Eduard Crasemann

Eduard Crasemann (left) with Erwin Rommel (center)

Eduard Crasemann (born March 5, 1891 in Hamburg , † April 29, 1950 in Werl ) was a German officer , most recently general of the artillery in World War II .

Life

Peter Eduard Crasemann was born as the son of the notary Heinrich Max Crasemann and Mathilde Albertine Anna Elisabeth Stienen. On February 11, 1910, he joined the Lower Saxony Field Artillery Regiment 46 as a flag squire , where he was promoted to lieutenant on August 18, 1911 . During the First World War he took part in various roles as an artillery officer with his regiment and was retired on April 7, 1919. On August 1, 1936, he rejoined the army as a captain , initially for special use in the 1st department of the OKH , then from October 12, 1937 to the 10th department and was promoted to major on June 1, 1938 . Shortly before the start of the war, he took over as chief of the 5th Company / Artillery Regiment 73 and took part in the attack on Poland from September 1, 1939 . On February 1, 1940, he became the commander of the 2nd Division of Artillery Regiment 78 of the 7th Panzer Division , which caused a sensation in the western campaign under General Erwin Rommel as the "Ghost Division" ("La division fantome"). Promoted to lieutenant colonel on August 1, 1940 , he became commander of the 33rd Motorized Artillery Regiment of the 15th Panzer Division on May 10, 1941 , which went on a campaign in Africa with General Rommel . For his decisive achievements in the siege of Tobruk , he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on December 26, 1941 . Promoted to colonel on February 1, 1942 , after General Gustav von Vaerst was wounded, he took over the leadership of the 15th Panzer Division on May 26, 1942, and advanced with it to El Alamein . After a three-month stay in the hospital, Crasemann became commander of the 116th Panzer Artillery Regiment of the 5th Panzer Division on the Eastern Front on April 20, 1943, and as such took part in Operation Zitadelle , the last major German offensive against the Red Army . From September 1, 1943, Artillery Commander (ArKo) 143 in the XXIV Army Corps , Crasemann was awarded the German Cross in Gold on November 1, 1943 and took over the command of the 26th Panzer Division in Italy on July 10, 1944 . Promoted to major general on October 1, 1944 , he was awarded the Knight's Cross on December 18, 1944 for the defense services of his division. On January 29, 1945 he was with the leadership of the XII. SS Army Corps commissioned and promoted to Lieutenant General on February 27, 1945 . On April 16, 1945 he was captured by the British in the Ruhr Basin , but was promoted to General of the Artillery on April 20, 1945 . Crasemann was sentenced to ten years imprisonment by a British court martial because of the massacre committed on August 23, 1944 by parts of his 26th Panzer Division in the marshes of Fucecchio near the Italian town of Fucecchio in Tuscany , in which 174 civilians died. He died in custody on April 29, 1950.

Awards

Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st class
Clasp for the Iron Cross, 2nd and 1st class
German cross in gold on November 1, 1943
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with oak leaves
- Knight's Cross on December 26, 1941
- Oak leaves on December 18, 1944 (683rd award)

literature

Peter Stockert: Die Eichenlaubträger 1940–1945 , 9 volumes, 4th revised edition, Bad Friedrichshall 2010–2011.

Individual evidence

↑ Werl City Archives, City of Werl Death Register No. 95/1950.
↑ Padule di Fucecchio, August 23, 1944 (Firenze - Toscana). In: straginazifasciste.it. Retrieved November 7, 2019 (Italian).
↑ ^a ^b Veit Scherzer : The 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 , pp. 263 .
↑ Walther-Peer Fellgiebel : The bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939-1945 - The holder of the highest award of the Second World War of all parts of the Wehrmacht . Dörfler Verlag, Eggolsheim 2004, ISBN 3-7909-0284-5 , p. 78, 132 .

personal data
SURNAME	Crasemann, Eduard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German officer, most recently general of the artillery in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH	March 5, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH	April 29, 1950
Place of death	Werl

[1] Werl City Archives, City of Werl Death Register No. 95/1950.

[2] Padule di Fucecchio, August 23, 1944 (Firenze - Toscana). In: straginazifasciste.it. Retrieved November 7, 2019 (Italian).

[Scherzer-3] Veit Scherzer : The 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 , pp. 263 .

[4] Walther-Peer Fellgiebel : The bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939-1945 - The holder of the highest award of the Second World War of all parts of the Wehrmacht . Dörfler Verlag, Eggolsheim 2004, ISBN 3-7909-0284-5 , p. 78, 132 .