Ehrenfried Boege

General of the Infantry Ehrenfried Oskar Boege

Ehrenfried Oskar Boege (born November 11, 1889 in Ostrowo , † December 31, 1965 in Hildesheim ) was a German infantry general and commander in chief of the 18th Army in World War II .

Life

After graduating from high school in March 1909 at the Mariengymnasium in Posen , Boege studied law and camera studies at the University of Munich from the summer semester of 1909 and one semester later at the University of Greifswald . During his studies in 1909 he became a member of the fraternity "Cimbria Munich" and the "Rugia" . In the summer semester of 1911 he moved to the University of Königsberg and also studied history, but at the end of 1912 he broke off his studies and started a career in the military.

On September 12, 1913 he joined the 3rd Upper Silesian Infantry Regiment No. 62 of the Prussian Army in Cosel as a flag junior . At the end of April 1914 he was assigned to the Engers War School. With the outbreak of the First World War , Boege broke off his training there, was promoted to lieutenant on January 8, 1913 with an officer's license and was deployed as platoon leader in his main regiment. From January 25, 1916, he was the leader of MG Storm Troop 132 and on April 18, 1918, he was promoted to first lieutenant . Two months later he was transferred to the Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 77 and was assigned to the staff of the 38th Reserve Infantry Brigade. On August 16, 1918 Boege became adjutant of this large association . He had received both classes of the Iron Cross for his achievements during the war .

After the end of the war, Boege resigned as a company commander in the 3rd Upper Silesian Infantry Regiment No. 62 and, after demobilization, was transferred to the Provisional Reichswehr . After serving in the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 15 and as an adjutant to Infantry Leader 8, he was transferred to Infantry Regiment 4 on October 1, 1920. From there, Boege came to the 6th Infantry Regiment in Mölln on January 1, 1921, and a short time later completed his assistant command training in the staff of the 2nd Division . On October 1, 1922, Boege was transferred to the 3rd Company of the 7th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment in Schweidnitz and, as a captain , was appointed chief of the 12th Company in Breslau- Carlowitz on March 1, 1929 . After that he was from October 1, 1932 tactics teacher at the Infantry School Dresden. To the commander of the III. He was appointed to the 4th Battalion of the 84th Infantry Regiment in Gliwice on October 6, 1936. With effect from 3 November 1938 Boege came as commander of the Training Division A at the military school in Potsdam .

Boege was assigned to Adolf Hitler's military staff on August 26, where he was deputy commander of the Fuehrer's headquarters from the beginning of the Second World War . After the attack on Poland was over, he took over the 161 Infantry Regiment on December 1, 1939 in Neuhammer and later in Goldberg / Silesia , Eupen , St. Quentin and Bourges . On July 13, 1940, he became a colonel in command of the 7th Infantry Regiment, which he led from June 1941 during the attack on the Soviet Union in Nyemen , the Kesselschlacht near Smolensk , the double battle near Vyazma and Bryansk and the Battle of Moscow . On December 22, 1941, Boege was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross . Boege was commissioned on February 12, 1942 with the leadership of the 197th Infantry Division and appointed with the promotion to major general on April 1, 1942 to the commander of this division . In this capacity Boege rose to lieutenant general on January 1, 1943 and received the German Cross in Gold on January 13, 1943 . On November 16, 1943, he was transferred to the Führerreserve and at the same time assigned to the course for commanding generals in Döberitz .

From March 25, 1944 he was with the leadership of the XXXXIII. Army Corps and was appointed on June 1, 1944 with the promotion to General of the Infantry to the commanding general of the corps that Boge commanded at Narwa , Ergeli and later Dünaburg . On September 5, 1944, he was commander-in-chief of the 18th Army and on September 21, 1944 he was awarded the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (594th award). In this capacity, he took part in five battles of Courland , only to end up in Soviet captivity at the end of the war . For alleged war crimes, Boege was routinely sentenced to 25 years imprisonment, including forced labor and stays in the camps of Woikowo , Vologda , Vorkuta and Asbestos (Sverdlovsk Oblast). He was released on October 6, 1955.

After that Boege lived in Bonn , Füssen and Hildesheim .

family

Boege married Ruth-Dolores Prudlo on September 20, 1921, with whom he had a daughter and three sons, one of whom was later a Brigadier General in the Bundeswehr.

literature

• Dermot Bradley , Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Markus Rövekamp: 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 2: v. Blanckensee-v. Czettritz and Neuhauß. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1993, ISBN 3-7648-2424-7 , pp. 62-64.
• Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume I: Politicians. Volume 7: Supplement A – K. Winter, Heidelberg 2013, ISBN 978-3-8253-6050-4 , pp. 109–110.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{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. 229.