Otto Ellison from Nidlef

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Ellison von Nidlef as major general

Otto Freiherr Ellison of Nidlef (* 6. April 1868 in St. Poelten , † 11. November 1947 in St. Stefan ob Stainz in Styria ) was a major general of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces and a chargierter Lieutenant General of the German Wehrmacht .

Live and act

The Ellison family originally came to Hanover from England and moved from there to Austria around 1800 .

Otto Ritter Ellison von Nidlef was one of three children of Colonel i. R. Otto Ellison Edler von Nidlef (1824–1914), who was raised to the Austrian knighthood on December 14, 1884.

Ellison attended the Austro-Hungarian Technical Military Academy , which he successfully left on August 18, 1889. After that he was retired as a lieutenant for Engineer Battalion No. 2 . On November 1, 1891, he was promoted to first lieutenant with subsequent service as battalion adjutant, company officer and non-commissioned officer trainer.

From October 1, 1892 to September 1, 1894, he completed a higher genius course , which he was also able to successfully complete. He was then transferred to the Genius Directorate of the Trento Fortress to be commanded to the Genius Directorate of the Cattaro Fortress on December 1, 1895 .

On May 1, 1897, he was promoted to captain with simultaneous secondment as a company commander in the kuk Dalmatian infantry regiment "Graf von Lacy" No. 22 in Mostar .

Otto Ellison von Nidlef married Laura Bari − Gioppi in 1898 from a noble family from Trentino.

From May 1, 1899, Ellison left the troop service, as he was transferred to the staff of genius and delegated to the genius management in Bressanone . After a transfer to Trento with simultaneous appointment as deputy director of genius on January 1, 1901, he was appointed general staff officer on August 20 of the same year . From May 15, 1903, he was seconded to the Technical Military Committee as a consultant , with the subsequent promotion to Major on November 1, 1905. From November 1, 1906, he was appointed instructor for fortress affairs, fortress warfare and fortress war history at the war school in Vienna , as well as the simultaneous employment in a second higher genius course , which took place from November 15, 1907.

Subsequently, Ellison was appointed genius director in Brixen on August 18, 1911, with the subsequent last peacetime employment as director of genius at Riva fortress from April 17, 1914.

When the war against Italy broke out on May 23, 1915, Ellison was promoted to fortress commander of Riva until he took command of the left defensive section on the plateau of the seven municipalities on July 16, 1915 .

During the major Italian offensive directed against Trento, the combat group Colonel i. G. Ellison from two companies Imperial and Royal Landesschützen , some marching formations , Standschützen from Meran and the division of the Upper Austrian Young Riflemen , who held the left area of ​​the 180th Infantry Brigade. The section stretched from the Vezzena post via the Verle plant to the Lusern plant . Between Verle and Lusern there was an advanced earthwork, the so-called Basson . Although this infantry plant had 300 loopholes, it was insufficiently protected against artillery fire and was poorly manned. After extensive artillery preparation, parts of the Italian 115th Infantry Regiment succeeded in penetrating the forts, at the end of their strength, into the foremost trenches of the meanwhile cleared Basson . Realizing this, Ellison ordered all available men to retake the Basson on August 26, 1915. Due to a misunderstanding, the order was not carried out and Ellison found himself with four officers and eight riflemen in the trench system of the Basson suddenly faced with between 300 and 400 exhausted and apathetic attackers. Armed only with a pistol and with the words "su le mani - all captured - mettersi in viaggio - go backwards - indietro - immediately" , Colonel Ellison and his squad captured 353 Italians, including the regimental commander, Colonello Riveri. For this, on August 17, 1917, he was awarded the highest military award of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the Knight's Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order .

180th doctorate of the Military Maria Theresa Order on August 17, 1917 in the Villa Wartholz , where Ellison von Nidlef also received his order cross
Knight's Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order

On May 20, 1916, Ellison took command of the 43rd Landwehr Infantry Brigade, which he led during the so-called South Tyrol Offensive. On October 3, 1916, Ellison became the commandant of the 1st Kaiserjäger Brigade and commanded it during the loss-making battles for Monte Pasubio . During these fighting, the uncle of his wife Laura Bari − Gioppi, Colonello Antonio Gioppi, of the 7th Alpini Regiment, was fatally injured by an artillery shell on October 13, 1916.

