Paul Wagner

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Paul Wagner
Generalmajor Paul Wagner.jpg
Birth name Paul Hermann Wagner
Birth date 26 May 1895(1895-05-26)
Place of birth Gelnhausen, Province of Hesse-Nassau, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date 19 April 1973 (aged 77)
Place of death Saarbrücken, Saarland, West Germany
Allegiance  German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 National Socialist Germany
Service/branch War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army
Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army
War Ensign of the Reichswehr, 1919 - 1935.png Reichswehr
Balkenkreuz.jpg Heer
Years of service 1913–1945
Rank Lieutenant General
Commands held Infanterie-Regiment 79
16. Schützen-Brigade
Division Nr. 487
Battles/wars World War I

World War II

Awards Iron Cross
House Order of Hohenzollern
Order of the Crown of Romania
Bulgarian Order of Saint Alexander
German Cross in Gold
Relations ∞ 1947 Annemarie Lindauer

Paul Hermann Wagner (26 May 1895 – 19 April 1973) was a German officer, finally Lieutenant General and divisional commander of the Wehrmacht in World War II.

Life (chronology)

Paul Hermann Wagner, Reichswehr.jpg
General Paul Wagner.jpg
Reports on the severe wounds of Colonel Wagner on 11 January 1942
Promotion to Lieutenant General in April 1945
  • Easter 1901 to Easter 1909 School in Gelnhausen
  • Easter 1909 to February 1913 Gymnasium in Büdingen (Abitur)
  • 15 February 1913 Joined the 1. Nassauisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 87
  • 27 February 1913 Sworn-in
  • August 1913 to April 1914 Attended war school (Kriegsschule)
  • 7 August 1914 Into the field as a company officer of 1. Nassauisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 87
    • 5 September 1914 Leader of the 5th Company/1. Nassauisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 87
    • 15 February 1915 Adjutant of the II. Battalion/1. Nassauisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 87
      • 29 July to 21 August 1915 Commanded to an officer training course
    • 22 August to 12 September 1915 Leader of the 11th Company/1. Nassauisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 87
      • 13 September to 21 October 1915 Commanded to an officer training course
    • 22 October 1915 to 8 March 1916 Leader of the 11th Company/1. Nassauisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 87
      • 18 to 31 January 1916 Commanded for training to the Machine Gun Company/I. Battalion/1. Nassauisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 87
    • 9 March 1916 Wounded; trasferred to a military hospital
    • 12 April 1916 Transferred to the I. Replacement Battalion/1. Nassauisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 87 as "fit for garrison duty"
    • 10 June 1916 Under command to the regimental staff back to the active regiment in the field
    • 30 June to 30 July 1916 Orderly officer of the Infanterie-Regiment "von Grone" with the Division "Frentz"
    • 1 August 1916 Adjutant of the 1. Nassauisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 87
      • 3 to 8 December 1917 Commanded to the Signals Course A at Army Commando I in Rethel
    • 9 December 1917 Return as adjutant to his regiment

Post-WWI

  • 21 to 29 February 1919 Involved in the operation against the insurgents in Hanau
    • General of the Artillery Hermann Rumschöttel (1858–1944) of the XVIII Army Corps was entrusted with the command of the combat troops. The troops consisted of members of the 80th, 81st and 87th Infantry Regiments, a Pionier platoon, two field artillery batteries and a squadron of former 6th Dragoons. A company of the newly formed Hessen Freikorps (from IR 115, 116, 117 and 168) also took part. The entry of the city took place on the night of 22 February. After 30 minutes, Hanau was occupied without a fight – not a single shot was fired. All important buildings, road junctions and squares were immediately occupied and secured with heavy machine guns or field cannons, the communist red flags were removed from the district office and the town hall and replaced with black, red and gold ones. The workers' and soldiers' council was dissolved or converted into a purely workers' council. The search for those responsible for the riots began. The main protagonists of the revolution, Georg Wagner, Hammer and Schwind, were also arrested, Schnellbacher later in Dörnigheim; a total of around 60 people were imprisoned. In the subsequent trials in Marburg, the defendants met very lenient judges and were partly acquitted and partly given small fines. Almost every defendant or witness had “memory lapses” or found someone to testify in their favor
  • 1 May to 14 October 1919 Employed at the regiment's processing office
    • 29 September 1919 Newly sworn-in (preliminary Reichswehr)
  • 15 October 1919 Transferred to the Reichswehr-Schützen-Regiment 21 (Reichswehr-Brigade 11)
    • 20 to 27 October 1919 Involved in the operation against the insurgents in Schmalkalden
    • 28 October 1919 to 17 November 1919 Involved in the operation against the insurgents in Zella-Mehlis and Sul
  • 28 December 1919 to 1 June 1920 Adjutant of the Erfurt Garrison Command
  • 12 October 1920 Once again sworn-in (Reichswehr)
  • 1 January 1921 Company Officer in the 4th (Machine Gun) Company/Infanterie-Regiment 15
  • 1 October 1921 Transferred to the Trainings Battalion/15. Infanterie-Regiment
  • 1 October 1923 Company Officer in the 8th (Machine Gun) Company/Infanterie-Regiment 15 in Eisenach
  • 1 December 1924 to 30 March 1925 Commanded to the 5th Artillery Regiment for training as a remount instructor
  • 12 March with effect from 1 April 1925 Transferred to Gießen as captain at the staff of the 1st (Hessian) Battalion of his regiment
    • This also made him responsible for handling the welfare business at the Gießen location.
  • 1 April 1926 Transferred to Kassel to the 13th (Mine Thrower) Company/15. Infanterie-Regiment
    • From October 18, 1926 to November 16, 1926, he was assigned to the combat training course at the Döberitz military training area. From April 22, 1927 to May 25, 1927, he was assigned to the mortar training course at the Jüterbog military training area.
  • 1 January 1929 Transferred to Weimar as commander of the 5th Company/15. Infanterie-Regiment
    • From April 16, 1929 to April 22, 1929, he took part in a light machine gun training course at the Münsingen military training area.
  • 14 February with effect from 1 March 1934 Transferred to the commandant's office of Ulm
  • 2 August 1934 Once again sworn-in (to Adolf Hitler)
  • 15 October 1935 Adjutant of the Staff of the 5th Infantry Division in Ulm
    • From May 5, 1936 to May 20, 1936, he was assigned to the heavy machine gun training course for battalion commanders at the Infantry School in Döberitz.
  • 11 December 1937 with effect from 1 January 1938 Appointed commander of the II. Battalion/Infanterie-Regiment 58
  • 22 June 1939 with effect from 15 July 1939 Commanded to the General Command of the VI Army Corps in Münster for a period of less than 4 months
  • 1 August 1939 Transferred as adjutant to the Staff of the General Command of the VI Army Corps[1]

