Saturday, December 25, 2021

Bio of General der Panzertruppe Walther Nehring (1892-1983)

General der Panzertruppe Walther Kurt Nehring

Born: 15.08.1892 in Stretzin / Kreis Schlochau / Westpreußen.
Died: 20.04.1983 in Düsseldorf.

Promotions:
16.09.1914 Fahnenjunker
18.02.1914 Leutnant (mit Patent vom 22.02.1914)
06.06.1915 Oberleutnant
01.03.1923 Hauptmann
00.00.193_ Major
01.10.1934 Oberstleutnant
01.03.1937 Oberst
01.08.1940 Generalmajor
01.02.1942 Generalleutnant
01.07.1942 General der Panzertruppe

Commands & Assignments:
01.10.1937 - 01.07.1939 (?) Kommandeur of Panzer-Regiment 5.
01.07.1939 - 01.06.1940 Chef des Generalstabes of XIX.Armee-Korps.
01.06.1940 - 26.10.1940 Chef des Generalstabes of Panzergruppe Guderian.
26.10.1940 - 25.01.1942 Kommandeur of 18.Panzer-Division.
09.03.1942 - 31.08.1942 Kommandierender General of the Deutsche AFrika Korps.
15.11.1942 - 09.12.1942 Befehlshaber in Tunesien.
10.02.1943 - 27.06.1944 Kommandierender General of XXIV.Panzer-Korps.
28.06.1944 - 05.08.1944 stellvertretender Führer of 4.Panzer-Armee (in temporary command due to the absence of the permanent Oberbefehlshaber, Josef Harpe).
20.08.1944 - 19.03.1945 Kommandierender General of XXIV.Panzer-Korps.
22.03.1945 - 03.04.1945 Führer of 1.Panzer-Armee.

Decorations & Awards:
22.01.1945 Schwertern zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (124.) as General der Panzertruppe and Kom. Gen. XXIV.Panzer-Korps, Eastern Front
08.02.1944 Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes as General der Panzertruppe and Kom. Gen. XXIV.Panzer-Korps / 4.Panzer-Armee / Heeresgruppe Süd, Eastern Front
24.07.1941 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes as Generalmajor and Kdr. 18.Panzer-Division / XXXXVII.Armee-Korps (mot.) / Panzergruppe 2 / Heeresgruppe Mitte, Eastern Front
29.09.1939 1939 Spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse
11.09.1939 1939 Spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse
25.11.1917 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse
27.01.1915 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse
00.00.194_ Panzerkampfabzeichen in Silber
02.09.1943 Verwundetenabzeichen, 1939 in Gold
ca. 1918 Verwundetenabzeichen, 1918 in Silber
00.00.1943 Ärmelband "Afrika"
00.00.1942 Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42"
00.00.19__ Spange "Prager Burg" zur Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938
00.00.19__ Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938
ca. 1934 Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
00.00.193_ Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV. bis I. Klasse
00.06.1942 Silver Medal for Bravery (Italy)
00.00.193_ Österr. Kriegs-Erinnerungs-Medaille mit Schwertern
00.00.193_ War Commemorative Medal with Swords (Hungary)
00.00.193_ War Commemorative Medal with Swords (Bulgaria)
00.00.1971 Westpreußen-Medaille
27.07.1973 Verdienstkreuz I. Klasse des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walther Nehring (15 August 1892 – 20 April 1983) was born on 15 August 1892 in Stretzin, West Prussia. Nehring was the descendant of a Dutch family who had fled the Netherlands to escape religious persecution in the seventeenth century. His father, Emil Nehring, was an estate owner and officer of the Military Reserve. While Nehring was still a child the family moved to Danzig.

Nehring joined the military service on 16 September 1911 in the Infanterie-Regiment 152. He became a commissioned Leutnant on 18 December 1913.

On 26 October 1940 he received command of the 18th Panzer Division at Chemnitz, which he commanded during the operations Barbarossa and Typhoon. The division led by Nehring stands accused of war crimes by numerous accounts.

