Wilhelm von Apell

Wilhelm Heinrich Erwin Adolf Friedrich Martin von Apell (born January 16, 1892 in Bückeburg , † July 3, 1969 in Varnhalt ) was a German lieutenant general in World War II .

Life

Apell attended from 1903 first the cadet Bensberg and later moved to the main military school after major light field . From here he joined the Westphalian Jäger Battalion No. 7 of the Prussian army in his hometown on March 31, 1910 as a charged ensign . There he received the patent for his rank on November 16, 1910 and was promoted to lieutenant on August 18, 1911 . In October 1912 he completed a training course at the infantry school at the Munster military training area and was posted from July to the end of September 1913 for machine gun training at the Elsenborn military training area .

First World War

With the outbreak of World War Apell moved as a platoon leader of the MG - Company of his battalion , which part of the VII Corps. , Was and has been to November 1915 of August 1914 as a battalion adjutant and company commander used. In August 1915 he was posted to Berlin to attend a combat gas effects course for officers. After returning to the Eastern Front , he was seriously wounded on November 2, 1915, was taken to the war hospital in Kovno , then to the reserve hospital in Cosel and the reserve hospital in Hanover . After his recovery, he joined the reserve battalion at the beginning of April 1916 and was a company commander there until August 1916. In the same function, Apell was used from September 1, 1916 in the Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 7 and was promoted to first lieutenant on October 5, 1916 . On December 19, 1916, he was wounded north of Stravolka and was taken to the field hospital in Bucharest . After his recovery, he was appointed commander of the headquarters of the Bucharest governorate on January 17, 1917 . A month later he was recalled from this post, briefly transferred to the 217th Division and then on February 28, 1917, transferred back to the Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 7. On August 28, 1917, Apell took over the command of the 2nd MG Company and was at the same time entrusted with running the business as a MG officer with the battalion headquarters. On December 21, 1917, he became leader of the Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 7. After April 11, 1918, he was transferred to the 29th Bavarian Infantry Regiment to lead small detachments . On May 5, he took up the post of police master in to take over the Sevastopol fortress . On July 10, 1918, Apell returned to his former battalion. For his work during the war, Apell was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross , the Wound Badge in Silver, the Bavarian Order of Military Merit IV Class with Swords, the Hanseatic Cross Hamburg and the Cross for Faithful Service .

Between the world wars

Apell was accepted into the provisional Reichswehr in October 1919 and deployed to the infantry shooting school in Wünsdorf . In November 1919 he was transferred to the teaching force of the infantry school in Munich and in May 1920 came to the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 30. Since April 1920 he was with the 18 Cavalry Regiment in Munich. Then he was transferred to the 1st (Prussian) Infantry Regiment in October 1923 and was used here at the end of November 1923 in the staff of the 2nd Battalion in Insterburg . As early as November 1, 1923, Apell had been promoted to captain . As such, he was from March 1 to June 22, 1924 with the staff of the training battalion. After a mine throwing course in the spring of 1924, he was appointed chief of the 6th Company on July 23, 1924 . From October 1932 he was Rittmeister with the staff of the 16th Cavalry Regiment . On September 1, 1933, he was promoted to major , in October 1935 he was appointed commander of the Motorcyclist Battalion 2 in Eisenach and in April 1936 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel . In August 1938 he became commander of the 11th Cavalry Rifle Regiment in Waidhofen an der Thaya (renamed the 11th Rifle Regiment).

Second World War

Lieutenant Colonel von Apell took part in the attack on Poland with the 11th Rifle Regiment , was promoted to colonel on September 30, 1939 , and was appointed commander of the 9th Rifle Brigade in February 1940. During the Balkan campaign he was named in the Wehrmacht report on April 12, 1941 :

During the advance of a tank division on Üsküb on April 6th and 7th, Colonel Apell, commander of a rifle brigade , and Lieutenant Colonel Borowietz , commander of an anti-tank division, made a special distinction .

After serving in France and the Balkans, he was promoted to major general on April 20, 1941 and received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on May 14, 1941 for penetrating the Serbian positions near Stracin ( Macedonia ) and the English positions at the Klidi Pass at Florina .

After the start of the campaign against the Soviet Union , Major General von Apell was transferred to the Führerreserve in Vienna and in September 1941 took command of the newly established 22nd Panzer Division , which was deployed in the case of Fall Blau and advanced to Stalingrad . From October 1942 he was transferred to the reserve in military district XVII in Vienna, was responsible for the training of wounded officers as an inspector at the Vienna Military Replacement Inspection, and on April 20, 1943 he was promoted to lieutenant general. With the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht on May 8, 1945, he became a prisoner of war in the United States .

He was released on June 11, 1947, traveled to the French occupation zone and from then on lived in Varnhalt near Baden-Baden . Apell was an honorary knight of the Order of St. John .

literature

• Dermot Bradley (ed.), Karl Friedrich Hildebrand, Markus Brockmann: Die Generale des Heeres 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 1: Abberger-Bitthorn. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1993, ISBN 3-7648-2422-0 , pp. 81-83.
• Veit Scherzer : 22nd Panzer Division . In: German troops in World War II . Volume 6, Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Jena 2010, ISBN 978-3-938845-27-1 , pp. 143-165.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1930, p. 138.
2. ^ The Wehrmacht reports 1939–1945 . Volume 1: September 1, 1939 to December 31, 1941. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-423-05944-3 .
3. ↑ 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. 193.