Helmut Thumm

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Helmut Thumm
General Helmut Thumm III.jpg
Birth date 25 August 1895
Place of birth Ravensburg, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire
Death date 13 July 1977 (aged 81)
Place of death Welzheim near Schorndorf, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Place of burial Old Cemetery of Welzheim
Allegiance  German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 National Socialist Germany
Service/branch Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army
War Ensign of the Reichswehr, 1919 - 1935.png Reichswehr
Balkenkreuz.jpg Heer
Years of service 1914–1945
Rank General of the Infantry
Commands held Infantry Regiment 56
5th Jäger Division
LXIV Army Corps
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Iron Cross
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
Relations ∞ 1925 Charlotte Minnich

Helmut Karl Georg Thumm (also Hellmuth;[1] 25 August 1895 – 13 July 1977) was a German officer, finally General of the Infantry of the Wehrmacht and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves in World War II.

Life

Extract from the birth certificate
PERS 6 367, Helmut Karl Georg Thumm.jpg
Helmut Thumm, 1922.jpg
General Helmut Thumm.jpg
General Helmut Thumm II.jpg
Helmut Thumm, Lehrgänge.jpg
Thumm und Hauck.jpg
Thumm family, Old Cemetery of Welzheim.jpg

From 1902 to 1904, Thumm attended elementary school in Ravensburg and then one year Gymnasium, also in Ravensburg. From 1905 to 1907, he attended Gymnasium in Heilbronn and from 1908 Gmynasium in Stuttgart. In 1914, he transferred to the Friedrich-Eugens-Realschule, where his father was a senior teacher, and achieved his Abitur. On 8 August 1914, he joined the Replacement Battalion of the Infanterie-Regiment "Kaiser Friedrich, König von Preußen" (7. Württembergisches) Nr. 125 as a war volunteer.