Nehring took command of the Afrika Korps in May 1942 and took part in the last major Axis offensive (Operation Brandung) of the Western Desert campaign and the subsequent Battle of Alam Halfa (31 August - 7 September 1942), during which he was wounded in an air raid. Between November and December 1942, he commanded the LXXXX Army Corps, the German contingent in Tunisia.

After North Africa, Nehring was posted to the Eastern Front where he commanded first the XXIV Panzer Corps, and then from July to August 1944 the Fourth Panzer Army. Nehring then returned to the XXIV in August 1944 and led the Corps until March 1945 when he was made commander of the 1st Panzer Army. During 1944 he was also the commanding officer of the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps.

Following the end of the war, Nehring wrote a comprehensive history of the German panzer forces from 1916 to 1945, Die Geschichte der deutschen Panzerwaffe 1916 bis 1945. He also wrote the foreword to Len Deighton's Blitzkrieg: From the Rise of Hitler to the Fall of Dunkirk.








Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_Nehring
http://www.geocities.ws/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/HEER/General2/NEHRING_WALTHER.html
https://waralbum.ru/336845/

Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke with His Family in the Christmas of 1941

Generalmajor Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke (Kommandeur Ergänzungseinheiten und Schulen des XI. Fliegerkorps) in a formal picture with his family on Christmas Day of 1941. The mother of the children is Ruth Göldner - daughter of Generalleutnant Paul Göldner - who is 20 years younger than her husband. The couple had eight children, with the youngest being Volker Ramcke, who was born in 1952, a year after his father was released from an Allied prison camp. In the photo itself General Ramcke is wearing a Luftwaffe kleinerrock suit, with a bunch of medals pinned to the chest. Of course the most prestigious medal is the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes in his neck, which he got on August 21, 1941, four months before this photo was taken. Ramcke himself then completed his Ritterkreuz "collection" with three more of even higher tiers: Eichenlaub (13 November 1942), Schwerter (19 September 1944), and Brillanten (19 September 1944). The latter made him one of only 27 soldiers in the entire Wehrmacht and SS to have it! The couple's six children make the mother, Ruth Ramcke, eligible for the Mutterkreuz (Mother's Cross), a special medal bestowed by the German government on every mother who gives birth to five or more children, as a token of appreciation for their dedication and sacrifices in raising so many children.

Source:
https://twitter.com/x3892555/status/1220459234988646411

Ritterkreuz Award Ceremony for Wilhelm Eggemann

 
Ritterkreuz award ceremony for Major Wilhelm Eggemann (Kommandeur II.Bataillon / Grenadier-Regiment 94 / 32.Infanterie-Division), which was held on 20 April 1943 at Staraya Russa, Novgorod, Soviet Union. The one draping the medal on the right is Generalleutnant Wilhelm Wegener (Kommandeur 32. Infanterie-Division), while the one helping to drape it in the center is most likely Rittmeister Hans-Joachim von Koeckritz (Kommandeur Aufklärungs-Abteilung 32 / 32.Infanterie-Division). In this photo, Koekritz is seen wearing a schirmmütze (visor hat) with the totenkopf crest on the front. This is because he is a former member of the Reiter-Regiment 5, one of Germany's leading cavalry units with a long history, which members - or former members - proudly displays the skull symbol in their caps.

Eggemann’s Ritterkreuz recommendation reads as follows:

“During the great defensive battle in the time period 26.02.-18.03.1943 the 32. Infanterie-Division defended the area between Borossino and Lowat, with its frontline facing southwards. In this time Major Eggemann and his Bataillon (which was involved in all the major combat from the start and had by now become badly depleted) were deployed to a thick, coverless swampy area east of Koslowo. Following endless artillery fire of all kinds the enemy struck against the front of this Bataillon on the 15.03.1943 with the support of tanks.

On the morning of that day an enemy tank-supported penetration on the left wing of the Bataillon threatened to turn into a breakthrough. A Kompanie which had been temporarily attached to the Bataillon was supposed to withdraw to the positions of the heavy Pak in an orderly fashion. However it was instead threatening to fall into confusion, and had lost contact with its neighbours. The enemy sent in tanks and infantry through the extant frontline gap. An enemy breakthrough seemed inevitable. Such a move would seriously compromise the Regiment, which had by now used up its last reserves. It would probably also make it impossible for the Division to carry out its planned withdrawal to the Redja river during the following night.

