Corneliu Dragalina (5 February 1887 – 11 July 1949) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Biography

Early life and World War I

He was born in the city of Karánsebes,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, in what is now

Caransebeș Caransebeș (; german: Karansebesch; hu, Karánsebes, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a municipiu, city in Caraș-Severin County, part of the Banat region in southwestern Romania. It is located at the confluence of the Timiș (river), River Timiș ...

Caraș-Severin County Caraș-Severin () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Serbia. The majority of its territory lies within the historical region of Banat, with a few northeastern villages considered part of Transylvania. The county seat is Reșița ...

. His father,

Ion Dragalina Ioan Dragalina (16 December 1860 – 9 November 1916) was a Romanian general, who died during the World War I in the First Battle of the Jiu Valley. Dragalina was born in the city of Karansebesch (now Caransebeș, Romania), which at the time ...

, was a general in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After attending the Artillery Military School in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

(1905–1907), Corneliu Dragalina graduated with the rank of second lieutenant; he was promoted to lieutenant in 1910 and to captain in 1915. When Romania entered World War I in August 1916 on the side of the Allied powers, Dragalina fought with the

Dobruja Army The Dobruja Army was a World War I Russian, Romanian and Serbian field army that fought on the Romanian Front. Field management was established in August 1916. The army was based primarily on the newly established 47th Army Corps and was sent to R ...

under the command of Russian General

Andrei Zayonchkovski Andrei Medardovich Zayonchkovsky (russian: Андре́й Меда́рдович Зайончко́вский) ( – 22 March 1926) commanded the defence of the Romanian-Bulgarian border in Dobruja upon Romania's entry into World War I in August ...

, and saw action against the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n forces. Wounded in battle, he was taken by barge on the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

to a hospital in

Galați Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most par ...

, where he was operated upon. Shortly after that he went back to Bucharest to take leave of his father, who, at the command of the 1st Romanian Army, had been mortally wounded at the

First Battle of the Jiu Valley The First Battle of the Jiu Valley was a military engagement during World War I fought between Romanian forces on one side and Central Powers forces (Germany and Austria-Hungary) on the other. The German offensive, although initially successful, w ...

. For his valor, Dragalina was decorated in November 1916 with the

Order of Michael the Brave The Order of Michael the Brave ( ro, Ordinul Mihai Viteazul) is Romania's highest military decoration, instituted by King Ferdinand I during the early stages of the Romanian Campaign of the First World War, and was again awarded in the Second Wor ...

, 3rd class. In 1917 he was promoted to major.

The interwar period

After the war, he pursued his military studies at the Higher War School (1919–1921). During that time (April 1920–February 1921), he also served (via a delegate) as

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

Timiș-Torontal County Timiș-Torontal was a county ( ro, județ) in the Kingdom of Romania. Its capital was Timișoara. The territory of the county had been transferred to Romania in 1920 from the Kingdom of Hungary under the Treaty of Trianon. Geography Timiș-Toro ...

. Dragalina was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1920, colonel in 1928, and brigadier general in 1935. On 1 January 1940 he was named commander of the 6th Army Corps, stationed in

Cluj ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

, while on 6 June 1940 he was promoted to major general. In the aftermath of the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all ...

(signed on 30 August 1940), Dragalina took a leading role in the evacuation of the Romanian troops from

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania ( ro, Transilvania de Nord, hu, Észak-Erdély) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of ...

, and moved his headquarters to

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a popu ...

. During the Legionnaires' rebellion of January 1941, Dragalina with his troops restored order inside the city and secured the radio broadcast station at Bod. As a prelude to the

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was p ...

by the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

in the spring of 1941, the 6th Army Corps was relocated to the

Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...

, but eventually the Serbian Banat was occupied by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

troops.

World War II

General Dragalina was still in command of the 6th Army Corps when Romania joined

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

on 22 June 1941 in order to reclaim the lost territories of

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

and

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...

, which had been annexed by the Soviet Union in June 1940. The 6th Corps was kept in reserve inside Romania and was sent to the Eastern Front only in October 1941, when it took part in the final phase of the

Siege of Odessa The siege of Odessa, known to the Soviets as the defence of Odessa, lasted from 8 August until 16 October 1941, during the early phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. Odessa was a port on the ...

. It then took part in the

Crimean campaign The Crimea campaign was an eight-month-long campaign by Axis forces to conquer the Crimea Peninsula, and was the scene of some of the bloodiest battles on the Eastern Front during World War II. The German, Romanian, and defending Soviet t ...

, after which the 6th Corps moved in the spring of 1942 to the south of

Izium Izium or Izyum ( uk, Ізюм, ; russian: Изюм) is a city on the Donets River in Kharkiv Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izium Raion (district). Izium hosts the administration of Izium urban hr ...

, where it took under its command four Romanian infantry divisions (the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 20th). In May 1942, Dragalina led his troops during the

Second Battle of Kharkov The Second Battle of Kharkov or Operation Fredericus was an Axis counter-offensive in the region around Kharkov against the Red Army Izium bridgehead offensive conducted 12–28 May 1942, on the Eastern Front during World War II. Its objectiv ...

