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Army Group E
Army Group E (''Heeresgruppe E'') was a German Army Group active during World War II. Army Group E was created on 1 January 1943 from the 12th Army. Units from this Army Group were distributed throughout the Eastern Mediterranean area, including Albania, Greece, the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, and the Independent State of Croatia. Composition Its principal units were:p.24, Thomas * 11th Luftwaffe Field Division (Attica garrison) - ''Generalleutnant'' Wilhelm Kohler * Rhodes Assault Division (amalgamated with the Brandenburg Panzergrenadier Division in 1944) * LXVIII Army Corps (eastern Greece and Peloponnese) ** 117th Jäger Division - ''General der Gebirgstruppe'' Karl von Le Suire ** 1st Panzer Division (June–October 1943) - ''Generalmajor'' Walter Krüger * XXII Mountain Army Corps (western Greece) - ''General der Gebirgstruppe'' Hubert Lanz ** 104th Jäger Division - ''General der Infanterie'' Hartwig von Ludwiger ** 1st Mountain Division - ''Generalle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Löhr
Alexander Löhr (20 May 1885 – 26 February 1947) was an Austrian Air Force commander during the 1930s and, after the annexation of Austria, he was a Luftwaffe commander. Löhr served in the Luftwaffe during World War II, rising to commander of Army Group E and then to commander-in-chief in Southeastern Europe (OB Südost). Löhr was captured by Yugoslav Partisans at the end of the war in Europe. He was tried and convicted of war crimes by the Yugoslav government for anti-partisan reprisals committed under his command, and the bombing of Belgrade in 1941. He was executed by firing squad on 26 February 1947 In Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Early life and career Löhr was born on 20 May 1885 in Turnu-Severin in the Kingdom of Romania. He was the youngest child of Friedrich Johann Löhr and his wife Catherine, née Heimann. His father had served as a 2nd captain on a hospital ship in the Black Sea during the Russo-Turkish War. Here his father had met his mother, a Ukrainian nurse. She ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Von Le Suire
__NOTOC__ Karl Hans Maximilian von Le Suire (8 November 1898 – 18 June 1954) was a German general during World War II who commanded the XXXXIX Mountain Corps. He was responsible for the Massacre of Kalavryta, in Greece. Life and career Karl von Le Suire was born on 8 November 1898 in Unterwössen in Upper Bavaria. After entering the German Army in December 1916, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Bavarian infantry and served on the Western Front. He continued in the army after 1918. Von Le Suire held a number of staff appointments in the early part of World War II, including Chief of Staff of Gebirgs Corps Norway. He was then given command of the 99th Gebirgsjager Regiment. This was followed by command of the 46th Infantry Division in February 1943 and the Balkans-based 117th Jäger Division in May 1943. In November 1943, while commanded by von Le Suire, the 117th Jäger Division began a mission named ''Unternehmen Kalavryta'' (Operation Kalavryta), intending to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anti-partisan Operations
Axis forces were involved in counter-insurgency operations against the various resistance movements during World War II. During the Second World War, resistance movements that bore any resemblance to irregular warfare were frequently dealt with by the occupying forces under the auspices of anti-partisan warfare, particularly in territories occupied by Nazi forces. In many cases, the Nazis euphemistically used the term "anti-partisan operations" to obfuscate their ethnic cleansing and ideological warfare operations against perceived enemies; this included Jews, Communist officials (so-called Jewish Bolsheviks), Red Army stragglers, and others. This was especially the case on the Eastern Front, where anti-partisan operations often resulted in the massacres of innocent civilians. While the worst atrocities in terms of scale occurred in the Eastern theater of the war, the Nazis employed "anti-partisan" tactics in Western Europe as well. Origins and military doctrine The forms of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penal Military Unit
Penal military units, including penal battalions, penal companies, etc., are military formations consisting of convicts mobilized for military service. Such formations may contain soldiers convicted of offenses under military law, persons enrolled in the unit after being convicted in civilian courts, or some combination of the two. Service in such units is typically considered a form of punishment or discipline in lieu of imprisonment or capital punishment. History One of the earliest examples of penal military units was recorded in the Chinese annals ''Records of the Grand Historian'' and ''Book of Han''. During the Han–Dayuan War, unhappy with the failure of General Li Guangli in an earlier expedition in 104 BC, Emperor Wu of Han promised amnesty and rewards to criminals, prisoners and bandits (赦囚徒捍寇盜) and dispatched a 60,000-strong army consisting of "bad boys" (惡少年) to attack the Greco-Bactrian kingdom of Dayuan in 102 BC. Dedicated penal units were first e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller
__NOTOC__ Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller (29 August 1897 – 20 May 1947) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He led an infantry regiment in the early stages of the war and by 1943 was commander of the 22nd Air Landing Division. Under his orders, troops of the division committed atrocities against Greek civilians. He was later commander of occupied Crete and his harsh methods of controlling the island saw him nicknamed "The Butcher of Crete." After the war he was convicted and executed by a Greek court for war crimes. Biography Müller was born in Barmen, Prussia. When World War I began, Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller served as an infantryman with the 2nd Infantry Regiment. In 1915, he was promoted to second lieutenant and transferred to the 266th Regiment. After the war, Müller remained in the army and continued to rise through the ranks, attaining the rank of major in 1936. Shortly after World War II commenced, Müller was promoted to lieutenant colonel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
22nd Air Landing Division (Wehrmacht)