In this situation Major Eggemann chose the reckless and yet only feasible option given the circumstances. Using the remnants of his staff and individual soldiers who happened to be in the vicinity, he formed the core of an offensive group. He personally dashed from squad to squad, directing the men of the left Kompanie and compelling them to hold out. He also gathered up individual squads in order to strengthen his own assault group. Now leading at the head of this group, he threw himself at the head of the enemy. He did this despite the exhausted state of his men and having personally been wounded twice in this fighting. With his machine-pistol in hand he was a model for his Grenadiers in the ensuing close combat. Along with his assault group he was able to eliminate the battalion sized enemy force that had penetrated the lines down to the last man. Two enemy tanks also ended up destroyed behind friendly lines. This restored the old combat situation, and the front could now be held until after nightfall, when the planned withdrawal was commenced.

This battlefield success was achieved with energy, boldness and fearless devotion to duty. Furthermore it was the prerequisite for the successful withdrawal of friendly lines to the Redja position. Eggemann’s Bataillon enabled the Regiment to carry out its withdrawal movement without leaving behind any heavy weapons, equipment or ammunition in spite of the extreme difficulties associated with the terrain.”



Source :
Leander Haslerud photo collection
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2013/07/album-foto-32-infanterie-division.html
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/3888/Eggemann-Wilhelm.htm
https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/1939-eisernes-kreuz-forum/minty-ek1-wear-105499/

Friday, December 24, 2021

Bio of Generaloberst Josef Harpe (1887-1968)

Generaloberst Josef Harpe
Born: 21 Sep 1887 in Buer, District Recklinghausen
Died: 14 Mar 1968 in Nuremberg

Promotions:
Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier (01 Mar 1910); Fähnrich (17 May 1910); Leutnant (20 Mar 1911); Oberleutnant (18 Apr 1915); Hauptmann (18 Apr 1918); Major (01 Apr 1931); Oberstleutnant (01 Aug 1934); Oberst (01 Jan 1937); Generalmajor (30 Aug 1940); Generalleutnant (15 Jan 1942); General der Panzertruppe (01 Jun 1942); Generaloberst (20 May 1944)