. The 6th Corps lost 2,983 men during the battle, but took 26,432

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

s, and also captured a large number of T-60 light tanks, as well as the first

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tan ...

and

KV-1 The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks are a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defence commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov who operated with the Red Army during World War II. The KV tanks were known for their heavy armour pro ...

tanks taken intact by the Romanian Army. For the 1942 German summer offensive, Dragalina was subordinated to the

1st Panzer Army The 1st Panzer Army (german: 1. Panzerarmee) was a German tank army that was a large armoured formation of the Wehrmacht during World War II. When originally formed on 1 March 1940, the predecessor of the 1st Panzer Army was named Panzer Group ...

. On 22 June, the 6th Corps forced the

Donets River The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Don ...

and continued the offensive towards the

Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

, advancing 450 km in 20 days. On 18 July Dragalina was promoted to lieutenant general, after which he was subordinated to the

4th Panzer Army The 4th Panzer Army (german: 4. Panzerarmee) (operating as Panzer Group 4 (german: 4. Panzergruppe) from its formation on 15 February 1941 to 1 January 1942, when it was redesignated as a full army) was a German panzer formation during World War ...

, helping it advance across the Don River. At the beginning of September, the 6th Corps (consisting by then of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 18th Infantry Divisions) was assigned to the

Romanian Fourth Army The Fourth Army (Armata a 4-a Română) was a field army (a military formation) of the Romanian Land Forces active from the 19th century to the 1990s. History World War I The Fourth Army fought under the name of "Northern Army" or "Army of ...

, commanded by General

Constantin Constantinescu-Claps Constantin Constantinescu-Claps (February 20, 1884 – June 1961) was a Romanian general during World War II, in command of the Romanian Fourth Army at the Battle of Stalingrad. Biography He was born in Beceni, Bacău County in 1884. From 190 ...

. The 4th Army had joined in the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

, helping to protect the southern flank of the

6th Army as it tried to conquer the city of

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

, defended by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

. On 20 November 1942, the 4th Army was attacked by the Soviet 57th and 51st Armies, with the main blow in the sector of the 20th, 2nd, 18th and 1st Infantry Divisions. Overpowered and poorly equipped, Dragalina's 6th Corps troops received the brunt of the Soviet offensive (

Operation Uranus Operation Uranus (russian: Опера́ция «Ура́н», Operatsiya "Uran") was the codename of the Soviet Red Army's 19–23 November 1942 strategic operation on the Eastern Front of World War II which led to the encirclement of Axis ...

) south of Stalingrad. On 23 November, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Fourth Army demanded and received from the Romanian General Headquarters the authorization to make decisions independently from the 4th Panzer Army. Subsequently, the 6th Corps fell back to the Aksay River, but to no avail, as the Soviets were already in control of the communication center of Aksay. On 27 November, the Soviets managed to break through the line of the 6th Corps at the 18th Infantry Division, thus forcing it to retreat 25–30 km south of the river. The remnants of the 6th Corps tried to defend a line of villages backed up by

Radu Korne Radu may refer to: People * Radu (given name), Romanian masculine given name * Radu (surname), Romanian surname * Rulers of Wallachia, see * Prince Radu of Romania (born 1960), disputed pretender to the former Romanian throne Other uses * Radu ( ...

's detachment, but the Soviets had an almost free hand as the Romanian forces disintegrated. The losses of the 6th Corps in this operation were catastrophic, with up to 80% in personnel at the 1st, 2nd, and 18th divisions. On 16 December 1942, Dragalina was recalled from the Eastern Front by

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and ''Conducător'' during most of World War II. A Romanian Army career officer who made ...

. After relinquishing command of the 6th Army Corps on 20 March 1943, he served as Governor-General of the

Bukovina Governorate The Bukovina Governorate ( ro, Guvernământul Bucovinei) was an administrative unit of Romania during World War II. Background and history In 1775, the region of Bukovina, historically part of the Romanian principality of Moldavia, officially ...

from 21 March 1943 until 23 March 1944, when the Red Army occupied Bukovina during the Uman–Botoșani Offensive. He was then put at the disposal of the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. He returned as General Inspector of the Mechanized Troops between November 1944 and March 1945, when he was definitively retired by order of the Petru Groza government.

After the war

Dragalina later lost his house in

Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...

and was harassed by the

Securitate The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...

, but, unlike many other military commanders who had fought on the Eastern Front, he was not arrested. He died from natural causes on 11 July 1949 in Bucharest, escaping persecution by the new

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

. He is buried at Bellu Military Cemetery in Bucharest.

Awards

** 3rd Class (11 November 1916) ** 2nd Class (1 September 1942) *

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 est ...

(1939) 2nd and 1st Class *

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ...

(9 August 1942)

Legacy

The National Military Museum in Bucharest houses a permanent exhibition that displays personal objects which belonged to top Romanian military leaders, including memorabilia of Corneliu Dragalina.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dragalina, Corneliu 1887 births 1949 deaths People from Caransebeș Romanian Land Forces generals Romanian military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Knights of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave, 2nd class Romanian military personnel of World War I Carol I National Defence University alumni Burials at Bellu Cemetery