Arthur Haussels
Date of Birth: 04.02.1895 - Glauchau, Sachsen (German Empire)
Date of Death: 13.02.1943 - Napoli/Naples, Campania (Italy)
Buried: Plot: Deutsche Kriegsgräberstätte Cassino. Plot 16. Grave 1037
Promotions:
00.00.1916 Leutnant
00.00.19__ Oberleutnant
00.00.1934 Hauptmann
00.00.1938 Major
00.00.1942 Oberstleutnant
01.02.1943 Oberst (posthumously)
Career:
00.08.1914 Kriegsfreiwilliger in Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 17
00.00.1917 Kompanieführer in a MG-Scharfschützen-Abteilung
00.00.1920 retired from the military
00.08.1934 reactivated as a Hauptmann
00.00.1935 Kompaniechef in Infanterie-Regiment 31
00.01.1939 Chef 5.Kompanie / II.Bataillon / Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 139 / 3.Gebirgs-Division
00.00.1940 Kommandeur II.Bataillon / Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 139 / 3.Gebirgs-Division
00.03.1942 Kommandeur Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 139 / 3.Gebirgs-Division
00.00.1943 Kommandeur Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 756 / 334.Infanterie-Division
Awards and Decorations:
00.00.191_ 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.191_ 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
00.00.191_ Ritterkreuz des königlichen Sächsen Militär-Sankt-Heinrichs-Orden
00.00.193_ Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer 1914-1918
00.00.19__ Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV.Klasse (4 jahre)
00.00.19__ Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz
00.00.19__ 1939 spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.19__ Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen in Silber
00.00.19__ 1939 spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
00.00.191_ Vapaudenristin ritarikunta, 2nd Class (Finland)
04.09.1940 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as Major and Kommandeur II.Bataillon / Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 139 / 3.Gebirgs-Division. Awarded for his actions during the fighting for Narvik in 1940. On the 30.05.1940 Polish forces managed to capture Alsla, a key point on the German left wing. However Major Haussels reacted swiftly and was able to recapture the place with his men. In the fighting which followed he held the rocky mountains of Sildvikfell and Alsla against further Polish attacks, distinguishing himself in the process.
00.00.1940 Narvikschild
00.00.194_ Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arthur Haussels’, a career soldier, was born in 1895, and served from 1914 to 1919 in the Imperial German Army. Rejoining the Army of the Wehrmacht in August 1934, by January 1939 he was Commander of 5.Kompanie / II.Bataillon / Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 139, and in 1940 was Commander of the 2nd Battalion of the same regiment.
As a battalion commander (II./Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 139/3. Mountain Division) Haussels proved himself in Operation "Weserübung" and in the Battle of Narvik. In March 1942 he took over command of the regiment as successor to Alois Windisch.
In 1943, Oberstleutnant Haussels commanded the Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 756, which was set up in December 1942. Operation "Eilbote" began on January 18, 1943 under the command of the 334th Infantry Division under Major General Friedrich Weber. His mountain infantry flew with Jus 52 from Naples to North Africa (→ Tunisia campaign). His men conquered the Djebel Solbia massif and later (under Holzinger) the Djebel Mansour in north-east Tunisia. In this battle, the mountain infantry faced soldiers of the Foreign Legion. "You fought like lions" said a captured foreign legionnaire of German origin after the fight. In February 1943, while in the hospital, Haussels was promoted to Oberst for bravery in the face of the enemy.
"[...] I myself flew to North Africa on January 18, 1943 with about 10 men, an infantry gun, 2 field kitchens and various equipment. The group of planes consisted of about 50 machines and flew towards Sicily at a height of about 50 m above the sea. As we approached, we saw another group of Ju 52s circling over Palermo, which then joined our formation. After landing at Tunis airfield, we were astonished at the great zeal of the Luftwaffe comrades during the unloading, but soon we realized from the pile of scrap heaps of wrecked planes that we couldn't overlook that we really had to hurry. Since the German transport planes, for some inexplicable reason, left Naples at the same time as the train at 5 or 6 in the morning, the enemy fighter pilots were able to score plenty of kills over the Bay of Tunis. We were lucky that day and were not bothered. 2 days later the planes that had just landed were bombed and the airfield looked as if it had been sprinkled with confetti. The 'confetti' was all the mail for the 5th Panzer Army in Tunisia. At the end of January 1943 a whole group was shot down over the Mediterranean Sea and not a single machine arrived in Tunis. Around January 25, 1943, the Geb.Jäg.Rgt. 756 was detached from the divisional formation and formed an independent combat group with Panzer Battalion 501, equipped with new Tiger tanks, which was deployed in the sector of a badly battered Italian division. The task of the combat group was to set up an HKL in the mountains to the west and thus keep the back free for the Africa Army under Field Marshal Rommel arriving from Libya in southern Tunisia. Heavy fighting broke out again and again with the retreating French troops, whose artillery shot very well and who were already being strongly supported by British units. There was particularly bitter fighting around the Djebel Mansour, from which the entire plain with the roads between Medjes Lel Bab and Pont du Fahs southwest of Tunis could be seen. Since the weak Italian garrison could not hold the mountain, we had to fight for the summit of Djebel Mansour three times. In the last attack more than half of the company, platoon and squad leaders