Nickname: Papa
Date of birth: 16 July 1892 - Donaueschingen, Grand Duchy of Baden (German Empire)
Date of death: 24 January 1951 - Munich, Bayern (West Germany)
Battles and operations: World War I western front artillery actions, Polish campaign, Norwegian campaign including Narvik, Battle of Crete, eastern front operations with Luftwaffe field units, Normandy fighting, Operation Market Garden area, Reichswald and Wesel bridgehead actions.
Religion: No specific public information available.
Parents: Limited details in open sources; from a family in the Donaueschingen area.
Siblings: No detailed public records readily available.
Spouse: Sparse details in standard biographical sources.
Children: Wilhelm Meindl among known family.
Promotions:
27 July 1912 Fahnenjunker
22 March 1913 Fahnrich
17 February 1914 Leutnant patent 21 February 1912
18 April 1917 Oberleutnant
1 August 1924 Hauptmann
1 April 1934 Major
1 August 1936 Oberstleutnant
1 April 1939 Oberst rda 1 April 1938
1 January 1941 Generalmajor
1 February 1943 Generalleutnant rda 1 October 1942
1 April 1944 General der Fallschirmtruppe
Career:
July 27th, 1912: 5. Badisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 76;
?: Kriegsschule;
?: Batterieoffizier 5. Badisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 76;
?: Adjutant Artillerie-Kommando 52;
?: Batterieoffizier Reichswehr-Artillerie-Regiment 13;
?: Batterieoffizier 5. (Hess.-Württ.) Artillerie-Regiment;
?: 5. (Bad.) Batterie / 5. Artillerie-Regiment, Wiblingen;
October 1st, 1924: Stab 5. Division, Stuttgart;
October 1st, 1926: Heeres-Organisations-Abteilung (T 2), Reichswehrministerium (RWM), Berlin;
October 1st, 1927: Stab, II. (Bad.) Abteilung / 5. Artillerie-Regiment, Ulm an der Donau;
October 1st, 1928: Chef, 1. (Hess.) Eskadron, 5. Fahr-Abteilung, Ulm an der Donau;
Ocotber 1st, 1929: Adjutant, Stab 5. Artillerie-Regiment, Fulda;
September 15th, 1933: Artillerieschule Jüterborg;
October 15th, 1935: Kommandeur I. / Artillerie-Regiment 5, Ulm;
November 10th, 1938 - augustus 1940: Kommandeur Gebirgs-Artillerie-Regiment 112, Graz;
June 1940: Kommandeur Gruppe Meindl, Narvik;
August 1940: Führerreserve OKH;
September 1st, 1940: Kommandeur Luftlande Sturm-Regiment 1;
May 16th, 1941: Führer Kampfgruppe West;
Winter 1941/1942: Kommandeur Kampfgruppe Meindl;
February 26th, 1942: Kommandeur Luftwaffen-Division Meindl;
September 26th, 1942: Kommandierender General XIII. Fliegerkorps / Kommandierender General I. Luftwaffen-Feld-Korps;
August 1st, 1943: Inspekteur der Luftwaffen-Inspektion 18 "Lw.-Feldverbände", Reichsluftfahrtministerium;
November 1943: Kommandierender General II. Fallschirmkorps;
May 25th, 1945 - September 29th, 1947: US POW.
Awards and Decorations:
1914 Eisernes kreuz II.Klasse (18 July 1915)
1914 Eisernes kreuz I.Klasse (17 January 1916)
Ritter II. Klasse zu dem Orden der Löwen von Zähringen
Ritterkreuz II. Klasse des Königlich Sächsischer Albrechtsordens
Kaiserlich und königlich Österreichische Militär-Verdienstkreuz III.Klasse
Turkish Harp Madalyasi (Gallipoli Star)
Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
Dienstauszeichnung der wehrmacht IV. bis I.Klasse
Fallschirmschützenabzeichen der luftwaffe
1939 Spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse (22 October 1939)
1939 Spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse (10 June 1940)
Narvikschild (10 November 1940)
Mentioned in Wehrmachtbericht (9 June 1941) : "The parachute units under the leadership of Generalmajor Meindl, Oberst Heidrich, Oberst Bräuer, Oberst Ramcke and Oberst Sturm, created in hard fighting, the crucial conditions for the conquest of Crete."
