Paul Betz

Paul Otto Ferdinand Betz (born July 10, 1895 in Harburg , † May 10, 1944 in Sevastopol ) was a German major general in World War II .

Life

Paul Betz joined the Prussian Army as a volunteer after the beginning of World War I in mid-August 1914 , later served as a flag junior in Schleswig-Holstein Pioneer Battalion No. 9 and was platoon leader in the 3rd Rhenish Pioneer Battalion No. 30 at the beginning of August in 1915 he was promoted to lieutenant and was in course of war in addition to the two classes of the Iron Cross , the Wound badge in black. In November 1918 he was transferred back to his main battalion and on December 31, 1918 he was discharged from the army.

In 1934 he tried to get back into the army and was sent to Wünsdorf for a selection course, and later to take a course to Sperenberg . On October 1, 1934, with his promotion to captain ( RDA from February 1, 1934) , Betz was employed as a company commander in the Sperenberg pioneer battalion in the Reichswehr . After the transfer to the army of the Wehrmacht , his unit was renamed Pionier-Bataillon 20 and assigned to the 20th Infantry Division . From mid-October 1937 he worked as a teacher at the war school in Munich and rose to major in early April 1939 . After the beginning of the Second World War, Betz was briefly in the Führerreserve , was transferred to the staff of the military commander in Poznan for a month and was head of the technical course at the Pioneer School II from the end of October 1939. This was followed by his appointment as commander in early February 1940 of the Pioneer Training Battalion 2 in Dessau-Roßlau , which set up the Pioneer Battalion 900 in early 1941. Since September 1940 lieutenant colonel , he commanded this battalion in the 90th light Africa division and went to Africa with it . In 1942, after six months in Africa, he was deployed again as the commander of a pioneer training battalion and he was added to the pioneer regiment staff. b. V. 700 in the Caucasus , of which he was commander. He then formed a combat group from Field Training Regiment 615, became leader of the combat group named after him and at the same time in 1943 corps pioneer leader of the XXXXIX. Mountain Corps . In this capacity, he was awarded the German Cross in Gold on February 10, 1944 .

From April 1944 he was fortress commander of Sevastopol and remained in command of his combat group, which u. a. consisted of two infantry battalions and six anti-aircraft batteries. In mid-April 1944, he was able to successfully repel several tank and infantry attacks, thus providing relief for the German units. From May 1944 until his death he was in charge of the 50th Infantry Division , which he had taken over from the seriously injured Major General Friedrich Sixt . He died in a low-level aircraft attack near Sevastopol.

After his death, Betz was subsequently promoted to major general on June 28, 1944 with seniority from May 1, 1944, and posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on June 16, 1944 and the Army Honorary Clasp on June 29, 1944 .

literature

Dermot Bradley , Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Markus Rövekamp: The Generals of the Army 1921-1945. The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intandants, judges and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 1: Abberger – Bitthorn. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1993, ISBN 3-7648-2423-9 , pp. 367-368.
Wolfgang Keilig : The generals of the army. Podzun, 1983, p. 38.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Robert Forczyk : Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941-44 . Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014, ISBN 978-1-78200-975-7 , pp. 321 ( google.de [accessed on May 22, 2020]).
↑ ^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 . Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 219.
↑ ^a ^b Mungo Melvin : Sevastopol's Wars: Crimea from Potemkin to Putin . Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017, ISBN 978-1-4728-2228-4 , pp. 554 ( google.de [accessed on May 22, 2020]).
^ Samuel W. Mitcham : German Order of Battle: 1st-290th Infantry divisions in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3416-5 , pp. 98 + 99 ( google.de [accessed on May 22, 2020]).

personal data
SURNAME	Betz, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Betz, Paul Otto Ferdinand (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German major general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH	July 10, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH	Harburg
DATE OF DEATH	May 10, 1944
Place of death	Sevastopol

[:0-1] Robert Forczyk : Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941-44 . Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014, ISBN 978-1-78200-975-7 , pp. 321 ( google.de [accessed on May 22, 2020]).

[Scherzer-2] 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 . Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 219.

[:1-3] Mungo Melvin : Sevastopol's Wars: Crimea from Potemkin to Putin . Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017, ISBN 978-1-4728-2228-4 , pp. 554 ( google.de [accessed on May 22, 2020]).

[4] Samuel W. Mitcham : German Order of Battle: 1st-290th Infantry divisions in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3416-5 , pp. 98 + 99 ( google.de [accessed on May 22, 2020]).