Heinz-Eduard Menche

Heinz-Eduard Menche (born March 6, 1886 in Rheydt , † December 25, 1961 in Bad Godesberg ) was a German rear admiral in World War II .

career

Imperial Navy

Menche occurred on 1 April 1903 as a midshipman in the Imperial Navy and completed his basic training on the cruiser frigate SMS stone . He then came to the Mürwik Naval School , where he was appointed ensign at sea on April 15, 1904 . From October 1, 1905 to September 14, 1906, it was used on the liner Alsace , and on September 28, 1906, it was promoted to lieutenant at sea . Menche then became adjutant on the coastal armored ship Frithjof and from October 1, 1908 on the training ship König Wilhelm. On December 12, 1908 he was promoted to first lieutenant at sea . As such, he served as a company officer in the I. Torpedo Division from September 15, 1910 and was also temporarily employed as a watch officer on the G 135 and G 170 torpedo boats until September 30, 1912 . He was then transferred as an adjutant to the staff of the Baltic Sea Naval Station .

When the First World War broke out , Menche joined the small cruiser SMS Amazone as a torpedo officer . A short time later, from September 11 to December 7, 1914, he was transferred to the 19th torpedo boat semi-flotilla, used as commander of the S 125 torpedo boat and promoted to lieutenant captain on November 18, 1914. He then belonged to the X. until December 2, 1917. Torpedo boat flotilla and was subsequently the commander of the torpedo boats G 134 , S 142 , V 75 , S 166 and S 65 . He commanded the latter boat even after being transferred to the VII Torpedo Boat Flotilla until August 3, 1918. Menche then joined the 4th Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla and was in command of the torpedo boat B 110 beyond the end of the war . With this boat he went to internment at Scapa Flow . After the fleet was scuttled , he was a British prisoner of war from June 22, 1919 to February 6, 1920 . For his behavior during the war, Menche had received both classes of the Iron Cross, the Knight's Cross 1st Class of the Friedrich Order , the Mecklenburg Military Merit Cross 2nd Class, the Hanseatic Cross Lübeck and the Navy Wound Badge in black.

Imperial Navy

After his return to Germany, Menche was made available to the Kiel Command Office until May 30, 1920, and he was assigned to the Naval Peace Commission for a month and a half as a liaison officer for the Baltic Sea Naval Station. Then it was assigned to the ship tribe of the small cruiser Medusa and used until October 6, 1923 as the first officer on the ship. In the meantime Menche had become corvette captain on September 1, 1921 . As boss he then took over the 1st torpedo boat semi-flotilla for two years. Then he was transferred to the naval management as a department head of the training department until June 10, 1928 . From June 11 to November 2, 1928, Menche was placed at the disposal of the chief of naval command and on October 1 he was promoted to frigate captain . As such, he was in command of the torpedo and intelligence school until October 9, 1929 , when he was placed at the disposal of the chief of the Baltic Sea naval station and on January 19, 1930, he was appointed head of the Reichsmarinedienststelle Hamburg . In this role, on April 1, 1930, he was promoted to captain at sea . On November 20, 1932, Menche was released from his post and ten days later, while being promoted to rear admiral, he was dismissed.

Afterwards he was head of office VIII of the NSDAP / AO .

Navy

On July 19, 1939, Menche was reactivated and made available to the Navy , but initially remained without use. From January 27, 1941, he served as head of the Bordeaux Navy Service and from November 26, 1942 to April 30, 1943, at the same time as head of maritime transport in Marseille. In the latter function, he was responsible in particular for the takeover of French merchant ships under the Nevers Agreement (August 28, 1942) and the Laval-Kaufmann Agreement (January 23, 1943). On May 1, 1943, he took over the Marseilles Navy Service .

On August 1, 1944, he was made available to the Commander-in-Chief of the Marinegruppenkommando West , was awarded the German Cross in Silver on August 28, 1944 and was finally retired three days later when he was released from active military service.

literature

• Hans H. Hildebrand, Ernest Henriot: Germany's Admirals 1849–1945. Volume 2: HO. (Habicht to Orth). Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1989, ISBN 3-7648-2481-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Reichswehr Ministry (ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsmarine. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1929, p. 41.
2. ↑ Klaus D. Patzwall , Veit Scherzer : The German Cross 1941-1945. History and owner Volume II, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt 2001, ISBN 3-931533-45-X , p. 550.