Career:
Entered Army Service (28 Sep 1909)
Fahnenjunker in the 56th Infantry-Regiment Vogel von Falkenstein (28 Sep 1909-01 Oct 1913)
Adjutant of the III. Battalion of the 56th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1913-15 Nov 1914)
Leader of the 5th Company of the 56th Infantry-Regiment (15 Nov 1914-21 Nov 1914)
Temporary Regiments-Adjutant of the 56th Infantry-Regiment (21 Nov 1914-31 Dec 1914)
Leader of the 5th Company of the 56th Infantry-Regiment (31 Dec 1914-27 Jan 1915)
Temporary Regiments-Adjutant of the 56th Infantry-Regiment (27 Jan 1915-01 Apr 1915)
Regiments-Adjutant of the 56th Infantry-Regiment (01 Apr 1915-20 Aug 1916)
Taken ill - Field-Hospital V/XVI. Army-Corps (20 Aug 1916-15 Sep 1916)
Regiments-Adjutant of the 56th Infantry-Regiment (15 Sep 1916-23 Nov 1917)
Detached to Signals-School of Army-Group Herzog Albrecht von Württemberg in Saarburg (15 Nov 1917-21 Nov 1917)
Temporary Leader of 9th Company of the 56th Infantry-Regiment (23 Nov 1917-16 Jan 1918)
At the same time, Temporary Leader of III. Battalion of the 56th Infantry-Regiment (15 Dec 1917-22 Dec 1917)
Detached to the 43rd Field-Artillery-Regiment (16 Jan 1918-24 Jan 1918)
Detached to the General-Command of XXXVIII. Army-Corps (24 Jan 1918-28 Feb 1918)
Detached to the 43rd Field-Artillery-Regiment (28 Feb 1918-06 Apr 1918)
Detached to the Staff of the 14th Infantry-Division (06 Apr 1918-02 Jun 1918)
Wounded, in Hospital (02 Jun 1918-19 Jun 1918)
Transferred to the Replacement-Battalion of the 56th Infantry-Regiment (19 Jun 1918-24 Jun 1918)
Transferred into a General Staff Position of the 2nd Naval-Division (24 Jun 1918-20 Dec 1918)
Transferred back into the 56th Infantry-Regiment (20 Dec 1918-18 Jan 1919)
Leader of 6th Company of the 56th Infantry-Regiment (18 Jan 1919-21 Feb 1919)
General Staff Officer with Special Duties with the General-Command of VII. Army-Corps (21 Feb 1919-01 Oct 1919)
Transferred into a General Staff Position of the 3rd Reichswehr-Brigade (01 Oct 1919-16 May 1920)
Auxiliary-Officer with the Staff of Military-District-Command VI (16 May 1920-01 Jun 1921)
Detached to the Weapon-Commands with the 6th Motor-Transport-Battalion, 6th Artillery-Regiment & 5th Mounted-Regiment (01 Jun 1921-10 Sep 1921)
Transferred into the 16th Infantry-Regiment (10 Sep 1921-01 Oct 1921)
Detached to the Staff of 6th Division (01 Oct 1921-01 Oct 1922)
Transferred to the Staff of the Commander of the Troop-Exercise-Grounds Arys and Detached to the 1st Motor-Transport-Battalion (01 Oct 1922-01 Jan 1923)
Detached to the 4th Motor-Transport-Battalion (01 Jan 1923-01 Feb 1923)
Company-Chief 3 of the 4th Motor-Transport-Battalion, Leipzig (01 Feb 1923-15 Feb 1928)
Detached to Course with the Motor Transport Training Command Berlin (04 Jan 1927-01 Apr 1928)
Detached to the RWM (15 Feb 1928-01 Apr 1928)
Advisor in the Inspection of Transport Troops/RWM/In 6 and Adjutant of Generalmajor Otto von Stülpnagel (01 Apr 1928-30 Apr 1931)
Retired (30 Apr 1931)
Discharged from the Army pro Forma because of secret Reichs Military Training in the USSR, from 01 May 1931 to 01 Oct 1933 'Station-Director' of the German Combat Vehicle School Hasan [Organisation Kama]. Its pseudonym Direktor Hacker
Reactivated to Army Service (01 Nov 1933)
With Motor-Transport-Instruction-Command Zossen (01 Nov 1933-01 Oct 1934)
Commander of the I. Battalion of Motor-Transport-Instruction-Command Zossen (01 Oct 1934-15 May 1935)
Commander of the 12th Mounted-Regiment, Dresden (15 May 1935-15 Oct 1935)
Commander of the 3rd Panzer-Regiment (15 Oct 1935-01 Aug 1939)
Delegated with the Leadership of the 1st Panzer-Brigade (01 Aug 1939-18 Sep 1939)
Commander of the 1st Panzer-Brigade (18 Sep 1939-01 Mar 1940)
Commander of Panzer Troop School Wünsdorf (01 Mar 1940-05 Oct 1940)
Commander of the 2nd Infantry-Division (motorised) (05 Oct 1940-10 Jan 1941)
Commander of the 12th Panzer-Division (10 Jan 1941-15 Jan 1942)
Commanding General of XXXXI. Panzer-Corps (15 Jan 1942-15 Oct 1943)
At the same time, Delegated with the Leadership of 9th Army (19 Mar 1943-30 Mar 1943)
At the same time, Delegated with the Leadership of 9th Army (20 May 1943-09 Jun 1943)
Commander-in-Chief of 9th Army (04 Nov 1943-01 May 1944)
Commander-in-Chief of 4th Panzer-Army (01 May 1944-28 Jun 1944)
Delegated with the Temporary Leadership of Army-Group North Ukraine (For the Commander-in-Chief Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model, who from 28 Jun 1944 to 16 Aug 1944 was Delegated with the temporary Leadership of Army-Group Centre for the duration of Generalfeldmarschall Ernst Busch' leave) (28 Jun 1944-16 Aug 1944)
Delegated with the Leadership of Army-Group North Ukraine (16 Aug 1944-21 Sep 1944)
Commander-in-Chief of Army-Group North Ukraine (21 Sep 1944-24 Sep 1944)
Commander-in-Chief of Army-Group A (24 Sep 1944-17 Jan 1945)
Discharged from Command and placed on Führer-Reserve OKH (Hitler's scapegoat for the Russian breakthrough at the Baranov-Bridgehead) (17 Jan 1945-09 Mar 1945)
Commander-in-Chief of the 5th Panzer-Army (09 Mar 1945-17 Apr 1945)
In US Captivity (17 Apr 1945-14 Apr 1948)
Released (14 Apr 1948)

