Heinz-Eduard Menche

Heinz-Eduard Menche
Nickname	Harry
Birth date	25 February 1875(1875-02-25)
Death date	12 January 1947 (aged 71)
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Kaiserliche Marine Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1903–1919 1920–1932 1939–1944
Rank	Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral)
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross War Merit Cross
Other work	Head of the department VIII of the NSDAP/AO (1932–1939)

Heinz-Eduard "Harry" Menche (24 December 1894 – 3 July 1985) was a German naval officer, finally Rear Admiral of the Kriegsmarine in WWII.

Military career (chronology)

The admirals Erich Raeder (left) and Menche (right) in Bordeaux, France

Menche with Klaus Scholtz and Hans Ibbeken

Imperial Navy

• Entered the Navy as a Seekadett and Attended Basic-Training and on Board the School-Ship ‘Stein’ (01 Apr 1903-31 Mar 1904)
• Naval-School and Special-Briefings (01 Apr 1904-30 Sep 1905)
• On Board the Liner ‘Elsaß’ (01 Oct 1905-30 Sep 1906)
• Adjutant on the Coastal-Armoured-Ship ‘Frithjof’ (01 Oct 1906-30 Sep 1908)
• Adjutant on the School-Ship ‘König Wilhelm’ (01 Oct 1908-14 Sep 1910)
• Company-Officer in the I. Torpedo-Division (15 Sep 1910-30 Sep 1912)
  • At the same time, Watch-Officer on the Torpedo-Boat ‘G 135’ (04 Jan 1911-13 Sep 1911)
  • At the same time, Watch-Officer on the Torpedo-Boat ‘G 170’ (14 Mar 1912-26 Mar 1912)
  • At the same time, Watch-Officer on the Torpedo-Boat ‘G 170’ (01 Sep 1912-22 Sep 1912)
• Adjutant in the Staff of the Naval-Station of the Baltic Sea (01 Oct 1912-01 Aug 1914)

WWI

• Torpedo-Officer on the Small Cruiser ‘Amazone’ (02 Aug 1914-10 Sep 1914)
• Commandant of the Torpedo-Boat ‘S 125’ of the 19th then 7th Torpedo-Boat-Half-Flotilla (11 Sep 1914-07 Dec 1914)
• Commandant of the Torpedo-Boat ‘G 134’ of the X. Torpedo-Boat-Flotilla (08 Dec 1914-19 Apr 1915)
• Commandant of the Torpedo-Boat ‘S 142’ of the X. Torpedo-Boat-Flotilla (20 Apr 1915-26 Apr 1916)
• Commandant of the Torpedo-Boat ‘V 75’ of the X. Torpedo-Boat-Flotilla (27 Apr 1916-10 Nov 1916)
• Commandant of the Torpedo-Boat ‘S 166’ of the X. Torpedo-Boat-Flotilla (02 Dec 1916-25 Mar 1917)
• Commandant of the Torpedo-Boat ‘S 65’ of the X. Torpedo-Boat-Flotilla (22 Apr 1917-02 Dec 1917)
• Commandant of the Torpedo-Boat ‘S 65’ of the VII. Torpedo-Boat-Flotilla (03 Dec 1917-03 Aug 1918)
• Commandant of the Torpedo-Boat ‘B 110’ of the 4th Torpedo-Boat-Half-Flotilla (04 Aug 1918-27 Nov 1918)
  • Friedrich Ruge belonged to the crew of ‘B 110’.
• Acting-Commander of the II. Torpedo-Boat-Flotilla (28 Nov 1918-21 Jun 1919)
  • Scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow (21 June 1919)
• In Captivity (22 Jun 1919-06 Feb 1920)

Reichswehr

• Released and Placed to the Disposal of the Commander Kiel (07 Feb 1920-30 May 1920)
• Liaison-Officer to the Naval-Station of the Baltic Sea, Naval-Peace-Commission (31 May 1920-09 Jul 1920)
• Ships-Cadre ‘Medusa’ (10 Jul 1920-16 Jul 1920)
• First Officer on the Cruiser ‘Medusa’ (17 Jul 1920-06 Oct 1923)
• Commander of the I. Torpedo-Boat-Half-Flotilla (07 Oct 1923-04 Oct 1925)
• Department-Head in the Training-Department, Naval Command (05 Oct 1925-10 Jun 1928)
• Placed to the Disposal of the Chief of Naval Command (11 Jun 1928-02 Nov 1928)
• Commander of the Torpedo and Signals School (03 Nov 1928-09 Oct 1929)
• Placed to the Disposal of the Chief of the Naval-Station of the Baltic Sea (10 Oct 1929-18 Jan 1930)
• Leader of the Reichsmarine-Service-Office Hamburg (19 Jan 1930-20 Nov 1932)
• Retired (30 Nov 1932)

Kriegsmarine

• Placed to the Disposal of the Kriegsmarine (19 Jul 1939-27 Jan 1941)
• Chief of the Kriegsmarine-Service-Office Bordeaux (27 Jan 1941-30 Apr 1943)
  • At the same time, Sea-Transport-Chief Marseille (26 Nov 1942-30 Apr 1943)
• Chief of the Kriegsmarine-Service-Office Marseille (01 May 1943-31 Jul 1944)
• Placed to the Disposal of the Commander-in-Chief of Naval-Group-Command West (01 Aug 1944-31 Aug 1944)
• Retired (31 Aug 1944)

Promotions

• 1 April 1903 Seekadett (Officer Candidate)
• 15 April 1904 Fähnrich zur See (Officer Cadet)
• 28 September 1906 Leutnant zur See (2nd Lieutenant)
• 12 December 1908 Oberleutnant zur See (1st Lieutenant)
• 18 November 1914 Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant Captain)
• 1 September 1921 Korvettenkapitän (Corvette Captain / Lieutenant Commander)
• 1 October 1928 Fregattenkapitän (Frigate Captain / Commander)
• 1 April 1930 Kapitän zur See (Captain at Sea / Captain / Colonel)
• 30 November 1932 Charakter als Konteradmiral (Honorary Rear Admiral)
• 1 February 1942 Konteradmiral z. V. (Rear Admiral zur Verfügung = at disposal)

Awards und decorations

Rangliste (rank list) 1929

• Knight's Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog (DD3) on 9 July 1908 (reception approved on 9 August 1908)
• Knight's Cross of the Italian Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (JMuL5/JM5) on 15 November 1913
• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class on 10 March 1915
• Großherzoglich Mecklenburg-Schwerinsches Militärverdienstkreuz, II. Class (MMV2/MK2)
• Lübeck Hanseatic Cross (Lübeckisches Hanseatenkreuz; LübH/LüH) on 10 July 1916
• Friedrich Order, Knight 1st Class with Swords (WF3a⚔)
• Naval 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 for 25 years
• German Red Cross Decoration (Ehrenzeichen des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes), 1st Class (neck order with golden oak leaves) in 1937
• War Merit Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class with Swords
  • 2nd Class on 1 September 1941
  • 1st Class on 20 April 1942 (another source states 20 March 1942)
• German Cross in Silver on 28 August 1944 as Konteradmiral z. V. and Chief of the Kriegsmarine-Service-Office Marseille