Nickname: No information
Date of Birth: 25.08.1915 - Kassel, Kingdom of Prussia (German Empire)
Date of Death: 27.08.1944 - Łomża, General Government (German-occupied Poland)
Battles and Operations: Polish Campaign, Western Campaign, Operation Barbarossa, Battle of Moscow, anti-partisan operations in the Army Group Centre Rear Area, defensive battles between Bug and Narew rivers 1944
NSDAP-Number: No information
SS-Number: No information
Religion: Catholic
Parents: Albert Freiherr von Boeselager and Maria-Theresia Freiin von Salis-Soglio
Siblings: seven siblings (including younger brother Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager)
Spouse: none (unmarried)
Children: none
Promotions:
01.04.1936 Leutnant
01.03.1939 Oberleutnant
01.07.1941 Rittmeister
01.06.1943 Major
01.12.1943 Oberstleutnant
29.08.1944 Oberst (posthumous)
Career:
01.04.1934 Fahnenjunker, Reiter-Regiment 15, Paderborn
01.04.1936 Leutnant, Reiter-Regiment 15
1939 participation in Polish Campaign with Reiter-Regiment 15
1940 participation in Western Campaign with 6. Infanterie-Division, bridging of the Seine near Les Andelys and capture of Villers on 09.06.1940 and 16.06.1940
18.01.1941 Chief of 1./reitende Aufklärungs-Abteilung 6 / 6. Infanterie-Division
Operation Barbarossa 1941, reconnaissance actions around Brest-Litovsk, Białystok and Minsk, bridgeheads over Neman and Daugava rivers, actions near Moscow
31.12.1941 continued service as Chief of 1./Divisions-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 6
01.01.1942-08.1942 Taktiklehrer, Schule für Schnelle Truppen, Krampnitz
08.1942-12.02.1943 Taktiklehrer, Stab des Ausbildungsleiters für Kavallerie in Rumänien
01.04.1943-03.1944 Kommandeur Kavallerie-Regiment Mitte
23.06.1943 report on anti-partisan tactics to Henning von Tresckow
03.1944-27.08.1944 Kommandeur 3. Kavallerie-Brigade, defensive actions against Soviet breakthroughs between Bug and Narew rivers
27.08.1944 killed in action while leading an assault on a heavily fortified Soviet position near Łomża on the Narew River
Awards and Decorations:
Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht 4. Klasse (4 Jahre)
Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse: 15.10.1939
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse: 13.06.1940
Allgemeines Sturmabzeichen (I. Stufe)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (18.01.1941) as Oberleutnant and Chef 1.Schwadron / Aufklärungs-Abteilung 6 / 6.Infanterie-Division. In the blazing days of the Western Campaign in June 1940, Boeselager led his mounted reconnaissance squadron in two decisive strokes that shattered French resistance along the Seine River. On the morning of 9 June 1940, with German forces pressing toward the river line near Les Andelys, he and a handful of volunteers from his squadron stripped off their equipment, plunged into the cold, swift waters of the Seine, and swam across under potential enemy observation. Emerging dripping and exhausted on the far bank, they silently established a precarious bridgehead, then stormed inland through broken terrain to seize the village of Villers. This lightning seizure secured a vital crossing point and prevented French reinforcements from sealing the gap. One week later, on 16 June 1940, as the German Vorausabteilung stalled under heavy fire from a French artillery battery raking the advance, Boeselager spotted the opportunity for a flanking maneuver. At the head of his squadron he charged through broken terrain, slammed into the enemy guns from the side in close combat, and overran the position, capturing the entire battery. The captured guns had been hammering the German spearhead; their loss broke the French line and allowed the division to surge forward toward the coast. For these twin feats of swimming assault and flank attack that opened the path for an entire division, Boeselager received the Ritterkreuz.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #53 (31.12.1941) as Rittmeister and Chef 1.Schwadron / Aufklärungs-Abteilung 6 / 6.Infanterie-Division. During the savage fighting of Operation Barbarossa in the autumn of 1941, Boeselager’s squadron again proved the spearhead of the 6. Infanterie-Division’s reconnaissance screen. On 4 October 1941, in the sector west of Bjeloj, he drove his men and attached bicycle infantry forward in a merciless forced march through knee-deep mud and Soviet rearguards. Reaching Komarj after hours of ruthless advance, the squadron stormed the village in a lightning assault. From the captured ground they immediately pushed on to throw a bridgehead across the small Lebasmuna stream. The move was decisive: by blocking the Bjeloj–Cholm road, Boeselager’s detachment cut off the main Soviet retreat corridor from the Bjeloj pocket back toward the Dnieper defensive positions. Entire Soviet columns were forced into chaotic flight or annihilation, while German follow-on forces poured through the gap. This action, combined with his squadron’s earlier reconnaissance thrusts around Brest-Litovsk, the double envelopment at Bialystok and Minsk, the seizure of bridgeheads over the Neman and Daugava rivers, and relentless mounted probes during the Battle of Moscow, earned him the Eichenlaub. The citation highlighted both the single brilliant stroke at Komarj and his consistent excellence in keeping the division’s eyes and spearpoint far ahead of the main body throughout the summer and autumn campaigns.
Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42
Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Silber
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #114 (28.11.1944, posthumously) as Oberstleutnant and Führer 3. Kavallerie-Brigade. In the desperate defensive battles of Army Group Centre in August 1944, Boeselager’s newly formed 3. Kavallerie-Brigade faced wave after wave of Soviet tank and infantry assaults between the Bug and Narew rivers. For weeks the brigade, often fighting dismounted or in lightning counter-charges, plugged every breach, restored broken lines, and inflicted disproportionate losses on the attackers through mobile fire and rapid repositioning. On 27 August 1944 near Łomża, as Soviet forces hammered a critical sector on the Narew, Boeselager personally led a final counter-assault against a heavily fortified enemy position bristling with machine guns, anti-tank guns, and dug-in infantry of a Russian division. At the head of his troopers he charged straight into the hail of fire, rallying his men with voice and example in a last, furious attempt to throw the Soviets back across the river. In the midst of the hand-to-hand fighting a burst of fire cut him down; he fell on the battlefield at the age of twenty-nine. His brigade’s unyielding stand had prevented every Soviet breakthrough attempt in that sector, buying precious time for the German withdrawal and saving countless lives in the collapsing front. For this final month of relentless combat leadership and the heroic personal assault that ended his life, the Schwerter were awarded posthumously on 28 November 1944, together with promotion to Oberst.
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Georg Freiherr von Boeselager was a German Army cavalry officer and highly decorated commander during World War II who rose to the rank of Oberst and received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords for extraordinary bravery in combat while also becoming deeply involved in the military resistance against Adolf Hitler. Born on 25 August 1915 in Kassel as the third son among ten siblings to Freiherr Albert von Boeselager and Freiin Maria-Theresia von Salis-Soglio he grew up on the historic family estate Wasserburg Heimerzheim in the Rhineland where a devout Catholic upbringing and noble traditions shaped his path toward a military career. From an early age he excelled as a tournament rider and completed his Abitur at the Jesuit Aloisiuskolleg in Bonn-Bad Godesberg before enlisting on 1 April 1934 as a Fahnenjunker in Reiter-Regiment 15 in Paderborn. Promoted to Leutnant in 1936 and Oberleutnant in March 1939 he entered the war with a reputation for bold leadership that would define his service across multiple fronts.
Boeselager first distinguished himself during the 1939 invasion of Poland earning the Iron Cross Second Class for reconnaissance and combat actions with his regiment. In the 1940 Western Campaign his mounted squadron achieved legendary feats along the Seine River that secured the Knight's Cross on 18 January 1941. On 9 June 1940 near Les Andelys he and a small group of volunteers stripped off their equipment plunged into the cold swift current and swam across under enemy observation to establish a precarious bridgehead before storming inland through broken terrain to capture the village of Villers and prevent French reinforcements from closing the gap. One week later on 16 June as a German advance stalled under murderous fire from a French artillery battery he spotted a flanking opportunity and led his troopers in a thunderous charge through difficult ground slamming into the enemy guns from the side in savage close combat to overrun the entire position and capture the battery intact allowing the division to surge forward. These twin strokes of audacious swimming assault and flank attack opened the path for an entire division and also earned him the Iron Cross First Class on 13 June 1940.
During Operation Barbarossa in 1941 Boeselager's squadron served as the spearhead of the 6th Infantry Division's reconnaissance screen executing relentless probes around Brest-Litovsk Bialystok and Minsk while seizing bridgeheads over the Neman and Daugava rivers and pressing deep into the Battle of Moscow. His finest moment came on 4 October west of Bjeloj where he drove his men and attached bicycle infantry through knee-deep mud and Soviet rearguards in a merciless forced march reaching Komarj to storm the village in a lightning assault then immediately pushing on to throw a bridgehead across the Lebasmuna stream. By blocking the vital Bjeloj-Cholm road the detachment cut off the main Soviet retreat corridor from the Bjeloj pocket forcing entire columns into chaotic flight or annihilation and enabling German follow-on forces to pour through the gap. For this decisive action combined with his consistent excellence in keeping the division's eyes and spearpoint far ahead throughout the summer and autumn campaigns he received the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on 31 December 1941 as Rittmeister.
