Felix Schelle

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Felix Schelle

Felix Paul Otto Maria Schelle (born November 11, 1867 - † December 12, 1927 in Poppenbüttel ) was a German officer , most recently a colonel and knight of the order Pour le Mérite and during the First World War commander of the infantry regiment No. 370.

Life

On March 22, 1887, Schelle was transferred from the Cadet Corps as a charged ensign to the Infantry Regiment "von Manstein" (Schleswig's) No. 84 of the Prussian Army . There he was transferred to Second Lieutenant on September 19, 1888, and as such on October 24, 1893, to the Second Sea Battalion in Wilhelmshaven . After Schelle was promoted to Prime Lieutenant on September 12, 1895 , he was commanded from April 1, 1896 to March 31, 1897 on the training ship SMS Stein and from October 1, 1897 to January 27, 1898 as a leader of the Sailor Company. From January 27 to October 7, 1898 it was used by the III. Sea battalion and then Schelle was transferred to Cologne in the infantry regiment "Freiherr von Sparr" (3rd Westphalian) No. 16 . Here he served until November 21, 1902 and then came to Rendsburg in the infantry regiment "Herzog von Holstein" (Holsteinisches) No. 85 . With his promotion to captain on April 18, 1903, Schelle became company commander there . As a major, he was finally promoted to the regimental staff on October 1, 1913.

First World War

At the outbreak of war he was commander of the III. 76th Battalion of Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 76 . This practiced in the first weeks of the war together with the other troops of the IX. Reserve Corps removed the border guard to Denmark until it was moved to the Western Front. His battalion captured Machemont , the Ferme Attiches , Elincourt and the castle of Béthancourt in the battle of the Aisne . On 20 October 1915 he led his battalion, served in the many Mecklenburg, to storm the east of Souchez located Gießeler height . The 17th Reserve Division , to which the regiment now belonged, was used in the Battle of the Somme . In the Foureaux Forest, the battalion was able to maintain its position under his leadership.

On September 12, 1916, Schelle was appointed commander of the Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 9 . The in Armentières fighting hunters but were only briefly under his leadership because he was already on 22 September 1916, commander of the 10th Division Replacement belonging Infantry Regiment. 370 was appointed. It fought from April 16 to 20, 1917 in the spring battle of Aisne-Champagne and defended both the Pöhl and Keil mountains. From here it went to Flanders . From May to June his regiment fought near Poelkapelle and Paschendaele , in the Houthoulster forest and near Langemark . In November 1917 his regiment was transferred to the Eastern Front and remained in Ukraine on the Galician border until February 1918 .

His regiment was one of the forces released on the Eastern Front for the spring offensive in France and was transported to the vicinity of Lille in February 1918 to train for the breakthrough battle. The regiment was then subordinated to the 43rd Replacement Infantry Brigade, which was still commanded by the one-armed General Karl Hoefer . Under his leadership, on April 9, 1918, at the Battle of Armentières, his regiment was the first German force to cross the Lys , advance further and conquer the town of Steenwerck . Without further support, Schelle was able to defend the city for the next 36 hours despite violent attacks. For this achievement, his brigade commander, Colonel Friedrich von Taysen , proposed him to be awarded the order Pour le Mérite. Schelle received the highest Prussian bravery award with the AKO on June 30, 1918.

The regiment then fought at Bailleul , took part in the storming of the Kemmelberg and the defense against attempts at reconquest by the English. Position battles followed again. Schelle was promoted to lieutenant colonel on September 20, 1918 .

post war period

After the end of the war, Schelle led his regiment through the Eifel via Cologne and Düren to Bielefeld . There it was demobilized on December 14, 1918 and dissolved on December 21, 1918.

He then returned to Rendsburg in his peace garrison and in February 1919 set up the volunteer regiment "Schelle" named after him and belonging to the Freikorps Schleswig-Holstein. With him he went to Berlin , occupied the Berlin City Palace and took part with him in the suppression of the Spartacus uprising.

Subsequently assigned to the Reichswehr Brigade Lettow-Vorbeck , his regiment was involved in the suppression of unrest in Hamburg from July 1, 1919 . Schelle and his regiment were placed in the service of the Senate and, as commander of the Hamburg Security Service, they were mainly used to monitor the free port . Although he had not participated with his troops in the Kapp Putsch , Schelle was dismissed from active service on July 1, 1920 with the character of a colonel.

Schelle spent his retirement in Poppenbüttel near Hamburg, where he died in 1927.

family

Schelle's widow Constanze (born June 14, 1870 ; † February 6, 1954 in Lübeck), called Conny between the wars, moved to Lübeck in 1931 into the apartment building of the privateer Herrmann Lüders at Kronsford Allee 30a and became the owner of the house in 1932 . She was buried on February 20 in an urn grave in the Burgtorfriedhof . The marriage remained childless.

Awards

literature

  • 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. 198-199.
  • Beltz: The Duke of Holstein (Holst.) Infantry Regiment No. 85 in the World War. In: Heider Anzeiger. Heath 1921.
  • Erich Karitzky: Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 9th first edition, Verlag Gerhard Stalling, Oldenburg i. D. 1925.
  • Hugo Gropp: Hanseatic people in battle. The Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 76. Experiences with the Res.-Inf.-Rgt. 76 in the World War 1914/18. compiled on behalf of the association former. Belonging Reserve 76 eV Printed by Klindworth & Neuenhaus, Hamburg 1932.
  • Hanns Möller : History of the knights of the order "Pour le mérite" in the World War. Volume 2: M-Z. Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1935, pp. 250-252.

Individual evidence

  1. Lt. At the Ohlsdorf Information Center , Schelle died on the 21st and not on the 12th.
  2. ^ Jürgen Kraus : Handbook of the associations and troops of the German army 1914-1918. Part VI: Infantry. Volume 1: Infantry Regiments. Verlag Militaria, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-902526-14-4 , p. 327.
  3. ^ Jürgen Kraus: Handbook of the associations and troops of the German army 1914-1918. Part VI: Infantry. Volume 1: Infantry Regiments. Verlag Militaria, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-902526-14-4 , p. 154.
  4. ^ Georg Tessin : German Associations and Troops 1918-1939. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1974. p. 71.
  5. MILITARIA.Zeitschrift, vol. 2000, issue 1, January-February, pp. 226-229. ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / militaria-zeitschrift.de
  6. Jac.-U-7-II
  7. a b Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg Army Corps for 1914 , Ed .: War Ministry , Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1914, p. 255