George of Gayl

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Georg Gustav Freiherr von Gayl (* 25. February 1850 in Berlin , † 3. May 1927 in Stolp ) was a Prussian general of the infantry in the First World War .

Life

origin

Georg came from an old family of soldiers who had produced a large number of high-ranking Prussian officers. He was the son of the later General of the Infantry Wilhelm von Gayl (1814–1879) and his wife Elise Pauline Friederike Ulrike, née von Dassel (1820–1899). One of his ancestors, Otto Wilhelm Ernst von Gayl, was born on August 25, 1810 by King Friedrich Wilhelm III. was awarded the order Pour le Mérite by Prussia .

Military career

Gayl was brought up in his parents' house, attended a secondary school and a grammar school and then graduated from various cadet houses . He was then transferred on April 12, 1869 as a Second Lieutenant to the 7th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 96 of the Prussian Army in Gera . With this association Gayl took part in the battles at Beaumont , Sedan , Saint-Quentin and Pierrefitte and the siege of Paris during the war against France in 1870/71 . For his achievements he received the Iron Cross, 2nd class.

From July 1, 1871 to January 1, 1872 Gayl acted as adjutant of the III. Battalion in order to then take up the position of regimental adjutant until September 30, 1873. This was followed by his command from October 1, 1873 to July 1876, at the War Academy . On April 30, 1877 Gayl was promoted to Prime Lieutenant and was transferred to Koblenz on December 11 of that year as an adjutant of the 30th Infantry Brigade . After one and a half years of service there, Gayl was assigned to the Great General Staff in Berlin. He stayed there for three years and was then transferred to Frankfurt (Oder) in the Leib Grenadier Regiment (1st Brandenburg) No. 8 . At the same time as he was promoted to captain , he took over as chief of the regiment's 3rd company. Gayl remained in this position until December 3, 1884, when he was briefly served on the General Staff and then on the General Staff of the X Army Corps . On May 20, 1886, Gayl was transferred as First General Staff Officer to the General Staff of the 8th Division and, after three years in the same function, to the General Staff of the IX. Army Corps . In the meantime he had become major on March 22, 1889 . As such, Gayl became commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Hanseatic Infantry Regiment No. 76 on November 26, 1892 . After his promotion to lieutenant colonel on May 14, 1894, Gayl moved up to the regimental staff on August 18, 1894. Gayl was then again on January 27, 1894 for the IX. Army Corps, where he was Chief of the General Staff from that point on.

Gayl was given a special honor when he was commanded in the position of Chief of the General Staff of the Eastern Army Department for the imperial maneuver between Silesia and Saxony on May 28, 1896. The imperial maneuver was the annual military highlight of the year. Kaiser Wilhelm II took part in the maneuver, which lasted several days, not only as a visitor, but also as an actor in the corps. On November 25, 1898, the colonel was appointed (since March 22, 1897) commander of the infantry regiment "Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia" (2nd Magdeburg) No. 27 in Halberstadt . Gayl was released from this command on July 22, 1900 and briefly appointed to represent the commander of the 74th Infantry Brigade in Marienburg .

With effect from August 12, 1900 Gayl was promoted to major general and appointed senior quartermaster of the Army High Command East Asia under Field Marshal Alfred von Waldersee . At the same time he served from December 5, 1900 to April 26, 1901 as President of the Committee for the Administration of the City of Beijing . Then appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Army High Command in East Asia, Gayl took during the Boxer Rebellion at the fleet company on Schanhaikwan, the expeditions to Paotingfu, Itschou, Heiling near the Great Wall at Kalgan and against Houlu , and the battles at Tschingkwan and Ankiatschwang part. For his services in China, Wilhelm II awarded him the Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves and Swords. After the end of the mission and the dissolution of the army command, Gayl was transferred to the officers of the army on June 21, 1901.

On August 6, 1901, Gayl was re-employed in the Prussian Army and on December 18 was appointed commander of the 14th Infantry Brigade in Halberstadt. His former regiment was also subordinate to this brigade and he commanded this large formation until he was transferred to the General Staff on January 27, 1903. Gayl worked there as head quartermaster and at the same time, from May 18, 1903, he was also chief of the general staff of the 1st Army Inspection in Danzig . After Gayl had been promoted to lieutenant general on April 24, 1904 , he became commander of the 21st division in Frankfurt am Main on February 13, 1906 . This command he led for two years and was on March 5, 1908 presentation of the character as General of Infantry with the statutory board for disposition made.

On September 13, 1912, Gayl was granted permission to wear the uniform of the infantry regiment "Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia" (2nd Magdeburgisches) No. 27.

In 1912 he was appointed to the Prussian manor house . Gayl undertook extensive trips and visited the German colonies and protected areas several times . He gave numerous lectures in Germany about his experiences and observations. In 1913 he became executive vice-president of the German Colonial Society .

With the mobilization on August 1, 1914, Gayl made himself available, was called up and initially served as a higher substitute commander z. b. V. used. On August 20, 1914, he was appointed commander of the newly established 10th replacement division , which was assigned to the 10th Army and with which he participated in the Battle of Lorraine from August 20 to 21, 1914. In the further course of the year heavy fighting between the Meuse and Moselle followed before the division went into trench warfare at Flirey . In 1916, the association was used in the Battle of the Somme , was relieved due to fatigue and relocated to Champagne . From there, they fought in several months of trench warfare before Verdun and then participated in the Battle of the Aisne .

Gayl was dismissed from his post on May 24, 1917 and made available as an officer by the army. He was then given command of the 13th Landwehr Division on August 20, 1917 , which was in the Siegfried position . Although the association only had the status of a position division due to its equipment and structure, it took part in the breakthrough battle at St. Quentin- Le Fére on March 21, 1918 . It was possible to cross the Oise and push the enemy back to the Crozat Canal and Chauny . For the performance of the division Gayl was awarded on May 8, 1918 the order Pour le Mérite. In the last year of the war, Gayl commanded his division a. a. at the storm on the Chemin des Dames and finally in the Woëvre plain.

After the armistice , the division marched back home, where it was demobilized and disbanded. Gayl then resigned from military service on December 2, 1918 and was finally adopted into retirement.

marriage

Gayl had married Erna Franziska Eugenie von Puttkamer (* 1873).

Awards (as of May 1907)

literature

  • Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume I: A-L. Verlag Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1935, pp. 361–362.
  • Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 1: A-G. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1999, ISBN 3-7648-2505-7 , pp. 470-472.
  • Otto Söding: Officer master list of the Royal Prussian 7th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 96. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1912, pp. 56–58.
  • Georg von Gayl, Adolf Obst: Germany in China. 1900-1901. Bagel, Düsseldorf 1902.
  • Harry von Rège : Officer master list of the infantry regiment No. 76. Mauke, Hamburg 1902, OCLC 252978009 , pp. 155–156.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite 1740-1918. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 1998, ISBN 3-7648-2473-5 , p. 224.
  2. ^ Military weekly paper . No. 116 of September 14, 1912. p. 2615.
  3. ^ Heinrich Schnee: German Colonial Lexicon. Quelle & Meyer. Leipzig 1920. Volume IS 680.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Prussian War Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of the Royal Prussian Army and the XIII. (Royal Württemberg) Army Corps for 1907. ES Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1907. p. 102.
personal data
SURNAME Gayl, Georg von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gayl, Georg Gustav Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian general of the infantry in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH May 3, 1927
Place of death Stumble