Erich Petersen

Erich Petersen
Birth name	Erich Karl Alexander Petersen
Birth date	25 August 1889 (1889-08-25)
Place of birth	Heidelberg, Grand Duchy of Baden, German Empire
Death date	4 July 1963 (aged 73)
Place of death	Allmannshausen, Starnberger See, Bavaria, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Prussian Army Imperial German Army Freikorps Reichswehr Heer Luftwaffe
Years of service	1909–1945
Rank	General der Flieger
Commands held	7th Air Division IV. Luftwaffe-Field-Corps LXXXX Army-Corps
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	German Cross in Gold
Relations	∞ 1916 Maria Reuther

Erich Alexander Karl Petersen (25 August 1889 – 4 July 1963) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally General der Flieger in WWII. Following the war, he was tried and acquitted of alleged war crimes in France. He was released on 18 January 1950.

Life

Knight's Cross proposal, April 1945

General der Flieger Erich Petersen and Generalmajor Otto Ernst Schiel (1895–1990) in 1950

Erich was the son of an active officer and received an education as a military cadet (three years at the Royal Prussian Main Cadet Institute in Groß-Lichterfelde). On 24 March 1909, he was transferred to the 4. Lothringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 136 and was commissioned in 1910. On 29 November 1913, he was sentenced by a court-martial in Strasbourg to three weeks' room arrest because, as an officer on duty, he had disregarded an official rule (source: BArch PERS 6/296). The sentence was mild because he was considered a very good officer; the main blame fell on a "dissolute woman" who manipulated him into meeting her for a "little chat" while he was on duty. He also asked a fellow officer to cover up his absence.

On 4 March 1914, he was transferred to the 1st Company of the Schleswig-Holsteinisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 163 in Neumünster. For WWI, he was transferred to the I. Battalion/Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 31 on 3 August 1914 and served as a platoon leader at the war front. On 26 January 1915, he was transferred to the III. Battalion. On 28 August 1916, now a 1st Lieutenant and leader of the 3rd Company/I. Battalion, he was slightly wounded. In 1918, he was then transferred to the Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 18. On 22 April 1918, he was seriously wounded (Source: BArch RH 7/402) and spent most, maybe even the rest of the war in a military hospital. On 18 December 1918, he returned to the Volunteer Infantry Regiment 163 (Freikorps) which was formed from the Schleswig-Holsteinisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 163 on 27 November 1918. The volunteers of the Freiwilligen-Infanterie-Regiment 163 were absorbed into the 1st Battalion of the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 18 in June 1919 where Petersen would once again become a platoon leader.

