Walter Hennecke

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

Walter Hennecke (born May 23, 1897 in Betheln near Hanover ; † January 1, 1984 in Bad Lippspringe ) was a German naval officer , most recently Rear Admiral of the Navy .

Career

Imperial and Imperial Navy

Hennecke joined the Imperial Navy ( Crew 15 ) as a midshipman on October 2, 1915 during the First World War . From October 3rd he was assigned to the Naval School Mürwik and then from November 10th on the large cruiser SMS Freya used as a training ship . From February 6, 1916 to July 9, 1916, he then served on the large-scale ship SMS Kaiserin and was then transferred back to the naval school until February 1917. On July 13, 1916, he was promoted to ensign at sea . From February 1917 Hennecke was then used as a watch officer on a torpedo boat and promoted to lieutenant on December 13, 1917 . In this role he experienced the end of the war and was briefly discharged from the navy. From August 5, 1920, Hennecke was taken over into the Provisional Reichsmarine and continued to serve as an officer on watch and adjutant . In this capacity he was promoted to first lieutenant on January 1, 1921 . From October 1, 1922 to October 15, 1924, Hennecke was then in command as a company officer for coastal defense and then worked at the Technical University of Berlin until September 6, 1925 . After that, Hennecke served Hennecke until September 27, 1927 as a teacher at the Ship Artillery School (SAS) in Kiel-Wik . From September 30, 1927, he was in command of the artillery training ship Delphin and was promoted to lieutenant captain on October 1, 1928 . From October 1, 1929, Hennecke was again a teacher, this time at the coastal artillery school, and then from October 4, 1933 received a command as an artillery officer on the light cruiser Nuremberg . Then Hennecke served from December 17, 1934 as Second Admiral Staff Officer on the staff of the North Sea Navy Station. On April 1, 1935, he was promoted to corvette captain .

Navy

From October 5, 1936 to November 4, 1938, Hennecke served as the commander of the 1st Marine Artillery Battalion . He was promoted to frigate captain on August 1, 1938 and served as first officer on the light cruiser Nuremberg from November 2, 1938 to July 30, 1940 . In November 1938, Hennecke was temporarily in command of the ship. During his time as first officer after the beginning of the Second World War , Hennecke was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class (EK II) clasp on December 12, 1939 and was promoted to captain on February 1, 1940 . On August 1, 1940 Hennecke succeeded the then sea captain Ernst Lindemann as commander of the ship artillery school in Kiel-Wik. He led the school even after they move on 16 October 1941 after Saßnitz until April 1, 1943. He was also briefly from May to October 1941 commander of the cadet training ship unoccupied former battleship Schleswig-Holstein . From April 2, 1943, Hennecke was appointed Commander of the Normandy Naval Defense . In this position he was appointed Rear Admiral on March 1, 1944.

Cherbourg

On June 6, 1944, Allied troops landed in the same section commanded by Hennecke as part of Operation Overlord . Hennecke was in Cherbourg . The German Commander-in-Chief West Gerd von Rundstedt had foreseen that the city would be an important strategic goal of the Allies because of its port and ordered the destruction of the port on June 9th. In his position, Hennecke, together with the city ​​commander Major General Robert Sattler and the port commander, Captain Witt, played a key role in the complete destruction of the port of Cherbourg, which began on June 9, continued during the Battle of Cherbourg and only just before it arrived ended by Allied troops in the port area on June 25, 1944. After the destruction of the port of further military resistance had become pointless and so surrendered Hennecke together with the German defenders Cherbourg under the fortress commander Lieutenant General Karl Wilhelm von Schlieben a day later against the 9th Infantry Division under Major General Manton S. Eddy in Schlieben's underground command bunker in St. Sauveur.

The destruction of the port of Cherbourg was viewed by the German as well as the Allied side as the most extensive destruction of a port facility to date. Hitler was so satisfied with Hennecke's performance that he awarded him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross while he was a prisoner of war .

Captivity

Hennecke was initially taken prisoner by the US and was transferred to the British general camp Trent Park Camp on July 1, 1944 . He was repatriated on April 17, 1947 . Hennecke died on January 1, 1984 in Bad Lippspringe.

Awards

Web links

swell

Samuel W. Mitcham : Defenders of Fortress Europe: The Untold Story of the German Officers During the Allied Invasion . Potomac Books, Inc. 2009. ISBN 978-1-59797-274-1 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hitler Honors Captured Admiral. In: The Evening Independant. Issued June 27, 1944. Page 2. ( online ).
personal data
SURNAME Hennecke, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naval officer, most recently rear admiral of the Kriegsmarine
DATE OF BIRTH May 23, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Betheln near Hanover
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 1984
Place of death Bad Lippspringe