Heinz von Randow

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Heinz Friedrich von Randow (born November 15, 1890 in Grammow , † December 21, 1942 in Libya ) was a German officer , most recently lieutenant general and commander of two tank divisions in World War II .

Life

Heinz von Randow passed his ensign examination in 1910, then went to war school and on November 20, 1911, five days after his 21st birthday, became a lieutenant in the 2nd Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Dragoon Regiment No. 18 in Parchim .

He fought with his regiment in France during the First World War . Later he was on the Eastern Front for years , mostly near Daugavpils , then in Riga . In January 1917 he was promoted to first lieutenant .

After the lost war, he first went to the Army Riding School in Hanover , where he was employed as a riding instructor with officer rank. In 1922 he was employed in the training squadron of the 14th Cavalry Regiment , where he was promoted to Rittmeister on May 1, 1924 . From 1925 he was an adjutant on the regimental staff and from 1926 to 1929 he was chief of the 2nd Squadron.

He purposefully pursued his further career as a soldier in the Reichswehr and later in the Wehrmacht . Initially he was a troop officer in Cavalry Regiment No. 14 (formerly 17th and 18th Dragoon Rgt.) In Parchim and Ludwigslust . In 1936 he became a lieutenant colonel and commander of the 2nd division of the regiment in Parchim; 1938 Commander of the 13th Cavalry Regiment in Lüneburg . In the same year he was promoted to colonel .

As the commander of Cavalry Regiment 13, Randow took part in the attack on Poland at the beginning of World War II . On October 26, 1939 he became the commander of the 26th Infantry Regiment, which he led in the French campaign . In 1941 he became the commander of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade within the 1st Cavalry Division. As a brigade commander, he took part in the Russian campaign.

After the brigade was dissolved in April 1942, Heinz von Randow became the commander of the 17th Rifle Brigade of the 17th Panzer Division . In April 1942 he was promoted to major general. In July 1942 he took over command of the 15th Panzer Division in the German Africa Corps before moving to the 21st Panzer Division at the end of August . On December 21, 1942, he drove south of Sirte in Libya to a mine and was killed in the process. Posthumously he was promoted to lieutenant general. He is buried in the German cemetery of honor in Tobruk, Libya .

Randow only married 22-year-old Elisabeth von Trotha at the age of 43 on May 24, 1933 on his father-in-law's estate in Kümmritz in Niederlausitz . She was the daughter of the Imperial German district chief a. D. and majors a. D. Wilhelm von Trotha and the Irmgard Freiin von Cornberg. He had three children with her.

Awards

literature

  • Olof v. Randow: The Randows. A family story . Degener, Neustadt / Aisch 2001, ISBN 3-7686-5182-7 , ( German family archive 135/136).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn Verlag , Berlin 1930, p. 139.
  2. ↑ Klaus D. Patzwall and Veit Scherzer : Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941–1945, History and Proprietor Volume II , Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt 2001, ISBN 3-931533-45-X , p. 366.
personal data
SURNAME Randow, Heinz von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Randow, Heinz Friedrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently lieutenant general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH November 15, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Grammow
DATE OF DEATH December 21, 1942
Place of death Tobruk