Born in Hamburg, Moritz joined the military service of the Wehrmacht in 1933 and later transferred to the Luftwaffe.

Posted to Zerstörergeschwader 1 (ZG 1—1st Destroyer Wing), he flew his first combat missions during the Invasion of Poland.

Transferred to Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing), Moritz claimed his first aerial victory on 6 July 1940.

[2] World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland.

During this campaign, Moritz flew missions on the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter with II.

[3] The Gruppe was under command of Major Hellmuth Reichardt and based at an airfield at Frankfurt (Oder).

Gruppe of Kampfgeschwader 26 (KG 26—26th Bomber Wing) in their attack on the Polish airfields near Poznań.

Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) which at the time was based in Norway and commanded by Hauptmann Karl Hentschel.

[7] In November 1940, Moritz succeeded Hauptmann Theodor Cammann as Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 6.

[9] In January 1941, Moritz was posted to the Jagdfliegerschule 4, the fighter pilot school at Fürth Airfield.

Gruppe was based at Novodugino, north of Vyazma on the Eastern Front, and fighting in the Battle of Rzhev.

[17][18] In October 1943, Moritz was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing) where he was given command of 6.

Similar to the experimental Sturmstaffel 1 (1st Assault Squadron) of JG 3, the Gruppe was equipped with the heavily armored variant of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A series.

Every pilot of the Gruppe was asked to sign a contract, declaring that they would commit themselves to pressing attacks on the bombers to point-blank range, and that aerial ramming should be considered.

[19][20][21] Moritz claimed his first aerial victory in Defense of the Reich on 22 April when 803 bombers of the USAAF Eighth Air Force targeted various German transportation targets in western Germany, in particular the railroad classification yard in Hamm.

[22] On 29 April, 679 USAAF bombers, escorted by 814 fighters, headed von Berlin to bomb the capital.

[24] On the second mission, the Gruppe intercepted the bombers on their return from the target area at 13:20 in the vicinity of Gardelegen.

Gruppe relocated to Illesheim Airfield located 18 kilometers (11 miles) northeast of Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

[26] The following day, a force of 1,129 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators of the USAAF Eighth Air Force set out from England to bomb aircraft factories in the Leipzig area and the synthetic oil plants at Boehlen, Leuna-Merseburg and Lützkendorf.

Dahl and Moritz drove the attack to point-blank range behind the Liberators of the 492d Bombardment Group before opening fire.

Gruppe was ordered to an airfield at Stömede, located approximately 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) south of Lippstadt.

While I. Gruppe lost its commander in a takeoff accident, Moritz aircraft got stuck in the mud during taxiing.

To avoid legal prosecution, Major Heinz Bär, the Geschwaderkommodore of JG 3, had Moritz transferred to IV.