Maximilian de Angelis

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Maximilian de Angelis
Maximilian de Angelis II.jpg
Birth date 2 October 1889(1889-10-02)
Place of birth Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire
Death date 6 December 1974 (aged 85)
Place of death Graz, Republic of Austria
Allegiance  Austria-Hungary
Austria Republic of German-Austria
Austria First Austrian Republic
 National Socialist Germany
Service/branch Gelbe Fahne der k. u. k. Armee.jpg Austro-Hungarian Army
Deutschösterreichische Volkswehr.jpg Deutschösterreichische Volkswehr
Roundel of the Austrian Armed Forces.png Austrian Bundesheer
Balkenkreuz.jpg Heer
Years of service 1910–1945
Rank General of the Artillery
Commands held 76th Infantry Division
XXXXIV. Army Corps
6th Army
2nd Panzer Army
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Maximilian de Angelis (2 October 1889 – 6 December 1974) was a German officer of Austria and the German Reich, finally General of the Artillery of the Wehrmacht and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves in World War II.

Life

Initially, the Reich Eagles were simply sewn onto the Austrian Army uniforms; the collar tabs, as seen in this picture of Major General de Angelis, remained Austrian. Uniform tailors were clearly very busy during these weeks. Many officers had their Austrian uniforms altered. If they still had the German Model 23 uniform, which was also in use in Austria, in their wardrobes, this was straightforward. From April 1938 onward, it was officially mandatory to wear the current Wehrmacht uniform, but the execution of the tailoring orders continued into May. In photographs from June 1938, all the Austrian staff officers who had been transferred to the Wehrmacht were wearing the new uniform or one altered in this way.
Maximilian de Angelis I.jpg
Generalfeldmarschall Ewald von Kleist (center) meeting with Maximilian de Angelis (right) on the Eastern Front in May 1943
Maximilian de Angelis III.jpg

Maximilian was born in Budapest the son of Colonel Anton de Angelis (1852–1918) from the k.u.k. Infanterie Regiment "Georg I. König der Hellenen" Nr. 99 and his wife Antonia (1866–1933), adopted daughter of the court jeweler in Vienna, Heinrich Josef Anders, and his wife Antonia, née Čepek. He attended elementary school in Znaim from 1895 to 1900, then the military secondary school in Eisenstadt until 1904, and later the military high school in Mährisch-Weißkirchen until 1907, learning Hungarian, English, Italian and some French. His education continued as a cadet at the Technical Military Academy in Mödling, from where he graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant on 18 August 1910 and was assigned to the k.u.k. Field Cannon Regiment (Divisional Artillery Regiment) No. 42 in Steyr.

During World War I, he initially served as commander of the 2nd Battery of Field Artillery Regiment No. 42 in Galicia and southern Poland at the Eastern Front, and later as a captain assigned to brigade general staffs on the Isonzo Front. On 3 November 1918, after the ceasefire, he was taken prisoner of war by the Italians, from which he returned on 14 October 1919. Subsequently, he served with Field Artillery Regiment No. 3 and later in the State Office for Military Affairs.

In 1925, he was assigned to the independent artillery regiment and transferred to the 3rd Brigade Command at the beginning of 1926. Promoted to major in 1926, he taught tactics at the Army School in Enns from 1927 to 1933. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1929 and to colonel in 1933. In 1933, he joined the Military Technical Examination Commission, and a year later, he was assigned to the 1st Brigade Command.

On 1 September 1934, he was appointed to the Federal Ministry of National Defense (B.M.f.L.V.) and worked in the Disarmament Conference (Chief Department 1). From there, he was transferred to Vienna on 1 August 1935 as Deputy Commandant and Instructor of Operational Warfare at the Higher Officer Courses. During this time, his political activities intensified, and he became leader of the (illegal) National Socialist Soldiers' Ring (NSR), founded in 1936. His military career remained unaffected. In Vienna, he was appointed State Secretary for National Defense on 13 March 1938, effectively becoming head of the Ministry, succeeding General of the Infantry Wilhelm Zehner, who died a month later, on 11 April 1938 in Vienna. In this capacity, de Angeli's accession to the German army during the Anschluss had a significant impact on the integration of the Austrian Federal Army into the German Wehrmacht. He acted in the “Muff Commission” responsible for personnel matters, which arranged the transfer or retirement of Austrian officers.