Promoted to major general on August 15, 1917, he was given command of the II subrayon of the Tyrolean defense sector. From July to August 1918 he also commanded the 163rd Infantry Brigade, which was also deployed in the Tonale area. On October 1, 1918, after the last restructuring of the Austro-Hungarian Air Force, he was appointed Chief of Aviation in the Army High Command, effectively taking over from the former Inspector General Emil Uzelac .

In January 1919 Freiherr Ellison von Nidlef resigned from active service and retired to Graz for private life. He became a farmer on the "Hirschnigel" in Styria, but still acted as a commander or "military advisor" for the Heimwehr until well into the 1920s and was repeatedly associated with putsch plans. For example, the military concept of the Pfrimer putsch is said to go back to him.

From 1935 he appears to be the owner of the farm vlg. "Lemsitzmueller" in Lemsitz near St. Stefan ob Stainz.

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Tannenberg , Adolf Hitler , along with a number of other officers, put him up for disposal on August 27, 1939 as a lieutenant general .

Although Hitler was an admirer of the hero of the First World War, Ellison von Nidlef repeatedly resisted the personal advances to be instrumentalized for the new regime since the annexation of Austria .

Baron Ellison von Nidlef and Luis Trenker had a lifelong friendship .

He is buried in the St. Leonhard Cemetery in Graz .

Austrian military awards (as of December 31, 1918)

Coat of arms for Freiherr Ellison von Nidlef, 1918.

literature

  • Dermot Bradley : The Generals of the Army 1921-1945, The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intendants, judges and ministerial officials in the generals rank , Volume 3: Dahlmann-Fitzlaff, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1994. ISBN 3-7648-2443 -3 .
  • Reinhard Karl Desoye: The Austro-Hungarian Aviation Troops - The emergence, construction and organization of the Austro-Hungarian Army Air Force 1912–1918 , Diplomica Verlag, Hamburg 1999 ISBN 978-3-8386-2914-8
  • Genealogical paperback of the knights and Noble families , and Buschak Irrgang, Brno 1870-1881 and 1891-1893.
  • Oskar von Hofmann, Gustav von Hubka: The Military Maria Theresa Order: The Awards in World War 1914–1918 , Verlag Militärwissenschaftliche Mitteilungen, Vienna 1944.
  • Jörg C. Steiner: Schematism of the generals and colonels of the Austro-Hungarian Army, as of December 31, 1918 , Edition S & H, Vienna 1992 ISBN 3-901215-01-8 .
  • Hans Stratowa: Wiener Genealogisches Taschenbuch , self-published, Vienna 1926–1937.
  • Ellison from Nidlef. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1957, p. 243.
  • Austrian War Archives (Ed.): Austria-Hungary's Last War 1914–1918 , Verlag der Militärwissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen, Vienna 1930–1938.

Web links

Commons : Otto Ellison von Nidlef  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ Depending on the subject, these courses corresponded, among other things, to engineering studies
  2. ↑ Geographically it is actually the plateau of Lavarone / Folgaria - in the kuk military jargon, however, this was largely ignored
  3. ↑ The unit consisted of volunteers under the conscription age
  4. ↑ About two companies strong
  5. ↑ Among them the platoon leader in the Imperial and Royal Landesschützen Regiment No. III, Franz Pomykahler from Brixen, who was here as a trainer for the Standschützen
  6. ↑ from the war diary of the kk Landesschützen platoon leader Franz Pomykahler
  7. ↑ The fact that the regimental commander was at the forefront of the attack testified at that time that the Italian officers were exaggerated
  8. ↑ With the award of the Military Maria Theresa Order, the elevation to the baron status was connected.
  9. ↑ Brief biography Antonio Gioppi (in Italian) Retrieved on October 31, 2017
  10. ↑ Boundary section 2 - Tonale with the Tonale pass locks
  11. ^ Austrian War Archives (ed.): Austria-Hungary's Last War 1914–1918 - register volume p. 265
  12. ↑ Reinhard Karl Desoye: The Austro-Hungarian Aviation Troops - The Origin, Development and Organization of the Austro-Hungarian Army Air Force 1912–1918 pp. 113–114
  13. ^ Konrad Moser: St. Stefan ob Stainz. Self-published by the community of St. Stefan ob Stainz 1987, p. 172. which was then colloquially referred to as "Rittergut Ellison"
personal data
SURNAME Ellison von Nidlef, Otto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ellison von Nidlef, Otto Freiherr
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Major General of the Austro-Hungarian Army
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Polten
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1947
Place of death St. Stefan ob Stainz