Horst Grossmann

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Horst Großmann (born November 19, 1891 in Sybba , Lyck district , † May 4, 1972 in Rüsselsheim ) was a German officer , most recently a general of the infantry in World War II .

Life

Großmann joined the 8th West Prussian Infantry Regiment No. 175 of the Prussian Army on September 27, 1911 as a flag junior . From September 1912 to 1913 he attended the Hanover War School and was then promoted to lieutenant with a patent on June 17, 1911 . In July 1914, Großmann was assigned to the Graudenz fortress airship force for two weeks .

With the outbreak of the First World War , he and his regiment were deployed on the Eastern Front until the end of September 1915 . Here Großmann u. a. in the fighting at Gumbinnen , Tannenberg , the Battle of the Masurian Lakes and on November 6, 1914 became adjutant of the 2nd Battalion. After being transferred to the Western Front , where he worked until the end of the war, Großmann was promoted to lieutenant on August 18, 1916 , and from mid-October 1917 he was employed as an orderly officer with the regimental staff . At the same time he was repeatedly appointed as deputy regimental adjutant for a short time and finally appointed regimental adjutant on June 30, 1918.

Promotions

After the end of the war and his return home, his regiment was demobilized and Großmann was subsequently accepted into the provisional Reichswehr . He was initially adjutant of the 1st Battalion of the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 34, which had emerged from his main regiment. At the end of February 1920 he was transferred to the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 102. After the formation of the Reichswehr, he served as an adjutant in infantry and cavalry regiments . At Military District Command III, he went through the leadership assistant training , the camouflaged course for general staff officers . He was appointed intelligence officer on October 1, 1927 and company commander on March 1, 1928 . He came to courses in Altona and Döberitz . From October 1, 1931, Großmann worked for three years as a teacher at the infantry school in Dresden .

He then became the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the Gumbinnen Infantry Regiment . He stayed in this position when the Wehrmacht was formed and the regiment became the 22nd Infantry Regiment. On March 1, 1938, he took command of course B at the Potsdam War School .

At the beginning of the attack on Poland he was Erwin Rommel's representative at the Fuehrer's headquarters . On October 15, 1939 he was regimental commander of the 84th Infantry Regiment in the 8th Infantry Division , with which he took part in the campaign in the west . In the German-Soviet war he advanced via Bryansk and Vyazma to the apron of Moscow . For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross . When the division was relocated to France in December 1941, Großmann took over the leadership of the 102nd Infantry Division on December 10, 1941 . At the Battle of Rzhev on January 22, 1942, he became division commander of the 6th Infantry Division . For his successful participation in the Citadel company , he received the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Großmann was replaced on December 16, 1943 and probably transferred to the Führer Reserve .

From January to May 1944 he was leader of the LV. Army Corps and the XXXV. Army Corps . After attending a course for commanding generals in the summer of 1944, Grossmann joined Army Group Center . As commanding general he took over the VI. Army Corps . The day after the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht , he fell into British captivity , from which he was released on July 8, 1947.

Awards

Works

  • History of the Rhenish-Westphalian 6th Infantry Division 1939–1945. Podzun Publishing House. Bad Nauheim 1958.
  • The fight for East Prussia. The comprehensive documentary report. with Kurt Dieckert . Gräfe and Unzer. Munich 1960.
- Swedish translation by Jörgen Elfving: Ostpreussens undergang 1944–1945. En kamp utannad svenskt Militärhistoriskt Biblioteks Förlag. 2011.
  • Rshew, cornerstone of the Eastern Front. Podzun-Pallas-Verlag. Friedberg 1962.

literature

  • Dermot Bradley (ed.), 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 Publishing House. Osnabrück 1996. ISBN 3-7648-2488-3 . Pp. 447-449.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Ranking list of the German Imperial Army. Ed .: Reichswehr Ministry . Mittler & Sohn publishing house . Berlin 1924. p. 162.
  2. ↑ 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. 351.
personal data
SURNAME Grossmann, Horst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently General of the Infantry of the Wehrmacht
DATE OF BIRTH November 19, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Sybba , East Prussia
DATE OF DEATH May 4th 1972
Place of death Ruesselsheim