Günther Angern
Günther Angern (5 March 1893 – 2 February 1943) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the 16th Panzer Division during the Battle of Stalingrad. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Biography Born in Kolberg, Angern joined the army of Imperial Germany as an ''Fahnen-junker'' (officer cadet). He was commissioned in the infantry and fought in World War I. In the interwar period, he joined the Wehrmacht and by 1938 was commander of the 3rd '' Schützen'' (Rifle) Brigade. The following year he led the 11th ''Schützen'' Brigade. In August 1940, now an ''oberst'', he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross while commanding the brigade. On 15 August 1941, during the later stages of Operation Barbarossa, Angern was given command of the 11th Panzer Division. His time leading the division was brief, for he was wounded nine days later. He had a long period off active duty because of his wounds and du ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kołobrzeg
Kołobrzeg (; ; ) is a port and spa city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section divided by the Oder River, Oder and Vistula Rivers). It is the capital of Kołobrzeg County. During the Pomerania during the Early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages, the Pomeranians (Slavic tribe), Pomeranian tribes established a settlement at the site of modern-day Budzistowo. In 1000, when the city was part of Poland, it became the seat of the Diocese of Kołobrzeg, one of five oldest Polish dioceses. During the Pomerania during the High Middle Ages, High Middle Ages, the town was expanded with an additional settlement inhabited by German settlers a few kilometers north of the stronghold and chartered with Lübeck law, which settlement eventually superseded the original Pomeranian settlement. The city later joined the Hanseatic League. With ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a front, with the main goal of capturing territory up to a line between Arkhangelsk and Astrakhan, known as the A-A line. The attack became the largest and costliest military offensive in history, with around 10 million combatants taking part in the opening phase and over 8 million casualties by the end of the operation on 5 December 1941. It marked a major escalation of World War II, opened the Eastern Front—the largest and deadliest land war in history—and brought the Soviet Union into the Allied powers. The operation, code-named after the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa ("red beard"), put into action Nazi Germany's ideological goals of eradicating communism and conquering the western Soviet Union to repopulate it w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Generalmajor
is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, 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 Ranks and insignia of NATO armies officers, OF-7 within NATO. It has the grade of M404 within the Ministry of Defence (Denmark), Ministry of Defence's pay structure. The rank of major general is reserved for the Chief of the Royal Danish Army, Chief of the army and Chief of the Royal Danish Air Force, air force. History On 25 May 1671, the ranks were codified, by Christian V of Denmark, King Christian V, with the publication of the Danish order of precedence. Here General of the branch, generals of the branch were placed below Lieutenant field marshal (), and above the Imperial, royal and noble ranks, n ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oberst
''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German language, German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the Army, ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Sweden, Swedish rank ''överste'' is a direct translation, as are the Finland, Finnish rank ''eversti'' and the Icelandic rank ''ofursti''. History and origins is a German word. Spelled with a capital O, "" is a noun and defines the military rank of colonel or group captain. Spelled with a lower case o, or "", it is an adjective, meaning "superior, top, topmost, uppermost, highest, chief, head, first, principal, or supreme". Both usages derive from the superlative of , "the upper" or "the uppermost". As a family name, ''Oberst'' is common in the southwest of Germany, in the area known as the Black Forest (''Schwarzwald''). The name is also concentrated in the north-central cantons of Switzerland (Aargau & Canton of Zürich ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Schützen (military)
Schützen (en:shooters but usually translated as " marksmen") is a German plural noun used to designate a type of military unit of infantrymen, originally armed with a rifled musket and used in a light-infantry or skirmishing role – and hence similar to the Jäger. The individual infantrymen are termed ''Schütze''. Prior to the introduction of firearms the word was used for 'archer', and is sometimes used in the form ''Bogenschütze'' (bowman – lit. 'bow shooter'). The verb ''schützen'' (to protect) is not related to the plural noun Schützen, but to "Schutz" (protection). Translation and usage The German word ''Schütze'' means 'one who shoots'; the most common English translations are 'rifleman' or 'marksman'. (The word is related to ''schießen'', 'shoot'; the compound ''Scharfschütze'' means sharpshooter or sniper; ''Schützengraben'' means a trench from which infantrymen shoot; other related words are ''Geschütz'', a piece of artillery, and its compounds, such as ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Infantry
Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadly encompasses a wide variety of subspecialties, including light infantry, irregular infantry, heavy infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry, mechanized infantry, Airborne forces, airborne infantry, Air assault, air assault infantry, and Marines, naval infantry. Other subtypes of infantry, such as line infantry and mounted infantry, were once commonplace but fell out of favor in the 1800s with the invention of more accurate and powerful weapons. Etymology and terminology In English, use of the term ''infantry'' began about the 1570s, describing soldiers who march and fight on foot. The word derives from Middle French , from older Italian (also Spanish) ''infanteria'' (foot soldiers too inexperienced for cavalry), from Latin '' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Imperial Germany
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperial Germany, the Second Reich or simply Germany, was the period of the German Reich; . from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the German revolution of 1918–1919, November Revolution in 1918, when the German Reich changed its form of government from a monarchy to a Weimar Republic, republic. The German Empire consisted of States of the German Empire, 25 states, each with its own nobility: four constituent Monarchy, kingdoms, six Grand duchy, grand duchies, five Duchy, duchies (six before 1876), seven Principality, principalities, three Free imperial city, free Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City-state, cities, and Alsace–Lorraine, one imperial territory. While Prussia was one of four kingdoms in the realm, it contained about two-thirds ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, beginning when Nazi Germany and its Axis allies attacked and became locked in a protracted struggle with the Soviet Union for control over the Soviet city of Stalingrad (now known as Volgograd) in southern Russia. The battle was characterized by fierce close-quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians in aerial raids; the battle epitomized urban warfare, being the single largest and costliest urban battle in military history. It was the bloodiest and fiercest battle of the entirety of World War II—and arguably in all of human history—as both sides suffered tremendous casualties amidst ferocious fighting in and around the city. The battle is commonly regarded as the turning point in the European theatre of World War II, as Germany ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previously used term (''Reich Defence'') and was the manifestation of the Nazi regime's efforts to German rearmament, rearm Germany to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted. After the Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Nazi rise to power in 1933, one of Adolf Hitler's most overt and bellicose moves was to establish the ''Wehrmacht'', a modern offensively-capable armed force, fulfilling the Nazi regime's long-term goals of regaining lost territory as well as gaining new territory and dominating its neighbours. This required the reinstatement of conscription and massive investment and Military budget, defence spending on the arms industry. The ''Wehrmacht'' formed the heart of Germany's politico-military po ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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German Cross
The War Order of the German Cross (), 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 and was considered a continuation of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |