Nickname: No information
Date of Birth: 05.08.1903 - Gorden, Kreis Liebenwerda, Provinz Sachsen (German Empire)
Date of Death: 26.12.1948 - NKWD-Speziallager Nr. 2 Buchenwald bei Weimar, Thüringen (Soviet imprisonment)
Battles and Operations: Norwegian Campaign, Battle of the Netherlands, Battle of Crete, Eastern Front near Leningrad, Sicily Campaign, Italian Campaign, Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, East Prussian Offensive
Religion: No information
Parents: No information
Siblings: No information
Spouse: No information
Children: No information
Promotions:
01.07.1925 Polizei-Wachtmeister
16.06.1928 Polizei-Leutnant
21.03.1933 Polizei-Oberleutnant
01.10.1935 Hauptmann
19.06.1940 Major
01.01.1942 Oberstleutnant
20.04.1942 Oberst
30.01.1945 Generalmajor
Career:
01.04.1924-15.06.1928 Police-Aspirant in Berlin
16.06.1928-24.02.1933 With the Police-Administration in Oppeln then Berlin
25.02.1933-31.05.1933 Platoon-Leader in Special-Purpose-Police-Detachment Wecke
01.06.1933-16.07.1933 Platoon-Leader in Special-Purpose-Police-Group Wecke
17.07.1933-11.01.1934 Platoon-Leader in Special-Purpose-State-Police-Group Wecke
12.01.1934-30.09.1935 Platoon-Leader in State-Police-Group General Göring
01.10.1935 transferred into the Luftwaffe
01.01.1935-30.09.1937 Company-Chief in the I. (Jäger) Battalion of Luftwaffe-Regiment General Göring
01.10.1937-31.03.1938 Company-Chief in the IV. (Paratroop) Battalion of Luftwaffe-Regiment General Göring
01.04.1938-31.03.1939 Company-Chief in the I. Battalion of the 1st Paratrooper-Regiment
01.04.1939-09.11.1939 With the Inspection of Parachute-Troops/L In 11/RLM
10.11.1939-22.04.1942 Commander of the I. Battalion of the 1st Paratrooper-Regiment
22.04.1942-16.09.1942 Führer-Reserve OKL
17.09.1942-31.03.1943 Delegated with the Leadership of the 4th Paratrooper-Regiment
01.04.1943-23.09.1944 Commander of the 4th Paratrooper-Regiment, on September 1944 also Leader of Division-Battle-Group Walther
24.09.1944-29.01.1945 Delegated with the Leadership of the 2nd Parachute-Panzer-Grenadier-Division Hermann Göring
30.01.1945-08.05.1945 Commander of the 2nd Parachute-Panzer-Grenadier-Division Hermann Göring
08.05.1945-26.12.1948 in Soviet Captivity
Awards and Decorations:
Fallschirmschützenabzeichen der Luftwaffe
Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht 4. Klasse (4 Jahre)
Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung
Eisernes Kreuz 1939 2. Klasse (18.04.1940)
Eisernes Kreuz 1939 1. Klasse (26.04.1940)
Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Schwarz
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes #39 (24.05.1940) as Major and Kommandeur I.Bataillon / Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1 / 7.Flieger-Division. In the early hours of the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940, Major Walther demonstrated extraordinary daring and leadership that earned him the Ritterkreuz. Leading a reinforced company from the 2nd Company of his battalion, he executed rapid, aggressive maneuvers toward the towns of Hamar and Elverum deep in Norwegian territory. Paratroopers dropped from the skies amid the rugged, snow-dusted landscapes, quickly seizing key crossroads and outposts. These bold thrusts completely disrupted the Norwegian mobilization efforts, throwing enemy reserves into chaos and preventing organized resistance from forming. The swift advance created panic among Norwegian forces still scrambling to assemble, buying precious time for the main German invasion columns pushing northward and greatly aiding the overall success of Operation Weserübung.
Simultaneously, Walther’s men captured the vital bridges at Dordrecht in the Netherlands during the airborne assault of May 1940. Dropping directly onto and around the objective, his paratroopers stormed the crossings under fire, securing them against immediate Dutch counterattacks. For hours they held the position with grim determination—fighting house-to-house, repelling repeated assaults from superior numbers, and refusing to yield an inch—until relief columns from the 9th Panzer Division could link up. The bridges remained intact, opening the road for the rapid German advance into the heart of the Netherlands and contributing decisively to the collapse of Dutch defenses in just five days. These twin feats of audacious initiative and tenacious defense under fire marked Walther as one of the earliest and most outstanding paratroop leaders of the war.
