Hans von der Mosel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Major General Hans von der Mosel (left), Rear Admiral Otto Kähler (center) and Major General Hans Kroh (right) capitulate in Brest on September 18, 1944

Hans Leopold Paul von der Mosel (born May 3, 1898 in Bodenbach , Bohemia , † April 12, 1969 in Nienburg / Weser , Lower Saxony ) was a German officer , most recently major general in World War II .

Life

Mosel served as an officer in the First World War . After the war he switched to the Reichswehr and worked in various units. In 1943, during World War II, he was appointed commander of the port city of Brest in Brittany , France. On August 7, 1944, Colonel Hans von der Mosel refused the request to hand over the city to the Allied troops, whereupon a siege began. The main burden of defending the city, which, like many of the occupied Atlantic ports in which there were naval bases, had been declared a fortress, was borne by the 2nd Paratrooper Division under its commander Lieutenant General Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke , who, after deployments on the Eastern Front and in Greece had been moved to Brittany to freshen up. On August 12th, command of the fortress was handed over to Lieutenant General Ramcke after he had complained several times to the Fuehrer's headquarters about Hans von der Mosel, who allegedly lacked fighting spirit. Since it is unlikely that the radio stations of the army and the navy, which were directly subordinate to the Moselle, would have passed such complaints on, Ramcke probably sent them via a separate auxiliary radio station. Hans von der Mosel was appointed deputy fortress commander and surrendered to the Allies as commander of the western defense section at noon on September 18th. Ramcke, who had initially tried to take a plane “to report”, capitulated a few hours later.

Awards

literature

  • Peter Stockert: The oak leaf bearers 1940–1945. 9 volumes, 4th, revised edition, Bad Friedrichshall 2010–2011.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of noble houses Part A: German Uradel. 41st year. Justus Perthes Verlag, Gotha 1942, p. 347.
  2. ^ A b Lars Hellwinkel: Hitler's Gate to the Atlantic. The German naval bases in France. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2012.
  3. ↑ Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 1939-1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 .
personal data
SURNAME Mosel, Hans von der
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mosel, Hans Leopold Paul von der (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently major general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH May 3, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Bodenbach near Tetschen , Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH April 12, 1969
Place of death Nienburg / Weser , Lower Saxony