Hermann Emil Flörke

Hermann Emil Flörke (born October 23, 1893 in Hanover , † August 19, 1979 in Gießen ) was a German lieutenant general in World War II .

Life

After finishing school in Hanover, Flörke began training as a businessman in Bremen in May 1914 .

First World War

When the First World War broke out , he volunteered and was admitted to the 1st replacement battalion of the 1st Hanoverian Infantry Regiment No. 74 . On October 7, 1914, he was promoted to Fahnenjunker and on December 4, 1914 to NCO . His war mission began on July 28, 1915 on the German-Russian front , where he was involved in the breakthrough battle near Biskupice as part of the German Bug Offensive . At the beginning of October his regiment was transferred to the Western Front in France . There Flörke took part in defensive battles in Champagne and was promoted to lieutenant on November 22, 1915 . In the summer and autumn of 1916, Flörke and his regiment at Kowel participated in the defense of the Brusilov offensive . From 1917 Flörke was deployed again in France, awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class on August 27, 1917 and took part in the German spring offensive in spring 1918 . He was wounded twice in the fighting, received the wound badge in black and the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with swords.

Weimar Republic

After the armistice in Compiègne , Flörke remained a soldier and was accepted into the Provisional Reichswehr on October 1, 1919 . In the course of 1919/20 he was in the 7th Reichswehr Rifle Regiment until he was transferred to the 12th Infantry Regiment as an intelligence officer on October 1, 1920 . During this time Flörke was involved in the suppression of unrest in Rhineland-Westphalia, in Quedlinburg , Stassfurt and Güsten . From March 28, 1921 to April 18, 1921, there was another operation against paramilitary groups in central Germany. In the further years of the Weimar Republic, Flörke's career was normal and without any special incidents. Flörke was not politically active during this time. From September 21, 1922 to August 8, 1923 he attended Infantry School I. On October 1, 1923 he was adjutant of the II. Battalion in the 12th Infantry Regiment in Quedlinburg and as such promoted to first lieutenant on November 23, 1923 . On October 1, 1927, he was assigned to the staff of the 5th Division for the training of assistant leaders . On November 1, 1928, he was promoted to captain . At the post of regimental adjutant of the 12th Infantry Regiment, Flörke experienced the seizure of power by the National Socialists.

time of the nationalsocialism

Even after Hitler came to power, Flörke's military career was initially normal. With senior service from January 1, 1935, he was promoted to major on April 1, 1935 and on this date transferred to the Reichswehr Ministry to inspect the war schools. In this role, Flörke was promoted to lieutenant colonel on November 1, 1938 . On March 1, 1939, he returned to military service with the appointment of commander of the 1st Battalion in Infantry Regiment 53.

With this battalion Flörke took part in the attack on Poland . On February 6, 1940, he took command of the 53rd Infantry Regiment. After participating in the campaign in the west , Flörke was promoted to colonel on November 1, 1940 . On March 7, 1941, he was transferred to the Führerreserve of the Army High Command and at the same time was assigned to the 7th Army headquarters , where he was head of the company commanders school in Tours .

On January 20, 1942, Flörke became the commander of the 12th Infantry Regiment of the 31st Infantry Division , which at that time was part of Army Group Center during the German-Soviet War in the Soviet Union. Flörke commanded the regiment in the spring of 1942 during the heavy defensive battles near Juchnow . (→ Battle of Moscow ) In August 1942 the 31st Infantry Division moved to the Vorja River , where they were also involved in positional battles. On October 23, 1942, Flörke received the German Cross in Gold for commanding the 12th Infantry Regiment .

On December 30, 1942, Flörke was transferred back to the Führerreserve. From February 21, 1943 to March 20, he attended the 2nd division leader course. On April 1, he was charged with the command of the 31st Infantry Division, which he gave up on May 15, 1943, to take over command of the 14th Infantry Division on June 8, 1943 . On June 1, 1943, Flörke was promoted to major general. In the summer of 1943, Flörke commanded the retreat of the 14th Infantry Division across the Desna to Roslawl and was responsible for the division into a Panzergrenadier division. In the autumn of 1943, further withdrawal operations followed to the east of the Belarusian city of Vitebsk. On November 8th, the 14th Panzer Grenadier Division was able to repel a Soviet attack here. For his leadership during the fighting, Flörke was mentioned in the Wehrmacht report on November 19, 1943 and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on December 15 . On December 1, 1943, Flörke was promoted to lieutenant general.

The 14th Panzer Grenadier Division was used as a reserve for the 4th Army in the spring of 1944 . During this time, Flörke tried to set up a training center for Belarusian volunteers. After the start of the Soviet major offensive, Operation Bagration , the division near Bogushevsk was pushed south by the 5th Guards Panzer Army and broken up by July 1, 1944 in the course of the withdrawal movements of the 4th Army. Flörke succeeded in forming a combat group around parts of his division, which was involved in repelling Soviet attacks west of Minsk . By adding more units, Flörke reunited the division close to the front into a functioning unit by the end of July 1944. For this achievement, Flörke was awarded the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (565th award) on September 2, 1944.

On December 15, 1944, Flörke was transferred back to the Führerreserve to take part in the course for commanding generals from January 5, 1945 to February 1, 1945 . On February 18, 1945, Flörke was entrusted with the management of the LXVI. Army corps , which was enclosed a little later in the Ruhr basin . On April 21, 1945 Flörke was taken prisoner by the US .

post war period

On June 1, 1947, Flörke was released from captivity. From 1950 he worked for the US Army in Giessen, Mannheim and Heidelberg. Among other things, he received command of a Labor Service Battalion. Due to his military experience, Flörke took part in consultations at the US Army headquarters in Heidelberg. He was a member of the Association of German Soldiers (VdS) and head of the Society for Military Studies .

In recognition of his services to German-US-American understanding, Flörke received the Great Cross of Merit of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany on March 10, 1967 .

literature

• Dermot Bradley , Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Markus Rövekamp: The Generals of the Army 1921-1945. The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intendants, judges and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 4: Fleck – Gyldenfeldt. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1996, ISBN 3-7648-2488-3 , pp. 8-9.
• Günter Wegmann (Ed.): The knight's cross bearers of the German Wehrmacht. Part 3: The knight's cross bearers of the infantry. Volume 7: Flack-Furbach. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 2010, ISBN 3-7648-2380-1

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1924, p. 176.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} 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 , p. 312.
3. ↑ The High Command of the Wehrmacht announces ... The German Wehrmacht report. Volume 2: 1942-1943. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1982, ISBN 3-7648-1282-6 , p. 609.

Remarks

1. ↑ In the Prussian Army Fahnenjunker was a team rank.