel (1st squadron) of JG 232. On 8 October, he was transferred to take command of 3.
Staffel which had also been created on 1 April without appointing a
Staffelkapitän. Command of 1.
Staffel was passed on to
Oberleutnant Fritz Schleif. On 15 March 1937, Ibel was transferred and tasked with the creation of I.
Gruppe of
Jagdgeschwader 135 (JG 135—135th Fighter Wing) at
Bad Aibling, becoming the first
Gruppenkommandeur (group commander). Initially, the
Gruppe was also equipped with the He 51. In November, the
Gruppe received the
Messerschmitt Bf 109 B and the Bf 109 D-1 in March 1938. During the
Anschluss in March 1938, (the unification between Germany and Austria) the
Gruppe was briefly moved to
Hörsching Airfield near
Linz before returning to Bad Aibling on 30 April.
Wing commander On 7 November 1938, Ibel was appointed
Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of
Jagdgeschwader 231 (JG 231—231st Fighter Wing) at Bernburg, which was equipped with the Bf 109 D-1. On 1 May 1939, the unit was renamed and from then on was known as
Jagdgeschwader 3. On 26 August, JG 3 was ordered to relocate to
Brandis near
Leipzig, and tasked with protecting the central German industrial area. World War II in Europe began less than a week later on Friday 1 September when German forces
invaded Poland. Following four weeks of relative inactivity, JG 3 was ordered to
Münster-Handorf Airfield and Ibel was replaced by
Oberstleutnant Carl Vieck as commander of JG 3. At Münster-Handorf, Ibel was tasked with the creation of the newly formed
Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing) on 1 October. The
Geschwaderstab (headquarters unit) of JG 27 was created by splitting up the
Geschwaderstab of JG 3, Ibel's former command, in two. Ibel was assigned
Hauptmann Joachim Schlichting as his
adjutant, replaced by
Hauptmann Adolf Galland on 15 February 1940. He led JG 27 successfully during the
Battle of France and the
Battle of Britain until October 1940. Ibel was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 22 August 1940 for his leadership of JG 27. On 10 October, Ibel transferred command of JG 27 to
Major Bernhard Woldenga.
Luftwaffe commander In October 1940, Ibel became commander of
Jagdfliegerschule 4 (Fighter Pilot School), where he remained until June 1941. He was then promoted to Generalmajor, and appointed
Jagdfliegerführer 3 (Jafü 3) in occupied France. In February 1942, Ibel served as liaison officer with the
Kriegsmarine in
Operation Donnerkeil. The objective of this operation was to give the German
battleships and and the
heavy cruiser fighter protection in the breakout from
Brest to Germany. The
Channel Dash operation (11–13 February 1942) by the Kriegsmarine was codenamed Operation Cerberus by the Germans. In support of this, the Luftwaffe, formulated an
air superiority plan dubbed Operation Donnerkeil for the protection of the three German capital ships. The route was divided into three sectors based upon the
Jafü (Fighter Sector) boundaries. Ibel had been appointed
Jagdfliegerführer Schiff, shortened to
Jafü Schiff (Fighter Controller Ship) and had embarked on
Scharnhorst as a signals officer to communicate with Luftwaffe units during the operation. In December 1942, he became the
Jagdfliegerführer West, and in October 1943 assumed command of
2. Jagd-Division, located in northern Germany. During the last two years of the War Ibel was commander of 2. Jagd-Division and at the very end of the War he became Inspector of Jet operations. ==Later life==