Werner von Gallwitz

Werner von Gallwitz
Generalmajor von Gallwitz
Birth name	Karl Hugo Albert Lothar Hellmuth Werner Gallwitz
Birth date	17 May 1893
Place of birth	Glogau, Lower Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	11 May 1944 (aged 50)
Place of death	⚔ near Sevastopol, Eastern Front
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Prussian Army Imperial German Army Freikorps Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1912–1944
Rank	Generalleutnant
Battles/wars	World War I, World War II
Awards	German Cross in Gold
Relations	∞ Margaret "Margret" Eugenia Huberta Freiin von Locquenghien-Humbracht (1903–1992)

Karl Hugo Albert Lothar Hellmuth Werner Gallwitz, since 1913 von Gallwitz (17 May 1893 – 11 May 1944), was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Freikorps, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Generalleutnant and mountain artillery commander in World War II. He was the only son of General der Artillerie Max Karl Wilhelm von Gallwitz, who was raised to hereditary nobility by Kaiser Wilhelm II on 16 June 1913.

Career (chronology)

Written by Major a. D. Werner Moßdorf (later Oberst) and Hauptmann Werner von Gallwitz, published 1930

• Kadettenschüler (military cadet)
• 22 March 1912: Joined the 5. Badisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 76
• 1914-1918: Battery Officer, Battery Leader and Ordnance Officer in WWI
• 1919: Freikorps service
• 1 October 1919: Transferred to Reichswehr-Artillerie-Regiment 13
• 1 October 1920: Transferred to II. Abteilung/Reichswehr-Artillerie Regiment 5
  • renamed 5. Artillerie-Regiment on 1 January 1921
• As of Rangliste 1926: 2. Batterie/I. Abteilung/6. (Preußisches) Artillerie-Regiment in Münster
• As of Rangliste 1927: Commander of the 3. Batterie/I. Abteilung/6. (Preußisches) Artillerie-Regiment in Münster
• 1 October 1934 to 26. August 1939: Commander of the II. Abteilung/Artillerie-Regiment 19 in Hannover
  • The regiment was formed into four Abteilungen (departments, battalions) in the course of the enlargement of the army through the division of the 6th (Prussian) Artillery Regiment

WWII

• 1939: Commander of the Artillerie-Regiment 183
  • The Artillerie-Regiment 183 was officially established on 1 December 1939 (Truppenübungsplatz Bergen) and subordinated to the 83. Infanterie-Division, but the development started at the begin of WWII.
• 4 March 1942: Artillerie-Kommandeur 133 (Arko 133)
• 16 February 1943: Artillerie-Kommandeur 101 (Arko 101)
• 15 May 1943: Höherer Artillerie-Offizier I (Königsberg)
• 5 January 1944: Führer-Reserve OKH
• 6 April 1944: Gebirgs-Artillerie-Kommandeur 132 (Mountain Artillery Commander 132) with the XXXXIX. Gebirgs-Armeekorp/Heeresgruppe Südukraine

Death

Werner von Gallwitz was killed in action on 11 May 1944 and buried by his comrades in Sewastopol, but the war graves were desecrated and leveled by the Russians and his body was never found (reported by the German War Graves Commission as of 2023). His name was commemorated on his parents' grave underneath the inscription for his mother Friederike "Frieda" Emilie Margaret(h)e, née Englerth (1871–1957).

Promotions

Prussian Army

• Fähnrich: 22 March 1912
• Leutnant: 18 August 1913
• Oberleutnant: 20 June 1918

Reichswehr

• Hauptmann: 1 May 1927
• Major: 1 October 1934

Wehrmacht

• Oberstleutnant: 1 April 1937
• Oberst: 1 April 1940
• Generalmajor: 1 October 1943
• Generalleutnant: 20 May 1944 with rank seniority (RDA) from 1 May 1944 (posthumously or nachträglich)

Awards and decorations (excerpt)

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Baden Order of the Zähringer Lion (Orden vom Zähringer Löwen), Knight's Cross II. Class with Swords (BZL3b⚔/BZ3b⚔)
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (1934) with Swords
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class

WWII

• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
• War Merit Cross, 2nd Class with Swords
• Eastern Front Medal
• German Cross in Gold (posthumously)