Maximilian von Weichs
Maximilian Maria Joseph Karl Gabriel Lamoral Reichsfreiherr von Weichs zu Glon (12 November 1881 - 27 June 1954) was a German generalfeldmarschall and a military leader in World War II.
He was born into a noble family at Dessau, a son of an Army colonel. He entered the Bavarian Cavalry in 1901 and fought with them in World War I. From 1915 until 1918 he served with the General Staff of the 3rd Bavarian Army Corps. After the war he remained in the newly created Reichswehr where he worked at a number of General Staff positions and later served as an instructor. In October 1937 he became the commander of the 13th Army Corps, that later served in the 1938 German occupation of the Sudetenland. For the German invasion of Poland he was appointed head of his own Army Corps "Weichs".
After the Polish surrender, and in preparation for the invasion of France, he was made Commander-in-Chief of the 2nd Army, a part of Rundstedt’s Army Group A in the West. For his successes in the French campaign he was awarded the Knight's Cross and promoted colonel-general. Leading his corps, von Weichs later took part in the Balkans Campaign, and in preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, he was assigned to lead the 2nd Army as a part of Fedor von Bock’s Army Group Centre. He led the 2nd Army in 1941 through the Battle of Kiev, the Battle of Smolensk, and then on to Vyazma and Bryansk.
In 1942, for Fall Blau, von Weichs was assigned to lead the newly created Army Group B, composed of the 2nd Army, Hermann Hoth’s 4th Panzer Army, the 2nd Hungarian and the 8th Italian armies and also the 6th Army under Friedrich Paulus, assigned to take the city of Stalingrad and cover approximately 800 km of front.
von Weichs warned about his lines being stretched too thinly, but Hitler ignored this, and von Weich’s fears materialized when the successful Soviet Operation Uranus smashed the Italian, Hungarian and Romanian armies on his flanks, cutting off the 6th Army inside Stalingrad. Suggesting retreats, von Weichs fell out of Hitler’s favor. Consequently, parts of Army Group B were taken away from von Weichs' command and incorporated into a new Army Group Don, led by Erich von Manstein. Later in February the remaining part merged with the Don Group into a newly reinstated Army Group South, also led by von Manstein. von Weichs was put in leader reserve.
As the German situation was starting to become more dire, in August 1943 von Weichs was appointed Commander of Army Group F in the Balkans defending against possible Allied invasion in what was seen as Germany’s weak underbelly and fighting off local partisan groups that were gaining strength. In late 1944, he oversaw the German retreat from Greece and most of Yugoslavia.
As Nazi Germany fell apart, von Weichs was finally retired on March 25, 1945, and was arrested by American troops in May. During the Nuremberg Trials, von Weichs was found implicated in war crimes committed while suppressing the partisans, however, he was removed from the Hostages Trial due to medical reasons without having been judged or sentenced.
He died at Burg Rösberg near Bonn.
Notes
Reichsfreiherr is a German title of nobility, usually translated as Baron of the Empire. Freiherr is a title usually translated as Baron, and Reich is usually translated as Empire. The female forms are Reichsfreifrau and Reichsfreiin. Titles using the prefix Reichs- were not created after the fall of the Holy Roman Empire.
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