Gerhard Franz

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Gerhard Franz
Oberstleutnant i. G. Gerhard Paul Franz.jpg
Birth date 26 February 1902
Place of birth Bobeck, Landratsamt Roda, Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg, German Empire
Death date 24 December 1975 (aged 73)
Place of death Bad Wildungen, Hesse, West Germany
Allegiance  Weimar Republic
 National Socialist Germany
Service/branch War Ensign of Germany (1921–1933).png Reichswehr
Balkenkreuz.jpg Heer
Years of service 1919–1945
Rank Major General
Commands held 256. Volksgrenadier-Division
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Iron Cross
Eastern Front Medal
Italo-German campaign in Africa Medal
German Cross in Gold
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations ∞ 1934 Gertrud(e) Rygol

Gerhard Paul Franz (26 February 1902 – 24 December 1975) was a German officer of the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Major General and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in World War II.

Life

Gerhard Franz, Jagdunfall 1941.jpg
Gerhard Franz BArch PERS 6-299657.jpg
Gertrude Franz.jpg

Franz attended the Volksschule in Bobeck (near Jena) from Easter 1908 to Easter 1916, subsequently he attended the advanced training school, also in Bobeck. He then, at the age of 15, attended the non-commissioned officer preparatory school in Weilburg from 15 October 1917. On 5 April 1919, he joined the Preliminary Reichswehr and was transferred to the non-commissioned officer school in Northeim. After completing his training, was transferred to the 21st Reichswehr Infantry Regiment on 12 September 1919. On 20 December 1919, he was sworn-in.

On 1 October 1920, he was transferred to the 20th Reichswehr Infantry Regiment and then on 1 January 1921, to the 17th Infantry Regiment, which was formed on that day from the Reichswehr Infantry Regiments 7, 20, 21 and 110 of the so-called transitional army. From 6 May to 15 July 1922, he was assigned to the officer candidate course in Braunschweig, and after passing the relevant examination in July 1922, he was appointed officer candidate on 3 July 1922. This was followed by two courses at the Reichswehr Infantry School from 21 September 1922 to 11 November 1923 in Munich. From 1 May to 30 September 1924, the last part of the 2nd course was continued in Ohrdruf.

In the next years, he served with the 14th, 15th, 10th and 12th Company of the 17th Infantry Regiment and was detached for training in Pionier service to the 6th Pioneer Battalion in March 1929. He was commanded to secret general staff courses (Führergehilfenausbildung; de facto forbidden by the terms of the Versailles Treaty) from 1 October 1933 to 1 May 1935. Until 10 November 1938, he served as a general staff officer. On this day, he was appointed commander of the 9th Company/5th Infantry-Regiment. On 13 June with effect from 1 July 1939, he was appointed Chief of Operations (Ia) in the General-Staff of the 29. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert)[1] under Joachim Lemelsen.

WWII

  • 27 December with effect from 23 December 1941 Representative of the Chief of the General Staff of the Höheres Kommando z. b. V. XXXV under Rudolf Kämpfe
  • 25 December 1941 Appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Höheres Kommando z. b. V. XXXV (renamed XXXV. Armeekorps on 20 January 1942)
  • 15 April 1942 Führerreserve (OKH)
  • 25 May with effect from 10 May 1942 Chief of the General Staff of the XXXX. Armeekorps under Georg Stumme
  • 28 June 1942 Relieved of duty due to the Reichel incident
    • The Reichel affair had serious consequences for Franz. Although he was not directly involved, his promotion to colonel was temporarily cancelled and he was sentenced to two years in fortress prison by a military court. Thanks to the intercession of numerous officers, the verdict was overturned and he was released at the end of August 1942 and eventually transferred to North Africa.
  • 27 August with effect from 25 July 1942 Führerreserve (OKH)
  • 18 December with effect from 7 December 1942 Chief of the General Staff of the German Africa Corps (Deutsches Afrikakorps)
  • 15 February with effect from 10 February 1943 Führerreserve (OKH)
  • 19 August with effect from 1 August 1943 Chief of the General Staff of the XXXXII. Armeekorps under Franz Mattenklott
    • the horror and the high blood toll of the Cherkassy pocket had put a great deal of psychological strain on him, as his military files show.
  • 1 August 1944 Führerreserve (OKH)
  • 8 August to 31 August 1944 Commanded to the 13th Division Commander Training Course
  • 31 August to 2 September 1944 Short course for Panzer officers
  • 1 September 1944 Delegated with the leadership of the 256. Volks-Grenadier-Division which was still in the setup phase
  • 1 December 1944 Appointed commander of the 256. Volks-Grenadier-Division
    • On 31 December 1944, Franz’s division took part in Operation “Nordwind” (North Wind), the German plan to seize the Saverne Gap, 20 miles northwest of Strasbourg, in an effort split the U.S. Seventh Army and retake the Alsace north of the Marne-Rhine Canal. Assigned to the LXXXIX Army Corps (General der Infanterie Gustav Höhne), the 256th Volksgrenadier Division was one of four infantry divisions that attacked near Bitche through the Low Vosges. Although the Germans gained about 10 miles during the first four days of the operation, they were stopped short of Saverne by the Americans and thus never gained the key terrain and passes of the Voges. After the battles in Alsace, the division continued to fight against the advancing Americans in the Saar, Hunsrück, and the Mittelrhein regions of Germany.

