Gerhard Wilck

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Colonel Gerhard Wilck (second from the top row) with other officers in the Trent Park prison camp

Gerhard Wilck (born June 17, 1898 in Löbau in West Prussia ; † April 5, 1985 in Rheinbreitbach ) was a German commander ( colonel ) who defended the German city of Aachen in the Battle of Aachen during World War II .

Gerhard Wilck joined the army on November 20, 1916 and fought in the 21st Infantry Regiment on the Western Front . He was promoted to lieutenant. His military career during the Third Reich was as follows:

  • as major on August 27, 1939, commander of the 16th Infantry Replacement Battalion
  • from March 1, 1940 to August 10, 1941 commander of the 2nd battalion of the 362nd Infantry Regiment
  • Promotion to lieutenant colonel on July 1, 1940
  • Commander of Grenadier Regiment 362 from October 9, 1941 to September 30, 1943
  • Promotion to colonel on April 1, 1942
  • Commander of the 913 Grenadier Regiment from November 25, 1943 to July 25, 1944
  • since September 1, 1944 commander of the 246th Volksgrenadier Division.

Wilck was appointed city commander of Aachen in October 1944. In accordance with the order from Rundstedts to “hold this ancient city down to the last man and, if necessary, to be buried under its ruins”, Wilck continued the militarily senseless struggle until the city was 85% destroyed and did not capitulate until October 21 1944 at 12:05 p.m. and went into captivity with 3,473 soldiers. From October 26, 1944 to March 31, 1945, he was in the Trent Park Camp Officers Detention Center in England.

literature

  • Stephen Ambrose : Citizen soldiers: the US Army from the Normandy beaches to the Bulge to the surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944 – May 7, 1945. Simon & Schuster, New York 1997, ISBN 0-684-84801-5 .
  • Ian Dear, Michael Foot (Eds.): The Oxford companion to World War II . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005, ISBN 0-19-280666-1 .
  • Sönke Neitzel : bugged. German generals in British captivity 1942–1945 , 2nd edition. Propylaea, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-549-07261-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus-Dietmar Henke , "The American Occupation of Germany", De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 1995
  2. ^ Allied leaflet on "Gerhard Wilck".
  3. ^ Allied leaflet "The Doctrine of Aachen".
personal data
SURNAME Wilck, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German commander in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH June 17, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Löbau , West Prussia
DATE OF DEATH April 5th 1985
Place of death Rheinbreitbach