Fritz Thiele

Fritz Thiele
Birth date	14 April 1894(1894-04-14)
Place of birth	Berlin, Province of Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	4 September 1944 (aged 50)
Place of death	Plötzensee Prison (Strafgefängnis), Berlin, German Reich
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Prussian Army Imperial German Army Freikorps Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1914–1944
Rank	Lieutenant General
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross German Cross in Silver
Relations	∞ 1920 Lieselotte Mundt

Karl Walter Fritz Thiele (14 April 1894 – 4 September 1944) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Freikorps, Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) in World War II. He was executed after being convicted of treason.

Military career (chronology)

• 7.3.1914 Joined the Telegraph Battalion No. 6
• 2.8.1914 Troop (Squad) Leader in the Telephone Division No. 9/IX Army Corps
• 19.10.1914 Platoon Leader
• 11.9.1916 Leader of the Telephone Double Platoon 18 (Fernsprech-Doppelzug 18)
• 23.1.1917 Leader of the Fernsprech-Doppelzug 12
• 27.12.1917 Divisional Signal Commander No. 202 (Divkonach 202)
• 29.8.1918 In the Signal Replacement Battalion 3, at the same time head of the Fahnenjunker course in Frankfurt an der Oder
• 8.12.1918 Commanded as leader of the Construction Battalion of the Army Telephone Battalion 3
• 2.2.1919 Service with the Guard Signal Commander 2 of the Volunteer 2nd Guard Infantry Division (also “2nd Division Freikorps Silesia”)
• 1.5.1919 Commander of the Reichswehr Signal Battalion 126 of the Reichswehr Brigade 26, Fürstenwalde, of the Provisional Reichswehr
• 28.10.1919 Adjutant of the Reichswehr Signal Battalion 108 of the Reichswehr Brigade 8, Oppeln, of the Provisional Reichswehr
• 1.1.1920 Officer in the Reichswehr Signal Battalion 8 of the Reichswehr Brigade 8, Oppeln, of the Transitional Army of the Reichswehr
• 1.1.1921 Officer in the staff of the Group Command 1
• 1.10.1921 Officer in the Cavalry Regiment 7
• 1.4.1924 Officer in the training squadron of the Cavalry Regiment 7 (Breslau) [according to the staffing list]
• 1.10/1924 Officer in the 2nd Company/Signal Battalion 6 (Hanover)
• 1.10.1926 Adjutant of the Signal Battalion 6 (Hanover)
• 1.10.1927 in the staff of the Signal Battalion 6 (Hanover)
• 1.2.1928 Teacher at the Artillery School (Jüterbog)
• 1.12.1932 Officer in the staff of the Inspection of the Signals Troops (Berlin)
• 1.4.1935 Officer in the staff of the Signal Battalion 11 (Allenstein)
• 15.5.1935 Commander of the Signal Battalion 11 (Allenstein)
• 1.6.1936 Chief of Staff of the Inspectorate of the Signal Troops (Berlin)
• 1.4.1942 Head of the Wehrmacht Signals Group (Wehrmachtnachrichtenverbindungen; AgWNV) in the High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW)
• 21.7.1944 Head of the Wehrmacht Office of Communications and Chief of Army Signals
  • as successor of Erich Fellgiebel, who was arrested on this day. In his role, Fellgiebel was supposed to impose a news blackout on the Führer's headquarters after the July 20 plot.
• 11.8.1944 Arrested by the Gestapo, accused of high treason
• 14.8.1944 Expelled from the Wehrmacht by the Army Court of Honor
• 21.8.1944 Sentenced to death by the People's Court (Volksgerichtshof) under the chairmanship of court president Dr. jur. Roland Freisler
• 4.9.1944 Executed by hanging in Berlin-Plötzensee
  • together with the head of the Office of Communications (Amt Nachrichtenverbindungswesen; NVW), General Fritz Erich Fellgiebel (de), and his deputy, Colonel (Oberst i. G.) Kurt Hahn

Family

Fritz was born the son of director Wilhelm Gustav Friedrich Thiele and his wife Wilhelmine "Minna" Ida Caroline, née Hülsekopf.

Marriage

On 14 April 1920, 1st Lieutenant Thiele married his fiancée Li(e)selotte Charlotte Luise Emilie Mundt. They would have three sons:

• Fritz (b. 13 July 1921)
• Bernd (b. 21 June 1924)
• Ekkehard (b. 1 March 1927)

Promotions

• 7.3.1914 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
• 2.10.1914 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 26.10.1914 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) without Patent
  • 1916 received Patent from 19.2.1913
• 20.6.1918 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
  • 1.7.1922 received new Rank Seniority (RDA) from 20.6.1918
• 1.7.1927 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 1.10.1934 Major
• 1.8.1937 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 1.6.1940 Oberst (Colonel)
  • later received new Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1.3.1939
• 1.10.1942 Generalmajor (Major General)
• 1.1.1944 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg (HH)
• Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 3rd Class with War Decoration (ÖM3K)
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords on 9 October 1934
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class

WWII

• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 21 October 1939
  • 1st Class on 31 May 1940
• Grand Imperial Order of the Red Arrows, Commander (Encomienda Sencilla) on 20 March 1941 as Chief of Staff of the Inspection of the Signal Troops (In 7) in Berlin
• Order of the Star of Romania, Commander's Cross with Swords on 16 May 1942
• Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty, I. Class with Swords on 7 October 1942
• German Cross in Silver on 22 October 1943 as Head of the Wehrmacht Signal Intelligence Group in the High Command of the Wehrmacht

Gallery

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