Carl Wagener (officer)

Carl Gustav Rulemann Wagener (born December 23, 1901 in Stanowitz near Striegau , Silesia , † June 3, 1988 in Hanover ) was a German officer , most recently major general and last chief of the general staff of Army Group B in World War II .

Life

Wagener embarked on an officer career as a professional soldier and joined the 11th (Prussian) cavalry regiment on October 25, 1921 as a flag junior . After his promotion to lieutenant in 1924, he became squadron chief of the 2nd (Prussian) cavalry regiment . In 1935 he was promoted to Rittmeister and in 1938 he became a captain, first general staff officer in the 4th light division in Vienna . In 1940 he became a tactics teacher in the general staff courses in Berlin .

For a short time he was first general staff officer (Ia) in the 10th Infantry Division in the western campaign , from the beginning of 1941 then first general staff officer of Panzer Group 3. Shortly before the start of the 1942 summer offensive, Wagener, Lieutenant Colonel i. G., Chief of the General Staff XXXX. Panzer Corps .

For his services in the subsequent retreats of the corps from Stalingrad , he received the German Cross in Gold on February 20, 1943 , at the same time he was promoted to Colonel i. G. promoted. In March 1944, Wagener changed to the 1st Panzer Army of General Hans-Valentin Hube as Chief of Staff . On March 25, 1944, the army was surrounded by Soviet troops in the Kamenets-Podolsk pocket. By April 6, Hube and Wagener succeeded in carrying out a successful breakout over 250 km to the west with the "wandering Hube-Kessel", in which around 200,000 of the initially 215,000 trapped soldiers escaped. For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on May 14, 1944 . On October 1, 1944, he was promoted to major general. Shortly afterwards he became chief of the general staff of the 5th Panzer Army in order to prepare the Ardennes offensive . After the Battle of the Bulge, Field Marshal Walter Model appointed him Chief of the General Staff of Army Group B on February 16, 1945 . Together with Model, he ensured that their very young and old soldiers were immediately released from the Wehrmacht so that they could return home as civilians.

After the war, Wagener became a bookseller and journalist.

Fonts

"Moscow 1941: The attack on d. Russian capital ” , Podzun Bad Nauheim 1966
“The German Panzer Force 1939 - 1945: A Documentation in Pictures” , Podzun Bad Nauheim 1966, together with Horst Scheibert
"Army Group South: The Battle in the South d. Eastern Front 1941 - 1945 ” , Podzun Bad Nauheim 1967
"Picture chronicle of the Army Group South" , Podzun Bad Nauheim 1969, together with Werner Haupt

Individual evidence

↑ CA Starke, Ed .: German Gender Book , Volume 140, Limburg an der Lahn 1965, p. 56.
↑ ^a ^b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 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. 763.

personal data
SURNAME	Wagener, Carl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Wagener, Carl Gustav Rulemann (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German officer and major general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH	December 23, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH	Stanowitz near Striegau , Silesia
DATE OF DEATH	3rd June 1988
Place of death	Hanover

[1] CA Starke, Ed .: German Gender Book , Volume 140, Limburg an der Lahn 1965, p. 56.

[RKT-2] Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 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. 763.