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 ...

Josef Moll (5 September 1908 – 7 January 1989) was an officer of the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

in the Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr who served from 1966 to 1968 as Inspector of the Army.

Early life

Moll was born on 5 September 1908 in Laupertshausen in the Kingdom of Württemberg (today in Landkreis Biberach, Baden-Württemberg). He took his ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' in 1926, and entered the

state police State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...

of Württemberg, and in 1933 became a police lieutenant.

Military career

Wehrmacht

On the formation of the Wehrmacht in 1935 following the takeover of power by the Nazi Party, Moll volunteered to serve as a first lieutenant (''Oberleutnant'') in the Army. He was assigned to Infantry Regiment 15, in which he served as a regimental adjutant and company commander. In 1940, Moll graduated from a higher military academy and promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

(''Hauptmann''), and in 1941 he was appointed the second staff officer (supply) of the

20th Panzer Division The 20th Panzer Division ( en, 20th Tank Division) was an armoured division in the German Army during World War II. It was created from parts of the 19th Infantry Division. The division fought exclusively on the Eastern Front, taking part in th ...

. In 1942, was promoted to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and assigned as the second staff officer of the

3rd Panzer Army The 3rd Panzer Army (german: 3. Panzerarmee) was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942. 3rd Panzer Group The 3rd Panzer Group (german: Panzergruppe 3) was formed on 16 November ...

on the Eastern Front, under Georg-Hans Reinhardt. This was followed by a transfer to XIV Panzer Corps, where Moll was the first general staff officer (

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

). He was then assigned to Army Group Africa as the third general staff officer, in charge of the enemy situation, a post which he continued to hold as the remnants of Army Group Africa were re-formed as Army Group B and then XIV Panzer Corps in Italy. In 1944 Moll was promoted to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

(''Oberstleutnant'') and took the post of first staff officer for the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division, also in Italy. He was in that post when his unit surrendered with the rest of Army Group C in May 1945, and he was held as a prisoner of war by the American military until 1946.

Bundeswehr

In 1957 Moll joined the Army of the newly created Bundeswehr as a colonel (''Oberst''). He was promoted to brigadier general in 1959, and appointed deputy chief and chief of staff of the Truppenamt (today's

Heeresamt The Army Office (german: Heeresamt, HA) in Cologne was one of the two command pillars of the German Army, alongside the Army Forces Command (''Heeresführungskommando, HFüKdo''), until both were merged to create the current Army Command (''Komm ...

). From 1961 to 1963 he was in the personnel department of the Federal Ministry of Defense in Bonn, as the deputy director responsible for the Army. On 11 July 1963 Moll was promoted to major general and took over from Johann Adolf Graf von Kielmansegg as commander of the 10th Panzer Division in Sigmaringen. In 1965, he was promoted to lieutenant general, and he appointed as Deputy Inspector of the Army under Ulrich de Maizière. On 25 August 1966 he was made Inspector of the Army, the chief of staff of the German Army, which he served as until his retirement on 30 September 1968. On the occasion of his retirement he was awarded the Grand Cross of Merit with Star.

References

External links

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Official biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moll, Josef 1908 births 1989 deaths Bundeswehr generals Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from Biberach (district) German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States Lieutenant generals of the German Army Military personnel from Baden-Württemberg