Friedrich von Gerok (officer)

Friedrich von Gerok

Karl Christoph Friedrich von Gerok (* 26. May 1854 in Stuttgart , † 18th September 1937 ) was a württembergischer General of Infantry in the First World War .

Life

He was the son of a law firm. After visiting the school in Tübingen and upper-Real High School in his hometown, Gerok occurred on April 4, 1872 as an ensign in the Grenadier Regiment "Queen Olga" (1 Württembergisches) No. 119 one was there at 11 November 1872 appointed ensign and promoted to second lieutenant on October 17, 1873 . On May 23, 1881 he was transferred to the grenadier regiment "King Karl" (5th Württembergisches) No. 123 while being promoted to Prime Lieutenant , where he was used as an adjutant regiment until September 29, 1885 . Then Gerok became adjutant of the 54th Infantry Brigade in Ulm and as such on August 18, 1888 captain . Then he was transferred as a company commander in the infantry regiment "King Wilhelm I." (6th Württembergisches) No. 124 . From December 28, 1893 to February 23, 1897 Gerok acted as adjutant of the XIII. (Königlich Württembergisches) Army Corps , meanwhile became Major on June 18, 1895 and then Commander of the III. Battalion of the infantry regiment "Kaiser Friedrich, King of Prussia" (7th Württembergisches) No. 125 . With the promotion to lieutenant colonel on July 7, 1907, he was transferred to the staff of the infantry regiment "Freiherr von Sparr" (3rd Westphalian) No. 16 . On April 1, 1903, Gerok became a member of the Reich Military Court . He gave up this activity on July 19, 1904 and took over the infantry regiment "Grand Duke Friedrich von Baden" (8th Württembergisches) No. 126 while being promoted to colonel . On August 18, 1908, when he was appointed major general, he was given command of the 54th Infantry Brigade in Ulm. After his promotion to Lieutenant General on April 21, 1911, Gerok acted as commander of the 26th Division (1st Royal Württembergische) . After a year and a half, he was appointed governor of Ulm on September 21, 1912 .

After the outbreak of the First World War, Gerok was appointed commander of the 54th Reserve Division (2nd Royal Württembergische) on August 25, 1914 , and on August 30, 1914 he achieved the rank of general of the infantry. He passed his divisional command to his successor, General of the Infantry Paul von Schaefer, and on September 11, 1914, he was appointed Commanding General of the XXIV Reserve Corps . He led this corps first on the Western Front in the Battle of Lille (October 26-28, 1914) and in the Battle of Ypres from October 30 to November 22, 1914. It was then detached from the front and relocated to the East and first used at the Battle of Łódź (November 11 to December 5, 1914).

Used in the summer of 1915 as part of the Bug Army, his troops succeeded together with the XXXXI after the advance on Brest-Litovsk during the Great Retreat . Reserve Corps capture of Pinsk (September 16, 1915). At the end of September 1915, Gerok and his corps (1st and 22nd divisions) carried out counterattacks on the Sokul-Kolki line to relieve the heavily pressed Austrians in Volhynia , which secured the capture of the city of Lutsk . On Styr began the following defenses strong Russian counter-attacks of the recent war of position .

From May 13th to August 9th 1916, the Gerok Corps took part in the Battle of Verdun and then relocated to the Carpathian Mountains , where Gerok also acted as commander in chief of the army group named after him until November 24th, 1917 . The last time he led his corps on the Western Front in the trench warfare in Champagne and Reims until February 18, 1918. Gerok was then relieved of his post and reappointed governor of Ulm. He held this function until May 22, 1918, was made available as an officer by the army and finally retired on June 10, 1918.

On this day, King Wilhelm II of Württemberg presented him à la suite of the Grenadier Regiment “King Karl” (5th Württembergisches) No. 123.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st class
• Pour le Mérite on July 7, 1915
• Grand Cross of the Red Eagle Order
• Order of the Crown, 1st class with swords
• Commander II. Class of the order of the Zähringer lion
• Bavarian Military Merit Order II. Class with star
• Officer's Cross of the Order of Albrecht
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Württemberg Crown
• Crown for the Grand Cross of the Order of Frederick with Swords on September 5, 1916
• Commentary cross of the Württemberg Military Merit Order on January 11, 1918
• Württemberg mark of honor, 1st class
• Order of the Iron Crown 1st class
• Austrian Military Merit Cross 1st Class with war decoration

literature

• Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 1: AG. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1999, ISBN 3-7648-2505-7 , pp. 481-482.
• Hermann Niethammer: The officer corps of the infantry regiment "Kaiser Friedrich, King of Prussia" (7th Württ.) No. 125. 1809–1909. Stuttgart 1909, p. 95 f.

Web links

• Literature by and about Friedrich von Gerok in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Otto von Moser : Die Württemberger in the world wars. 2nd expanded edition, Chr.Belser AG, Stuttgart 1928, p. 171.
2. ↑ Otto von Moser: Die Württemberger in the world wars. 2nd expanded edition, Chr.Belser AG, Stuttgart 1928, p. 178.
3. ↑ Otto von Moser: Die Württemberger in the world wars. 2nd expanded edition, Chr.Belser AG, Stuttgart 1928, p. 180.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e} 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. 136
5. ^ Military weekly paper . No. 59 of September 23, 1916, p. 1309.
6. ^ Württembergisches Kriegsministerium (Ed.): Königlich Württembergisches Militär-Verordnungsblatt. No. 7 of February 16, 1918. p. 45.