After frontline service Boeselager was reassigned in early 1942 as a tactics instructor at the School for Fast Troops in Krampnitz and later to train Romanian cavalry officers forging early contacts with the military resistance circle against Hitler. In December 1942 following an audience with Field Marshal Günther von Kluge he was ordered to form the independent Cavalry Regiment Center which he commanded from April 1943 onward. On 13 March 1943 during Hitler's visit to Smolensk he and his younger brother Philipp volunteered to assassinate the Führer by shooting him at close range but Kluge forbade the attempt fearing civil war without Himmler's presence. The brothers then tried to smuggle a bomb aboard Hitler's plane but the fuses froze in the unheated baggage compartment causing the plan to fail. Promoted to Major in June 1943 Boeselager submitted a detailed report on anti-partisan tactics to Henning von Tresckow advocating strict zoning of areas and harsh measures including executions and deportations which was forwarded to Army Group Center commands reflecting the brutal realities of rear-area warfare he had witnessed including an early report of an SS-organized mass shooting of Polish Jews.
Wounded twice in late 1943 and early 1944 Boeselager returned to duty in June still partially recovering and assumed command of the newly formed 3rd Cavalry Brigade. When informed of the planned 20 July 1944 assassination attempt he quietly repositioned his units to the rear ready to march on Berlin if the coup succeeded but received no order after the plot collapsed. Learning of the failure from Tresckow he redeployed his forces back to the front without implication in the subsequent reprisals thanks to the silence of key conspirators. In the desperate defensive battles of Army Group Center that August his brigade faced repeated Soviet tank and infantry assaults between the Bug and Narew rivers plugging every breach with dismounted stands and lightning counter-charges. On 27 August near Łomża he personally led a final furious assault against a heavily fortified Soviet rifle-division position bristling with machine guns and anti-tank weapons charging at the head of his troopers into a hail of fire in hand-to-hand combat until a burst cut him down at the age of twenty-nine. His unyielding stand prevented every breakthrough in the sector buying critical time for the German withdrawal.
Posthumously promoted to Oberst and awarded the Swords to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves on 28 November 1944 as the 114th recipient Boeselager was also mentioned twice in the Wehrmacht Report. His other decorations included the General Assault Badge the Winter Battle in the East Medal the Wound Badge in Silver and the Wehrmacht Long Service Award Fourth Class. In the decades after the war his legacy lived on through Bundeswehr honors such as the Freiherr-von-Boeselager-Kaserne in Munster the annual Boeselager-Wettkampf international military competition for armored reconnaissance troops and streets and schools named after him in several German towns including his family hometown of Swisttal-Heimerzheim where a local school still bears his name. As both a battlefield hero and a committed resistor his story embodies the complex moral choices faced by many Wehrmacht officers who fought loyally while seeking to end the Nazi regime from within.
The
new Eichenlaubrträger met with Hitler at the Führerhauptquartier
Wolfsschanze, 30 January 1942. The recipients are, from left to right:
Generalmajor Hans Jordan (Eichenlaub #59 on 16 January 1942 as Oberst
and Kommandeur Infanterie-Regiment 49 / 28. Infanterie-Division), Oberst
Karl Eibl (Eichenlaub #50 on 31 December 1941 as Oberst and Kommandeur
Infanterie-Regiment 132 / 44.Infanterie-Division), Major Günther
Hoffmann-Schönborn (Eichenlaub #49 on 31 December 1941 as Major and
Kommandeur Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 191 "Büffel"), Rittmeister Georg
Freiherr von Boeselager (Eichenlaub #53 on 31 December 1941 as
Rittmeister and Chef 1.Schwadron / Aufklärungs-Abteilung 6 /
6.Infanterie-Division), and Oberleutnant Karl-Heinz Noak (Eichenlaub #63
on 16 January 1942 as Oberleutnant and Chef 1.Kompanie /
Panzerjäger-Abteilung 137 / 137.Infanterie-Division), Photograph by
Heinrich Hoffmann (1885–1957). Other pictures from this ceremony can be seen HERE.
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://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.geni.com/
https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/gnd118810723.html
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Freiherr_von_Boeselager
Valkyrie: The Story of the Plot to Kill Hitler by Its Last Member by Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager (Alfred A. Knopf, 2009)
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