Wilhelm Falley

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Wilhelm Falley (born September 25, 1897 in Metz , † June 6, 1944 at Sainte-Mère-Église ) was a German lieutenant general in World War II .

Life

Falley joined the Anhalt Infantry Regiment 93 as a volunteer on December 4, 1914 during the First World War . After his basic training, he was transferred to the front on August 25, 1915 as a lieutenant in the reserve . In early December 1916, Falley was transferred to the headquarters of the 7th Guard Infantry Regiment as a mine thrower officer. For his achievements he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross , the Wound Badge in Black and the Hamburg Hanseatic Cross.

After the end of the war , Falley was taken over into active service on January 29, 1919 and worked as an orderly officer with the staff of the 4th Guards Regiment on foot . With the formation of the Provisional Reichswehr , he came to the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 29 and was transferred to Infantry Regiment 5 on October 1, 1920 .

Second World War

Falley was in command of the 91st Airborne Infantry Division stationed in Normandy and wore the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross since November 26, 1941 . He also received the German Cross in Gold on January 20, 1944 .

Normandy, D-Day and Operation Neptune

Lieutenant General Falley had his headquarters in a château near Bernaville. Falley feared that his headquarters could be bombed in an Allied landing in Normandy. That is why he moved the command post and his quarters to an old bus, which was surrounded by large trees under camouflage nets about 600 meters away.

On the night of June 5 to June 6, 1944, Falley and Major Joachim Bartuzat were on their way to Rennes in a Mercedes. There they were supposed to take part in a simulation game on the subject of an Allied landing in Normandy. The driver of the Mercedes was Private Vogt. In the sky they noticed the masses of planes that were flying into Normandy as part of Operation Neptune , a sub-operation of Operation Overlord . Alarmed by this, Falley ordered Vogt to return to the château at around 1 a.m.

There are different versions of the events that followed. The sources agree that Falley, Bartuzat and Vogt encountered a group of US paratroopers led by First Lieutenant Malcolm D. Brannen of the 3rd Battalion of the 508th Paratrooper Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division at a mill property . From then on the sources differ. Brannen later stated that his group stopped the Mercedes with handguns, Falley was killed instantly and Bartuzat, when seriously injured and thrown out of the car, crawled to reach his Luger lying on the ground . Brannen claimed to have shot him because of it. While trying to escape, Vogt was stopped by a shot in the shoulder by Brannen.

The other source states that Brannen fired at the Mercedes with a bazooka when it was within 4 m. The bullet allegedly flew through the open passenger door, tore the back of Falley, who was sitting in the passenger seat, off the back of the head and hit Bartuzat, who was sitting in the rear, in the right shoulder, whereupon he was thrown out of the car. With his legs still in the car, he is said to have been dragged along on his back. Then, according to the sources, he tried to reach his Luger by allegedly crawling and was then shot.

A C-47 hit by German flak near Bernaville crashed in the immediate vicinity of Fally's bus. The resulting conflagration and the flying debris completely destroyed it. Fally's and Bartuzat's bodies remained in place for three more days. Then they were rescued by German soldiers and transported away; they were buried in the Orglandes cemetery (later Orglandes war cemetery).

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 Verlag, Osnabrück 1994, ISBN 3-7648-2443-3 , pp. 415-416.
  • Steven J. Mrozek: 82nd Airborne Division. Turner Pub Co. 1999, ISBN 978-1563113642 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1924, p. 186.
  2. ↑ Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 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.
  3. ↑ Walther-Peer Fellgiebel : The bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939-1945 - The holder of the highest award of the Second World War of all parts of the Wehrmacht . Dörfler Verlag, Eggolsheim 2004, ISBN 3-7909-0284-5 .
  4. ↑ Klaus D. Patzwall , Veit Scherzer: The German Cross 1941-1945. Volume 2, Patzwall, Norderstedt 2001, ISBN 3-931533-45-X .
  5. ↑ www.6juin1944.com (English)
  6. ↑ Information and pictures about Château Bernaville and Wilhelm Falley
  7. ↑ www.volksbund.de
  8. ↑ Photo of his tombstone
personal data
SURNAME Falley, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Lieutenant General in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH September 25, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Metz
DATE OF DEATH June 6, 1944
Place of death Sainte-Mère-Église