Willibald von Langermann and Erlencamp

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
General von Langermann and Erlencamp (1942)

Willibald Freiherr von Langermann and Erlencamp (born March 9, 1890 in Karlsruhe , † October 3, 1942 in Storoshewoje, Voronezh Oblast ) was a German general of the armored forces in World War II .

Life

Willibald von Langermann and Erlencamp came from a Mecklenburg family of officers and landowners and was the son of Major General Rudolf von Langermann and Erlencamp (1858–1927) and his wife Ida Wilhelmine Mathilde, nee. von Stoesser (1867–1957). He joined the Prussian Army on September 30, 1908 and was promoted to lieutenant on March 22, 1910 in the Dragoon Regiment "Freiherr von Manteuffel" (Rheinisches) No. 5 .

When the First World War broke out , he was initially employed as a regimental adjutant. After his promotion to first lieutenant on February 25, 1915, he became a company commander. In mid-August 1916 he was assigned to the General Staff of the X. Reserve Corps and a little later in the same function to the 22nd Reserve Division . There he was promoted to Rittmeister on June 18, 1917 . During the war he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross .

After the end of the war he was accepted into the Reichswehr . There he was u. a. Squadron chief in the 13th (Prussian) cavalry regiment in Hanover . After his promotion to major on November 1, 1930, he was an instructor at the Army Riding School until June 1935 . He then took over as commander of the 4th Cavalry Regiment . On November 10, 1938, he became inspector of riding and motor vehicles. After the beginning of the Second World War, he took over the division staff at the end of 1939. b. V. 410 of the country protecting units of the Military District X led. On March 1, 1940, he was appointed major general .

On May 7, 1940 he became commander of the 29th Motorized Infantry Division . During the western campaign in June 1940 she belonged to the Guderian group . For crossing the Rhine-Marne Canal and the advance to the Swiss border, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on August 15, 1940 .

On September 8, 1940, he became commander of the 4th Panzer Division , which he led at the beginning of the war against the Soviet Union . For this he received on February 17, 1942 the oak leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (75th award).

On January 7, 1942, he became the commanding general of the XXIV Army Corps (from June 21, 1942 Panzer Corps), which he led during the advance on Voronezh and the 1942 German summer offensive on the Don . On June 1, 1942, he was promoted to General of the Panzer Force. During a trip to the front on October 3, 1942, he was killed near Storoshewoje on the central Don ("during an exploration in the front line").

Others

After the medal was awarded on February 17, 1942, Langermann left Hitler (who had presented him the medal) without a word and left the hall. When asked by Rudolf Schmundt (chief adjutant at Adolf Hitler) he said: 'If he doesn't have the tact to tell me a word about the death of my only son, I don't want to know anything about him.' Three days earlier he had written bitterly complaining about insufficient winter equipment and contradicting orders from top management.

literature

  • Pier Paolo Battistelli: Panzer Divisions. The Eastern Front 1941-43. Osprey Publishing Ltd., Oxford 2008 (= Battle orders; 35), ISBN 978-1-84603-338-4 , p. 83. (English).
  • 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 7: Knabe-Luz. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2004, ISBN 3-7648-2902-8 , pp. 385-386.
  • Christian Hartmann: Wehrmacht in the Eastern War: Front and military hinterland 1941/42. 2nd edition 2010, p. 187.

Web links

Commons : Willibald Freiherr von Langermann and Erlencamp  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 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. 493.
  2. ↑ a b Christian Hartmann: Wehrmacht in the Eastern War: Front and military hinterland 1941/42. 2nd edition 2010, p. 187.
personal data
SURNAME Langermann and Erlencamp, Willibald von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Langermann and Erlencamp, Willibald Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German General of the Armored Force in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Karlsruhe
DATE OF DEATH October 3, 1942
Place of death Storoshevoje, Voronezh Oblast