Bernhard von Loßberg (Major General)

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Bernhard Viktor Hans Wolfgang von Loßberg (born July 26, 1899 in Deutsch-Wilmersdorf near Berlin , † March 15, 1965 in Heidelberg ) was a German officer, most recently Major General of the Wehrmacht .

Life

He was the son of the later General of the Infantry Fritz von Loßberg and his wife Clemence, née Herwarth von Bittenfeld (1876–1941). Due to the frequently changing command of his father, he attended a number of schools, most recently a grammar school in Stuttgart . In July 1916, at the age of 17, he signed up for military service and joined the reserve battalion of the 2nd Guards Regiment on foot as a flag junior . He came to the front at the age of 18. He was wounded several times during World War I and as a result later suffered from health problems. In August 1918, the now lieutenant was assigned to the staff of the Quartermaster General.

In the Reichswehr , Loßberg first served in Reichswehr Brigade 15 and from 1920 in Infantry Regiment 5 and specialized in the intelligence service. From 1930 he completed an assistant driver training with the staff of the 3rd division . In October 1933 Loßberg, meanwhile a captain , came to Division T 1 of the Troops Office (later 1st Division of the Army General Staff), where he remained until 1936. After a brief activity in the troop service, he joined the General Staff of the 1st Army Corps in 1937 as Second General Staff Officer . In April 1938 he was transferred to the 4th Department of the General Staff of the Army and in August of this year assigned to the "Special Staff W" of General Karl-Friedrich Schweickhard . On behalf of Schweickhard, he traveled to the war zone several times on secret missions during the Spanish Civil War .

In April 1939 Loßberg was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel First General Staff Officer of the Army in the National Defense Department of the Wehrmacht Leadership Office. In this role he was closely involved in the strategic and operational planning in the early phase of World War II . Among other things, he designed an early operational study for an attack on the Soviet Union, which was later carried out as Operation Barbarossa . In the winter crisis of 1941 Loßberg was removed from his post and in January 1942 was transferred to the Army High Command Norway / Wehrmacht Commander Norway as the first General Staff Officer . In May 1944 he became chief of staff at the “special agent for the Danube” Wilhelm Marschall .

Loßberg's last position was that of the Chief of Staff of the Deputy General Command of the VIII Army Corps under Rudolf Koch-Erpach , from which the Silesia Corps Group was formed. In March 1945 it was transferred to the Führerreserve and no longer used until the end of the war. During his captivity, he was interrogated in the London Cage at times. He was released in January 1947. In 1949 he published the book Im Wehrmachtführungsstab: Report of a General Staff Officer .

literature

  • Dermot Bradley (Ed.): The Generals of the Army 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 7: Knabe – Luz. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2004, ISBN 3-7648-2902-8 , pp. 618-619.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Death register of the Heidelberg registry office No. 571/1965.
  2. ^ In the HH Nölke Verlag, Hamburg, Germany, 1949