Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben

Hennecke, von Schlieben (center) and J. Lawton Collins at the official surrender of Cherbourg

Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben (born October 30, 1894 in Eisenach (Eifel) , † June 18, 1964 in Gießen ) was a German officer , most recently Lieutenant General in World War II .

Life

First World War

Schlieben, son of Major Wilhelm von Schlieben, who died in 1914 as the commander of the 83rd Reserve Infantry Regiment , joined the Prussian Army as a volunteer after the outbreak of the First World War . On August 11, 1914, he joined the 3rd Guards Regiment on foot as a flag boy . On January 9, 1915, he was promoted to ensign and on March 3 to lieutenant, and in the autumn he became company commander in his regiment. This was followed by the appointment of adjutant and orderly officer . Schlieben, who suffered war injuries in 1914 and 1916, became an adjutant in a battalion of the 3rd Guards Regiment on January 27, 1917 . In the spring of 1918 he was appointed orderly officer at General Command 60.

Weimar Republic

After the end of the war, he was transferred to the reserve battalion on January 1, 1919 and to the Reichswehr Regiment 29 on October 1, 1919. On October 1, 1921 he was appointed adjutant of the 2nd battalion of the 9th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment . Three years later Schlieben was transferred to the 7th (Prussian) Cavalry Regiment in Breslau . There he was promoted to first lieutenant on April 1, 1925. On April 1, 1929, Schlieben took over the 3rd squadron of the 12th (Saxon) cavalry regiment in Grimma and was promoted to Rittmeister here on October 1, 1929 .

In National Socialism

Until the outbreak of World War II , he was an adjutant on the staff of various regiments. Schlieben was promoted to lieutenant colonel on August 1, 1938.

With the beginning of the Second World War, von Schlieben was initially adjutant to the deputy commander of the XIII. Army Corps . On August 15, 1940 he was appointed commander of the 108th Rifle Regiment and promoted to colonel on August 1, 1941 . Then he took over the 4th Rifle Brigade on July 20, 1942 and was subsequently appointed leader of the 208th Infantry Division on February 1, 1943 . Because of his service with this division on the Eastern Front , von Schlieben was awarded the Knight's Cross on March 17, 1943. On April 1, 1943, he gave up command again, took over the 18th Panzer Division and became major general on May 1, 1943 . Since December 12, 1943 Schlieben commanded the 709th Infantry Division . Schlieben, promoted to Lieutenant General on May 1, 1944 , was appointed in command of the Cherbourg Fortress on June 23, 1944 after the Allied landing in Normandy . He decided three days later in his command post in Octeville, on the evening of June 26, 1944, to surrender and surrendered to the 9th US Infantry Division under Major General Manton S. Eddy together with Rear Admiral Walter Hennecke , the commandant of the Normandy Naval Defense with over 800 other soldiers in his underground command bunker in St. Sauveur. A second, official, surrender followed at Servigny Castle, the headquarters of General J. Lawton Collins .

Schlieben (seated in the middle) with his fellow prisoners in Trent Park

Captivity and Life After 1945

Schlieben was initially taken prisoner by the US and was transferred to the British general camp at Trent Park Camp on July 1, 1944 . He stayed here until August 9, 1945, when he was taken to Camp Island Farm . He was repatriated on October 7, 1947 . Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben died on June 18, 1964 in Gießen.

Awards

Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st class
Braunschweig War Merit Cross 1st Class
Wound badge (1918) in black
Clasp for the Iron Cross, 2nd and 1st class
German cross in gold on July 2, 1942
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on March 17, 1943

literature

Sönke Neitzel: Abgehört - German generals in British captivity 1942–1945 , Propylaea 2005, ISBN 3-549-07261-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ cf. the episode with Rudolph-Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff , Soldier in Fall , Frankfurt / M. u. a .: Ullstein 1979, p. 39.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn Verlag, Berlin 1930, p. 152.
↑ ^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. 665.

personal data
SURNAME	Schlieben, Karl-Wilhelm von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German officer, most recently lieutenant general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH	October 30, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH	Eisenach
DATE OF DEATH	June 18, 1964
Place of death	to water

[1] . the episode with Rudolph-Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff , Soldier in Fall , Frankfurt / M. u. a .: Ullstein 1979, p. 39.

[Rangliste-2] Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn Verlag, Berlin 1930, p. 152.

[scherzer665-3] 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. 665.