Robert Martinek

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Robert Martinek (born February 2, 1889 in Gratzen , Bohemia, † June 28, 1944 on the Beresina in Belarus) was an Austrian officer, most recently general of the artillery of the German Wehrmacht in World War II .

Life

The son of a master brewer graduated from the artillery cadet institute in Vienna from 1903. In 1907 he joined the Austro-Hungarian army as an ensign and was promoted to lieutenant in 1910 . During World War I he was used on both the Russian and Italian fronts.

At the end of the war he was immediately accepted into the Austrian Armed Forces and promoted to major in 1921 . In 1930 he was first in command of the artillery school and in 1934 as colonel in command of the artillery shooting school. From October 1, 1937 he was artillery inspector of the armed forces.

After the Anschluss , Martinek became an artillery commander in the German Wehrmacht . In 1940 he led the artillery operation in the attack on the French Fort La Ferté on the Maginot Line . In 1941 he was promoted to major general. In the winter of 1941 he took over the leadership of the 267th Infantry Division . Shortly afterwards, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for the defensive achievements of his division . From January 1, 1942, he took over the leadership of the 7th Mountain Division .

After he became the XXXIX on December 1, 1942 with simultaneous appointment as Lieutenant General . Panzer Corps had taken over, he was promoted to general of the artillery in early 1943 . Mentioned by name he found in the Wehrmacht report of 24 October 1943 "to have the defensive success in the middle front section XXXIX Panzer Corps under General of Artillery Martinek and the Rhenish-Westphalian 253rd Infantry Division under the command of Lieutenant General Becker special share." . Subsequently, he was awarded the Knight's Cross Oak Leaves .

Martinek's divisions had no chance against the superior Soviet forces during Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944 . During air raids by Soviet planes on Martinek's command post on the Beresina , he was killed by a fragment of a bomb. On June 30, 1944, he was buried in the Cherven military cemetery near Minsk .

For the soldier, who served in three different armies and is considered an extraordinary artilleryman, the armed forces put a memento by naming the artillery barracks in Baden near Vienna in 1963 with the name Martinek barracks .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Register entry of birth and baptism in the parish of Gratzen (Nové Hrady)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Martinek, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian general of the artillery
DATE OF BIRTH February 2, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Gratzen , Moravia
DATE OF DEATH June 28, 1944
Place of death on the Beresina , Soviet Union