Charge of negligent homicide (1941)

Since 1926, Franz was a master hunter and had killed around 1000 pieces of game without any accidents. He not only had a Wehrmacht hunting license, but also a Reich hunting license. On 31 January 1941, a Druck hunt for roe deer (a form of driven hunt in which the game is pressed, i.e. driven by beaters and mostly also by hunting dogs) took place near Saint-Fargeau (France), at the invitation of Major General von Boltenstern. 16 marksmen and 36 beaters / drivers took part. The weather was dry, but the ground was moist. Franz had command over this 5th hunt, Oberfeldwebel Gmeiner was the experienced leader of the beaters. Franz had chosen a good shooting lane when the drivers came from the right, which he had not noticed. Two deer fled into the clearing about 50 meters away. He stood up from his hunting stick and took aim. The game was extremely fleeting. The animals came one after the other. At 40 meters, Franz took the first shot and then repeated.

From 39 meters away he heard a scream. Senior rifleman Koch, a beater, was hit. He died five minutes later. Witnesses, among them other beaters, reported, Koch had crawled into oak bushes, trying to get as near as he could, although Oberfeldwebel Gmeiner had ordered them to stay to the right and behind the specified line of fire. Koch jumped out of the bushes with his stick at the same moment as Franz fired. The bullet shot through the deer and entered Koch's side. Even the field court martial (Feldkriegsgericht) could not determine, why Koch took this dangerous and unnecessary action. Major i. G. Franz was acquitted on 9 February 1941 "because of proven innocence" by military judge Kriegsgerichtsrat Dr. jur. Fichtner. The verdict was confirmed on 12 February 1941 by Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz, commander-in-Chief of the 1st Army.

Knight's Cross (1941)

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to Franz on 24 July 1941 for his actions during the containment of the Bialystok pocket at the start of Operation Barbarossa. On 30 June 1941, the divisional commander was forward with the Kampfgruppe (combat group) of Colonel Thomas when a broken-through Soviet group with tanks tried to push back the right wing of the Infanterie-Regiment 15 and seize control of the bridge at Zelwa from the rear. In the absence of the divisional commander, Lieutenant Colonel Franz organized a new defensive line on his own initiative, and from here he smashed the attack of the broken-through Soviets. This hostile breakout attempt from the Bialystok pocket was defeated thanks to this ruthless and practical intervention by Gerhard Franz.

POW

  • 8 April 1945 Taken prisoner of war in Birnfeld by the Americans
  • 5 May 1945 Transferred to the British Trent Park Camp 11
  • 9 January 1946 Transferred to Island Farm Special Camp 11
  • 12 May 1948 Transferred to Camp 186 for repatriation

Family

Gerhard was the son of Paul Franz, a Protestant farmer in Bobeck, and his wife Elise, née Voigt.

Marriage

On 28 August 1934 in Gleiwitz, Captain Franz married his fiancée Gertrud(e) Johanna Rygol (b. 9 February 1899), daughter of the late building contractor and brickworks owner Johann Rygol (1869–1927) and his wife Marie, née Bujala (1873–1939). They would have three children:

  • Christa-Maria (b. 31 May 1935)
  • Anna Katharina (b. 17 December 1936)
  • Hans-Christoph (b. 29 June 1938)

Promotions

Gerhard Paul Franz, Bad Wildungen, Village Cemetery (Dorffriedhof).jpg
  • 5 April 1919 Freiwilliger (Volunteer)
  • 26 April 1920 Gefreiter (Private E-2 / Lance Corporal)
  • 31 July 1922 Officer Candidate
  • 1 December 1922 Unteroffizier (NCO / Corporal / Junior Sergeant)
  • 1 September 1923 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
  • 24 September 1924 Oberfähnrich (Senior Officer Cadet) with effect from 1 October 1924
  • 20 December 1924 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) with effect from 1 December 1924
  • 1 March 1928 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
  • 1 July 1934 Hauptmann (Captain)
  • 20 April 1939 Major with effect and Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 April 1939
    • 1 July 1939 Major i. G. (Major in General Staff)
  • 20 April 1941 Oberstleutnant i. G. (Lieutenant Colonel in General Staff) with effect and RDA from 1 April 1941
    • 25 May 1942 received new RDA from 1 February 1941
  • 13 June 1942 Oberst i. G. (Colonel in General Staff) with effect and RDA from 1 July 1942
    • 15 July 1942 Promotion from 13 June 1942 revoked due to "Reichel incident"
    • 16 October 1942 Original promotion from 13 June 1942 with effect and RDA from 1 July 1942 declared effective
  • 1 December 1944 Generalmajor (Major General)

Awards and decorations

Sources

  • Bundesarchiv BArch PERS 6/1247
  • Bundesarchiv BArch PERS 6/299657

References

  1. ↑ Generalmajor Gerhard Franz
  2. ↑ Franz, Gerhard (Generalmajor)
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