  • 5 September 1914 Sworn-in
  • 14 December 1914 to 13 February 1915 Commanded to the training course for officer candidates in Döberitz
    • 20 December 1914 appointed officer candidate
  • 31 May 1935 Into the field to his regiment at the Eastern Front
  • 4 August 1915 Wounded during the storming of an enemy position; reserve military hospital in Stargard, later reserve military hospital VI in Stuttgart
  • 9 November 1915 Transferred to the Replacement Battalion of the Infanterie-Regiment "Kaiser Friedrich, König von Preußen" (7. Württembergisches) Nr. 125 for recuperation
  • 14 July 1916 Transferred to the Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 248
    • 18 August to 30 August 1916 Commanded to the 2nd training course for military advance detachments in Seclin, France
    • 31 August to 15 September 1916 Commanded to the Storm/Assault Company of the 54. Reserve-Division
  • 1 October 1916 Appointed adjutant of the III. Battalion/Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 248
  • 9 August 1918 Captured by the English at Malancourt (Argonne Sector)
    • POW camp Colsterdale in North Yorkshire about 7 miles (11 km) west of Masham
  • 29 October 1919 Repatriated and granted leave
  • 18 November 1919 Transferred to the Reichswehr-Schützen-Regiment 25
  • 24 November 1919 Newly sworn-in
  • 1 January 1921 13. (Württembergisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Ludwigsburg
    • The regiment was formed in 1921 from the Reichswehr Rifle Regiment 25 of the transitional army. On 19 May 1922, Reich President Ebert decreed that units should be given regional designations as an addition; the regiment received the suffix "Württembergisches" (Württemberg).
    • 1 November 1921 to 14 February 1922 Commanded to the Wachtruppe „Berlin“ (Guard Troop “Berlin”)
  • 8 August 1923 Transferred to the Training Battalion of the 13. (Württembergisches) Infanterie-Regiment
  • 2 May 1924 Transferred to the 8th (Machine Gun) Company/II. Battalion/13. (Württembergisches) Infanterie-Regiment
    • 17 February 1925 Received permission to marry
  • 1 October 1925 Transferred to the 1st Company/I. Battalion/13. (Württembergisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Stuttgart
  • 1 April 1927 4th (Machine Gun) Company/I. Battalion/13. (Württembergisches) Infanterie-Regiment
  • 1 October 1929 Appointed commander of the 14th Company/(IV.) Training Battalion/13. (Württembergisches) Infanterie-Regiment
  • 1 May 1933 Appointed commander of the 12th Company/III. Battalion/13. (Württembergisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Ulm
  • 2 August 1934 Newly sworn-in
  • 1 October 1934 Adjutant of the Infanterie-Regiment Ludwigsburg
    • 15 October 1935 renamed Infanterie-Regiment 13, subordinated to the 15. Infanterie-Division
  • 16 December 1936 with effect from 1 January 1937 Appointed commander of the I. Battalion/Infantry Regiment 75
    • 19 June to 8 July 1937 granted vacation to the German family of his wife in Temeswar (Timișoara) in Romania
  • 9 June 1940 delegated with the leadership of the Infantry Regiment 56 for the on this day fallen commander Lieutenant Colonel Maximilian "Max" Anton Heuschmid (b. 21 August 1894; posthumously promoted to Colonel)
  • 13 June 1940 Appointed commander of the Infantry Regiment 56
    • 5 July 1941 mentioned by name in the Wehrmacht Report: "In the fighting in the East, Colonel Buck and Lieutenant Colonel Thumm, commanders of infantry regiments, as well as First Lieutenants Pelikan in an assault gun detachment, Heine in a bicycle company and Xanke in an infantry regiment distinguished themselves through particular bravery."
    • On 1 December 1941, the regiment, subordinated to the 5th Light Infantry Division (renamed 5. Jäger-Division in July 1942) under Karl Allmendinger, was reorganized into the Jäger Regiment 56.
    • 15 July 1942 When Colonel Walter Jost, who was temporarily leading the division for the on-leave Lieutenant General Allmendinger, was severely wounded, Thumm took over the 5. Jäger-Division for a short while until Colonel Hanns von Rohr arrived.
  • 5 January 1943 Delegated with the leadership of the 5. Jäger-Division
  • 1 March 1943 Officially appointed commander of the 5. Jäger-Division
  • 15 August 1944 Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve
  • 29 September 1944 Commanded to the LXIV Army Corps and appointed representative for Otto Lasch who had fallen ill
  • 25 October 1944 Delegated with the leadership of the LXIV Army Corps
  • 1 January 1945 Officially appointed Commanding General of the LXIV Army Corps
  • 13 January with effect from 15 January 1945 Transferred to the Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve and commanded to the 3rd course for commanding generals in Hirschberg im Riesengebirge
  • 18 January 1945 Command to Hirschberg revoked (order did not take effect)
    • Why the order was revoked, is not known. Several internet articles state, Thumm had been relieved of his command of the LXIV Army Corps on 15 January 1945 after pulling Hitler Youth teenagers out of the front lines against orders from above (allegedly Heinrich Himmler). One source even states, a "prosecution against him at the Reich Military Court was initiated", but nothing, absolutely nothing in his military records indicates such an event. On the contrary, he remained Commanding General until 24 January 1945. Lieutenant General Hauck never arrived at the corps; instead, he attended the course in Hirschberg until 1 February 1945. Maximilian "Max" Johann Grimmeiß took over command of the LXIV Army Corps on 24 January 1945.
  • 23 February with effect from 24 February 1945 Transferred to the Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve, administratively assigned to the Military District V (Stuttgart)
  • 2 February 1945 Severely ill, Reserve Military Hospital in Villingen; the responsible military doctor certified that he would be absent from service due to health reasons until approximately 15 May 1945.
  • 27 February 1945 Transferred to the military hospital in his hometown of Welzheim; the sub-military hospital belonged to the larger reserve military hospital in Schwäbisch Gmünd

POW

He was taken prisoner of war at his home in Welzheim on 19 April 1945[2] by invasion troops of the U.S. 44th Division.[3]

  • 10 May 1945 Transferred to Trent Park (de) Camp 11 sorting camp
  • 9 January 1946 Transferred from Camp 1 to Island Farm Special Camp 11
  • 4 December 1946 Transferred from Island Farm Special Camp 11 to Allendorf (on Loan)
  • 30 September 1947 Transferred to US Custody for discharge and repatriation
  • 25 October 1947 Released from captivity

Family

Helmut was the son of Protestant senior teacher (Oberreallehrer) Johann Georg Thumm (1862–1940) and his wife Luise Emilie, née Bachert. His father was head teacher (Hauptlehrer) at a private school for higher education for girls founded in Ravensburg in 1887, which became a "Realschule" in 1903, a "Oberschule für Mädchen" in 1938, the "Mädchen-Gymnasium Ravensburg" in 1954 and the "Welfen-Gymnasium" in 1972, which also accepted boys from the school year 1972/73 and ended the 85 years of purely girls' education at the school.

