Wilhelm von Haasy
Wilhelm von Haasy (born May 20, 1867 in Passau ; † May 3, 1946 there ) was a German officer , most recently lieutenant general .
Life
He came from the Bavarian aristocratic and civil servant family von Haasy and was the son of the Passau regional court director a. D. Franz von Haasy (1827–1910) and his wife Wilhelmine, née Oehl.
Haasy joined the 13th Infantry Regiment "Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and Apostolic King of Hungary" of the Bavarian Army as portepeefähnrich from the cadet corps on July 22, 1885 . After attending the Munich War School , he was promoted to second lieutenant on April 7, 1887 . From June 15, 1891 Haasy served as regimental adjutant, was as such on February 22, 1895 First Lieutenant at last, on March 26, 1901 position à la suite of the regiment to aides of Festungsgouvernement Ingolstadt appointed.
In the meantime, Haasy had been appointed court squire on December 13, 1899 by Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria .
After his promotion to captain , Haasy became company commander in the infantry body regiment on March 9, 1903 . He served here for the next few years, became a major on October 23, 1910 and was promoted to the regimental staff at the end of January 1911. Haasy was then from March 27, 1913 to March 18, 1914 battalion commander in the 22nd Infantry Regiment "Prince Wilhelm von Hohenzollern" and was then commander of the III. Battalion of the 17th Infantry Regiment "Orff" in Germersheim .
After the mobilization at the outbreak of the First World War , Haasy and his battalion came into action for the first time in the battle of Lorraine . Then the fighting followed near Nancy - Épinal , before he moved with the battalion to northern France and fought here on the right wing of the army in the Battle of the Somme . At the end of October he took part in the Battle of Ypres . During the fighting south of St. Eloi , Haasy was wounded by a bullet in the right lower leg. After a short stay in the hospital, he returned to his troops on December 13, 1914, which at that time were already engaged in trench warfare.
On April 23, 1915, Haasy was appointed commander of the 5th Reserve Infantry Regiment. After fighting in the autumn battle at La Bassée and Arras , he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on November 23, 1915 . It was not until the summer of 1916 that the regiment left its positions and was used in the battle of the Somme near Longueval and the Foureaux forest. His troops managed to defend the Foureaux forest, which was a key position in the German defense, for 17 days. After the fighting was over, the regiment was again engaged in trench warfare in Flanders . In June 1917 Haasy was then involved in the heavy fighting for Messines . Here he maintained the positions assigned to him against the attacking English, but had to retreat on orders from the leadership. In autumn 1917 the regiment was then used in the Third Battle of Flanders on the left wing of the 7th Infantry Brigade . After English units had captured German positions in the area of the 23rd Reserve Division , Haasy succeeded in counter-attacking a successful attack on the heights north of Broodseinde. Under his leadership it was also possible to regain the Flanders bar during the fighting for Passchendaele . For these achievements, Haasy was suggested by his commanding General Otto von Stetten to be awarded the Military Max Joseph Order . Haasy was then awarded the Knight's Cross, the highest Bavarian war award, on October 4, 1917 .
In April 1918, Haasy and his regiment again proved themselves during the battle for the Kemmel . He was promoted to colonel on May 28, 1918 , and on June 6, 1918, Wilhelm II awarded him the highest Prussian valor award, the order Pour le Mérite . In the course of the war, his achievements had already been honored with the award of both classes of the Iron Cross and the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords.
As a result of the heavy losses during the defensive battle south of Arras to north Albert in August 1918, his regiment was disbanded by September 16, 1918 and the remainder was distributed to the 4th Division . Haasy was then appointed commander of the 18th Infantry Regiment "Prince Ludwig Ferdinand" on October 5, 1918 after his brother and previous regimental commander Lieutenant Colonel Franz von Haasy (1868-1936) had become incapacitated due to an accident. In the last weeks of the war he took part in the fighting in the Woëvre plain with the regiment at Army Division C.
After the armistice in Compiègne , Haasy led his regiment back home, where it was demobilized in Ochsenfurt on December 11, 1918 . Haasy was tasked with suppressing the unrest in Würzburg on April 8 and 9, 1919, with parts of the regiment that had not yet been demobilized. Subsequently, he was also involved in the liberation of Munich . Haasy was then taken over into the provisional Reichswehr on May 23, 1919 and worked here as an infantry leader in Reichswehr Brigade 23 in Würzburg. In the course of further downsizing of the armed forces and the related resolution of the brigade Haasy was on September 30, 1920, presentation of the character as a Major General dismissed from the military service.
After his departure, Haasy was court cavalier of the princesses Hildegard and Helmtrud of Bavaria for many years . Haasy received the character of Lieutenant General on August 27, 1939, the so-called Tannenberg Day. He died on May 3, 1946 in his hometown and was buried in the family grave in the high cemetery.
He stayed in constant contact with the veterans of “his” Reserve Infantry Regiment 5. In 1940 he donated a challenge prize for the regimental association.
literature
- Dermot Bradley (Ed.): 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 5: v. Haack-Hitzfeld. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1999, ISBN 3-7648-2538-3 , pp. 19-20.
- Rudolf von Kramer, Otto Freiherr von Waldenfels: VIRTUTI PRO PATRIA. The Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order of War Deeds and Book of Honor 1914-1918. Self-published by the Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order, Munich 1966, p. 308.
- Wilhelm Kripp: The Landau Regiments 1914–1918. Landau (Pfalz), Kaußler Verlag, no year (approx. 1930), p. 66, 181–191.
- Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume I: AL. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Berlin 1935, pp. 424-425.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Haasy, Wilhelm von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German lieutenant general |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 20, 1867 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Passau |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 3, 1946 |
| Place of death | Passau |