Decorations & Awards:
- Ritterkreuz (418): am 13.08.1941 als Generalmajor und Kommandeur der 12. Panzer-Division
- Eichenlaub (55): am 31.12.1941 als Generalmajor und Kommandeur der 12. Panzer-Division
- Schwerter (36): am 15.09.1943 als General der Panzertruppe und Kommandierender General des XLI. Panzer-Korps
- Deutsches Kreuz in Gold: am 19.02.1943 als General der Panzertruppe und Kommandierender General des XLI. Panzer-Korps
- 1914 EK I: 03.09.1915
- 1914 EK II: 21.09.1914
- Verwundetenabzeichen, 1918 in Schwarz
- Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
- Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV. bis I. Klasse
- Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13.03.1938
- Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 01.10.1938 mit Spange "Prager Burg"
- Spange zum EK I
- Spange zum EK II
- Panzerkampfabzeichen in Silber
- Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/1942"
- Grossoffizierkreuz des Kgl. Rumän. Ordens der Krone mit Schwertern
- Wehrmachtbericht: 01.01.1944

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Josef Harpe (21 September 1887 – 14 March 1968) served on the Eastern Front, where he commanded XXXXI Panzer Corps and the 9th Army. From September 1944 to January 1945 Army Group A, when he was relieved of his command due to the inability of German forces to stop the Soviet Vistula–Oder Offensive. He ended the war commanding the 5th Panzer Army on Western Front.

Harpe joined the Prussian Army on 28 September 1909 and fought in World War I. After the war, Harpe remained in the Reichswehr military service. In 1931, under the pseudonym Direktor Hacker, he held a position in the secret German-Russian Tank-School (Kama tank school) in Kazan, Soviet Union. He was promoted to Oberstleutnant on 1 August 1934 and became commander of Panzer-Regiment 3 on 15 October 1935. He was again promoted on 1 January 1937, and commanded the German 1st Panzer Brigade holding the rank of Oberst. In 1940 he took over as Commandant of the Armoured Troops School No.2 in Wünsdorf.

He served on the Eastern Front, where he commanded, from July 1942 until October 1943 the XXXXI. Panzerkorps and from September 1944 to January 1945 Army Group A. He was relieved of his command due to the inability of German forces to stop the Soviet Vistula–Oder Offensive, which resulted in the Soviet capture of most of Poland. He ended the war as the commander of the 5th Panzer Army on the Western Front. He was held as a prisoner of war by the United States until 1948.




Source :
https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/josef-harpe_5624B06B8B
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Harpe
http://www.geocities.ws/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/HEER/Generaloberst/HARPE_JOSEF.html

Sunday, December 19, 2021

Bio of Leutnant Otto Leupert (1915-1944)


Full nama: Otto Leupert
Nickname: unknown
Date of Birth: 6 February 1915 at Höchheim an der Saale, Bayern (German Empire)
Date of Death: 26 August 1944 at Airfield Brussels (Belgium)
NSDAP Number: unknown
SS Number: unknown
Academic Title: unknown
Family Member: unknown
Physical Feature: unknown

Beförderungen (Promotion):
01.04.1943 Leutnant (RDA advanced to 01.04.1942)

Karriere (Career):
29.11.1935 Entered the Luftwaffe, began training with Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung 13
00.00.1937 Transferred to Flieger-Ausbildungs-Regiment 62
Spring 1940 Transferred to Fliegerführerschule C (FFS C) 6
Summer 1940 Transferred to I.Gruppe (Kampf) / Lehrgeschwader 1 (LG 1)
 
Orden und Ehrenzeichen (Medals and Decorations):
00.00.19__ Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.19__ Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
00.00.19__ Flugzeugführerabzeichen
00.00.194_ Frontflugspange für Kampfflieger
00.00.194_ Royal Bulgarian Pilot's Badge
19.03.1942 Deutsches Kreuz in Gold
22.01.1943 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as Oberfeldwebel and Flugzeugführer in 1.Staffel (Kampf) / I.Gruppe / Lehrgeschwader 1. Awarded for his successes in attacks on Allied shipping in the Mediterranean.

