Gerhard Berthold

Gerhard Berthold (born March 12, 1891 in Schneeberg (Erzgebirgskreis) , † April 14, 1942 near Juchnow ) was a German lieutenant general in the Wehrmacht in World War II .

biography

On April 1, 1910, Berthold joined the 7th Infantry Regiment "King Georg" No. 106 of the Saxon Army as a one-year volunteer and was released from the reserve after his service was over . When the First World War broke out , Berthold was drafted as Vice Sergeant , and took part in the 3rd Infantry Regiment “King Ludwig III. von Bayern ”No. 102 participated in the fighting on the Western Front . On March 5, 1915, he was accepted into active employment and by the end of the war he was promoted to first lieutenant .

After the end of the war in the provisional Reichswehr , Berthold initially served in Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 24, then came to Infantry Regiment 10 and was finally transferred to the 11th Infantry Regiment on October 1, 1921 . Here he was in the 12th ( MG ) company in Leipzig . On December 1, 1926, Berthold was promoted to captain and was from February 1, 1927 to February 28, 1929 with the staff of the 1st Division . He then served as a company commander in the 10th (Saxon) Infantry Regiment for a year and was then transferred to the Wehrmacht Department of the Reichswehr Ministry in Berlin. From May 1, 1932 to June 30, 1935, he was employed again as a company commander in the 10th (Saxon) Infantry Regiment. In this capacity, Berthold was promoted to major on April 1, 1933 . On July 1, 1935, he was transferred to the General Staff of the Army and three months later he was promoted to lieutenant colonel . From October 1, 1937, Berthold was the first general staff officer of the VIII Army Corps in Breslau, and on March 1, 1938, he was promoted to colonel .

During World War II he was commander of the 82nd Infantry Regiment during the attack on Poland and from December 1939 to mid-August 1941 commander of the 17th Infantry Regiment during the campaign in the west . Subsequently commissioned with the leadership of the 31st Infantry Division , Berthold was appointed on September 1, 1941 with the promotion to major general commander of this large formation on the Eastern Front in Central Russia. For his achievements, Berthold received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on December 4, 1941 . From January 20 to February 19, 1942 he was with the leadership of the XXXXIII. Army corps commissioned and then again commander of the 31st Infantry Division. Berthold died in April 1942 in the winter battle for the Saizewa-Gora in Juchnow. Posthumously he was promoted to lieutenant general on June 10, 1943 with effect from April 1, 1942.

literature

• Dermot Bradley , Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Markus Rövekamp: 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 1: Abberger – Bitthorn. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1993, ISBN 3-7648-2423-9 , pp. 353-354.
• Germany German Reich: The secret daily reports of the German Wehrmacht leadership in World War II. 4. November 1, 1941-31. May 1942. Biblio-Verlag 1992, ISBN 3-764-8178-79 , pp. 370, 376, 386.

Web links

• Literature by and about Gerhard Berthold in the catalog of the German National Library