Erich Fronhöfer
Date of Birth: 27.12.1895 - Ragaischen, Darkehnen, Ostpreußen (German Empire)
Date of Death: 12.01.1970 - Dortmund, Nordrhein-Westfalen (West Germany)
Religion: Evangelical
Wife: Margarete Fronhöfer
Height: 5'11" (178 cm)
Hair Color: Grey
Eye Color: Brown
Promotions:
07.12.1914 Unteroffizier
05.05.1915 Fähnrich
18.06.1915 Leutnant
31.07.1925 Oberleutnant
01.05.1930 Hauptmann
01.12.1935 Major
01.01.1939 Oberstleutnant
01.11.1941 Oberst
01.08.1944 Generalmajor
Career:
Entered Army Service (19 Aug 1914)
War Volunteer in the I. Replacement-Battalion of the 34th Fusilier-Regiment (19 Aug 1914-27 Aug 1914)
Transferred to the 210th Reserve-Infantry-Regiment (27 Aug 1914-11 Nov 1914)
Wounded, in Hospital (11 Nov 1914-07 Jan 1915)
Transferred as Officer-Aspirant (07 Jan 1915-12 Feb 1915)
Transferred into the Replacement-Battalion of the 34th Fusilier-Regiment (12 Feb 1915-10 May 1915)
Detached to Training-Course for Fahnenjunker in Döberitz (18 Feb 1915-15 Apr 1915)
In the Field with the 34th Fusilier-Regiment (10 May 1915-24 Jul 1915)
Taken Ill, in Hospital (24 Jul 1915-23 Dec 1915)
Company-Officer in the 10th Company of the 34th Fusilier-Regiment (23 Dec 1915-16 Jan 1916)
Ordinance-Officer with the Staff of the 34th Fusilier-Regiment (16 Jan 1916-21 Mar 1917)
Company-Officer in the 8th Company of the 34th Fusilier-Regiment (21 Mar 1917-11 Jun 1917)
Wounded, in Hospital (11 Jun 1917-04 Jul 1917)
Adjutant of the II. Battalion of the 34th Fusilier-Regiment (04 Jul 1917-02 Sep 1918)
Gas Poisoning – Transferred to the 20th Mortar-Company (02 Sep 1918-11 Dec 1918)
Transferred to the Replacement-Battalion of the 34th Fusilier-Regiment, Detached as Demobilisation-Officer to the Garrison-Command Stettin (11 Dec 1918-14 Feb 1919)
Ordinance-Officer with the Staff of Detachment Kraehe (14 Feb 1919-15 Jun 1919)
Court-Officer in the Transit-Camp Krakow (15 Jun 1919-18 Aug 1919)
Ordinance-Officer with the Staff of the III. Battalion of the 3rd Reichswehr-Infantry-Regiment (18 Aug 1919-01 Oct 1920)
Company-Officer in the 5th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1920-01 Oct 1926)
Detached to Sports Course in Dresden (15 Jan 1921-14 Jun 1921)
Detached to Weapons School Course on the Troop-Exercise-Grounds Ohrdruf (01 May 1924-15 Aug 1924)
Subsidiary-Leadership-Training with the Staff of the 2nd Division (01 Oct 1926-01 Oct 1928)
Detached to the 7th Motor-Transport-Battalion (01 Jun 1927-31 Jul 1927)
Detached to the 3rd Signals-Battalion (01 Aug 1927-20 Sep 1927)
Detached to the 5th Signals-Battalion (01 Jul 1928-31 Jul 1928)
Detached to the 1st Motor-Transport-Battalion (01 Aug 1928-25 Sep 1928)
Transferred into the 5th Infantry-Regiment and Detached as Ordinance-Officer to the Staff of the 2nd Division (01 Oct 1928-01 Nov 1928)
Transferred to the 6th Mounted-Regiment (01 Nov 1928-01 Dec 1929)
Detached to the 2nd Motor-Transport-Battalion (01 Dec 1929-01 Jan 1930)
Transferred into the 2nd Medical-Battalion and Leader of the Unteroffiziers-Aspirant-Courses of Motor Transport Troops in Elsgrund (01 Jan 1930-01 Jan 1932)
Transferred into the 1st Artillery-Regiment (01 Jan 1932-01 Apr 1932)
Transferred into the 3rd Motor-Transport-Battalion (01 Apr 1932-01 Apr 1933)
Company-Chief in the 3rd Motor-Transport-Battalion (01 Apr 1933-01 Jul 1934)
Adjutant with the Inspection of Motor Transport Troops (01 Jul 1934-15 Oct 1935)
Adjutant with the Staff of the Command of Panzer Troops (15 Oct 1935-21 Sep 1936)
Detached to Motor Transport Battle Troop Instruction Detachment (21 Sep 1936-06 Oct 1936)
Commander of the Motor Transport Battle Troop Instruction Detachment (06 Oct 1936-12 Oct 1937)
Leader of the Tactical Courses at the Panzer Troop School (12 Oct 1937-13 Jun 1940)
Commander of the 900th Motorised-Infantry-Regiment (13 Jun 1940-10 Aug 1940)
Commander of the 10th Panzer-Regiment (10 Aug 1940-25 Feb 1942)
Führer-Reserve OKH, in Hospital (25 Feb 1942-11 May 1942)
Commander of Fast Troops in Military-District XVII (11 May 1942-10 Nov 1942)
Commander of the Officer-Aspirant-Courses at the School for Fast Troops in Zossen (10 Nov 1942-01 Apr 1943)
Commander of the Officer-Aspirant-School of Panzer Troops in Groß-Glienicke (01 Apr 1943-25 Jun 1944)
Delegated with the Leadership of the 20th Luftwaffe-Field-Division (01 Nov 1943-24 Nov 1943)
Führer-Reserve OKH (25 Jun 1944-08 Sep 1944)
Detached to the 12th Division-Leaders-Course (14 Jul 1944-16 Aug 1944)
Delegated with the Temporary-Leadership of the 114th Jäger-Division (08 Sep 1944-15 Sep 1944)
Commander of the 20th Luftwaffe-Assault-Division (15 Sep 1944-11 Dec 1944)
Führer-Reserve OKH (11 Dec 1944-01 Apr 1945)
Commander of the 547th Volksgrenadier-Division (01 Apr 1945-04 May 1945)
In Captivity (04 May 1945-18 May 1948)
Released (18 May 1948)
Awards and Decorations:
00.00.191_ 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.191_ 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
00.00.1918 Verwundetenabzeichen 1918 in Silber
00.00.193_ Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer des Weltkrieges 1914–1918
00.00.19__ Wehrmacht Dienstauszeichnungen IV. bis II.Klasse