_______________________________________________________________


* Flew a total of 634 front flights during World War II.
* Otto Leupert and his crew died at Brussels Airfield after returning from a bombing mission in the south of Paris on August 26, 1944. His Ju 88 S-1 (L1+BK) collided with a Ju 188 of KG 6 on landing approach. He was buried at German War Cemetery Lommel, Belgium, Plot: 46. Grave: 361.
* Possible promotion to Oberleutnant (unconfirmed)









 
Leutnant Otto Leupert (Flugzeugführer in 1.Staffel (Kampf) / I.Gruppe / Lehrgeschwader 1) pictured in April 1944 by Kriegsberichter Hans Gross of Luftwaffenkommando Südost.


Source :
"Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries" by Henry L. deZeng IV and Douglas G. Stankey
https://imagesdefense.gouv.fr/fr/catalogsearch/result/?q=otto+leupert&avec_visuel=1
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/24513/Leupert-Otto.htm

Bio of Generaloberst Walter Heitz (1878-1944)

Generaloberst Walter Heitz
Born: 08 Dec 1878 in Berlin
Died: 09 Feb 1944 in Moscow (Buried in Krassnogorsk)

Promotions:
Leutnant (18 Aug 1899); Oberleutnant (17 Sep 1909); Hauptmann (01 Oct 1913); Major (01 Apr 1922); Oberstleutnant (01 Nov 1927); Oberst (01 Feb 1930); Generalmajor (01 Feb 1933); Generalleutnant (01 Oct 1934); General der Artillerie (01 Apr 1937); Generaloberst (30 Jan 1943)

Career:
Entered Army Service (07 Mar 1898)
Fahnenjunker in the 2nd West Prussian 36th Field-Artillery-Regiment (07 Mar 1898-01 Oct 1899)
Transferred into the 72nd Field-Artillery-Regiment Hochmeister (01 Oct 1899-01 Oct 1901)
Detached to the Artillery & Engineer School (01 Oct 1901-01 Oct 1903)
Adjutant of II. Battalion of the 72nd Field-Artillery-Regiment (01 Oct 1903-01 Feb 1908)
Regiments-Adjutant of the 72nd Field-Artillery-Regiment, Marienwerder (01 Feb 1908-02 Aug 1914)
Battery-Chief in the IV. Battalion of the 72nd Field-Artillery-Regiment (02 Aug 1914-00 Dec 1916)
Leader of III. Battalion of the 36th Field-Artillery-Regiment (00 Dec 1916-18 Dec 1918)
Battalion-Leader in the 72nd Field-Artillery-Regiment (18 Dec 1918-01 Oct 1919)
Instructor at the Artillery-School Jüterbog (01 Oct 1919-01 Mar 1922)
Training-Advisor with the Inspection of Artillery, RWM (In 4) (01 Mar 1922-01 Feb 1927)
Commander of I. Battalion of Artillery-Regiment Halberstadt (01 Feb 1927-1929)
Commander of the Artillery Firing School (1929-1930)
With the Regiments-Staff of the 1st Artillery-Regiment, Königsberg (01 Feb 1931-01 Oct 1931)
Commandant of Fortress Königsberg (01 Oct 1931-01 Aug 1936)
President of the Reichs War Court (01 Aug 1936-11 Sep 1939)
Commander Danzig-West Prussia (11 Sep 1939-23 Oct 1939)
Commanding General of VIII. Army-Corps (25 Oct 1939-31 Jan 1943)
At the same time, Delegated with the Leadership of 15th Army (00 Jan 1942)
Captured by the Red Army as Stalingrad (31 Jan 1943)
In Soviet Captivity (31 Jan 1943-09 Feb 1944)
Died (09 Feb 1944)