WWII

  • 12 December 1939 Appointed commander of the Infanterie-Regiment 79 with effect from 5 December 1939
    • On 2 August 1940, after the Battle of France, when the 16th Infantry Division was reorganized as the 16th Panzer Division, the regiment was reclassified as 79th Rifle Regiment and then subordinated to the 16th Panzer Division.
  • 31 May 1941 Appointed commander of the 16. Schützen-Brigade with effect from 14 May 1941
  • 11 January 1942 Severely wounded at the Eastern Front (source: BArch PERS 6/2023)
    • c. 0200 shot in the chest (neck-lung shot) and shot through the left calf; severe blood loss and state of shock
      • a military doctor of the Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 2 (FJR 2) in the nearby railway keeper's house, where the men had carried him as well as six wounded and one dead, saved his life. He was then transported to the main dressing station (Hauptverbandsplatz; HVP) of the FJR 2 in Alexejowo Orlowka where he arrived at c. 0500. It took days to stabilize him before transporting him westwards.
  • 16 January to 14 September 1942 Military hospital
    • Führerreserve Wehrkreiskommando VI
  • 16 September 1942 Führerreserve OKH with effect from 15 September 1942 (at this time still at the Semmering army spa hospital)
    • transfer confirmed on 26 October 1942 by Major General Rudolf Schmundt, Chief of the Army Personnel Office (HPA)
  • 19 November 1942 to 24 December 1942 Münster reserve hospital I, internal department I d
  • 15 June 1943 Commander of the Division Nr. 487
    • Established on 1 October 1942 in Linz, Wehrkreis XVII, as a replacement for the 187th Reserve Division, which was relocated to Croatia. On 25 March 1945, the division was mobilized as part of the "Leuthen" call and brought forward to the front. Wagner formed five regimental groups from the units subordinate to him, each comprising 1 to 3 infantry battalions, Volkssturm battalions, heavy infantry weapons, Pioniere and infantry signal platoons. There was also a tank destroyer (Panzerjäger) battalion. The Reich Labor Service (RAD) under Generalarbeitsführer Hickel stationed in Upper Austria was also subordinate to General Wagner. There was also, among other things, an army Flak unit under Major Peters.
  • May 1945 Lieutenant General Wagner became a prisoner of war of the Americans
  • 15 June 1947 Released and repatriated

Family

Paul was the son of Anton Wagner, director of an agricultural school in Gelnhausen, and his wife Paula, née Balluff. The family was Catholic. Paul had several siblings.

His older sister was Lucretia Dorothea Wagner, born on 6 February 1892 in Gelnhausen. On 4 April 1921, she married the student assessor Valentin Josef Eduard Michel, who was almost two years her junior, in her hometown. The husband died on 29 September 1981 in Weilburg an der Lahn. The couple lived at Beethovenstrasse 2 in Weilburg at the time. Another older sister was Franziska Antonie Wagner, born on 22 February 1893. She died as a baby in Gelnhausen on 11August 1893. His younger brother was Kurt Erich Wagner, born on 25 January 1898 in Gelnhausen. He was as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Electoral Hessian Jäger Battalion No. 11 from Marburg in the fighting on the Somme on 6 September 1916.

Marriage

On 11 October 1947, four months after being released from a POW camp, Generalleutnant a. D. Wagner married Annemarie Lindauer.

Promotions

  • 15 February 1913 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
  • 16 June 1913 Unteroffizier (Officer Candidate with Corporal/NCO/Junior Sergeant rank)
  • 18 October 1913 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
  • 20 May 1914 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) with Patent from 26 May 1912
  • 18 June 1917 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
  • 1 April 1925 Hauptmann (Captain)
  • 1 May 1934 Major
  • 2 October 1936 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) with effect from 1 October 1936
  • 31 May 1939 Oberst (Colonel) with effect from 1 June 1939
  • 18 December 1942 Generalmajor (Major General) with effect and RDA from 1 January 1943
  • 15 April 1945 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) with effect and RDA from 20 April 1945

Awards and decorations

References