Axel Erik Heinrichs

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Axel Erik Heinrichs, 1945

Axel Erik Heinrichs (born July 21, 1890 in Helsinki , † November 16, 1965 ibid) was a Finnish officer , most recently General of the Infantry and Chief of the General Staff of the Finnish Armed Forces in World War II .

Life

Heinrichs began his military career as a hunter with the Finnish Jägerbataillon , which was part of the Prussian Army between 1915 and 1918 . During the Finnish Civil War , he served as the Whites battalion commander in the battles of Tampere and Vyborg . In the winter war he commanded the Finnish III. Army Corps and from February 19, 1940 to the Army of the Karelian Isthmus . In June 1940 he was promoted to chief of the general staff and in 1941 to general of the infantry.

In the Continuation War he commanded the Karelian Army until January 1942, when he returned to the position of Chief of the General Staff. After the war he was commander in chief of the army until he had to resign due to a scandal.

On August 17, 1943 Heinrichs was awarded the German Cross in Gold. On August 5, 1944, he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and on December 31, 1944, Heinrichs was the second person to be awarded the Mannerheim Cross, 1st class.

Heinrichs was one of the military experts in the delegation sent to Moscow by President Paasikivi to negotiate the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance , which was signed on April 8, 1948.

Heinrichs published several books as early as the early 1910s. He took up this activity again after the Second World War. Among other things, a work on the Napoleonic General Kléber in Egypt was created in 1946 . In the 1950s, Heinrichs was co-author of General Mannerheim's memoirs . For this he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Helsinki in May 1957 .

Web links

Commons : Erik Heinrichs  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 1939-1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 376.
personal data
SURNAME Heinrichs, Axel Erik
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Finnish General of the Infantry and Chief of the General Staff of the Finnish Armed Forces in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH July 21, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Helsinki
DATE OF DEATH November 16, 1965
Place of death Helsinki