He lost two brothers in the first world war, helmuth. Do you want to create your own battlefield tour to sights of wars from the past. On february 1945, after a long argument, guderian persuaded hitler to make wenck chief of staff of army group vistula with the power to launch an attack under himmler. The 12th army was reconstituted on the eastern front near the elbe river on april 10, 1945. He also won the knights cross with swords of the hohenzollern order. Under general walther wenck, the 12th army made the last attempt by a german army wehrmacht heer to relieve german dictator adolf hitler in the besieged german capital during the battle of berlin. In the final days of the second world war the german general walther wenck was ordered to attack the advancing russians with his 12th army to liberate berlin. Veteran soldaten past and present veteran soldaten. And yet this was far from the last act of disobedience carried out against the nazi regime, as randall hansen reveals in his fascinating new book. After two attempts to break the encirclement had failed, busse was desperate. The interviews were conducted at nuremberg three years after the war by an american film unit and carried out by us judge michael musmanno. Wenck was the youngest general in the german army during world. The first part of the book goes to a new translation of a study of operation citadel the great tank battle of kursk edited by general theodor. This was the battle that crushed nazi germany forever.
Walther wenck, 18 september 1900 1 may 1982, was the youngest general in the german army during world war ii. In 1929, the walther pp compact semiautomatic pistol was unveiled, its target customer being primarily police units and, to an extent, paramilitary type units requiring use of a highly portable, holstered weapon indeed, the pp designation stood for polizei pistole. In 1919 he joined the paramilitary group freikorps and in 1920 joined the army of the weimar republic. His ideas of the dependence of landform evolution upon the mobility of the earths crust were a direct challenge to the accepted ideas of geomorphology of his time. Genl walther nehring survived behind enemy lines after operation bagration died of old age. Duc quyen, wellread in world war ii and the indochina wars. Wenck was assigned as chief of staff to the romanian general dumitrescu, who commanded the 3rd romanian army, in order to provide liaison and advice. On the afternoon of 22 april hitler sent keitel southwest of the city to give general walther wenck and his 12th army orders to come to the rescue of berlin and send the red hordes. He remained in the reichswehr and at the beginning of world war.
When germany was in crisis, wenck was the personal assistant of hans. Walther wenck september 18, 1900 may 1, 1982 was the youngest general in the german army during world war ii. Wenck, who after the war became general manager of an armaments company, died may 1, following a traffic accident. Walther wenck 18 september 1900 1 may 1982 was the youngest general in the german army and a highly experienced staff officer during world war ii.
Historical fiction lovers, if you have not read this book. The second volume begins with the 1993 management change and is dedicated to the dynamic advances walther made in the world market. This operation was one of the last tank offensive operations of the. The 480 code was replaced after two months with the code ac, which was used by walther for the remainder of the war. With the 2 nd regiment he was in the field of the first war and ended the war as 1 st ordinance officer with the 3 rd infantry regiment. Battle of berlin world war ii download ebook pdf, epub. Walther wenck was the youngest general of the branch in the german army and a staff officer during world war two. From 1939 to 1942, wenck was chief of operations for the 1st panzer division. This may have resulted because of asserted humanitarian actions to save civilians he is said to have. The 12th army was reconstituted on the western front near the elbe river on april 10, 1945. At the end of the war, he commanded the german twelfth army. What happened to the various german generals after ww2. Walther wenck the boy general the blood of history.
I highly recommend this book on this very important topic. Click download or read online button to get battle of berlin world war ii book. A bloody corridor was achieved after members of the 9th army broke through the 50th guards rifle division. Top 5 weird ww2 german prototypes that actually flew duration.
This novel displays drama and the after effect of world war 2 for the jews. What are some of the details of what walther wenck did in the battle. Following the commencement of the soviet operation uranus, wenck. In april 1945, as the allies encircled nazi germany from all sides, the thousand year reich was about to expire. Wenck was a talented general, and enjoyed if that is the word a distinguished. Randall hansen drawing on previously unexplored archives, hansen shows that many highranking german officer, and average german citizens in far greater numbers than previously recognized, reacted defiantle to. After ruth and her people were freed at the end of world war. During the final battle of berlin in 1945 the genral of the 12th army, walther wenck realized that the end of war was coming, and instead of trying to defeat the advancing soviet forces as his orders were, he used his army to create an escape corridor out of berlin.
