Bio of General der Kavallerie Rudolf Koch-Erpach

 

Koch-Erpach was born in Munich, and eventually rose to the rank of general. In 1939, he commanded the German 8th Infantry Division during the invasion of Poland. On 24 June 1940, after the Battle of France he was awarded a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. From 1 November 1940 to 1 March 1941, Koch-Erpach commanded the German LX Corps. After a short break, he briefly commanded the XXXV Corps from 1 April 1941 to 1 May 1941. Koch-Erpach commanded Military District VIII from 1 May 1942 to 26 January 1945. The headquarters for this military district was Breslau and the district included Silesia, Sudetenland, parts of Moravia, and parts of southwestern Poland. Military District VIII ceased operations in February 1945. From 26 January 1945 to 10 April 1945, Koch-Erpach commanded the LVI Panzer Corps. Later in 1945, Koch-Erpach was acting commander of the German 1st Army for two days before the war ended, from 6 May to 8 May. He died in Bad Boll. 

General der Kavallerie Rudolf Koch-Erpach
Born: 09 Apr 1886 in Munich (München)
Died: 27 Nov 1971 in Karlsruhe, Baden

Promotions:
Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier (01 Dec 1904); Fähnrich (04 Mar 1905); Leutnant (06 Mar 1906); Oberleutnant (25 Jun 1913); Hauptmann (01 Mar 1916); Rittmeister (19 May 1916); Major (01 Nov 1924); Oberstleutnant (01 Oct 1929); Oberst (01 Apr 1932); Generalmajor (01 Jan 1935); Generalleutnant (01 Apr 1937); General der Kavallerie (01 Dec 1940)

Career:
Entered Army Service (22 Jul 1904)
Fahnenjunker in the 2nd Bavarian Ulanen-Regiment (22 Jul 1904-22 Apr 1910)
Detached to the War-School Munich (01 Mar 1905-07 Feb 1906)
Transferred into the 6th Chevaulegers-Regiment (22 Apr 1910-01 Aug 1914)
Detached to the Bavarian Military Riding School (01 Oct 1910-30 Sep 1912)
Detached to the Bavarian War Academy (01 Oct 1912-31 Jul 1914)
Ordinance-Officer & Signals-Officer with the General-Command of III. Bavarian Army-Corps (01 Aug 1914-26 Dec 1915)
Transferred to the Chief of the General Staff of the Field Army for Special Use and Assigned to the Staff of the German-Persian Military Mission (26 Dec 1915-14 Feb 1915)
Transferred to the High Command in Persia as 2nd General-Staff-Officer (14 Feb 1915-01 Jul 1916)
Recieved Rank as Hauptmann in the General Staff (01 Mar 1916)
General-Staff-Officer with the k.u.k. Austrian XII. Corps (02 Jul 1916-17 Jul 1916)
Transferred to the Staging-Inspection of the South-Army and Liaison-Officer to the k.u.k. 3rd Army subordinated German Troops (17 Jul 1916-23 Oct 1916)
Transferred to Staging-Inspection 15, detached as Liaison-Officer with the k.u.k. 1st Army & Director of the German Branch-Office with Army High Command 1 (23 Oct 1916-01 Nov 1916)
German Supply Officer (Ic) with the k.u.k. Army High Command 1 (01 Nov 1916-15 Dec 1916)
1st General-Staff-Officer with Staging-Command 22 (15 Dec 1916-24 Apr 1917)
2nd General-Staff-Officer of the 16th Bavarian Infantry-Division (24 Apr 1917-12 Nov 1917)
Transferred into the General-Staff of the 6th Bavarian Reserve-Division (12 Nov 1917-11 Feb 1918)
At the same time, Delegated with the Leadership of I. Battalion of the 16th Bavarian Reserve-Infantry-Regiment (10 Nov 1917-07 Jan 1918)
Assigned to Army-Group Kronprinz Rupprecht for Special Use (11 Feb 1918-20 Nov 1918)
3rd General-Staff-Officer of Army-Group Kronprinz Rupprecht (20 Nov 1918-13 Dec 1918)
Deputy Senior-Quartermaster of Army-Group A (13 Dec 1918-02 Jan 1919)
Leader of the Forward-Command of Army-Group A (02 Jan 1919-07 Jan 1919)
Transferred to the 5th Chevaulegers-Regiment (07 Jan 1919-26 Jan 1919)
Detached to the Army-Department of the Bavarian Ministry for Millitary Affairs (26 Jan 1919-01 Aug 1919)
Transferred as Auxiliary-Officer in the RWM (01 Aug 1919-01 Oct 1923)
Squadron-Chief in the 17th Mounted-Regiment (01 Oct 1923-01 Aug 1927)
Transferred to the Staff of the 7th Division (01 Aug 1927-01 Sep 1929)
Commander of the 17th Mounted-Regiment (01 Sep 1929-01 Oct 1932)
Transferred to the Staff of the 7th Mounted-Regiment (01 Oct 1932-01 Nov 1932)
Chief of Staff of the 1st Cavalry-Division (01 Nov 1932-01 Apr 1934)
Commander of the 3rd Cavalry-Brigade (01 Apr 1934-13 May 1935)
Commander of the 8th Infantry-Division (13 May 1935-01 Nov 1940)
Commanding General of Higher Command LX (01 Nov 1940-01 Mar 1941)
Commanding General of Higher Command XXXV (01 Apr 1941-01 May 1941)
Führer-Reserve OKH (15 May 1941-15 Jul 1941)
Commander of Liaison-Staff Breslau (15 Jul 1941-01 May 1942)
Führer-Reserve OKH (01 May 1942-01 May 1942)
Commanding General of the Replacement VIII. Army-Corps and Commander in Military-District VIII (01 May 1942-16 Feb 1945)
Commanding General of LVI. Panzer-Corps (16 Feb 1945-00 Mar 1945)
Commanding General of Corps-Group Schlesien (00 Mar 1945-11 Apr 1945)
Führer-Reserve OKH & Detached to the Staff of Commander-in-Chief West (11 Apr 1945-06 May 1945)
Delegated with the Leadership of the 1st Army (06 May 1945-08 May 1945)
In US Captivity then Interned (08 May 1945-1948)
Released (1948)

Awards & Decorations:
- Ritterkreuz: am 24.06.1940 als Generalleutnant und Kommandeur 8. Infanterie-Division
- Deutsches Kreuz in Silber: am 24.11.1944 als General der Kavallerie und Kommandierender General des stellv. VIII. Armeekorps und Befehlshaber im Wehrkreis VIII (Breslau)
- 1914 EK I
- 1914 EK II
- Kgl. Bayer. Prinz-Regent-Luitpold Jubiläums-Medaille
- Kgl. Bayer. Militär-Verdienstorden IV. Klasse mit Schwertern
- Kgl. Bayer. Militär-Verdienstorden IV. Klasse mit Schwertern und mit der Krone
- k.u.k. Österr. Militär-Verdienstkreuz III. Klasse mit der Kriegsdekoration und mit goldener Spange
- Türkische Silberne Liakat-(Verdienst)-Medaille mit Säbel
- Türkischer Eiserner Halbmond
- Offizierkreuz des Kgl. Bulgar. Militär-Verdienstorden
- Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
- Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV. bis I. Klasse
- Spange zum EK I
- Spange zum EK II
- Kriegsverdienstkreuz II. Klasse mit Schwertern
- Kriegsverdienstkreuz I. Klasse mit Schwertern

Source :
Photo courtesy of Graveland
http://www.geocities.ws/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/HEER/General2/KOCHERPACH-RUDOLF.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Koch-Erpach