World War II German Army Lieutenant General. He was in command of the 15th Panzer Division in the Afrika Korps at his death. Born in Gut Sitzmannsdorf, Lower Silesia (now Poland), he entered service as a cadet in 1908 and was commissioned as a lieutenant in an Uhlan regiment in 1909. He saw service in WW I, earning the Iron Cross First and Second Class on the Eastern Front, and then served from 1915 on as a staff officer. Between the wars he saw action in a border patrol unit before joining the cavalry, which then converted to tanks in 1935. He commanded a tank brigade in the attack on Poland in 1939, winning (again) the Iron Cross First and Second Class, rising later that year to the command of the 14th Panzer division and the rank of Major General. With that unit he took part in the Battle of France in 1940, capturing Bolougne and taking part in the Siege of Dunkirk. In March 1941, he took command of the 15th Panzer Division, Afrika Korps, and was killed less than a month later when his Kuebelwagen (German jeep) took a direct hit from a British antitank weapon. He was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant General. He was originally buried in the Heroes Cemetery, Derna, Libya, but his remains were removed to their current resting place when that memorial was built after the war.
World War II German Army Lieutenant General. He was in command of the 15th Panzer Division in the Afrika Korps at his death. Born in Gut Sitzmannsdorf, Lower Silesia (now Poland), he entered service as a cadet in 1908 and was commissioned as a lieutenant in an Uhlan regiment in 1909. He saw service in WW I, earning the Iron Cross First and Second Class on the Eastern Front, and then served from 1915 on as a staff officer. Between the wars he saw action in a border patrol unit before joining the cavalry, which then converted to tanks in 1935. He commanded a tank brigade in the attack on Poland in 1939, winning (again) the Iron Cross First and Second Class, rising later that year to the command of the 14th Panzer division and the rank of Major General. With that unit he took part in the Battle of France in 1940, capturing Bolougne and taking part in the Siege of Dunkirk. In March 1941, he took command of the 15th Panzer Division, Afrika Korps, and was killed less than a month later when his Kuebelwagen (German jeep) took a direct hit from a British antitank weapon. He was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant General. He was originally buried in the Heroes Cemetery, Derna, Libya, but his remains were removed to their current resting place when that memorial was built after the war.
Bio by: Kenneth Gilbert
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