Hugh Vivian Champion de Crespigny

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Hugh Vivian Champion de Crespigny (Photo by Cecil Beaton )

Hugh Vivian Champion de Crespigny (born April 8, 1897 in Elsternwick , Melbourne , † June 20, 1969 in Natal , South Africa ) was an Australian professional officer and most recently Air Vice Marshal , who first served in the British Army as an aviator and then in the Royal Air Force served. After the Second World War, as an employee of the Control Commission, he played a key role in the reconstruction of political structures in Germany.

Life

Hugh de Crespigny, originally from Australia, initially served as an aviator in the Royal Flying Corps of the British Army on the Western Front during World War I and after the war was taken on as a regular professional officer in the new Royal Air Force with the rank of captain. During the war he was awarded the Military Cross in 1915 and the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1916. He was on duty in India in the 1920s and served in the Middle East during World War II.

In 1945 he ran for the Labor Party in the British general election .

Until the beginning of 1946 he was an employee of the British military government in Germany. In Schleswig-Holstein in May 1946 he succeeded Lieutenant General Sir Evelyn Barker, commander of the VIII Army Corps based in Plön Castle, as Regional Commissioner for Schleswig-Holstein , i.e. civil governor of today's federal state, based in Somerset House in Kiel and Residence in the Altenhof manor house (near Eckernförde). De Crespigny was instrumental in creating democratic structures in the former Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein , to which the last imperial government under Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz and its entourage had withdrawn. Under his supervision, the state politicians selected by the military government around the constitutional lawyer Hermann von Mangoldt worked out the new state order for Schleswig-Holstein and the Christian Democrat Theodor Steltzer was appointed by him as the first Prime Minister. He was adamant about the Danish wish to change the border in southern Schleswig . In 1947, after a vote of no confidence, this led to the resignation of the Danish Prime Minister Knud Kristensen in Copenhagen, who had linked his political fate with corresponding successes. To Crespigny's annoyance, the Danish press attributed this failure to an overly independent policy of the German administration in Schleswig-Holstein. As governor, De Crespigny was replaced by William Asbury in January 1948 , but remained in Kiel in other functions until 1956, most recently as British consul.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Socialist Communications No. 109/110 March / April 1948
  2. ↑ cartoon Crespignies in satirical Blæksprutten
  3. ↑ Two lights in the distance . In: Der Spiegel . No. 3 1948 ( online - Jan. 17, 1948 ).
  4. ^ Report on the handover of his residence to an advance command of the Bundeswehr ( memento of the original from November 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.boyens-medien.de
personal data
SURNAME Champion de Crespigny, Hugh Vivian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian career officer and most recently Air Vice Marshal
DATE OF BIRTH April 8, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Elsternwick , Melbourne
DATE OF DEATH 20th June 1969
Place of death Natal , South Africa