Narvikschild
Ärmelband Kreta
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (13.04.1942)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #411 (02.03.1944) as Oberst and Kommandeur Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 4 / 1.Fallschirmjäger-Division. By the summer of 1943, Walther’s regiment had been thrust into the brutal defensive fighting on Sicily following the Allied invasion. The decisive action that justified the Oak Leaves occurred along the Simeto River, where Walther formed a Kampfgruppe and was ordered to hold the critical bridges against the advancing British Eighth Army. For three full days and nights in July 1943, his paratroopers—outnumbered and short on heavy weapons—fought a ferocious, close-quarters battle amid the scorching Sicilian heat. Waves of British infantry and tanks assaulted the river crossings under intense artillery barrages and air support. Walther’s men dug in along the banks, using every ditch, stone wall, and ruined building as cover. They repelled attack after attack with machine-gun fire, grenades, and desperate counter-thrusts, often in hand-to-hand combat. Smoke and dust choked the air as the river ran red; the bridges became a killing ground littered with wrecked vehicles and fallen soldiers from both sides. Despite mounting casualties and relentless pressure, Walther’s Kampfgruppe held firm for seventy-two hours, delaying the enemy long enough for German forces to reorganize their retreat to the mainland. This stubborn defense saved countless lives and equipment, buying vital time in a campaign where every hour counted. The Eichenlaub recognized not only this epic stand but also Walther’s earlier proven valor, cementing his reputation as an unyielding battlefield commander.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #131 (01.02.1945) as Oberst and Führer Fallschirm-Panzergrenadier-Division 2 "Hermann Göring". In the freezing winter of 1944–45, as the Soviet East Prussian Offensive roared to life, Walther assumed command of the battered 2nd Parachute-Panzer-Grenadier-Division “Hermann Göring”. The Swords were bestowed for his masterful leadership during two desperate defensive battles in East Prussia. In the first phase, his division fought a savage delaying action along the Gumbinnen–Ebenrode road, pushing back Soviet spearheads toward Großwaltersdorf through blinding snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures. Paratroopers and panzergrenadiers, supported by the division’s remaining assault guns, launched lightning counterattacks from frozen foxholes and ruined villages, blunting armored thrusts and inflicting heavy losses on the Red Army.
The second and even more grueling battle erupted on 13 January 1945. For days on end, Walther’s men faced wave after wave of Soviet infantry and tank assaults aimed at breaking through to the Baltic coast. Under constant artillery fire that shook the frozen ground, the division resisted breakthrough after breakthrough. Walther personally directed the defense from forward positions, shifting depleted battalions to plug gaps, ordering night counterattacks through waist-deep snow, and inspiring his troops with his calm presence amid the chaos of exploding shells and burning panzers. Soviet human-wave attacks crashed against German machine-gun nests; villages changed hands in brutal house-to-house fighting lit by flares and tracer fire. Despite being vastly outnumbered and short on ammunition and fuel, the division held its sector for critical days, preventing an immediate collapse of the front and allowing thousands of German soldiers and civilians to evacuate westward. Walther’s iron will and tactical skill in the face of overwhelming odds turned a near-rout into an epic stand that earned him the highest recognition of the war.
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Friedrich Erich Walther was a German paratrooper officer and generalmajor of the Luftwaffe during World War II who rose to prominence as a commander of elite airborne units. Born on 5 August 1903 in Gorden in the district of Liebenwerda in the Prussian province of Saxony, he began his service in the police forces of the Weimar Republic before transferring to the newly formed Luftwaffe in 1935, where he helped pioneer Germany's paratrooper arm. Over the course of the war Walther led battalions, regiments, and eventually a division in campaigns ranging from Scandinavia and the Low Countries to the Mediterranean, Italy, and the final desperate defenses on the Eastern Front. He earned high decorations for repeated displays of aggressive leadership and stubborn defensive skill, culminating in the rare award of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Captured by Soviet forces at the end of hostilities, he died in captivity on 26 December 1948 at the age of forty-five.
Walther joined the Berlin police as an aspirant in April 1924 and advanced steadily through the ranks of the security apparatus. By the early 1930s he served in elite special-purpose police detachments under commanders such as Wecke, eventually becoming part of the Landespolizei Gruppe General Göring. These units formed the nucleus of what would evolve into the Luftwaffe's Regiment General Göring. In October 1935 he transferred directly into the Luftwaffe as a hauptmann and took command of companies within the regiment's parachute and rifle battalions. Between 1938 and 1939 he held successive leadership roles in the newly established 1st Paratrooper Regiment, gaining practical experience in airborne tactics that placed him among the first generation of German Fallschirmjäger officers.