Nevertheless, hitler knew that he soon would have to commit suicide. An interesting piece is the fact general wenck of the german twelth army disregarded hitlers direct orders to attack berlin from the elbe river. Scattered all over a wide area around halbe, the rearguard was holding the retreat at storkow, while the vanguard managed to reach and link up with the 12th army, under the command of general walther wenck at beelitz. Peter chen ww2dbase walther wenck was born in wittenberg, saxonyanhalt, germany to army officer maximilian wenck. It is really a timeless book about a truly timeless thoroughbred champion. Another important character is zui a 17 year old boy.
Jan 01, 1994 the book after the war, by carol matas, was in my opinion, an excellent read. In 1944, he became the chief of staff of army group south ukraine. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. When the european war of ww2 began, he was the chief of operations of the 1st panzer division and served in france.
The fall of berlin 1945 by antony beevor librarything. Before doing so, he wished to marry his longtime mistress, eva braun, and write his inal political testament and personal will. A book published in germany this week claims to have discovered the farewell letters of hitlers bride eva braun which she wrote to her friend days before committing suicide with the fuehrer in his berlin bunker in april war correspondents examine the arm of sofa, stained with blood, where adolph hitler and eva braun committed suicide. After the war a historical fiction novel by carol matas, is a great read about the jewish conflicts in the time after world war ii.
General officer, german army, world war ii, end of world war ii in europe, 12th army, united states, soviet union, battle of berlin, wittenberg. On the afternoon of 22 april hitler sent keitel southwest of the city to give general walther wenck and his 12th army orders to come to the rescue of berlin and send the red hordes packing. At the end of the war, he commanded the german twelfth army that took part. Wencks attack was initially successful, but hitler requested him to attend daily fuehrer briefings which forced him to make a daily round trip of 200 miles. A nice portrait of walther wenck, possibly made in connection with the presentation of his knights cross of the iron cross. Jul 14, 2015 top 5 weird ww2 german prototypes that actually flew duration. On 1 february 1943, as the german sixth army surrendered to the russians after a battle that had created a new nightmare of the horrors of modern warfare, a soviet colonel gathered some bedraggled, starving german prisoners and, waving at the shattered ruins of stalingrad, he shouted, thats how berlin is going to look. From february 15, 1945, at the request of heinz guderian, wenck took command of the troops involved in operation solstice. Nov 27, 2014 in the final days of the second world war the german general walther wenck was ordered to attack the advancing russians with his 12th army to liberate berlin. The 12th army became army group e heeresgruppe e on january 1, 1943. This book tells the story of the last ten days of the war, from the death of hitler on april 30 to the celebration of veday in moscow on may 9, a day after it is held in the west. Wenck, walther, born 18091900 in wittenberg, to army officer maximilian wenck, was the youngest general in the german army during world war ii. Walther wenck was the youngest general of the branch1 in the german army.
On the night of april 28, another mass breakout bore fruit. Wenck was a talented general, and enjoyed if that is the word a distinguished career on the eastern front, serving a considerable period in command of german forces operating in conjunction with romanian forces he was highly decorated by romania, and in key staff posts. Once the corridor was created, discipline was lost. After the war by carol matas this book was first published in 1997 and its a novel. Jun 09, 2010 please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from wikipedia or other free sources online.
To that end he planned to carry on the fight from scandinavia, began operations to pull out german soldiers trapped in courland, sought to make a separate peace with the allies, dispatched uboats with orders to fight on from norway, and even executed his own men for desertion after the war had ended with three such german soldiers killed. Spomenik database stratiste memorial complex at jabuka. I recently received the book the last days of hitler by trevorroper it is a first edition printed in 1947 and has been signed by 17 of the top nazi personalities that were in the bunker during hitlers last days. After war by chris coyne is a very powerful application of economic reasoning to help explain why it is so hard to export liberal democracy to failed nations states either after a war or after the collapse of an existing regime. Walther wencks 12th army, heading toward potsdam and berlin, would succeed. After the war is over, a story of a young woman trying to find her pay in britain after the great war is one amazing example of her work.
Soldier of the queen goff family war thrillers book 1. Walther penck, german geomorphologist noted for his theories of landform evolution. Production stopped when american forces captured the factory in early april, 1945. Ernst hermann august theodor busse 15 december 1897 21 october 1986 was a german officer during world war i and world war ii.
