Erich Diestel

Erich Diestel (born November 8, 1892 in Deutsch Eylau ; † August 3, 1973 in Bad Wiessee ) was a German lieutenant general in World War II .

Military career

In 1912 he joined the Prussian Army , on August 18, 1913 he was promoted to lieutenant in the fusilier regiment "Prince Heinrich of Prussia" (Brandenburg) No. 35 . During the First World War he served as an adjutant in Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 270 until 1917. After the war ended in the Reichswehr in September 1919 , Diestel served in Infantry Regiment 5 and in January was transferred to the 9th (Prussian) Infantry -Regiment transferred. There he was promoted to captain on May 1, 1927 . After the National Socialists came to power , Diestel was transferred to the infantry school in Dresden as a teacher and promoted to major on October 1, 1934 . From January 1935 he worked as a teacher at the war school in Dresden; In October 1937 Diestel took over the 1st  Battalion in Infantry Regiment 68 and had previously been appointed Lieutenant Colonel on April 1, 1937 .

During the Second World War he was initially with the 68th Infantry Regiment, but on January 15, 1940, he became the commander of the 188th Infantry Regiment of the 68th Infantry Division deployed in Ukraine from June 1941 . On January 2, 1942, Diestel was awarded the German Cross in Gold. On April 15, 1942, he took command of the 101st Light Infantry Division , which was renamed the 101st Jäger Division in July 1942 after the invasion of the Caucasus . On August 1, 1942, he was promoted to major general and took over the leadership of the 75th Infantry Division at short notice . On September 20, he became leader of the 346th Infantry Division and on August 1, 1943, when he was promoted to Lieutenant General, he was commander of the 346th Infantry Division in the 15th Army on the Western Front . On October 8, 1944, Diestel was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross . On November 18, 1944 he became commander of the z. b. V. 331. From March 23 to April 9, 1945 he was in the area of ​​the 25th Army commander of the "Diestel" corps named after him . After that, until the end of the war in May 1945, he was entrusted with the management of the "Kleffel" army division in the severed fortress of Holland. Between 1945 and 1947 he was in Allied captivity.

literature

• Dermot Bradley (ed.), Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Markus Rövekampf: Die Generale des Heeres 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 3: Dahlmann – Fitzlaff. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1994, ISBN 3-7648-2443-3 , pp. 122-123.