Decorations & Awards:
- Ritterkreuz (208): am 04.09.1940 als General der Artillerie und Kommandierender General des VIII. Armee-Korps
- Eichenlaub (156): am 21.12.1942 als General der Artillerie und Kommandierender General des VIII. Armee-Korps
- Deutsches Kreuz in Gold: am 22.04.1942 als General der Artillerie und Kommandierender General des VIII. Armee-Korps
- RK des Kgl. Preuss. Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern
- 1914 EK I
- 1914 EK II
- Hamburgisches Hanseatenkreuz
- Verwundetenabzeichen, 1918 in Schwarz
- Kgl. Preuss. Dienstauszeichnungskreuz
- Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
- Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV. bis I. Klasse
- Spange zum EK I: 19.05.1940
- Spange zum EK II: 10.10.1939

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walter Heitz was born in Berlin on December 8, 1878, Heitz joined the Prussian army on August 18, 1899. Commissioned as a second lieutenant, he became battalion adjutant in 1909 and was promoted to captain in 1913. At the outbreak of World War I, he was regimental adjutant of the 36th (2nd West Prussian) Field Artillery Regiment “Hochmeister”. He remained with his regiment during World War I, where he became a battery commander and battalion commander, and fought in East Prussia (1914), on the Russian Front (1914–1915), and on the Western Front from the fall of 1915 until the end of the war.[1] During the war, he awarded the House Order of Hohenzollern with swords.

Selected for the reduced Reichswehr, he served on the staff of the Artillery School at Jueterbog (1919–1922) and in the Artillery Inspectorate in the Defense Ministry (1922–1927). He then commanded the 4th (Saxon) Artillery Regiment at Dresden (1927–1929), the Troop Maneuver Area at Jueterbog (1929–1930), and the Artillery School itself (1930–1931). Heitz eventually became the commander of Fortress Koenigsberg in late 1931 and achieved the rank of Colonel.

Described by historian Samuel W. Mitcham as a "harsh, right-wing career officer", Heitz was a staunch supporter of Nazism and Hitler. This played a partial role in his appointment as the President of the Reichskriegsgericht (Reich Military Court) on 1 August 1936, Nazi Germany's highest military court. On 1 April 1937 Heitz was promoted to General of the Artillery (General der Artillerie).

On 17 August 1938, during Heitz's appointment as president of the Reichskriegsgericht, Wehrkraftzersetzung (undermining military force) was established as a sedition offence in German military law, which criminalized all criticism, dissent and behavior opposed to Nazi political and military leadership, particularly within the Wehrmacht's military justice. The Wehrkraftzersetzung consolidated and redefined paragraphs already in the military penal code to punish "seditious" acts such as conscientious objection, defeatist statements, self-mutilation, and questioning the Endsieg. Convictions were punishable by the death penalty, heavy sentences in military prisons, concentration camps, and forced mobilization in combat or penal units. In 1939, a second decree was issued extending the law to civilians.

At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Heitz was already 60 years old and would have gone into retirement. Nevertheless, he requested to be sent into the frontlines. On September 14, 1939, during the invasion of Poland Heitz was appointed as the commander of the armed forces in Danzig-West Prussia, partially because of his hatred for the Poles. On September 10, 1939, he wrote enthusiastically that he would “rule the area with a mailed fist” and that the combat troops under his command were "over inclined towards a false sense of chivalry." However, his command in Danzig-West Prussia only lasted four weeks.

On October 25, 1939, Heitz was appointed as the commanding general of the VIII Army Corps despite his advanced age. He led the Corps in the Invasion of France and on 4 September 1940 he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for personally scouting for river crossings and leading his troops across the Oise river under enemy fire.

Heitz continued to command the VIII Army Corps during the German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa. The Corps was sent into central Russia, and took part in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk and the First Battle of Smolensk. After an interlude in the fall of 1941 when the VIII Corps was sent into Paris for occupation duty, the Corps was sent back to the Eastern Front. In the summer of 1942, the Corps was sent towards Southern Russia to participate in the main German strategic summer offensive of the year, Case Blue. In the offensive, Army Group B which included Heitz's Corps was to attack towards the Volga river and Stalingrad.