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (14 June 1941) as Generalmajor and Kommandeur Luftlande-Sturm-Regiment 1. In the airborne invasion of Crete on 20 May 1941, Meindl led his assault regiment as part of Group West targeting the vital Maleme airfield. Parachuting west of the Tavronitis river bridge near Platanias under intense enemy fire, he and his men faced immediate, ferocious resistance from dug-in New Zealand and Greek defenders supported by artillery and machine guns. Bullets whipped through the air as paratroopers descended into killing zones; many were cut down before reaching the ground. Meindl himself was struck by machine-gun fire in the chest shortly after landing, a serious wound that left him bleeding heavily. Refusing evacuation, he continued directing operations from a stretcher, his voice steady amid the chaos of exploding grenades, rattling small-arms fire, and the cries of the wounded. He dispatched companies on flanking maneuvers toward Hill 107, the key height overlooking the airfield, while glider-borne elements assaulted defensive positions. Despite heavy casualties, his regiment seized and held sections of the airfield through determined close-quarters fighting with bayonets, grenades, and submachine guns. This capture allowed subsequent reinforcements and the eventual German victory on the island. His personal example of resolute leadership under fire, even while gravely wounded, inspired his troops and earned him the Ritterkreuz.
Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Schwarz (25 October 1941)
Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42" (Ostmedaille) (9 August 1942)
Deutsches kreuz in gold (27 July 1942)
Ärmelband Kreta (25 May 1943)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #564 (31 August 1944) as General der Fallschirmtruppe and Kommandierender General II. Fallschirmkorps. As commanding general of II. Fallschirmkorps in Normandy from June 1944, Meindl directed his veteran paratroopers, particularly the 3. Fallschirmjager-Division, in brutal defensive battles around Carentan, St. Lo, and the bocage countryside. In dense hedgerows and orchards, his men constructed interlocking strongpoints, using machine guns, mortars, and panzerfausts to exact a heavy toll on advancing American infantry and armor amid constant artillery barrages and fighter-bomber attacks. During the fierce fighting for Hill 192 and positions near St. Lo, paratroopers held firm against overwhelming odds, launching sharp counterattacks through smoke and dust. As Operation Cobra unleashed massive carpet bombing that shattered German lines in late July, Meindl organized a skillful fighting withdrawal, maintaining unit cohesion despite devastating losses. In the chaos of the Falaise Pocket encirclement in August, with Allied forces closing from multiple directions, he personally led assault groups from remnants of the 3. Fallschirmjager-Division and other units to keep escape corridors open. Through muddy fields, burning villages, and under relentless air strikes, his leadership enabled thousands of troops and equipment to break out eastward, preserving combat capability for future defense. This tenacious performance amid the collapse of the Normandy front earned him the Eichenlaub.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #155 (8 May 1945) as General der Fallschirmtruppe and Kommandierender General II. Fallschirmkorps. In the final months of the war, Meindl continued commanding II. Fallschirmkorps during defensive actions in the Reichswald, around Kleve, Goch, and the Wesel bridgehead on the Rhine. Facing superior Allied forces with air and artillery dominance, his corps conducted stubborn delaying actions, using urban ruins and river lines for ambushes and counterthrusts. In early March 1945 at the Wesel bridgehead, Meindl took direct command and advised immediate evacuation, then orchestrated an orderly withdrawal across the Rhine under fire, ferrying men and equipment so that “all that would float came back again.” His corps fought on until surrendering near Grossbrekendorf in Schleswig in early May 1945.
Eugen Meindl's nomination by the troop was approved by each of his commanding officers. However the nomination contains no final remark on the proceedings. Oberst Nicolaus von Below, Hitler's Luftwaffe adjutant, had sent a teleprinter message to the commanding general of the Fallschirmarmee Generaloberst Kurt Student, requesting a statement for this nomination. The copy of the teleprinter message contains a note: resubmission "23 April 1945". It seems that the statement was never returned. The paperwork was not finalized by the end of the war. The Association of Knight's Cross Recipients (OdR) claims that the award was presented in accordance with the Dönitz-decree. This is illegal according to the Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) and lacks legal justification. The sequential number "155" was assigned by the OdR. Fellgiebel assigned the presentation date. Meindl is mentioned on a list of the Oberbefehlshaber Nordwest for "Nominations and Bestowal of War Awards" from May 1945. This list, which was intended to be presented to Karl Dönitz, contained twelve names of pending nominations which had been submitted via the chain of command. Dönitz has never signed this list, most likely he has never even seen this list. The responsible personnel offices awarded or declined eight nominations from this list by the end of the war by, two remained unprocessed by the Heerespersonalamt (HPA—Personnel Office) and Luftwaffenpersonalamt (LPA — Luftwaffe Personnel Office) and two further were left ready for signing at the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht/Wehrmacht-Führungsstab (OKW/WFSt—Oberkommando der Wehrmacht/Wehrmacht-Führungsstab—leadership staff of the Army High Command).
