Egon von Schmettow

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Lieutenant General Egon von Schmettow

Egon Graf von Schmettow (born August 31, 1856 in Pommerzig , † August 4, 1942 in Oberwolmsdorf near Bolkenhain ) was a German cavalry general .

Life

origin

Like his cousin Eberhard, Egon came from the Silesian noble family von Schmettow .

Military career

von Schmettow on the 10th anniversary of the Battle of Tannenberg (back right, as "von Schmettau")

Schmettow entered 1878 as an avantageur in the Dragoon Regiment "King Friedrich III." (2nd Silesian) No. 8 of the Prussian Army . Here he became Second Lieutenant on October 12, 1878 , before serving in the War Ministry for many years . First as an adjutant to the remonte inspection, then as a consultant. After serving as a major in his old regiment's headquarters, he became chief of the cavalry department in the War Department in 1905. In 1907 he became the commander of the 1st Brandenburg Dragoon Regiment No. 2 . The following year he was promoted to colonel . In 1911 he was promoted to major general and appointed commander of the 6th Cavalry Brigade . In May 1914 he was commissioned as a lieutenant general with the provisional management of the business of the inspector of the 4th Cavalry Inspection, and in June he was also officially appointed inspector.

At the beginning of the First World War Schmettow was given command of the 6th Cavalry Division , which was used on the Western Front - especially in northern France and Belgium . In the autumn of 1914 the division was transferred to the Eastern Front , where it initially fought as part of the 9th Army in Congress Poland . On the evening of November 15, 1914, his large formation pursued the enemy as far as Kutno , which they enclosed and then occupied without infantry support. In the further course of the campaign, the division fought on the Rawka , Bzura and Pilica . In the spring of 1915 she was involved in the battles for Przasnysz and later for Memel and Tauroggen . In early summer she fought at Mitau , then at Schaulen and on the Windau . At that time Schmettow was the leader of the Higher Cavalry Command 5 , which in addition to its own division also consisted of the 2nd Cavalry Division .

On November 20, 1916, he took over General Command 58 on the Eastern Front, newly created from the Cavalry Command . Schmettow was awarded the Order Pour le Mérite on November 4, 1917 for his achievements . On February 6, 1918, he was appointed commanding general of the Deputy General Command of the VIII Army Corps in Koblenz . After the end of the war he submitted his departure, which was granted to him on November 23, 1918.

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

Awards

literature

  • Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume II: M-Z. Bernard & Graefe publishing house, Berlin 1935, pp. 270-272.
  • Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 3: P-Z. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2011, ISBN 3-7648-2586-3 , pp. 226-228.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Prussian War Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg) Army Corps for 1914. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1914, p. 62.
personal data
SURNAME Schmettow, Egon von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmettow, Egon Graf von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German general of the cavalry
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Pommerzig
DATE OF DEATH 4th August 1942
Place of death Oberwolmsdorf near Bolkenhain