Wilhelm Fahrmbacher

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Wilhelm Fahrmbacher next to Erwin Rommel in Saint-Nazaire on the submarine bunker (February 18, 1944)

Wilhelm Fahrmbacher (born September 19, 1888 in Zweibrücken , † April 27, 1970 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen ) was a German officer , most recently general of the artillery during the Second World War .

Life

Fahrmbacher's military career began on July 18, 1907, when he joined the 5th Field Artillery Regiment “King Alfons XIII. of Spain ”of the Bavarian Army in Landau . After successfully attending the Munich War School , he was promoted to lieutenant on March 7, 1910 with a patent from May 26, 1909 . As early as January 22, 1909, he had been transferred to the 4th field artillery regiment "König" in Augsburg . For further training, Fahrmbacher completed the artillery and engineering school from October 1911 to the end of June 1912 . On January 25, 1914, he was appointed adjutant of the 1st division of his regiment.

In this position, Fahrmbacher initially took part in the border battles and the Battle of Lorraine after the outbreak of the First World War. During the following fighting near Nancy - Épinal he was wounded on August 24, 1914 and had to go to the hospital for a short time . After his recovery he returned to his regiment and was promoted to lieutenant on May 19, 1915 . From December 1915 to the end of April 1916 he was given the command of the 1st Mountain Gun Battery in the Mountain Gun Department 213. Then Fahrmbacher was the leader of the 6th battery of the 21st Field Artillery Regiment and was then on February 22, 1917 as Regimental adjutant transferred back to the 4th field artillery regiment "König". It was here that he was promoted to captain on March 22, 1918 .

After the armistice of Compiègne , the return home and the demobilization of his regiment, Fahrmbacher was leader of a people's army battery. In October 1919 he was accepted into the provisional Reichswehr . With the formation of the Reichswehr Fahrmbacher became squadron chief in the Fahr Department 7. He later worked in the Reichswehr Ministry and the Reich War Ministry and was promoted to major in February 1928 , in February 1932 to lieutenant colonel and in April 1934 to colonel . His appointment as major general took place on July 31, 1937. On August 15, 1938 he took over as commander of the 5th Infantry Division .

Promoted to lieutenant general on May 31, 1939, before the outbreak of World War II , he and his division took part in the attack on Poland from September 1939 and in the western campaign from May 1940 . Simultaneously with his promotion to general of the artillery on October 20, 1940, he was appointed commanding general of the VII Army Corps , which participated in Operation Barbarossa in the area of Army Group Center from mid-1941 .

From March to May 1942 took place Fahrmbachers promotion to the leader Reserve of the Army High Command . Then he was the XXV. Subordinate to Army Corps in France . Shortly after the start of the Allied Operation Overlord , he was given command of the Normandy Army Group on June 10, 1944 , which he relinquished on August 1 to become the commander of the German units in Brittany . After the Allies had opened the battle for Brittany and tried to reach the Atlantic ports at a fast pace, General Fahrmbacher had to retreat with his troops to Lorient , whose surroundings were reached on August 9 by the 4th US Armored Division . Hitler had declared the Atlantic ports to be fortresses that were to be defended to the last man. Fahrmbacher, who now had no more options for defending Brittany, since Lorient, like Brest and St. Nazaire, was encircled by the Americans, limited himself as a fortress commander to resisting the capture of the city. Fahrmbacher surrendered to the Americans with 10,000 men on May 10, 1945, two days after the German total surrender. He then came first in the US , then in French captivity , from which he was released on August 10, 1950.

From March 15, 1951 to August 1958, Fahrmbacher was a military advisor to the central planning staff of the Egyptian army . In the early 1960s he was involved in the affair involving German missile experts in Egypt .

In 1956 he processed his experiences during the defense of Lorient in the book Lorient .

Awards

Works

  • Lorient. Establishment and defense of the naval base in 1940/1945. Prinz-Eugen-Verlag. Weissenburg 1956.

literature

  • Dermot Bradley (ed.), Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Markus Rövekamp: The Generals of the Army 1921–1945. The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intendants, judges and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 3: Dahlmann – Fitzlaff. Biblio publishing house. Osnabrück 1994. ISBN 3-7648-2443-3 . Pp. 402-403.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Ranking list of the German Imperial Army. Ed .: Reichswehr Ministry . ES Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1930. p. 123.
  2. ↑ 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. 302.
personal data
SURNAME Fahrmbacher, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently general of the artillery in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH September 19, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Zweibrücken
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1970
Place of death Garmisch-Partenkirchen