00.07.1940 1939 spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
24.04.1941 1939 spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
24.07.1941 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as Oberstleutnant and Kommandeur Panzer-Regiment 10 / 8.Panzer-Division
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Erich Fronhöfer was born in Ragaischen, East Prussia (present-day Nagornoje, Russia) on December 27, 1895. He volunteered for service in the Füsilier Regiment No. 34 on August 19, 1914. He became a Lieutenant during the First War, was wounded twice and suffered from gas poisoning, earning him the Wound Badge in Silver. He was also decorated with the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class. After the war Fronhöfer was taken over into the Reichswehr. In 1934, at the time in the rank of Hauptmann (Captain), he was appointed Adjutant of the Inspector of Motorized Troops. In December 1935 he was promoted to Major. In October 1936 Fronhöfer took command of the Motorized Combat Troops Demonstration Battalion, testing new equipment and tactics. He went on to teach tactical courses at the Panzer Troop School. He became an Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) at the beginning of 1939. In June of 1940 Fronhöfer was appointed Commander of Infantry Regiment 900 at the Infantry School in Döberitz. In August he was made Commander of Panzer Regiment 10, which he led during the Balkan campaign, yet was not involved in combat. Afterwards Fronhöfer led the same unit to the northern part of the Eastern Front during the attack on Russia. For his successful leadership of this unit he was awarded the Knight’s Cross on July 24, 1941. He was promoted to Oberst (Colonel) later that year. In early 1942 Fronhöfer returned to Germany due to having fallen ill. He recovered and was assigned as Commander of several training units. He reached his highest rank, MajorGeneral, on August 1, 1944. In September of 1944 Fronhöfer was redeployed to Italy, and in April of 1945 briefly to the Eastern Front. After the war he spent three years as a POW of the British. Fronhöfer died on January 12, 1970.
Generalmajor Erich Fronhöfer was an early member of the German Motorized Troops. After seeing detached motorized troop service in the late 1920s and early 1930s, he was appointed Adjutant of the Inspectorate of Motorized Troops and, later, Adjutant on Staff of the newly created Command of Panzer Troops. Both organizations were headed by General der Panzertruppe Oswald Lutz who, together with his highly talented Chief of Staff, Oberstleutnant (later Generaloberst) Heinz Guderian, helped create the operational art of modern armored warfare universally known as the “Blitzkrieg” (Lightning War). Influenced by leading British tank warfare theorists, both Lutz and Guderian developed the concept of grouping tanks into Armored (Panzer) Divisions. Guderian opined that tanks, teamed with motorized infantry and artillery, would operate as a “combined arms team” to deliver fast and decisive blows to an enemy’s flanks and rear as well as achieving decisive breakthroughs. Although these theories remained much at odds with the traditional military thinking of the day, Adolf Hitler believed in the concept and gave his support to the creation of the German Panzer Arm.
Erich Fronhöfer remained in the nascent Panzer Arm throughout the 1930s seeing service as Commander of the Motorized Combat Troops-Demonstration Battalion, a unit that tested and evaluated new equipment and operational concepts. After several years of instructor duty at the Panzer Troop School, he finally received a field command—Panzer Regiment 10—which he led during Operation “Barbarossa,” the invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. Putting his years of theoretical experience to use, Fronhöfer’s regiment led the advance of the 8th Panzer Division into the Baltic States and northern Russia. After a spectacular seizure of the road and rail bridges over the Dvina River, the 8th Panzer Division pierced the “Stalin Line” and advanced to the outskirts of Leningrad.
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Source :
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/05/album-foto-tokoh-third-reich-yang_9118.html
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-210-0124-08A,_Russland-Nord,_Panzersoldat.jpg
https://www.emedals.com/germany-a-wartime-photo-of-panzer-commander-major-general-erich-fronhofer-kc
http://www.geocities.ws/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/HEER/Generalmajor/FRONHOEFER_ERICH.html
https://www.kpemig.de/Studioaufnahme-eines-Ritterkreuz-Traegers-des-Heeres-im-Ansichtskartenformat
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/125314689_erich-fronhofer
https://www.memoiresdeguerre.com/2017/01/fronhofer-erich.html
http://www.specialcamp11.co.uk/Generalmajor%20Erich%20Fronhofer.htm
http://thirdreichpictures.blogspot.com/2020/05/heer-generalmajor-f.html
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/30315/Fronh%C3%B6fer-Erich.htm
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