Heino von Rantzau

Heino von Rantzau (2nd from right), September 1941

Heino von Rantzau (born March 8, 1894 in Karlsruhe , † November 2, 1946 in Allendorf ) was a German officer , last lieutenant general in World War II .

Life

After visiting the cadet institute, Rantzau joined the Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Field Artillery Regiment No. 60 as a lieutenant on March 22, 1913 and served as a battery officer until November 13, 1914. After the outbreak of the First World War , he was transferred to the field artillery regiment "Generalfeldmarschall Graf Waldersee" (Schleswigsches) No. 9 on November 14, 1914 , to which he was to belong beyond the end of the war until its dissolution on May 24, 1919. On June 20, 1918, Rantzau was promoted to lieutenant .

He was accepted into the Reichswehr and initially used as an adjutant of the 2nd Battalion in the 2nd (Prussian) Artillery Regiment . From October 1, 1922 to September 23, 1925 he was a battery officer and then was a member of the regimental staff in Schwerin until September 30, 1926 . Rantzau was then transferred as a platoon leader to the 2nd (Prussian) driving department in Rendsburg . On March 1, 1927, he was promoted to Rittmeister . From November 1, 1927 to January 31, 1928 he was chief of the 3rd squadron there and then took over the 1st squadron of the 3rd (Prussian) driving department in Berlin-Lankwitz in the same function . Simultaneously with his promotion to major on October 1, 1934, he was appointed commander of the 3rd driving department. On April 1, 1935, the unit was formed into the Flak Battalion Lankwitz, which was subordinate to the Luftwaffe, and Rantzau joined this branch of service as commander at that time. A short time later, on October 1, 1935, he was commander of the 1st Battalion of the 6th Flak Regiment and, as such, was promoted to lieutenant colonel on April 1, 1937 . Then Rantzau was from July 1, 1938 to August 25, 1939 commander of the 43rd Flak Regiment in Dessau and in this function on April 1, 1939 became a colonel .

With the beginning of the Second World War he led the Flak Group Groß-Dessau until July 5, 1940. After the end of the Western campaign, Rantzau was given command of the Flak Brigade IV on the Channel coast in France. On December 11, 1940, he gave this command and took over the Flak Headlight Brigade II , from which the 2nd Flak Headlight Division was formed on August 1, 1941 . From February 3, 1942 to September 30, 1943 he was used as commander of the 2nd Flak Division on the Eastern Front in the war against the Soviet Union . In the meantime, Rantzau had been promoted to major general on April 1, 1942 and lieutenant general on June 1, 1943.

On October 1, 1943, Rantzau was withdrawn from the front and appointed inspector of the Flak Artillery East. He held this position until June 30, 1944. This was followed by his appointment as the commanding general of the anti-aircraft schools. On November 15, 1944, he took over the Luftgaukommando XI as commanding general. Shortly before the end of the war, Rantzau became the commanding general of the III. Antiaircraft Corps appointed. On April 18, 1945, Rantzau was taken prisoner by the United States and died on November 2, 1946.

Awards

Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st class
Wound badge (1918) in black
Hanseatic Cross Hamburg
Military Merit Cross (Mecklenburg) II. And I. Class
Repeat clasp for the Iron Cross II. And I. Class
German cross in gold on December 24, 1942
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on August 29, 1943
Anti-aircraft combat badge

literature

Horst-Adalbert Koch: Flak - The history of the German anti-aircraft cartillery and the use of air force helpers , 2nd edition, Podzun Verlag, Bad Nauheim 1965.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Samuel W. Mitcham: German Order of Battle: 291st-999th Infantry divisions, named infantry divisions, and special divisions in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3437-0 , pp. 325 ( google.de [accessed on July 6, 2019]).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn Verlag, Berlin 1930, p. 141.
↑ ^a ^b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 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 , p. 190.

personal data
SURNAME	Rantzau, Heino von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German officer, most recently lieutenant general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH	March 8, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH	Karlsruhe
DATE OF DEATH	November 2, 1946
Place of death	Allendorf

[:0-1] Samuel W. Mitcham: German Order of Battle: 291st-999th Infantry divisions, named infantry divisions, and special divisions in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3437-0 , pp. 325 ( google.de [accessed on July 6, 2019]).

[Rangliste-2] Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn Verlag, Berlin 1930, p. 141.

[Scherzer-3] Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 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 , p. 190.