Walther Lucht

Walther Lucht in Spain in March 1939

Lucht talking to officers in Poland in 1941

Walther Lucht (born February 26, 1882 in Berlin , † March 18, 1949 in Heilbronn ) was a German army officer , most recently general of the artillery in World War II .

Life

As a 19-year-old high school graduate, Lucht joined the foot artillery regiment "von Linger" (East Prussian) No. 1 in the summer of 1901 as a flag junior . He was promoted to lieutenant on October 18, 1902 . From 1907 to 1910 he was a battalion adjutant. On October 18, 1911, he was promoted to first lieutenant . At that time he was serving in the 8th battery. At the beginning of the First World War he was posted to the War Academy in Berlin , but immediately returned to his regiment and went into the field as a battery leader. Promoted to captain on November 4, 1914 , he was transferred to various general staff positions during the war and temporarily also served as battalion commander .

After the war he was accepted into the Reichswehr and belonged to the 2nd (Prussian) Artillery Regiment . On October 1, 1921, he was transferred to the Reichswehr Ministry in Berlin, where he served in the Army Transport Department until 1924. Promoted to major on December 1, 1925 , he joined the 7th (Bavarian) Division in 1925 , where he stayed for two years until he was transferred to the staff of Group Command 1 in 1927. In 1929 he became site commander of Glogau and on April 1, 1930, Lieutenant Colonel . He retired on March 31, 1932.

After four years of retirement, he was called up for military service again in the course of the increase in troops and was at the disposal of the Chief of the Army General Staff. From October 1937 to the summer of 1939 he was artillery commander of the Condor Legion . For on June 1, 1938 Colonel promoted, he took over on 1 September 1939 the command of the artillery regiment 215. On 6 February 1940 he was appointed artillery commander named 44 and in this capacity on 1 October 1940, Major General conveyed. In the summer of the same year he was awarded the repeat clasp of the Iron Cross . After a short interlude as "Harko" (Higher Artillery Commander ) 310, Lucht was commissioned to lead the 336th Infantry Division from February 17, 1942 and was awarded the German Cross in Gold .

On November 1, 1942, he was promoted to lieutenant general. On January 30, 1943, he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for the successful defensive battles in the Don area . On July 22, 1943, appointed commander in the Kerch Strait , on October 1, 1943, he was promoted to general of the artillery . On November 1, 1943, he took command of the LXVI. Army Corps. On January 9, 1945, he received the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross for his services in the Battle of the Bulge .

At the beginning of March 1945 he was considered missing in the Ruhr basin , but was able to get through to his own lines with a few hundred soldiers. In April 1945 he was appointed commander in chief of the 11th Army to be newly established in the Kassel area ; he took up this post on the evening of April 7, 1945 . He and his troops were encircled in the " Harz Fortress " and surrendered to US troops near Blankenburg .

In 1948 he was released from captivity . He died in a car accident in March 1949.

Awards

Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st class
Hanseatic Cross Hamburg
Austrian Military Merit Cross III. Class with the war decoration
Wehrmacht service award IV. To I. class
Spanish cross in gold with swords
Medalla de la Campaña Española
Cruz de Guerra de España
Clasp for the Iron Cross, 2nd and 1st class
Commander's Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit with Swords
Commander's Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy
German cross in gold on March 12, 1942
Medal Winter Battle in the East 1941/42
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with oak leaves
- Knight's Cross on January 30, 1943
- Oak leaves on January 9, 1945 (691st award)

literature

James Lucas: Die Wehrmacht from 1939-1945 , tosa, 2004, ISBN 3-85492-880-7
Dermot Bradley : The Generals of the Army 1921–1945 Volume 7 Knabe-Luz ; Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2004; ISBN 3-7648-2902-8 , pp. 627-629

Web links

Commons : Walther Lucht - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn Verlag , Berlin 1930, p. 119
↑ ^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. 516.

personal data
SURNAME	Lucht, Walther
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German officer, most recently general of the artillery in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH	February 26, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH	Berlin
DATE OF DEATH	March 18, 1949
Place of death	Heilbronn

[Rangliste-1] Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn Verlag , Berlin 1930, p. 119

[RKT-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. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 516.