Hubert Gercke

Hubert Gercke (born April 1, 1881 in Nikolaiken , † December 7, 1942 in Görlitz ) was a German officer . Most recently he was General of the Infantry of the Wehrmacht in World War II .

Life

Gercke was the older brother of Rudolf Gercke and joined the hunter battalion "Graf Yorck von Wartenburg" (East Prussian) No. 1 in Ortelsburg on March 22, 1899 as a flag squire . On November 16, 1899 he was appointed ensign and on August 18, 1900 he was promoted to lieutenant . After further promotion to first lieutenant on October 18, 1909, he was used as an adjutant in his battalion. At the same time as he was promoted to captain on October 1, 1913, Gercke joined the battalion headquarters.

With the outbreak of World War I and the mobilization, Gercke and his battalion were deployed for the first time on the Eastern Front in the battle near Lahna and Orlau on August 23 and 24, 1914. In the following years he was used as a company and battalion commander and, since January 16, 1917, as deputy regimental commander of Infantry Regiment No. 446. For his achievements during the war he had received both classes of the Iron Cross , the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords and the Wound Badge in Black.

After the armistice of Compiègne and the demobilization of the regiment in Allenstein in mid-December 1918 , he was transferred back to his regular battalion. On October 1, 1919 Gercke was transferred to Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 39 and a year later he became company commander in Infantry Regiment 2 in Allenstein. He then joined the staff of the 1st Battalion on October 1, 1921, and was promoted to major on July 1, 1922 . From October 1, 1927, Gercke acted as a teacher at the Dresden Infantry School and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on February 1, 1928 . Then Gercke was promoted to colonel on February 1, 1931, commander of the 6th Infantry Regiment in Lübeck . In this function, he was promoted to major general on October 1, 1933. As lieutenant general , he was commander of the 2nd Infantry Division in Stettin on June 1, 1935 . At the same time he was promoted to General of the Infantry on March 31, 1937, he retired from active service.

Gercke was made available on April 1, 1937, but was only given a command again after the start of the Second World War. On May 22, 1940 he became commander of the 278th Infantry Division . From July 17, 1940 to January 9, 1941 Gercke was assigned to the Führerreserve and then, as the successor to Oskar von Hindenburg, commander of the 401st Landesschützen Division . On January 10, 1942, he was appointed commander of the prisoners of war in Military District I based in Königsberg . Just one month later, Gercke was assigned to lead Division No. 148 and on April 2, 1942, he was transferred to the Fuehrer's Reserve again. His mobilization provision was finally lifted on June 30, 1942 and Gercke finally retired.

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. 236-237.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Reichsarchiv (Ed.): The World War 1914 to 1918. Volume 2: The liberation of East Prussia. ES Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1925. pp. 127-129.
2. ↑ Ranking list of the German Imperial Army. Ed .: Reichswehr Ministry . ES Mittler & Sohn. Berlin 1932. p. 110.