When war broke out in 1939 Walther was already commanding the first battalion of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1. In April 1940, during the Norwegian campaign, he led a reinforced company in rapid thrusts toward the inland towns of Hamar and Elverum. His paratroopers seized key road junctions and disrupted Norwegian mobilization efforts, sowing confusion among enemy reserves and easing the advance of German ground columns. Weeks later, in the airborne assault on the Netherlands, his battalion dropped onto and captured the vital bridges at Dordrecht. For hours the paratroopers held the crossings against repeated Dutch counterattacks, fighting from houses and improvised positions until armored relief arrived from the 9th Panzer Division. These actions earned Walther both classes of the Iron Cross within days and the Knight's Cross on 24 May 1940.
The following year Walther participated in the costly airborne invasion of Crete in May 1941, earning the Crete cuff title for his role in the fighting. From September 1941 his battalion saw heavy action on the Eastern Front near Leningrad, where the paratroopers were employed as elite infantry in grueling defensive and counterattack operations amid the harsh Russian winter. By early 1942 he had received the German Cross in Gold. In 1943 Walther was given command of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 4. That summer, after the Allied landings in Sicily, he formed a kampfgruppe that defended the Simeto River bridges for three days against waves of British infantry and tanks. Despite being outnumbered and under constant artillery and air attack, his men held the line in close-quarters combat along the riverbanks, buying critical time for the German withdrawal to the Italian mainland and securing Walther the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross on 2 March 1944.
In September 1944, while still leading his regiment, Walther was assigned to command a battle group during the Allied Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands. His forces successfully contested the airborne landings around Nijmegen and Arnhem, conducting determined counterattacks that helped blunt the British and American advance and contributed to the operation's ultimate failure. By late 1944 he had assumed leadership of the 2nd Parachute Panzer-Grenadier Division Hermann Göring. In the opening phases of the Soviet East Prussian Offensive he directed his division in a series of fierce delaying actions along the Gumbinnen-Ebenrode axis, launching counterthrusts through snow-covered terrain to check armored spearheads. On 13 January 1945 the division faced the full weight of renewed Soviet assaults; for days Walther shifted depleted battalions to plug breaches, ordered night counterattacks, and maintained cohesion under relentless artillery fire. These stands prevented an immediate collapse of the sector and allowed partial evacuation of German troops and civilians, actions that brought him the Swords on 1 February 1945 and promotion to generalmajor four days earlier.
Walther continued to lead the division until the final capitulation. On 8 May 1945 he surrendered to Red Army forces in East Prussia. Transferred to Soviet captivity, he was interned in NKVD Special Camp No. 2 at the former Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar. There, amid the harsh conditions of postwar internment, he died on 26 December 1948. Little is known of Walther's private life; records indicate no details about his parents, siblings, spouse, or children, and his religion is undocumented. His career exemplified the aggressive spirit and tactical adaptability of the Fallschirmjäger in both offensive airborne operations and the attritional defensive battles that defined the war's later years.
31 May 1941: Officers of Fallschirmjäger (German paratroopers) from the 7. Flieger-Division are seen resting in Heraklion, Crete, shortly after they seized that part of the Greek island from the defending British and Australian forces. Fierce fighting took place from 20 May 1941, and German troops only managed to capture Heraklion nine days later. There was a tinge of exhaustion on the faces of those officers who had not shaved for days. Wearing the Ritterkreuz on his neck is Oberst Bruno Bräuer (Kommandeur Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1 and Kampfgruppe Ost), who won the prestigious medal on 24 May 1940 during the German invasion of the Lower Countries. All of the officers who appear in this photo are all Ritterkreuzträger (Ritterkreuz recipients). From left to right: Major Erich Walther (Kommandeur III.Bataillon / Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1; Ritterkreuz on 24 May 1940, Eichenlaub on 2 March 1944 and Schwerter on 1 February 1945), Hauptmann Gerhart Schirmer (Kommandeur III.Bataillon / Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 2. Ritterkreuz on 14 June 1941), Oberst Bräuer, and Hauptmann Wolf-Werner von der Schulenburg (Kommandeur I. Bataillon / Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1; Ritterkreuz on 20 June 1943).
Source:
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://en.wikipedia.org/
https://www.tracesofwar.com/
https://grokipedia.com/
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.geni.com/
https://aircrewremembered.com/KrackerDatabase/?q=units
https://www.ww2.dk/lwoffz.html
https://www.geocities.ws/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/LUFTWAFFE/Generalmajor/WALTHER_ERICH.html
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Thomas, Franz & Wegmann, Günter. Die Eichenlaubträger 1940-1945. Biblio-Verlag, 1998.
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Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht (CD). VMD-Verlag GmbH, Osnabrück, 2002.
Kwasny, A. & Kwasny, G. Die Eichenlaubträger 1940-1945 (CD). Deutsches Wehrkundearchiv, Lage-Waddenhausen, 2001.
