Ernst Bolbrinker

Ernst Bolbrinker (born October 23, 1898 in Graz , † July 2, 1962 in Bielefeld ) was an Austrian mining engineer and German major general in World War II .

Life

Bolbrinker attended schools in Braunschweig , Vienna and Graz .

War volunteer

After graduating from high school , he joined the Westphalian Jäger Battalion No. 7 of the Prussian Army on June 1, 1916 as a volunteer during the First World War . On November 22, 1916 he was transferred to the 5th Lorraine Infantry Regiment No. 144 and his appointment as a flagjunker on January 18, 1917. As a lieutenant (since September 30, 1917) he then served briefly from February 1 to 20 1918 as platoon leader in Sturm Battalion No. 15 on the Western Front , before Bolbrinker returned to Infantry Regiment No. 144 in the same position. For his achievements he received both classes of the Iron Cross . On September 26, 1918, he was taken prisoner by the French in Champagne , from which he was released on February 20, 1920. In February / March 1920 he was with the Freikorps Lichtschlag in the Ruhr area and was released from active service on March 31, 1920.

Civil interlude

From May to September 1920 he worked at the Titania factory in Wels . He studied at the Montan University Leoben and in 1921 became a member of the Corps Schacht . In November 1925 he left the university as a graduate engineer and worked until March 1926 at ÖAMG's Seegraben brown coal civil engineering . From March to December 1926 he was a Taylor engineer at the civil and open pit lignite mining in Köflach and from January to July 1927 he was a Steiger engineer at the Fohnsdorf lignite mining in the Wodzicki shaft. In July 1927 he moved back to Köflach as a mountain assistant.

In 1923 Bolbrinker became SA Regional Leader Styria and in 1925 switched to the Styrian Homeland Security in the Pfrimer leadership. From November 1931 he worked as a mountain assistant in the Seegraben lignite mining in the Wartinbeg shaft; on August 2, 1934 he was dismissed because he opposed the corporate state . In March 1932 he returned to the SA and took over the leadership of the SA Standard Leoben. Because of the fighting there at the end of July 1934, he fled to Germany and worked as a mining engineer in Essen .

Wehrmacht

On April 21, 1936 he was admitted to the III. Battalion of the 37th Infantry Regiment convened in Osnabrück and commanded as first lieutenant in the reserve on August 1, 1936 for a trial service with Panzer Regiment 1. When he was promoted to captain , Bolbrinker was taken over into active employment on February 1, 1937, and shortly thereafter, on March 10, he was transferred to the staff of Department II. From October 12, 1937 he then acted as company commander and completed a shooting course in Putlos in November 1937 . In April / May 1938 Bolbrinker took part in a tactical course for commanders and company commanders in Wünsdorf and Putlos.

After the beginning of the Second World War and his participation in the attack on Poland , Bolbrinker was appointed commander of the headquarters of the XVI on November 1, 1939 . Army Corps and as such on April 1, 1940 Major . With this he went into the western campaign . After the end of the fighting, he became commander of the 1st Division of the 5th Panzer Regiment. In February 1941, he was transferred to Africa with the 5th Light Division . In April 1941, Bolbrinker and the remnants of his division were to defend the desert fort of El Mechili, which was defended by British-Indian troops attack. When they attempted to break out, Bolbrinker attacked the fort with his seven tanks and took it despite the strongest resistance. With this, Bolbrinker had brought the key point of the English defense in the direction of Tobruk in eastern Cyrenaica into German hands.

At the end of March 1941, Bolbrinker proved himself in the tank battle for Agedabia and then in the break into the fortifications near Tobruk. For his success at El Mechili , he was proposed to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by the regimental commander Colonel Friedrich Olbricht , which was awarded to him on May 15, 1941. Wounded the next day, Bolbrinker was able to stay with the troops and took over the command of Panzer Regiment 5. Wounded again at Sidi Omar on June 16, 1941 , he was mentioned in the Wehrmacht report on June 20, 1941 for the fighting on the Sollum Front and shortly thereafter in the Führerreserve the OKH added.

On January 20, 1942, he was assigned to the Special Staff Tropics , and in the summer of 1942 he was assigned to the Chief of Army Armament and Commander of the Reserve Army as group leader of the motor vehicle department . On February 18, 1943, he was initially charged with taking on business as Chief of Staff of the Inspection of Armored Troops (In 6) in the OKH, promoted to Colonel on May 1, 1943 and finally appointed Chief on May 10. In this position he was promoted to major general on July 1, 1944. As such, he became a prisoner of war with the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht , from which he was released in 1947 after he had written a study on the role of the 5th Panzer Regiment.

literature

• Dermot Bradley (Ed.): 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. 129-130.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1996, 153/168
2. ↑ Veit Scherzer : 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 , p. 233.
3. ^ ^{A b c} Samuel W. Mitcham : Rommel's desert commanders: the men who served the Desert Fox, North Africa. Praeger Security International, 2007, ISBN 978-0-275-99436-5 , p. 25. Online