Wilhelm Wegener (General)

Wilhelm Wegener (born April 29, 1895 in Trebatsch ; † September 24, 1944 in Wolmar , Livonia ) was a German infantry general in World War II .

Life

Wegener joined the Colbergsche Grenadier Regiment "Graf Gneisenau" (2nd Pomeranian) No. 9 of the Prussian Army on August 2, 1914 as an ensign at the beginning of World War I , with whom he went to the Eastern Front and there on January 19 1915 with senior service from June 18, 1915 was promoted to lieutenant . In 1916 Wegener was transferred to the Western Front , where he was taken prisoner by the British in 1916, from which he was released in December 1918.

Awarded both classes of the Iron Cross and the Wound Badge in Black, Wegener was accepted into the Reichswehr and used in various posts. By 1937 he rose to major and adjutant of the 32nd Infantry Division . In this function he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on October 1, 1938 .

During the mobilization on August 26, 1939, Wegener was appointed adjutant of the II Army Corps . From July 1, 1940, he was in command of the 94th Infantry Regiment of the 32nd Infantry Division. In September 1940 the division moved from France to West Prussia for further training. From June 22, 1941, she was then used as part of Army Group North at Operation Barbarossa , which lasted until the end of the war in 1945. Wegener was promoted to Colonel on September 1, 1941 with senior service from October 1, 1940 and for his leadership work and the services of his regiment on October 27, 1941 with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and on January 19, 1942 with the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross ( 66th award). He led the 94th Infantry Regiment until mid-May 1942 and was commissioned to lead the 32nd Infantry Division on June 1, 1942 and promoted to major general. The division was deployed for more than a year in the so-called " Demyansk pocket" and then on the Lovat front. Here, on March 1, 1943, Wegener was promoted to lieutenant general. On June 27, 1943, he handed over the leadership of the division to Major General Alfred Thielmann and was briefly transferred to the Army Reserve's Reserve . On September 12, 1943, Wegener was entrusted with the leadership of the L. Army Corps at the front in front of Leningrad , and on December 1, 1943 was appointed commanding general and promoted to general of the infantry. His corps led Wegener through the heavy fighting to withdraw from Leningrad via the Luga and Pleskau to Livonia . Wegener was honored again. On September 17, 1944, he received the 97th Swords for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. A few days later, on September 24, 1944, Wegener died from a low-flying attack while driving back from the front to his command post.

literature

• Wolfgang Keilig : The generals of the army. Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, Friedberg 1983, p. 364.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 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 .
2. ↑ 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 , p. 45, 57, 438 .