Gerhard Franz (Major General)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gerhard Franz (born February 26, 1902 in Bobeck , Thuringia ; † December 24, 1975 in Bad Wildungen ) was a German officer, most recently Major General of the Army of the Wehrmacht .

career

Reichswehr

Franz entered the NCO School in Weilheim on October 15, 1917 at the age of 14 . He was transferred to the NCO School in Northeim on April 5, 1919 and, after completing his training, transferred to the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 21 on September 12, 1919. On April 26, 1920 he was promoted to private , on October 1 he was transferred to the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 20 and then on January 1, 1921 to the 17th Infantry Regiment , which on that day was converted from the 7th Reichswehr Infantry Regiment , 20, 21 and 110 of the so-called transitional army was formed. From May 6 to July 15, 1922 he was assigned to the officer candidate course in Braunschweig , and after he had passed the relevant test in July 1922, he was appointed officer candidate on July 3, 1922 . This was followed by two courses at the infantry school of the Reichswehr from September 21, 1922 to November 11, 1923 in Munich , during which he was appointed sergeant on December 1, 1922 and ensign on September 1, 1923 . After renewed service with his main regiment, the 17th Infantry Regiment (17th IR), another course followed at the infantry school from May 1, 1924 to September 30, 1924, which was relocated to the Ohrdruf military training area after their participation in the unsuccessful Hitler putsch as well as the promotions to Oberfähnrich on October 1, 1924 and to lieutenant on December 1, 1924. Also on December 1, 1924 he became a company officer in the 14th Company of the 17th IR. On October 1, 1925, he moved to the 15th Company in the same position, and on April 1, 1927 to the 10th Company. There he was promoted to first lieutenant on March 1, 1928 . Further transfers followed on October 1, 1930 to the 12th Company and on October 1, 1931 to the 14th Company.

On October 1, 1933, he was assigned to the training of assistant leaders , the secret, because it was forbidden, general staff training , during which he was promoted to captain on July 1, 1934 . After he had completed his general staff training at the War Academy , which reopened on May 1, 1935 , he was transferred to the border section command in Schweidnitz on July 10, 1935 , which became Army Service 4 on October 15, 1935 . From January 7, 1937, he served with the Army General Staff.

Wehrmacht

On November 10, 1938 he was appointed chief of the 9th Company of Infantry Regiment 9 and on April 1, 1939 (with seniority from April 1, 1938) to Major i. G. promoted. On June 15, 1939 he came to the staff of the 29th Infantry Division, where he was appointed First General Staff Officer (Ia) on July 1, 1939 ; the division was renamed the 29th Motorized Infantry Division on August 24, 1939 ; he held this post until December 23, 1941. During the invasion of Poland , the division was part of the XIV Army Corps of the 10th Army in the encirclement of Polish forces near Radom . Franz was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st class. As part of the 16th Army , the division took part in the western campaign, advanced near the English Channel and was a strategic reserve at the Battle of Dunkirk in May / June 1940. Then she took part in the association on June 1, 1940 from the General Command of the XIX. Army corps formed the armored group of Colonel General Heinz Guderian in the rapid advance, the Fall Rot , in eastern France , through which the Allied southern wing was enclosed along the Maginot Line from Sedan to the Swiss border. The division was then stationed in France as an occupation unit until early summer 1941. During this time, Franz was promoted to lieutenant colonel on April 1, 1941 . G. promoted (with seniority from February 1, 1941).

With the Guderian group, renamed Panzergruppe 2 on November 16, 1940 , the division was then transferred to the Eastern Front and took part in Operation Barbarossa , the attack on the Soviet Union . She fought in the basin battles of Minsk , Smolensk and Bryansk and supported Guderian's tanks at Tula . For his share in these successes, Franz was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on July 24, 1941 . From December 23, 1941 to April 15, 1942 he was in charge of the First General Staff Officer of the Higher Command XXXV z. b. V. commissioned. Then he was transferred to the Führerreserve of the OKH and on May 10th to the chief of staff of the XXXX. Army Corps (motorized) appointed. There he was promoted to Colonel i on July 1, 1942 . G.

