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Friedrich Kirchner
Friedrich Kirchner (26 March 1885 – 6 April 1960) was a German general during World War II who commanded 1st Panzer Division and the LVII Panzer Corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Career Friedrich Kirchner joined the Royal Saxon Army in 1899 and became an officer in 1907. During World War I he served with the 23d Division. After World War I he was retained in the Reichsheer. Kirchner was promoted to Major in 1928 and from 1929 he served in the staff of a cavalry division. Since 1 October 1933, he commanded a battalion in the 11th Cavalry Regiment in Neustadt (now Prudnik, Poland). Kirchner was promoted to Oberst in 1934 and appointed to command an infantry regiment in the 1st Panzer Division on 15 October 1935 and commanding officer of an infantry brigade on 10 November 1938. He was promoted to Generalmajor in March 1938. He participated in the invasion of Poland as a brigade commander; he was appointed command of ...
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Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as well as the second most populous city in the area of the former East Germany after (East) Berlin. Together with Halle (Saale), the city forms the polycentric Leipzig-Halle Conurbation. Between the two cities (in Schkeuditz) lies Leipzig/Halle Airport. Leipzig is located about southwest of Berlin, in the southernmost part of the North German Plain (known as Leipzig Bay), at the confluence of the White Elster River (progression: ) and two of its tributaries: the Pleiße and the Parthe. The name of the city and those of many of its boroughs are of Slavic origin. Leipzig has been a trade city since at least the time of the Holy Roman Empire. The city sits at the intersection of the Via Regia and the Via Imperii, two important medieval trad ...
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Reichsheer
''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Nazi Germany, Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped into a peacetime army. From it a provisional Reichswehr was formed in March 1919. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the rebuilt German army was subject to severe limitations in size and armament. The official formation of the Reichswehr took place on 1 January 1921 after the limitations had been met. The German armed forces kept the name 'Reichswehr' until Adolf Hitler, Adolf Hitler's 1935 proclamation of the "restoration of military sovereignty", at which point it became part of the new . Although ostensibly apolitical, the Reichswehr acted as a state within a state, and its leadership was an important political power factor in the Weimar Republic. The Reichswehr sometimes supported the democratic government, ...
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Walter Krüger (Heer Officer)
Walter Krüger may refer to: *Walter Krueger (1881–1967), United States Army general during World War II and military historian * Walter Krüger (architect) (1888–1971), German builder of public monuments, including Tannenberg Memorial * Walter Krüger (SS general) (1890–1945), German SS officer and military commander during World War II * Walter Krüger (Wehrmacht general) (1892–1973), German military commander during World War II; leader of Panzer division * Walter Krüger (athlete) (1930-2018), German track and field athlete See also *Kruger Krüger, Krueger or Kruger (without the Umlaut (diacritic), umlaut Ü) are German surnames originating from '':de:Krüger, Krüger'', meaning tavern-keeper in Low German and Pottery, potter in Central German and Upper German. The last name Krüger ...
{{hndis, Kruger, Walter ...
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Rudolf Schmidt
Rudolf Schmidt (12 May 1886 – 7 April 1957) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II who commanded the 2nd Panzer Army on the Eastern Front. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Career Schmidt joined the Prussian Army in 1906 and served during World War I. He was retained in the Reichswehr where he served in staff roles. In October 1936 he was promoted to Generalmajor and appointed commander of the 1st Panzer Division. In 1939 Schmidt led the division in the invasion of Poland. On 1 February 1940 he was appointed commanding general of the XXXIX Panzer Corps. He led the Corps in France and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his role in that campaign on 3 June 1940. He was promoted to General der Panzertruppe and appointed acting commander of the 2nd Army which took part in the Battle of Moscow. On 25 December 1941 he was appointed Commander of the 2nd Panzer Army (replacing the sacked Gen ...
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German Cross
The War Order of the German Cross (german: Der Kriegsorden Deutsches Kreuz), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repeated acts of bravery or military leadership; and in silver for distinguished non-combat war service. The German Cross in Gold ranked higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, while the German Cross in Silver ranked higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords. Eligibility The German Cross was issued in two versions: gold and silver (the color of the laurel wreath around the swastika). The gold version was awarded to military personnel for repeated acts of bravery in combat, or of military leadership, with 6–8 acts as a rule of thumb. The silver version was awarded for multiple distinguished services in the war effort an ...
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Clasp To The Iron Cross
The Clasp to the Iron Cross (Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz) was a white metal medal clasp displayed on the uniforms of German Wehrmacht personnel who had been awarded the Iron Cross in World War I, and who again qualified for the decoration in World War II. During the war, over 100,000 clasps were awarded. Description A holder of the 1914 Iron Cross could qualify for the same grade of the 1939 Iron Cross. To permit the two awards to be worn together, a "1939 Clasp" (''Spange'') was established to be worn with the original 1914 Iron Cross. It depicted a national eagle clutching an oak leaf wreath surrounding a swastika above a trapezoid bearing the year ''1939''. For the Second Class, the clasp was attached to the ribbon A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mater ... of the 1914 I ...
