Wilhelm Behrens (officer)

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Wilhelm Behrens (born August 23, 1888 in Berlin , † August 15, 1968 in Lotte near Osnabrück ) was a German officer , most recently Lieutenant General in World War II .

Prussian Army and First World War

Behrens came on 25 November 1908 as a cadet the Lancers Regiment "Graf Haeseler" (2nd Brandenburg) no. 11 , where he in the course of his infantry basic training on May 18, 1909. Ensign and on June 16, 1910. Lieutenant became . In the course of the First World War , Behrens marched with this regiment in association with the 42nd (Yellow) Cavalry Brigade ( 7th Cavalry Division ) on the Western Front . Here his regiment was initially posted as a border guard in Lorraine , where Behrens held the function of a platoon leader . In September 1914, the regiment fought at Amiens and Compiègne and then in Belgium and northern France . In 1915 Behrens was appointed MG squadron chief, with whom he was deployed in the Vosges region from April 1915 . In mid-1916, Behren's regiment was detached from the fighting and took on various security tasks in the rear army area of Belgium. After the regiment was refreshed, it was relocated to the Eastern Front in mid-December 1916 , where it was involved in heavy fighting in the Daugava - Livonia area . After the conclusion of the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918, Behren's regiment was withdrawn from the eastern front and relocated to the western front, where it was used as a cavalry rifle regiment in infantry combat from May 1918. After the end of the war in November 1918, the regiment moved to Osterburg in December 1918 and was demobilized and disbanded. In 1919 Behrens became the leader of the Volunteer Uhlan Department 11 "Behrens" named after him , which was deployed in the Eastern Border Guard .

Reichswehr

With effect from January 1, 1921, Behrens joined the 11th (Prussian) cavalry regiment as a machine gun officer and platoon leader , where he was appointed chief of the 3rd squadron on October 1, 1923 . After moving to the 1st (Prussian) cavalry regiment in Insterburg on October 1, 1925 , he assumed the position of squadron chief there. He then moved to Tilsit on October 1, 1932 , where he became chief of the 4th Squadron of the same regiment. He held this position until September 30, 1932. He then moved to the regimental staff as a major . Two years later he was posted to the 12th Cavalry Regiment in Dresden , where he was also active in the regimental staff.

Wehrmacht and World War II

Promotions

After the Wehrmacht was founded in March 1935, Behrens was assigned to the 10th Infantry Regiment , also stationed in Dresden, from where he was appointed commander of the 2nd Battalion on October 1, 1935. This was initially in Königsbrück , later in Kamenz in the local barracks along Macherstrasse (today the Garrison Square houses various public and private institutions). On October 1, 1938, meanwhile appointed colonel , Behrens became department commander of the Army Weapons Master School in Berlin .

After the invasion of Poland , he was given command of the 106th Infantry Regiment . This was part of the 15th Infantry Division at the time on the western border ( Saarpfalz ) of the German Reich in the seat of war . With the regiment, Behrens was then used in the western campaign as part of the 15th Infantry Division. Then the regiment was transferred to the Eastern Front, where it marched again as part of the 15th Infantry Division of Army Group Center via Mogilev - Jelna - Smolensk - Vyazma towards Moscow . In the course of the Battle of Moscow on December 20, 1941, Behren's regiment was in the Iklinskoje area west of the Nara position . At this point the regiment consisted only of the remains of other broken-up units. The 4th Army of Army Group Center came under pressure from the Soviet counter-attacks in these last days of December, when their entire left defensive wing was encompassed and partially breached by the Red Army . The defense of the Iklinskoje area, the loss of which would have led to the withdrawal of the 4th Army, played a decisive role in defending against the encirclement. However, Behren's regiment was able to repel the Soviet attack until December 24, 1941 with great losses and thus initially stabilized the situation of the 4th Army. For this achievement, Behrens was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on March 20, 1942. Previously, on December 31, 1941, he had already been assigned to lead the 328th Infantry Division , which at that time had been set up as a Valkyrie unit at home .

This was set on march towards the Eastern Front in January 1942, where it was again assigned to Army Group Center as part of the 9th Infantry Division . During the approach, however, Behrens was wounded by an enemy attack, so that on January 10, 1942 he was transferred to the Führer Reserve for the time of his recovery , which lasted until March 1942. Until then he was in a hospital in Koenigsberg . On June 1, 1942, Behrens was appointed commander of Division No. 193 in Pilsen , later Prague in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia . The division did not receive a combat mission during Behren's command times. On June 1, 1944, Behrens was reassigned to the Führerreserve, and finally, on September 30, 1944, at the age of 56, he was honorably discharged from active military service. It is not known whether he subsequently returned to civilian life. No new command was given to him until the end of the war. From April 20, 1946 to October 20, 1949, however, he was in Soviet captivity .

Awards

literature

  • Manfred Dörr: The knight's cross bearers of the German Wehrmacht 1939–1945. The knight's cross bearers of the infantry. A-Be , pp. 372/373.
personal data
SURNAME Behrens, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently lieutenant general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH 23 August 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH 15th August 1968
Place of death Lotte