On July 25, 1942, Franz was transferred to the OKH's Führerreserve, because he - together with his corps commander, General of the Panzer Troop Georg Stumme , and the commander of the 23rd Panzer Division , Major General Hans von Boineburg-Lengsfeld - were suing the Reich Court Martial responsible for the loss of secret attack plans in the case of Blau . Boineburg-Lengsfeld was acquitted. Stumme was sentenced to five years, Franz to two years imprisonment convicted. However, both were released after a few weeks because of appeals by several high-ranking officers and transferred to the Africa Corps . Franz was transferred to the Africa Corps on November 20, 1942, and appointed Chief of Staff on December 7th.

On February 10, 1943, he was again transferred to the OKH's Führerreserve due to illness. It was not until August 1, 1943 that it found a new use when he became Chief of Staff of the XXXXII fighting on the Eastern Front . Army Corps was appointed. On February 14, 1944 he received the German Cross in Gold . On August 1, 1944, he was reassigned to the OKH's leader reserve to take part in the division leader training course from August 8 to 31, 1944. On September 17, he was in the lead by renaming the 568. People Grenadier Division formed and on the military training area Koenigsbrueck located (Oberlausitz) in reorganization 256. People Grenadier Division commissioned. The division was relocated to Groningen on September 25, 1944 for further training and was from October 1944 as a reserve of Army Group B in the Tilburg area . She then fought with the 15th Army between Turnhout and 's-Hertogenbosch in the battle of the Scheldt estuary , but was pushed back across the Waal with the entire 15th Army .

On November 18, the division was transferred by rail to Hagenau in Alsace to the 1st Army and took up positions about 5 km south of Hagenau. There Franz was promoted to major general on December 1 and appointed commander of the division. After a failed attack in the direction of Zabern , his division was put on the defensive at the Siegfried Line. After that she took part from December 31, 1944 in the association of LXXXIX. Corps on Operation Nordwind in part, an attempt to Alsace the north Marne-Rhine canal recapture. For this purpose, the division was relocated to the Ludwigswinkel area in the last days of December . Their attack in the direction of the Zaberner Steige , begun on New Year's Eve 1944, made slow progress with heavy losses and finally ended in Rothbach , far north of the Zaberner Steige. When the German offensive was stopped on January 26th, only remnants of the division remained, which were then transferred to the right wing of the 1st Army south of Trier and were involved in the retreat battles against the advancing Americans from February 16th. At the beginning of March the left bank of the Saar and Saarburg had to be evacuated, and on March 7 the decimated division was pushed back onto the Ruwer and taken back to the Hunsrück . From there the remnants withdrew to the Rhine near Speyer , which was reached with the peak on March 25th. After crossing the Rhine, the survivors marched northeast through southern Hesse and Lower Franconia under constant fire from artillery and low -flying aircraft.

On April 8, 1945, Franz was taken prisoner of war near Birnfeld , 25 km east of Bad Kissingen . He was sent to the POW camp for generals and staff officers in Trent Park (Camp 11), and finally to POW camp 186 (Camp186), Rechurch Hall near Colchester in Essex , and from there he was released on May 12, 1948 and brought back to Germany.

He moved to Bad Wildungen , died there on December 24, 1975 and was buried in the local cemetery.

Remarks

  1. ↑ On June 19, 1942, shortly before the start of the German summer offensive, the First General Staff Officer of the 23rd Panzer Division, Major Reichel, had to make an emergency landing on a reconnaissance flight behind the Soviet lines, and maps and plans for the first phase of the operation fell into the hands of the enemy. As a result, the code names for the offensive were later changed, and the Blau case became the Braunschweig company .
  2. ↑ On September 22, 1942, Stumme took over command of the Panzer Army Africa on behalf of General Field Marshal Rommel , which was renamed the German-Italian Panzer Army in October 1942. He fell near El Alamein on October 24, 1942 .
  3. ↑ Barbara Selz: The Green Regiment: The way of the 256th Infantry Division from the point of view of the Regiment 481st Otto Kehrer, Freiburg i. Br., 1970, p. 237
  4. ↑ Ken Free: CAMP 186 - The Lost Town at Rechurch, Amberley Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4456-0012-3

Web links

literature

  • Barbara Selz: The Green Regiment: The way of the 256th Infantry Division from the point of view of the 481st Regiment Otto Kehrer, Freiburg, 1970
  • Dermot Bradley , Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Markus Rövekamp: Die Generale des Heeres, 1921–1945, Volume 4. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1996.
personal data
SURNAME Franz, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently major general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH February 26, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Bobeck
DATE OF DEATH December 24, 1975
Place of death Bad Wildungen