The 22nd Infantry Division was a specialized German infantry division in World War II. Its primary method of transportation was gliders. The division played a significant role in the development of modern day air assault operations. History Created as 22. Infanterie-Division in 1935, one regiment participated in the 1939 Invasion of Poland; the rest of the division stayed in garrison on the Siegfried Line in case of a French attack in defense of Poland. The division retrained as 22. Luftlande-Division (''Air Landing Division'') for rapid tactical deployment to capture enemy airbases and performed in that role during the invasion of the Netherlands suffering heavy losses during the failed Battle for The Hague (operation “Fall Festung”), and afterward advanced into France operating as ordinary ground infantry. Though planned for use in its air-landing role for the Battle of Crete, it was replaced by another division at the last minute. It joined Army Group South in Operation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fortress Crete
Fortress Crete (german: Festung Kreta) was the term used during World War II by the German occupation forces to refer to the garrison and fortification of Crete. The Greek island of Crete was seized by the Axis after a fierce battle at the end of May 1941. The Germans occupied the western three prefectures of the island (the prefectures of Chania, Heraklion and Rethymno) with their headquarters in Chania, whilst the Italians occupied the easternmost prefecture of Lasithi until the Italian capitulation in September 1943. The first German garrison unit was the 5th Mountain Division, which had seen combat during the capture of Crete. In late autumn 1941, the 5th Mountain Division was replaced by the 713th and 164th Infantry Divisions, which in early 1942 were reorganised as Fortress Division Crete (german: Festungs-Division Kreta - FDK). In the summer of 1942, FDK was split to form the smaller Fortress Brigade Kreta (german: Festungs-Brigade Kreta - FBK) and the 164th Light Afr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Stettner
__NOTOC__ Walter Stettner Ritter von Grabenhofen (18 March 1895 – 18 October 1944) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. In October 1944 he went missing in action on Mount Avala, near Belgrade in Serbia. Biography General von Stettner came from a well-respected military family. He fought in World War I, serving with the Bavarian Leib Regiment throughout. He started World War II as commander of a Gebirgsjäger-Regiment and fought in Poland, Norway, Yugoslavia, and the Soviet Union, where his unit advanced into the Caucasus. On 17 December 1942, he replaced Hubert Lanz as commander of the 1st Mountain Division, when the Division was retreating to the Kuban Bridgehead, and in April 1943 he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his contribution to the defence of the Bridgehead. In April 1943, the 1st Mountain Division was transferred to Yugoslavia for anti-partisan operations. Still under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)
The 1st Mountain Division (german: 1. Gebirgs-Division) was an elite formation of the German ''Wehrmacht'' during World War II, and is remembered for its involvement in multiple large-scale war crimes. It was created on 9 April 1938 in Garmisch Partenkirchen from the Mountain Brigade (german: Gebirgs Brigade) which was itself formed on 1 June 1935. The division consisted mainly of Bavarians and some Austrians. Poland and France The 1st Mountain Division fought in the Invasion of Poland as a part of Army Group South and distinguished itself during fighting in the Carpathians and at Lwów. On 8 September 1939 in Rozdziel village its soldiers committed a war crime (killing 6 civilians and 3 POWs, burning houses) and attempting to execute another 250 civilians. It subsequently took part in the Battle of France as a part of XVIII Army Corps and was selected to take part in the planned operations against the United Kingdom (Operation Sea Lion) and Gibraltar (Operation Felix) but bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hartwig Von Ludwiger
Hartwig von Ludwiger (29 June 1895 – 3 or 5 May 1947) was a German general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Ludwiger was responsible for numerous atrocities committed throughout the Balkans. After the war, he was charged with war crimes in Yugoslavia, convicted, and executed. World War I and interwar period Hartwig von Ludwiger was born in Beuthen, Silesia, in 1895. He had two brothers, both of whom were killed during World War II. Ludwiger was called to the ''Prussian Army'' on 17 (or 19) August 1914, shortly after the outbreak of World War I, as an officer candidate.Angolia, John R. & Roger, James Bender, p. 148 He fought in World War I with the 11th Grenadier Regiment, after being commissioned a ''Leutnant'' on 30 July 1915.Meyer (vol.1), p. 399. Ludwiger served in various platoons and companies as commander and participated in several well-known battles of the Great War in the Western Front – the battle of Champagne, the battle of Arras, the battle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
104th Jäger Division
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. In conventions of sign where zero is considered neither positive nor negative, 1 is the first and smallest positive integer. It is also sometimes considered the first of the infinite sequence of natural numbers, followed by 2, although by other definitions 1 is the second natural number, following 0. The fundamental mathematical property of 1 is to be a multiplicative identity, meaning that any number multiplied by 1 equals the same number. Most if not all properties of 1 can be deduced from this. In advanced mathematics, a multiplicative identity is often denoted 1, even if it is not a number. 1 is by convention not considered a prime number; this was not universally accepted until the mid-20th century. Additionally, 1 is the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hubert Lanz
Karl Hubert Lanz (22 May 1896 – 15 August 1982) was a German general during the Second World War, in which he led units in the Eastern Front and in the Balkans. After the war, he was tried for war crimes and convicted in the Southeast Case, specifically for several atrocities committed by units under his command in the Balkans. Released in 1951, he joined the liberal Free Democratic Party and served as its adviser on military and security issues. Early career Lanz entered the Army on 20 June 1914, shortly before the outbreak of World War I and served in the Western Front, and ended it with the rank of lieutenant (''Oberleutnant''). He was retained in the reduced post-war Reichswehr, being promoted to captain on 1 February 1928. In the period 1932–1934 he commanded a company in an infantry regiment at Gumbinnen, and was subsequently employed in staff duties, being promoted to lieutenant-colonel and Chief of Staff of IX Army Corps on 1 March 1937. After a period of command ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