In August of 1942, the VIII Army Corps was sent along with the rest of the 6th Army, commanded by General der Panzertruppe Friedrich Paulus into Stalingrad. The Germans managed to capture 90% of the ruined city, splitting the remaining Soviet forces in the city into two narrow pockets. On 19 November the Soviet forces launched Operation Uranus, a massive counteroffensive that involved over 1 million Soviet military personnel, aimed against Hungarian and Romanian units defending the 6th Army's flanks. The outnumbered and under-equipped Romanian 3rd Army at the northern flank and Romanian 4th Army Corps at the southern flank were overrun and by 23 November, the VIII Army Corps along with the rest of the German 6th Army was encircled and threatened with destruction.

As the situation worsened for the Germans in Stalingrad, he ordered defeatists and every man who attempted surrender to be shot and coined the slogan: "We fight to the last bullet but one!" Meanwhile, other generals such as General der Artillerie Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach, had already given their regimental and battalion commanders permission to act and surrender independently according to local conditions. When Seydlitz released his divisional commanders on 25 January to decide for themselves whether or not to surrender, Paulus relieved him of his command and placed all of Seydlitz's divisions under Heitz. A few days later when Seydlitz and over a dozen other officers fled the German lines to surrender, bursts of machine-gun fire were aimed at them from German lines, Seydlitz later claimed that 2 German officers were mortally wounded because of Heitz's 'apocalyptic order'. On 29 January 1943, Heitz ordered that "Whoever surrenders, will be shot! Whoever displays the white flag, will be shot! Whoever does not immediately deliver bread or sausages dropped by our pilots, will be shot!" As late as the 31 of January, German soldiers who attempted surrender were shot in the back on the basis of Heitz's orders.

On 26 January 1943, the German forces inside Stalingrad were split into two pockets north and south of Mamayev Kurgan. The northern pocket consisted of the XI Corps, and the VIII Corps, under Heitz. On 28 January, the two pockets were split into three. The northern pocket consisted of the XI Corps, the central with the VIII and LI Corps, and the southern with the XIV Panzer Corps and IV Corps "without units". The sick and wounded reached 40,000 to 50,000. On 29 January, Heitz had stated that he would seek the death of a soldier while defending his command post. He later attempted suicide but was stopped by his chief of staff. On 31 January 1943, Heitz surrendered the central pocket of German forces.

At the time of his arrest, Heitz was the second-highest ranking German officer taken prisoner by the Allies, behind Paulus. In prison, he vehemently refused to cooperate with the anti-Nazi National Committee for a Free Germany that operated out of the Soviet Union, despite being pressured by the Soviets, who beat him and threatened his family. He died on 9 February 1944 while in Soviet captivity.





Source :
https://beeldbankwo2.nl/nl/beelden/?mode=gallery&view=horizontal&rows=45&page=1&fq%5B%5D=search_s_keywords_poolparty:%22Duitse%20strijdkrachten%22&filterAction&q=heitz&reverse=0
https://www.bild.bundesarchiv.de/dba/de/search/?yearfrom=&yearto=&query=walter+heitz#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Heitz
http://www.geocities.ws/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/HEER/Generaloberst/HEITZ_WALTER.html
https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/en/jednostka/-/jednostka/6270959/obiekty/473175

Friday, December 17, 2021

Lemelsen, Hecker, Boltenstern, Henz

From left to right: General der Panzertruppe Joachim Lemelsen (Kommandierender General XXXXVII. Armeekorps [motorisiert]), Oberstleutnant Hans Hecker (Kommandeur Pionier-Bataillon 29 [motorisiert] / 29.Infanterie-Division [motorisiert]), Generalmajor Walter von Boltenstern (Kommandeur 29. Infanterie-Division [motorisiert]), and Oberleutnant Wilhelm Henz (Führer 2.Kompanie / Kradschützen-Bataillon 29 / 29.Infanterie-Division [motorisiert]). The picture was taken in the summer of 1941 during Unternehmen Barbarossa (German invasion of Soviet Union), possibly when Lemelsen visited the 29ID.

Source :
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=2380548#p2380548