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Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia established it on 17 March 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars (EK 1813). The award was backdated to the birthday (10 March) of his late wife, Queen Louise. Louise was the first person to receive this decoration (posthumously). Recommissioned Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War (EK 1870), World War I (EK 1914), and World War II (EK 1939). During the 1930s and World War II, the Nazi regime superimposed a swastika on the traditional medal. The Iron Cross was usually a military decoration only, though there were instances awarded to civilians for performing military functions, including Hanna Reitsch, who received the Iron Cross, 2nd class, and Iron Cross, 1st Class, and Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, who received ...
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LVII Army Corps (Wehrmacht)
LVII Panzer Corps was a panzer corps in the German Army during World War II. This corps was activated in Augsburg in February 1941 as the LVII Army Corps, for the German invasion of the Soviet Union, which commenced on June 22, 1941. It fought in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk and in the Battle of Moscow. On 21 June 1942, the Corps was renamed LVII Panzer Corps . It fought at Rostov, and then in the Battle of the Caucasus. It fought south-west of Stalingrad and then retreated along the Don. In 1943 it was active in the Donets region and in Kursk. It retreated over the Romanian border before being attached to the 3rd Hungarian Army and transferred to the south of Hungary. There it fought in the Battle of Budapest and ended the war in Silesia. Commanders * General of the Tank Troops (''General der Panzertruppe'') Adolf-Friedrich Kuntzen - From 15 February 1941 to 15 November 1941. * General of the Tank Troops (''General der Panzertruppe'') Friedrich Kirchner - From 15 November ...
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Alistair Horne
Sir Alistair Allan Horne (9 November 1925 – 25 May 2017) was a British journalist, biographer and historian of Europe, especially of 19th- and 20th-century France. He wrote more than 20 books on travel, history, and biography. Early life, military service, and education Horne was born on 9 November 1925. He was the only son of Sir Allan Horne (died 1944) and Auriol (''née'' Hay-Drummond), niece of the 13th Earl of Kinnoull. He was educated at Eastacre, then Ludgrove School when it was at Cockfosters and described Ludgrove as a place of "humbug, snobbery and rampant, unchecked bullying" which he thought was intended to toughen the boys up. He seems to have hated Stowe, which he escaped from to America during wartime. As a boy during World War II, Horne was sent to live in the United States. He attended Millbrook School, where he befriended William F. Buckley Jr., who remained a lifelong friend. Horne served in the RAF (1943–44) and later as an officer in the Coldstream G ...
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Generalleutnant
is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of OF-8. Belgium Germany ''Generalleutnant'', short ''GenLt'', ('lieutenant general') is the second highest general officer rank in the German Army (''Heer'') and the German Air Force (''Luftwaffe''). This three-star rank in other countries is lieutenant general. Rank in modern Germany The rank is rated OF-8 in NATO, and is grade B9 in the pay rules of the Federal Ministry of Defence. It is equivalent to ''Vizeadmiral'' in the German Navy (''Marine''), or to Generaloberstabsarzt, and Admiraloberstabsarzt in the '' Zentraler Sanitätsdienst der Bundeswehr''. On the shoulder straps (Heer, Luftwaffe) there are three golden pips (stars) in golden oak leaves. History German armies and air forces until 1945 =Generalleutnant of the Wehrm ...
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Invasion Of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, and one day after the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union had approved the pact. The Soviets invaded Poland on 17 September. The campaign ended on 6 October with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing the whole of Poland under the terms of the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty. The invasion is also known in Poland as the September campaign ( pl, kampania wrześniowa) or 1939 defensive war ( pl, wojna obronna 1939 roku, links=no) and known in Germany as the Poland campaign (german: Überfall auf Polen, Polenfeldzug). German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west the morning after the Gleiwitz incident. Slovak military forces ad ...
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Generalmajor
is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star rank it is the equivalent to the rank of counter admiral in the Royal Danish Navy. The rank is rated OF-7 within NATO. It has the grade of M404 within the Ministry of Defence's pay structure. The rank of major general is reserved for the Chief of the army and air force. History On 25 May 1671, the ranks were codified, by King Christian V, with the publication of the Danish order of precedence. Here generals of the branch were placed below Lieutenant field marshal ( da, Feltmarskal Lieutenant), and above the noble rank of Count and the military rank of Lieutenant general. As part of the Army Reform of 1867, the ranks of Major, Lieutenant colonel were removed and only a single "General" rank was kept. After the 1880 reform, the gene ...
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