were wounded or died. By mid-February the Allies had established a reasonably closed front in western Tunisia and the fighting was intensifying. Our Rgt.Kdr. Colonel Haussels was seriously wounded and died shortly afterwards in a hospital in Naples. Rommel tried to lead the Panzerarmee Afrika from southern Tunisia in a north-western thrust towards Bone in Algeria so that his own troops would have more freedom of movement. Our positions were on average only 50-60 km from the coast behind us. In this operation, 3,000 American prisoners were taken as an initial success at the Kasserine Pass, but the Allied front could no longer be broken through due to the great superiority in troops and material. [...] For the Geb.Jaeg.Rgt. 756 came on May 9th, 1943, exactly 6 months after the installation, the bitter end. We had withdrawn to the beach of Tunis Bay. The most unbelievable rumors were spread about an alleged pickup of the troops by German naval vessels, but these were all just slogans. British warships have been patrolling the Tunisian coast for days, shooting up every suspicious boat. After we had still heard the Wehrmacht report with the reports of the last fighting on Tunisian soil from the intact radios, we saw the first American tanks approaching our hideout. Enemy tanks in front of us and the sea behind us - that was the situation we had been anticipating for weeks. After the weapons and radios had been destroyed, the motor vehicles that had made it to the beach were set on fire. With raised hands, emaciated and in torn uniforms, we entered on the evening of May 9th. the march into captivity. Since fighting was still going on on Cap Bone, south of the Bay of Tunis, several comrades dared the senseless undertaking of crossing the bay in motor boats, fishing boats, rowing boats or rafts made from petrol barrels and telephone poles. From our cover caves in the coastal mountains we had to watch as one boat after the other was shot down by enemy fighter planes. There were no more survivors. Weapons were laid down on Cap Bone on May 12, 1943. Our regiment was lucky that we were in the attack sector of the 34th American Infantry Division and were captured and treated correctly by them. Other units were captured by troops of the Free French, Foreign Legionnaires, New Zealanders or South Africans and these comrades usually fared much worse. Our old battalion commander and last regiment commander, Major Hörtnagl, said goodbye to us in the first reception camp near Mateur.” — Gregor Seidenschwarz, "Mit dem Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 756 in Afrika (Tunesien)", in: “Die Gebirgstruppe" Magazine of the 'Kameradenkreises der Gebirgstruppe'.
The regiment was destroyed in Tunisia in May 1943, the bulk of the team that was operational up to then was captured by the Americans and distributed to various camps in the US.
Haussels, who was fighting in the front line, urging his fighters on with the words "Let's go Jaga!", suffered a shot in the leg during the first combat mission in the Tunis bridgehead, as a result of which he (after treatment at the main dressing station and in the hospital in Tunis) was flown out and in the hospital in Italy died after leg amputation. His successor as regimental commander was Major Holzinger (Group "Holzinger"), who were also a Ritterkreuzträger since 1941.
Arthur Haussels as an officer in Ulanen-Regiment "Kaiser Franz Josef von Österreich, König von Ungarn“ (1. Königlich Sächsisches) Nr. 17. He is wearing the recently awarded Ritterkreuz des königlichen Sächsen Militär-Sankt-Heinrichs-Orden in his uniform.
Arthur Haussels in the mountain with his Gebirgsjäger.
Ritterkreuz award ceremony for Major Arthur Haussels (Kommandeur II.Bataillon / Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 139 / 3.Gebirgs-Division), which were held on 4 September 1940. The medal was awarded for his actions during the fighting for Narvik in 1940. On 30 May 1940 Polish forces managed to capture Alsla, a key point on the German left wing. However Major Haussels reacted swiftly and was able to recapture the place with his men. In the fighting which followed he held the rocky mountains of Sildvikfell and Alsla against further Polish attacks, distinguishing himself in the process.
Arthur Haussels as a Major, with added Ritterkreuz.
Arthur Haussels wearing Narvikschild.
Arthur Haussels wearing bergmütze (mountain cap).
Arthur Haussels as Oberstleutnant.
Oberstleutnant Arthur Haussels (center) in a happy moment with baby and his troops. They were also accompanied by unknown SS NCO at left.
On 18 January 1943, Oberstleutnant Arthur Haussels (Kommandeur Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 756 / 334.Infanterie-Division) issuing orders for "Unternehmen Eilbote" (Operation Courier), a successful German attack in the Eastern Dorsal Mountains of Tunisia that saw Generaloberst von Arnim's men capture a number of key mountain passes, preparing the way for the later battle of the Kasserine Pass. To the right of Haussels is Oberleutnant Reimer, the regimental adjutant. The back of the order bears the signature of Generalmajor Friedrich Weber, Divisionskommandeur of the 334. Infanterie-Division and Ritterkreuzträger (holder of the Knight's Cross) since 1940.
Funeral service with military honors of Oberst Arthur Haussels.
Newspaper's career and heroic death.
Source :
Bildarchiv Reichskommissariat Norwegen
Bill T. photo collection
Fakatona photo collection
https://de.metapedia.org/wiki/Haussels,_Arthur
https://www.ebay.de/b/General-in-Militaria-Fotos-1900-1918-1945/15504/bn_7004515776
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=1419420#p1419420
https://www.noonans.co.uk/auctions/archive/past-catalogues/580/catalogue/394794/?layout=list&sort=Hammer_Reverse
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/66757/Haussels-Arthur.htm
https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/german-photographs-postcards/photos-high-award-winners-rkt-above-186107-9/
No comments:
Post a Comment