Arthur Kobus

Arthur Kobus
Most sources state, the old German general committed suicide in April 1945 during the Battle of Berlin, other sources state, he did so in May 1945 after the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht (possibly in Soviet-Russian custody).
Birth name	Fritz Arthur Kobus
Birth date	9 February 1879(1879-02-09)
Place of birth	Metz, Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen, German Empire
Death date	April / May 1945
Place of death	Berlin, German Reich
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic
Service/branch	Prussian Army Imperial German Army Reichswehr
Rank	Lieutenant General
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Iron Cross War Merit Cross
Relations	∞ 1916 Margarethe Gadow

Fritz Arthur Kobus (1879–1945) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Lieutenant General of the Heer in WWII.

Life

Arthur was born in 1879 in Metz where his father, a Ducal Braunschweig officer, was serving. After Gymnasium and Abitur, Arthur joined the Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Louis Ferdinand von Preußen“ (2. Magdeburgisches) Nr. 27 on 18 March 1897 as an officer candidate. Kobus attended the Royal Prussian War School and was commissioned on 18 August 1898 and initially served as a company officer in the 6th company of his regiment in Halberstadt. From the spring of 1900, at the latest, he was part of the regiment's 8th company at the same location in the same role for several years.

• Adjutant of III. Battalion/Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Louis Ferdinand von Preußen“ (2. Magdeburgisches) Nr. 27 in Halberstadt (1907/08-1910/11)
• Company officer with the 11th Company/Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Louis Ferdinand von Preußen“ (2. Magdeburgisches) Nr. 27
• As successor to First Lieutenant Erdmann as adjutant to the district command of the Landwehr district (Landwehrbezirk) of Aschersleben (1912)
• Commander of the 5th Company/Infanterie-Regiment "Graf Dönhoff" (7. Ostpreußisches) Nr. 44 in Goldap (22 Mar 1914)
  • In August 1917, it was noted that he had been a prisoner of war on the Eastern Front since 7 June 1917, from which he was released at the latest with the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty.
• Battalion Leader in the Infanterie-Regiment "Graf Dönhoff" (7. Ostpreußisches) Nr. 44 (1918)
• Transferred into the 2nd Reichswehr-Rifle-Regiment/Reichswehr-Brigade 1 (01 Oct 1919-01 Oct 1920)
• With the Staff of II. Battalion of the 1st Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1920-01 Oct 1921)
• Company Commander in the 1st Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1921-01 Jul 1922)
• With the Staff of the 1st Division (01 Jul 1922-01 Mar 1925)
• Commander of III. Battalion of the 8th Infantry-Regiment (01 Mar 1925-01 Mar 1928)
• With the Staff of Group-Command 2 (01 Mar 1928-01 May 1928)
• Department-Chief in the Army Weapons Office, RWM (01 May 1928-30 Apr 1931)
  • On 1 May 1928, he was transferred to the Reichswehr Ministry (RWM) in Berlin. There he served as a department head in the Army Weapons Office (WaA) replacing Johann Pohlmann.
• Retired (30 Apr 1931)
• Reactivated to Army Service (01 Oct 1933)
  • Again with the Army Weapons Office (01 Oct 1933-01 Oct 1935)
• Director of the Arms Report Administration (01 Oct 1935-26 Aug 1939)
  • Leiter des Ausrüstungsnachweisungen-Verwaltung
• Department Head of the Service-Regulation-Administration in OKH (26 Aug 1939-31 Aug 1942)
  • Abteilungschef der Dienstvorschriftenverwaltung im OKH

Family

Major z. D. Werner Kobus, in: Rang- und Quartier-Liste der Königlich-Preußischen Armee für 1887, p. 945

Arthur was the son of Hermann Ernst Werner Kobus (b. 15 November 1838) and his young wife Clara Henriette Johanna Dorothea, née Ritterling (b. 1856 in Berlin).

Father Werner

Father Werner was a Ducal Braunschweig officer serving with the Herzoglich Braunschweigisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 92. Werner Kobus took part in the Franco-German War earning the Iron Cross, 2nd Class and the Order of Henry the Lion (Herzoglich Braunschweigischer Orden Heinrichs des Löwen), Knight's Cross 1st Class with Swords (BrHL3a⚔). After the troops returned to the Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine on 20 March 1871, the regiment belonged to the newly founded 15th Army Corps, whose general command was in Strasbourg. The regiment formed the 60th Saarburg Infantry Brigade of the 30th Metz Division with the 7th Brandenburg Infantry Regiment No. 60. On 18 March 1886, the military convention with Prussia took place; the Ducal Braunschweig troops were incorporated into the Prussian Army, but retained their compatriot designation. In December 1886, at the latest, Major z. D. Kobus was placed to disposal (z. D.) and transferred as Landwehr district commander in Braunschweig of the 2nd Battalion/Braunschweigisches Landwehr-Regiment Nr. 92.

Brother Oskar

Arthur's younger brother Louis Emil Oskar Kobus (b. 7 August 1880 in Devant les Ponts near Metz) was also an officer (as of 1899), served with the Braunschweigisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 92. In 1910, he was assigned to the Danzig War School as an inspection officer. He returned to his regiment for WWI and was taken prisoner in the fall of 1917. He served with the preliminary Reichswehr until 1920 and became a merchant. He was accepted into the supplementary officer corps in the mid-1930s. His seniority as Major (E) was set for 1 November 1928. On 1 June 1938, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel (E). As early as October 1937, he was commander of the Offenbach (Main) military district and therefore responsible for the Dieburg and Offenbach military registration offices. He was appointed as a military district commander (Kommandeur WBK Offenbach/M). On 1 July 1941, Kobus was promoted to Colonel Oberst. He survived the war and died of stomach cancer in his apartment at Hinter der Stadt 6 in Reinheim in Hesse on 25 February 1948.

Marriage

On 14 December 1916 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf, Captain Kobus married his fiancée, the Order of St. John nurse Margarethe Clara Helene Marie Gadow (b. 1891), daughter of the Privy Chief Building Officer and Lecturer in the Reich Railway Office Karl Werner Martin Gadow. Their daughter Irmgard (25 September 1917 in Berlin) studied medicine and was registered in Rostock for the summer semester (her 10th semester). The fate of mother and daughter is unknown. It is not impossible that their death at the hands of the Red Army was the trigger for his suicide.

Promotions

• 18 March 1897 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
• 18 October 1897 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 18 August 1898 Sekondeleutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
  • renamed Leutnant on 1 January 1899
• 24 March 1909 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 1 October 1913 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 18 December 1920 Major
• 1 February 1927 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 1 February 1930 Oberst (Colonel)
• 1 May 1931 Charakter als Generalmajor (Honorary Major General)
• 1 April 1940 Generalmajor (active)
• 1 July 1942 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)

Awards and decorations

Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Kobus, in: Rangliste des Deutschen Reichsheeres, 1928, p. 116

• Prussian Centenary Medal 1897 (Zentenarmedaille)
• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Brunswick War Merit Cross (Herzoglich Braunschweigisches Kriegsverdienstkreuz), 2nd and 1st Class (BrKr1/BrK1)
  • 2nd Class with the Frontline Service Horse Clasp on the ribbon (Bewährungsabzeichen auf dem Band; BrKr2a/BrK2a)
• Wound Badge (1918) in Black
• Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz)
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung)
• War Merit Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class