Ludwig Crüwell (20 March 1892 – 25 September 1958) was a German army general who served in the Afrika Korps of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

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 ...

. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Crüwell surrendered to the British forces on 29 May 1942 and was interned at

Trent Park Trent Park is an English country house, together with its former extensive grounds, in north London. The original great house and a number of statues and other structures located within the grounds (such as the Orangery) are Grade II listed b ...

, the British camp for high-ranking POWs where his conversations were subject to covert surveillance.

Career

Crüwell became commander of the

11th Panzer Division The 11th Panzer Division ( en, 11th Tank Division) was an armoured division in the German Army during World War II, established in 1940. The division saw action on the Eastern and Western Fronts during the Second World War. The 11th Panzer Div ...

in August 1940 and led it during 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 ...

; he received the

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' ...

afterwards. Then the division took part in

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 ...

; he was promoted to Generalleutnant and received the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross. Crüwell became commander of the Afrika Korps on 31 July 1941, under General

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...

, who on the same day took command of

Panzer Army Africa As the number of German troops committed to the North African Campaign of World War II grew from the initial commitment of a small corps, the Germans developed a more elaborate command structure and placed the enlarged ''Afrika Korps'', with I ...

, consisting of one infantry and two

panzer This article deals with the tanks (german: panzer) serving in the German Army (''Deutsches Heer'') throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrmacht, ...

divisions. Due to health reasons he took actual command on 15 September, and was promoted to

General der Panzertruppe General der Panzertruppe () was a General of the branch OF8 rank of the German Army, introduced in 1935. A ''General der Panzertruppe'' was a Lieutenant General, above Major General (Generalleutnant), commanding a Panzer corps. Rank and ran ...

on 17 December 1941. On 29 May 1942, Crüwell was inspecting operations by air in Libya. His pilot mistook British troops for Italian soldiers and landed, where Crüwell was taken prisoner. Crüwell was interned at

, where, on March 22, 1943, he was intentionally placed with another POW, General Wilhelm von Thoma. During their conversation, Thoma disclosed intelligence regarding the

V-2 rocket The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed ...

, i.e., surprise that London was not yet in ruins from German rockets being tested at

Kummersdorf Kummersdorf is the name of an estate near Luckenwalde, around 25 km south of Berlin, in the Brandenburg region of Germany. Until 1945 Kummersdorf hosted the weapon office of the German Army which ran a development centre for future weapons as ...

test grounds he had visited. This led to the British investigating Peenemünde and following confirmation, carried out a bombing raid on the Peenemünde facilities which severely disrupted the program.PBS show "Secrets of the Dead," Episode "Bugging Hitler's Soldiers," transcript a
PBS
After the war Crüwell settled in

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

. He became Chairman of the Veterans Association of the Germany Africa Corps and died on 25 September 1958.

Awards

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 ...

(1914) 2nd Class (20 September 1914) & 1st Class (17 September 1916)Thomas 1997, p. 106. * Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class 2nd Class (22 May 1940) & 1st Class (6 June 1940) * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves ** Knight's Cross on 14 May 1941 as ''

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 ...

'' and commander of the 11. Panzer-DivisionScherzer 2007, p. 263. ** 34th Oak Leaves on 1 September 1941 as '' Generalleutnant'' and commander of the 11. Panzer-Division

References

Citations Bibliography * *

External links

Bugging Hitler’s Soldiers
– Transcript of a PBS program, including quotations from Crüwell * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruwell, Ludwig 1892 births 1958 deaths Generals of Panzer Troops German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Military personnel from Dortmund German Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor German Army generals of World War II