• Platoon Leader in the 6th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1920-31 Mar 1922)
• Commander of the 11th Company/6th Infantry-Regiment in Flensburg (01 Apr 1922-15 Apr 1927)
• Regiments Adjutant of the 6th Infantry-Regiment in Lübeck (16 Apr 1927-31 Dec 1931)
• With the Staff of the 2nd Division in Stettin (01 Jan 1932-30 Sep 1934)
  • 21 to 28 January 1932 Training at the Reichswehrministerium RWM in Berlin
  • Führergehilfenausbildung (secret general staff schooling)
• Commander of the III. Battalion of the 27th Infantry-Regiment in Rostock (01 Oct 1934-09 Nov 1938)
• Commander of the 125th Border-Infantry-Regiment (10 Nov 1938-19 Sep 1941)
  • The Border Infantry Regiment 125 was formed on 10 November 1938 in Saarbrücken, in Military District XII. The regiment was initially only formed with two battalions. When it was set up, the regiment was placed under the control of the St. Wendel Border Command. When mobilized, the regiment received a third battalion and became an army force. In addition, the regiment has now been renamed Infantry Regiment 125. The regiment was first deployed in the west. At the beginning of May, a Field Recruit Battalion 125 was formed with the regiment. On 1 February 1941, the 2nd Battalion was transferred to the 117th Infantry Regiment. The battalion was replaced by the 126th Border Infantry Battalion. In the spring of 1941, the regiment was deployed during the Balkans Campaign. The regiment reached the Serbian region at the end of September 1941 and fought to clear the connection to Valjevo, where the headquarters of the 704th Infantry Division was trapped, and the southern apron of Belgrade until the end of October 1941. As an army troop, the regiment was later motorized. On 10 October 1942, the regiment was renamed Panzer Grenadier Regiment 125.
• Führer-Reserve OKH (19 Sep 1941-30 Sep 1941)
• Transferred to Luftwaffe; Service as Commander of the 7th Flying (Paratrooper) Division (11 October with effect from 1 October 1941)
  • On 1 September 1938, the 7. Flieger-Division was formed, to which all Fallschirmjäger units were subordinated. Its first commander was Major General Kurt Student. However, the association only reached its regular division strength after the deployment to Crete. At the beginning of World War II, the division only had two regiments with five battalions. In the Polish campaign, the paratroopers were only deployed in company strength or were held back because the attacking Panzer units had already reached their objectives. Richard Heidrich would become Petersen's successor. On 1 May 1943, the division as renamed 1. Fallschirm-Jäger-Division
• Führer-Reserve OKL
• Inspector Of Luftwaffe-Field-Units (L In 18, RLM; 01 Nov 1942-31 Jul 1943)
  • At the same time, Detached to the Staff of the IV. Luftwaffe-Field-Corps (21 Jun 1943-31 Jul 1943)
• Commanding General of the IV. Luftwaffe-Field-Corps (01 Aug 1943-18 Nov 1944)
• Commanding General of the LXXXX. Army-Corps, also known as Generalkommando XC. Armeekorps (19 Nov 1944-08 May 1945)
  • The IV. Luftwaffen-Feld-Korps was absorbed by the Heer (Wehrmacht) on 19 November 1944 as LXXXX. Armee-Korps still fighting against the invasion troops from Normandy.
  • On 30 December 1944 at 11 p.m. "Operation Nordwind", the attack by the 1st Army and the 19th Army in Alsace and Lorraine, began. The 257th Volksgrenadier Division and the 559th Volksgrenadier Division were subordinate to the LXXXX. Army Corps. The corps' mission was to advance south from the Bitsch area towards Zabern, turn east there and thus encircle parts of the 7th US Army. On 1 January 1945, the corps was able to advance to the northern edge of Lemberg and, east of it, gain small bridgeheads over the Breitenbach section near Mouterhouse and Fourneau-Neuf and penetrate into the northern part of Bärenthal. The following day, Reyersweiler was taken and the northern and eastern edges of Lemberg and Götzenbruck were reached.
  • On 15 March 1945, the Allied operation "Undertone" began, during which the LXXXX. Army Corps was pushed back from its positions on the Moder to the West Wall on 17 and 18 March 1945. At the end of the war, after fighting it's way back through Hesse and Thuringia, the corps was still deployed with Army Group Center in the Erzgebirge fighting the Red Army.
• In French Captivity (08 May 1945-18 Jan 1950)
  • it is possible, that he became a POW at the Eastern Front and was transferred by the Russians to the French upon request. Together with Major General Otto-Ernst Schiel (1895–1990), he was released from prison in Metz in January 1950.

Family

Erich was the son of Major General Alexander "Alex" Hartwig Richard Petersen (1860–1925) and his wife (⚭ Heidelberg 22 November 1887) Marie Theresia, née Küttner (b. 1868). His younger brother Curt (b. 5 September 1890) served with the 2. Rheinisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 9. He was severely wounded on 18 November 1916 near Schulerau (Poiana Brașov) in Romania and died (ᛣ⚔) three days later in the military hospital (Lazarett) in Târgu Jiu on the banks of the river Jiu. His body was brought to Hildesheim and buried there in the fallen section of the northern cemetery. Brother Erich received permission to wear his brother's cavalry saber (Husarensäbel) to his infantry uniform in Curt's honour.

Marriage

On 4 October 1916, 1st Lieutenant Petersen married his fiancée Maria Reuther, daughter of the Captain of the Landwehr Wilhelm Reuther (1862–1933), wealthy factory owner (Carl Reuther & Co AG in Hennef an der Sieg) and lord of the manor (Gutsbesitzer). His father, at the time a colonel, and brother Curt both received leave from their units in order to attend the war-time wedding.

Promotions

• 24.3.1909 Charakter als Fähnrich (Honorary Officer Cadet)
• 21.12.1909 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 22.8.1910 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 27.1.1916 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)

Reichswehr

• 1.4.1922 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 1.12.1932 Major

Wehrmacht

• 1.7.1935 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
  • 11.3.1942 received new Luftwaffe Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 February 1935
• 1.1.1938 Oberst (Colonel)
  • 11.3.1942 received new Luftwaffe Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 April 1937
• 11.10.1941 Generalmajor (Major General) with effect from 1 September 1941 and Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 June 1940
  • 11.3.1942 received new Luftwaffe Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 April 1939
• 1.4.1942 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)
• 1.11.1942 General der Flieger

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 4 October 1914
  • 1st Class on 8 August 1916
• Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg
• Wound Badge (1918) in Black
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class
• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 11 November 1939
  • 1st Class on 15 February 1940
• Reference in the Wehrmachtbericht (Namentliche Nennung im Wehrmachtbericht) on 17 September 1944
• German Cross in Gold on 27 March 1942 as Generalmajor and Commander of the 7. Flieger-Division

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Petersen was nominated twice for the Knight's Cross, apparently the order was no longer awarded (war-related).

• 27 October 1944 Proposed for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
• 1 April 1945 Proposed again for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by Hermann Foertsch, supported by Friedrich Schulz (5 April) and Albert Kesselring (20 April)