Fritz Gertsch
Fritz Gertsch (born April 28, 1862 in Aarwangen ; † November 21, 1938 in Bern ; resident in Lauterbrunnen ) was a Swiss professional officer ( Oberstdivisionär ).
Life
After finishing school, Gertsch trained as a hat maker . His father had his own hat maker business. However, he soon switched to the Swiss Army and worked there as an instructor from 1886 to 1892 and from 1894 to 1910 .
In 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War , he was assigned to the Japanese armed forces in Manchuria . There he got to know the effectiveness of the clear shooting line .
Fritz Gertsch was a supporter of Ulrich Wille's controversial drill training . The troops and thus the top of the army could not make friends with it and therefore Gertsch was removed from the command of his brigade by the Federal Council in 1910 and he was dismissed as an instructor in 1911. In 1917 he was given command of the 3rd Division, from which he was suspended in 1919.
Gertsch took the view that the Swiss soldiers must acquire special equipment and fencing. He also campaigned for a machine gun army.
Politically, Fritz Gertsch was a hardliner. In 1922 he commented on the attitude of the Federal Council during the World War as follows: "He has shown a fearful endeavor to avoid combat at all costs." He judged the initiators of the state strike towards the end of the war with devastating judgment: "The agitators of 1918 should have been rendered harmless without checking whether the law allowed them to do so."
Web links
Individual proof
- ^ F. Gertsch: Outlines of the World War and We , 1922
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gertsch, Fritz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss professional officer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 28, 1862 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Aarwangen |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 21, 1938 |
| Place of death | Bern |