Albert Heuck

Albert Karl Friedrich Max Heuck (born April 26, 1863 in Roga ; † July 1, 1942 in Kiel ) was a German lieutenant general .

Life

Heuck was the son of a manorial landlord. His brother Karl (born November 7, 1873) also embarked on a military career in the Prussian Army .

After his upbringing in his parents' house and attending grammar school in Friedland , Heuck graduated from the cadet schools in Plön and Groß-Lichterfelde . On April 16, 1881, he was transferred as a charged ensign to Infantry Regiment No. 129 in Bromberg . There Heuck received the patent for his rank on November 15, 1881 and was promoted to Second Lieutenant on September 13, 1882 . From October 1, 1887 to February 17, 1892 he served as an adjutant of the 1st battalion, was promoted to prime lieutenant on November 18, 1890 and then worked as a regimental adjutant. As a captain , on November 17, 1896, he was appointed chief of the 1st company. This was followed by his transfer to the 6th West Prussian Infantry Regiment No. 149 in Schneidemühl on April 1, 1897 .

On the occasion of the Boxer Rebellion , Heuck volunteered as a company commander in the 5th East Asian Infantry Regiment on August 18, 1900 and took part in the fighting in China. After the uprising was over, he remained with the occupation force, returned to Germany in September 1904 and was employed in the 1st Hanoverian Infantry Regiment No. 74 . On July 13, 1905, Heuck resigned from the army when he joined the protection force of German South West Africa . As chief of the 5th stage company, he took part in the suppression of the Nama uprising in the German colony and took part in the fighting near Greater Namaland , Karas Mountains and Oranje . After his promotion to major on September 11, 1907, Heuck was transferred to the 4th Lorraine Infantry Regiment No. 136 in Strasbourg in mid-October 1907 and was promoted to regimental staff the following year. From April 20, 1910 to February 16, 1914 he was in command of the II Battalion and in the meantime became a lieutenant colonel on October 1, 1913 . Then the disposition found was Heuck member of the German military mission in the Ottoman Empire and Commander of the Ottoman 13th Division in Angora .

With this division , Heuck took part in the defense of the Dardanelles after the outbreak of World War I and the entry of the Ottoman Empire into the war on the German side . Since December 1914 he was commander of the Ottoman 24th Division. His achievements were by the Sultan by awarding the Mecidiye Order II. Class, the Osmanje Order III. Class as well as the Iron Crescent . He also received the title of pasha .

Promoted to colonel on May 18, 1916 , Heuck was ordered back to Germany in June 1916 and a month later was appointed commander of Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 227. The regiment took part as part of the 213rd Infantry Brigade on the Eastern Front in the Battle of Kovel and the subsequent positional battles on the Styr and Stochod . With his appointment as commander of the 237th Infantry Brigade on April 30, 1917, Heuck came to the Western Front . During the Battle of Flanders he was able to prove himself particularly well and received the Order of the Crown, 2nd class with swords , on August 6, 1917 . From November 1917, Heuck and his brigade were fighting in the Siegfried position and in the battle of Cambrai was able to maintain the section to be defended against the attacking English.

At the beginning of February, Heuck's brigade was subordinated to the newly formed 17th Army in Artois . She took part in the breakthrough battle at Monchy-Cambrai and the battle at Bapaume during the German spring offensive . After the offensive ceased, the brigade joined the 6th Army and took part in the battle of Armentières in mid-April 1918 . This was followed by trench warfare again. From the end of July, the large association was in defensive battles between Avre and Matz and from 8 to 20 August in the heavy defensive battle between Somme and Avre. This was followed by the Battle of Albert - Péronne . After the defensive battle between Cambrai and St. Quentin , Heuck was awarded the Order Pour le Mérite for his leadership on October 28, 1918 .

After the armistice , Heuck led the remnants of his troops back home. During the demobilization in December he formed the Freikorps named after him , which u. a. fought against Spartakists in the Ruhr area . In March 1919, Heuck was given command of the 22nd Infantry Brigade in Glatz , which was used in the border guard in the following weeks . Since May he then acted as leader of the "West" group on the border between Waldenburg and the Oder and in July 1919 was appointed Infantry Leader 32 of the Provisional Reichswehr in Upper Silesia . As such, Heuck was responsible for the suppression of a Polish uprising near Beuthen . From February to May 1920 he commanded the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 16 and was also Deputy Infantry Leader 8 at the same time. This was followed by promotion to major general and he was appointed commander of Reichswehr Brigade 20 in Bartenstein . As part of the reduction in the Reichswehr, he was retired from military service on December 31, 1920.

Heuck received the character of Lieutenant General on August 27, 1939, the so-called Tannenberg Day.

literature

• Karl Heyn, Siegfried Woltersdorf: Master lists and rankings of all officers of the 3rd West Prussian. Infantry Regiment No. 129 from 1881 to 1906. Gerhard Stalling publisher. Oldenburg 1906. p. 32.
• Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume I: A-L. Verlag Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1935, pp. 481-483
• Dermot Bradley (ed.), Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Markus Brockmann: Die Generale des Heeres 1921-1945. The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intendants, judges and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 5: v. Haack-Hitzfeld. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1999, ISBN 3-7648-2538-3 , pp. 373-374.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Military weekly paper . No. 53 of March 18, 1915. p. 1245.
2. ^ Military weekly paper. No. 19 of August 14, 1917. p. 509.
3. ^ Georg Tessin : German associations and troops 1918–1939. Biblio Publishing House. Osnabrück 1974. ISBN 3-7648-1000-9 . P. 122.