In 1905, the family relocated to Heilbronn, and in 1908, to Stuttgart. There, his father, a military veteran and a patriotic member of the German People's Party (DVP), became the gymnastics teacher at the Friedrich-Eugens-Realschule as well as, since 1912, chairman of the state association (Landesverband) of the Young Germany League (Jungdeutschland-Bund), where his son also became active. The Bund (from 1924 "Society of Patriotic Youth") was an umbrella organization of bourgeois youth associations founded in 1911 by Generalfeldmarschall Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz for the military education of German youth.

The Young Germany League was actively supported by the armed forces of the German Empire. It published the "Young Germany Post." A quote from 1913 reads: "Quietly and deep in the German heart, the joy of war and a longing for it must live, because we have had enough of enemies." In France, there were sociétés de préparation militaire (military preparation societies), which were supported by government agencies. In Great Britain, military training was offered in public schools and universities, as well as by the Boy Scouts, founded in 1908 by the British General Robert Baden-Powell.

Marriage

On 16 April 1925 in Stuttgart, 2nd Lieutenant Thumm married his Catholic ethnic-German fiancée Charlotte Aloisia Katharina Minnich (b. 10 May 1904 in Perjamosch, Austria-Hungary), daughter of sawmill and mill owner Adam Minnich (1875–1949) in Perjamosch (Perjámos/Periam) and his wife Elisabeth, née Fixmer (1878–1932). She had two siblings: Franz Adam Peter (1906–1982), jurist, early NSDAP member as well as Gauleiter in Banat (succeeded by Hans Ewald Fraunhofer), and Katharina Elisabeth (b. 1909). Charlotte converted to the Protestant faith on 13 September 1936. They would have two children:

  • Lotte-Rose (28 July 1926 in Stuttgart)
  • Jürgen Helmut Friedrich (b. 5 July 1928 in Stuttgart; d. 19 May 2016 in in Guelph, Ontario), emigrated to Canada in 1954 and lived and worked in Halifax, Vancouver, and every province between the two. He arrived in Saskatoon in 1981 and lived there for 29 years, moving back to Ontario in 2010. He was married and father of five children, among them Alex Jürgen Thumm.[4]

Promotions

  • 8 August 1914 Kriegsfreiwilliger (War Volunteer)
  • 14 November 1914 Gefreiter (Private E-2/Lance Corporal)
  • 20 December 1914 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
  • 17 January 1915 Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier (Officer Candidate with Corporal/NCO/Junior Sergeant rank)
  • 26 March 1915 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
  • 2 August 1915 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) with Patent from 26 December 1914
    • 1 July 1922 received Reichswehr Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 September 1915 (107)
  • 31 July 1925 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant) with effect and RDA from 1 April 1925 (86)
  • 1 March 1930 Hauptmann (Captain) with RDA from 1 March 1930 (2)
  • 1 November 1935 Major (70)
  • 30 September 1938 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) with effect and RDA from 1 October 1938 (40)
  • 15 September 1941 Oberst (Colonel) with effect from 1 October 1941 (18)
    • 17 December 1942 received new and improved RDA from 1 October 1940 (28b)
  • 10 March 1943 Generalmajor (Major General) with effect and RDA from 1 March 1943 (19)
  • 8 September 1943 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) with effect and RDA from 1 September 1943 (18)
  • 21 December 1944 (HPA telex date) General der Infanterie (General of the Infantry) with effect and RDA from 1 January 1945 (3)

Awards and decorations

Sources

  • German Federal Archives: BArch PERS 6/367 and PERS 6/301097

Writings

  • Der Weg der 5. Infanterie- und Jäger-Division 1921–1945, Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, Bad Nauheim 1976

References

  1. ↑ Thumm was born "Hellmuth", as the birth certificate implies, but all his military files and his gravestone show "Helmut". It is possible that Thumm chose the spelling "Helmut", but it is also possible that the responsible registrar originally misspelled the name and the family, although not officially, adjusted the spelling of the name.
  2. ↑ General der Infanterie Hellmuth Thumm, specialcamp11.co.uk
  3. ↑ The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee, 25 Apr 1945, p. 3
  4. ↑ Alex Jürgen Thumm holds a Master of Urban Studies from Simon Fraser University. He is a city planner with the City of Nelson, British Columbia. Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0965856420306509 (writings, archive)
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