General wenck and the 12th army by matthew heimbach general wenck courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior. Wenck commanded 12th army, which was defending west of berlin when the soviets attacked across the oder on 16 april 1945. Contentsshow career busse, a native of frankfurt oder, joined the imperial german army as an officer cadet in 1915, and was commissioned in february 1917. Walther wenck on the afternoon of 22 april hitler sent keitel southwest of the city to give general walther wenck and his 12th army orders to come to the rescue of berlin and send the red hordes packing. I am currently reading a book on the fall of berlin by anthony beevor. In addition, the main character walther wolfe, is in reality the german general walther wenck with just some of the details changed. The desperate breakthrough at the halbe pocket how a. While there are many wwii books about the holocaust, there are far fewer that look at its aftermath and how it continued to affect the lives of the survivors. Admiral genl jodl senior general on hitlers staff hanged as war criminal genl keitel senior general on hitlers s. He lost two brothers in the first world war, helmuth, age 19 on 27031915 in russia and hans ulrich, also age 19 on 09041918 in france. What are some of the details of what walther wenck did in. Walther pp polizei pistole compact semiautomatic pistol. In this novel, fifteen year old ruth mendenberg must overcome challenges in leading a group of jews throughout europe to palestine. Their creative new models and innovative sport promotions, with which walther played an important role, firmly positioned them in the new century.
Oct 06, 2016 walther wenck was the youngest general of the branch in the german army and a staff officer during world war two. He joined the military as a cadet in the prussian army in 1911, fought in ww1, and during the postww1 years joined a paramilitary freicorps. Til german general walther wenck refused orders to reclaim berlin from the russians in 1945 and instead used the remains of his army to create a corridor to for civilians and soldier to flee to the americans across the elbe river. That referred to the 12th army of general walther wenck, on whom. From february 15, 1945, at the request of heinz guderian, wenck took command of the troops involved in. May 15, 2019 founded in 1886, the carl walther gmbh concern designed and manufactured many small arms prior to world war 2 19391945. Walther wenck project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. As the evening progressed, hitler received conirmation that. But, after six months of fighting the italians, the greeks could not stand up to. Hitler, after a sweaty krebs tells something and after an extrasweaty burgdorf. I have been to saratoga several times and can envision man o war s first time on the track as farley wrote it.
Walther wenck, horoscope for birth date 18 september 1900. Hitlers final words, his political testament, personal will. Walther wenck september 1900 1 may was the youngest general in the german army during world war ii. Wenck ordered his army to surrender to forces of the united states in order to avoid capture by the soviets. In february 1945, wenck was chief of staff of himmlers army group vistula, and was responsible for directing the german counteroffensive in pomerania, codenamed operation solstice. Following the commencement of the soviet operation uranus, wencks. At the end of the war, he commanded the german twelfth army that took part in the battle of berlin. He was born on the 18 th september 1900 in wittenberg. This book has lost none of its beauty and grace even as i read it as a 34 year old adult.
The last section of the book, covering the story of general wolfes assignment to the th army and its heroic deeds, is exactly that of the real life general wenck. A german success story coffee table book set online. Wencks 12th army aprilmay 1945 weapons and warfare. Walther wenck september 18, 1900 may 1, 1982 was a german general who commanded the 12th army during the battle of berlin. In addition, the main character walther wolfe, is in reality the german general walther wenck with. Aug 15, 2017 walter sigel 12 january 1906 8 may 1944 died after crashing his fieseler storch into the trondheimfjord. The accuracy of the content in the book is correct. Keitel met with wenck the next morning, 23 april, and blustered on at length. Walther wenck, author of the above quoted report, was arrested by us army forces after the war, however, he was never prosecuted for his actions and was released in 1947, despite him having achieved the rank of general by the end of the war. On february 1945, after a long argument, guderian persuaded hitler to. Under general walther wenck, the 12th army made the last attempt by a german army to relieve german fuhrer adolf hitler in the besieged german capital during the battle of berlin. Wenck was the youngest general in the german army during world war ii.
Heroes hearts of iron walther wenck germany wattpad. Most discussions of german resistance during world war ii end here, with the failed july 20 plot and the subsequent execution of its leaders. Walter sigel 12 january 1906 8 may 1944 died after. Walther wenck september 18, 1900 may 1, 1982 was a german general who. Facing the hopeless situation he refused to obey the fuhrers order, instead he created an escape corridor out from the ruined city together with the remains of the 9th army. At the end of the war, he commanded the german twelfth army that took part in. Under general walther wenck, the 12th army made the last attempt by a. Chief of the german liaisonstaff to the 4th rumanian army 01 oct 1942 01 mar 1943 regards. Here are a few brave mengroups i hold dear and the reasons why. Following hitlers april 30, 1945 suicide, the kriegsmarines gross. Genl breith one of the most able generals of the german army died of old age.
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