Hans Schmidt (Lieutenant General)

Hans Schmidt (born March 14, 1895 in Bayreuth , † November 28, 1971 in Weiden in the Upper Palatinate ) was a German army officer, most recently Lieutenant General of the Wehrmacht in World War II.

Life

After graduating from the Graf-Münster-Gymnasium , Schmidt joined the Bavarian Army as a flag junior in August 1914 . His officer license was dated November 15, 1913. In the 7th Infantry Regiment "Prinz Leopold" he took part as a company officer in the First World War on the western front .

Reichswehr

Promotions

June 24, 1914 Lieutenant
1st October 1923 first lieutenant
May 1, 1928 Captain
1935 major
January 1, 1938 Lieutenant Colonel
November 1, 1940 Colonel
April 1, 1943 Major General
October 1, 1943 Lieutenant General

As a lieutenant in the Reichswehr , he was part of the 200,000-man transitional army in the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 46. When the 100,000-man army was formed, he joined the 21st (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment , where he was a company officer and adjutant of the III. Battalion in Bayreuth served. In 1924/25 he was then transferred as a company officer to the 12th (MG.) Company, also in Bayreuth. From May 1, 1928, he was chief of the 15th company in Erlangen , and from 1931/32 chief of the 2nd company in Würzburg . He stood for the close ties between the officer corps and the Corps Guestphalia Erlangen (which was still free at the time). As a permanent guest, "Sultan" Schmidt presided over bars .

Wehrmacht

With the unmasking of the units, he was in command of the III from 1935 to 1938 . Battalion from Infantry Regiment 41 ( 10th Infantry Division ) in Erlangen. He was then commander of the 46th Infantry Replacement Regiment in Bayreuth until 1940. After a few weeks in the Führerreserve , he came at the beginning of April 1940 as commander of the 245 Infantry Regiment in the 88th Infantry Division , with whom he went into the second part of the western campaign . In the German-Soviet War he led his regiment in the attack on southern Russia at the end of 1941 . When the regiment was renamed Grenadier Regiment 245, he was still its commander. As the successor to Lieutenant General Robert Meißner , he was commissioned as a colonel on January 27, 1943 to lead the 68th Infantry Division in the Voronezh area . As a division commander, he commanded them in the heavy fighting in the southern section of the Eastern Front . On April 1, 1943, he was promoted to major general and 6 months later to lieutenant general. He was replaced in autumn 1943 and reassigned to the Führerreserve. In early November 1943 he was appointed commander of the newly established 275th Infantry Division in western France. When the division was refreshed in October 1944, he was transferred to the Führerreserve and returned to the 275th Infantry Division in November 1944 as a commander. He fought with her on the Eastern Front until she was destroyed in the Halbe pocket. He was taken prisoner in the United States .

New beginning

Released from captivity in 1947, he took up residence in Weiden in the Upper Palatinate. On St. Thomas's Day in 1953, he became a corps bow bearer at Guestphalia Erlangen . Until 1970 he worked successfully as a businessman for insurance and finance . In his hometown of Bayreuth he was chairman of the Bavarian Soldiers' Union for many years .

He died at the age of 76 in Weiden Hospital . He was buried in the Bayreuth city cemetery .

Awards

Wound badge in black
Iron Cross (1914) of both classes
Cross of Honor of the World War
Repeat clasp of the Iron Cross of both classes
Medal Winter Battle in the East 1941/42
German cross in gold on April 21, 1943
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on October 16, 1944

literature

Mitcham, Samuel W., Jr. (2007). Retreat to the Reich: The German Defeat in France, 1944 . PA; United States of America: Stackpole Books. P. 97.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Corps Guestphalia Erlangen. Thoughts and Communications 73 (1972), no. 1, pp. 9-10.
^ ^A ^b Samuel W. Mitcham: German Order of Battle: 1st-290th Infantry divisions in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3416-5 , pp. 117 ( google.de [accessed on April 22, 2019]).
^ ^A ^b Samuel W. Mitcham: German Order of Battle: 1st-290th Infantry divisions in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3416-5 , pp. 326 ( google.de [accessed on April 22, 2019]).
↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 310.
↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1996, 49/354.

personal data
SURNAME	Schmidt, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German officer, most recently lieutenant general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH	March 14, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bayreuth
DATE OF DEATH	November 28, 1971
Place of death	Willows in the Upper Palatinate

[CGE-1] Corps Guestphalia Erlangen. Thoughts and Communications 73 (1972), no. 1, pp. 9-10.

[:0-2] A ^b Samuel W. Mitcham: German Order of Battle: 1st-290th Infantry divisions in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3416-5 , pp. 117 ( google.de [accessed on April 22, 2019]).

[:1-3] A ^b Samuel W. Mitcham: German Order of Battle: 1st-290th Infantry divisions in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3416-5 , pp. 326 ( google.de [accessed on April 22, 2019]).

[4] Fellgiebel 2000, p. 310.

[5] Kösener Corpslisten 1996, 49/354.