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German general (1906?2000)
Heinz Harmel
(29 June 1906 ? 2 September 2000) was a German
SS
commander during the
Nazi era
. He commanded the
10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg
during
World War II
. Harmel was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of
Nazi Germany
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Born in 1906,
[1]
Harmel volunteered for the
SS-Verfugungstruppe
(later known as the
Waffen-SS
) in 1935 and served as a company commander in the
SS-Regiment
Der Fuhrer
, with which he took part in the
Battle of France
in 1940. In 1941, Harmel took part in the
Balkans Campaign
and
Operation Barbarossa
. In December 1941, Harmel took command of SS-Infanterie-Regiment "Deutschland".
[2]
Harmel participated in the capture of
Kharkov
on 15 March 1943. Harmel received the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
on 31 March 1943. On 7 September 1943, he received the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
. In early 1944 after completing a divisional commanders' training course, Harmel took command of the
SS Division Frundsberg
.
[3]
During the summer 1944, the division moved to the
Western Front
, in Normandy.
[3]
Harmel had been ordered to break the enemy's lines, to free the German units encircled in
Falaise Pocket
numbering approximately 125,000 troops of the
7th Army
. The operation ended with heavy losses and serious damage. Harmel was then sent to the
Netherlands
. He fought against the Allied offensive (
Operation Market Garden
).
[4]
After the battles around
Nijmegen
, Harmel received the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
on 15 December 1944. His division was then transferred to
Alsace
, where Harmel was ordered to establish a bridgehead to join the
Colmar Pocket
. After the failure of the December 1944/January 1945 offensive in Alsace, Harmel's division was transferred to the Eastern Front, initially fighting in Pomerania and Brandenburg to hold the Oder Front. The division was subsequently transferred to Heeresgruppe Mitte where in late April it was ordered to counterattack the forces of Marshal
Ivan Konev
. Harmel refused and was dismissed from command by Field Marshal
Schorner
. Harmel subsequently commanded an ad hoc battle group formed around the
24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS
, the SS Officer's School at Graz and other smaller units. Harmel surrendered to the Allied forces in Austria and ended up in British captivity. Harmel died in 2000.
[3]
Awards
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Williamson 2006, p. 14.
- ^
Williamson 2006, p. 15.
- ^
a
b
c
Williamson 2006, p. 16.
- ^
A Bridge Too Far, by Cornelius Ryan (Simon&Schuster, 1974)
ISBN
978-8171676361
, The Battle of Arnhem in detail, inclusive of the roles of the Waffen-SS Divisions Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg. Based on Cornelius Ryan's extensive interviews of Waffen-SS Generals Willi Bittrich, Heinz Harmel and Walter Harzer (Chapter 3 and 4), the commanding officers on the German side during the battle of Arnhem.
- ^
Thomas 1997, p. 247.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Scherzer 2007, p. 366.
Sources
[
edit
]
- A Bridge Too Far
, by
Cornelius Ryan
(Simon&Schuster, 1974)
ISBN
978-8171676361
, The Battle of Arnhem in detail, inclusive of the roles of the Waffen-SS Divisions Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg. Based on Cornelius Ryan's extensive interviews of Waffen-SS Generals Willi Bittrich, Heinz Harmel and Walter Harzer (Chapter 3 and 4), the commanding officers on the German side during the battle of Arnhem.
- German Commanders of World War II (2): Waffen-SS, Luftwaffe & Navy
(Elite) (v. 2), by
Gordon Williamson
(Osprey Publishing, 2006)
ISBN
978-1841765976
.
- Scherzer, Veit (2007).
Die Ritterkreuztrager 1939?1945. Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbundeter Streitkrafte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives
[
The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939?1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives
] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag.
ISBN
978-3-938845-17-2
.