Wehrmacht

  • 25 March with effect from 1 April 1938 Transferred to the staff of the Heeresgruppen-Kommando 5 in Vienna as General for special duties and deputy head of the transition staff
    • The staff was directly subordinate to the Reichswehr Ministry. Upon its formation, the XVII and XVIII Army Corps were under its command. At the beginning of 1939, in addition to these two corps, the staff also commanded the 4th Light Division, the 2nd Panzer Division, and Fortress Inspectorate XI. On 1 July 1939, the XIX Army Corps was added. Upon mobilization, the staff was renamed the 14th Army on 26 August 1939.
  • 1 July to 4 August 1938 Commanded to the staff of Infantry Regiment 30 of the 18th Infantry Division
  • 5 August 1938 Transferred to the Artillery School (Jüterbog)
  • 10 November 1938 Appointed Artillery Commander XV in Jena. This made him the corps artillery commander of the XV Army Corps.
    • 19 to 21 June 1939 commanded to the staff of the Heeresgruppen-Kommando 5
  • 26 August 1939 Appointed commander of the 76. Infanterie-Division
    • The 76th Infantry Division was formed on 26 August 1939 as a division of the second wave of the German mobilization, by the 23rd Infantry Commander in Brandenburg and the 23rd Infantry Division in Potsdam. At the outbreak of war, the division became the army reserve of the 5th Army and was transferred to the Westerwald-Siegburg area. In October 1939, the division became the army reserve of the 1st Army and was transferred to the area south of Bad Kreuznach. As early as December 1939, the division was transferred again, this time to the Trier area. At the beginning of the Western Campaign on 10 May 1940, the division broke through the Luxembourg and French border fortifications and advanced to the area southeast of Sedan, where it established flanking positions for the German units in northern France. During the second phase of the campaign, the "Battle of France," the division suffered heavy fighting on the west bank of the Meuse River. The division then marched past Verdun to Toul. It remained there after the French surrender until it was transferred to Poland in September 1940.
  • 25 January 1942 Delegated with the leadership of the XXXXIV. Army Corps for the Commanding General Otto Stapf who had fallen severely ill
  • 28 February with effect from 1 March 1942 Officially appointed Commanding General of the XXXXIV. Army Corps
    • 20 May to 27 June 1943 represented Richard Ruoff, who had been granted leave, as leader of the 17th Army (subordinated to the Army Group A under Ewald von Kleist)
    • 22 November 1943 delegated with the deputy leadership of the 6th Army for the Commander-in-Chief, who was on leave
    • 5 or 8 April 1944 (depending on the source) delegated with the deputy leadership of the 6th Army for the Commander-in-Chief, who was on leave
  • 20 April 1944 Delegated with the leadership of the 6th Army (Army Group South Ukraine)
  • 18 July 1944 Delegated with the leadership of the 2nd Panzer Army as successor to Franz Böhme
  • 1 September 1944 Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the 2nd Panzer Army (Army Group Southeast)
    • Throughout 1944, the 2nd Panzer Army was progressively stripped of its heavy armor destined for the war on the Eastern Front, and became a primarily motorized infantry force. It did gain specialized Alpine support from units like the Brandenburgers and 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen divisions. However, endemic guerilla warfare cost the 2nd Panzer Army heavily, and only months after the Operation Rösselsprung failed to capture the communist partisan leadership via airborne assault, the 2nd Panzer Army and all of Army Group F were pushed out of Belgrade in a joint operation by the partisans and Red Army during the Belgrade Offensive. The 2nd Panzer Army took part in the Battle of the Transdanubian Hills in March 1945 before surrendering at the end of the war to both Soviet and Anglo-American forces in the south of the Greater German Reich, in modern Austria.

POW

  • 9 May 1945 to 4 April 1946: US prisoner of war
    • Extradition to partisan leader Tito in Yugoslavia in violation of international law
  • 4 April 1946 to 12 October 1948: Yugoslav prisoner of war
    • Show trial from 12 October 1948 to 5 March 1949
    • Sentenced to 20 years in a labor camp, subsequently extradited to the Soviets
  • 5 March 1949 to 28 February 1952: Soviet-Bolshevik prisoner of war
    • From 28 February 1952: Two further show trials in Moscow, sentenced to two terms of 25 years in a labor camp
  • 11 October 1955: Released from the torture Gulag and repatriated
    • he was now able to return home as one of the last to do so. Subsequently, he spent some time in Hanover before moving first to Munich and then to Graz.

Promotions

  • 18 August 1910 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
  • 1 August 1914 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
  • 1 May 1917 Hauptmann (Captain)
  • 8 July 1921 Major (title, not rank)
  • 1 March 1923 Stabshauptmann (Staff Captain or Captain 1st Class)
    • In 1921, several officers which held the rank of "Hauptmann/Rittmeister" from wartime, were (sometimes prematurely) promoted to "Major". At the beginning of the year 1923, the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission (IMCC) stated that there were more majors in the Bundesheer than allowed by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Therefore many dozens of majors had to accept the rank designation (Chargenbezeichnung) of "Stabshauptmann" (staff captain). They got special badges (collar tabs) of rank – captain with an additional third star – and received the payment as majors. This regulation came into effect on 1 March 1923 and was dismissed in 1927 when the IMCC ceased to function. (Source: GMIC)
  • 1 November 1926 Major
  • 15 January 1929 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
  • 28 June 1933 Oberst (Colonel)

Wehrmacht

  • 25 March 1938 Generalmajor (Major General) with effect and RDA from 1 April 1938 (22)
  • 17 May 1940 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) with effect and RDA from 1 June 1940 (8)
  • 28 February 1942 General der Artillerie (General of the Artillery) with effect and RDA from 1 March 1942 (1)

Awards and decorations

WWI

  • Austro-Hungarian Military Merit Medal (Signum Laudis) in Bronze on the ribbon for wartime merit on 4 November 1914
    • When the "swords" were introduced on 13 December 1916, he was subsequently awarded this distinction.
  • Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 3rd Class with the War Decoration (ÖM3K) on 25 March 1915
    • When the "swords" were introduced to the war decoration on 13 December 1916, he was subsequently awarded this distinction (ÖM3K⚔).
  • Austro-Hungarian Military Merit Medal (Signum Laudis) in Silver on the ribbon for wartime merit on 11 November 1916
    • When the "swords" were introduced on 13 December 1916, he was subsequently awarded this distinction.
  • Austro-Hungarian Karl Troop Cross on 28 June 1917
  • Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 3rd Class with the War Decoration and Swords (ÖM3K⚔) on 23 May 1918; 2nd time awarded

Between wars

WWII

Gallery

  • PERS 6 70 Maximilian de Angelis I.jpg
  • PERS 6 70 Maximilian de Angelis II.jpg
  • PERS 6 70 Maximilian de Angelis III.jpg
  • PERS 6 70 Maximilian de Angelis IV.jpg

Sources

  • German Federal Archives: BArch PERS 6/70 and PERS 6/299323
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