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Eugen Albert Max Meindl was a German general who commanded paratrooper forces in the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Born on 16 July 1892 in Donaueschingen in the Grand Duchy of Baden, he enlisted in the Imperial German Army in 1912 as an artillery officer candidate. Commissioned as a Leutnant in 1914, he served with distinction on the western front throughout the First World War, rising to battery command and staff roles while earning both classes of the Iron Cross and several other Imperial decorations. After the war he remained in the Reichswehr, holding successive artillery commands, staff positions in the Reichswehrministerium, and instructional duties at the artillery school in Juterbog. By the late 1930s he had transferred to mountain artillery and took command of Gebirgs Artillerie Regiment 112 of the 3. Gebirgs Division in November 1938.
Meindl saw action in the Polish campaign before participating in the Norwegian campaign of 1940. As an Oberst he led Gruppe Meindl and volunteered for an improvised parachute insertion to reinforce German forces at Narvik, executing his first jump without formal training. This experience paved the way for his transfer to the Luftwaffe in November 1940, where he assumed command of the Luftlande Sturm Regiment 1. During the airborne invasion of Crete on 20 May 1941 his regiment formed Group West and assaulted the vital Maleme airfield. Descending under heavy fire from New Zealand and Greek defenders, Meindl was severely wounded in the chest by machine gun fire shortly after landing near the Platanias bridge. Refusing evacuation he continued to direct operations from a stretcher, coordinating flanking attacks on Hill 107 and close quarters assaults that ultimately secured the airfield despite heavy casualties. This decisive action enabled the German victory on the island and earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 14 June 1941.
After recovering from his wounds Meindl commanded Luftwaffen Division Meindl on the eastern front in 1942, where he stabilized defensive lines in the Demjansk and Kholm sectors amid harsh winter conditions and partisan threats. He later led XIII Fliegerkorps and I Luftwaffen Feldkorps before being appointed commanding general of II Fallschirmkorps in November 1943. In Normandy from June 1944 his corps, particularly the 3. Fallschirmjager Division, engaged in bitter hedgerow fighting around Carentan and St Lo. Under relentless Allied air and artillery bombardment the paratroopers constructed tenacious defensive positions and launched sharp counterattacks that inflicted significant casualties on American forces. During the collapse triggered by Operation Cobra and the Falaise Pocket encirclement in August 1944, Meindl orchestrated a skillful fighting withdrawal. He personally led assault groups through enemy territory to keep escape corridors open, enabling thousands of troops to break out eastward. For this leadership he received the Eichenlaub on 31 August 1944.
In the final months of the war II Fallschirmkorps under Meindl conducted rearguard actions in the Reichswald, around Kleve and Goch, and at the Wesel bridgehead on the Rhine. Facing overwhelming Allied superiority in men, armor and air power his troops used urban ruins and river lines for ambushes and delaying actions. In early March 1945 Meindl assumed direct command of the Wesel bridgehead, organizing an orderly evacuation across the Rhine that preserved much of his remaining forces. His corps continued fighting until surrendering near Grossbrekendorf in Schleswig in early May 1945. A nomination for the Schwerter to the Ritterkreuz was submitted in April 1945 for these final defensive achievements and is recognized by some sources as awarded on 8 May 1945. After the war he was held as a prisoner until 1947.
Meindl was widely known among his troops as Papa Meindl for his paternal leadership style and genuine concern for their welfare, qualities that helped maintain morale in some of the most intense fighting of the war. He survived the conflict and settled in Munich, where he died on 24 January 1951 at the age of fifty eight. Throughout his career he exemplified the adaptable artillery officer who successfully transitioned to elite airborne command, earning respect across Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe lines for his tactical competence and personal bravery under fire. His actions in Crete, Normandy and the final defensive battles highlighted the determination of German parachute forces even against overwhelming odds.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugen_Meindl
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/24875/Meindl-Eugen-Albert-Max.htm
https://grokipedia.com/page/Eugen_Meindl
https://www.specialcamp11.co.uk/General%20der%20Fallschirmtruppe%20Eugen%20Meindl.htm
https://ww2gravestone.com/people/meindl-eugen-papa/
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://web.archive.org/web/... geocities orion47 biographical archives
Scherzer, Veit. Die ritterkreuztrager 1939-1945.
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