Wilhelm Ulex

Wilhelm Ulex
Birth name	Wilhelm Theodor Ulex
Birth date	15 July 1880(1880-07-15)
Place of birth	Bremerhaven, German Empire
Death date	26 June 1959 (aged 78)
Place of death	Bremen, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Prussian Army Imperial German Army Freikorps Reichswehr Heer
Years of service	1899–1941
Rank	General der Artillerie
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross House Order of Hohenzollern
Relations	∞ 1906 Meta Hegeler

Wilhelm Theodor Ulex (15 July 1880 – 26 June 1959) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Freikorps, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally General der Artillerie (General of the Artillery) in World War II.

Life

Pillow stone in the family grave in the Ohlsdorf cemetery

Military career

• 2 September 1899 Joined the Holsteinisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 24 in Güstrow
• 1 October 1906 Adjutant of the II. Abteilung (2nd field artillery battalion) of the Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 24
• 1 October 1910 Commanded for almost two years to the Militär-Reitinstitut Hannover (Hanover Military Riding Institute)
  • after his return, officer in the 5th Battery
• 1 October 1913 to 10 February 1914 Commanded to a course at the field artillery shooting school in Jüterbog
• February/March 1914 Commander of the 4th Battery/Holsteinischen Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 24
  • 1916 wounded
  • 1 February 1917 leader of the III. Abteilung (3rd field artillery battalion) of the Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 24
  • 18 July 1918 Officer in the General Staff of the Generalkommando 66 under Generalleutnant Adolf von der Esch
• 1919 Member of the Freikorps, presumably with the Freiwilligen-Bataillon under Alfred Streccius, with whom he was related (a son of Luise Charlotte Wilhelmine, née Ulex)

Reichswehr and Wehrmacht

He was taken over by the Reichswehr, served in the Reichswehr-Artillerie-Regiment 9 in Schwerin, der Vorläufigen Reichswehr, became battery commander in the 2. (Preußisches) Artillerie-Regiment in Güstrow and served in the staff of the Artillerieführer II. On 1 January 1926 he became commander of the IV. (horse artillery) Abteilung of the 6. (Preußisches) Artillerie-Regiment in Verden an der Aller, was transferred to the staff of the 2. (Preußisches) Artillerie-Regiment in Schwerin on 1 November 1928 and became commander of the 2. (Preußisches) Artillerie-Regiment on 1 October 1931. From 1933 to 1935, he was Artillerieführer VI in Münster and Infanterieführer II in Schwerin.

On 15 October 1935, he became commander of the 12. Infanterie-Division in Schwerin and on 6 October 1936, Commanding General of the XI. Armeekorps and Commander (Befehlshaber) of the Military District XI in Hannover. On 31 March 1939, he retired with the right to wear the uniform of the 12th Artillery Regiment, Schwerin. On the next day, he was placed to disposal (z. V.) of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army. Ulex was reactivated for WWII and was named Commanding General (Kommandierender General) of the X. Armeekorps in Hamburg on 28 August 1939. After the Poland Campaign, he was named commander of the Border Guard Section Command South in Krakow. Together with Johannes Blaskowitz and Walter Petzel, Ulex wrote to retired Generaloberst Ludwig August Theodor Beck and complained about the inhumane behavior of the Sicherheitsdienst in Poland, which Beck included in his memorandum to the High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW) from 20 November 1939.

In March 1940, he protested alongside Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz, the Commander-in-Chief of the German occupation army in Poland, against the harsch treatment of the Polish civilian population by the Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police; SiPo) of the Reich Main Security Office. The SiPo was then instructed to act always humane and professional. There were no negative repercussions for Ulex, as sometimes suggested. On 20 June 1940, he was named Commanding General of the Deputy General Command of the 1st Army Corps (Stellvertretendes Generalkommando des I. Armeekorps) and Commander (Befehlshaber) of the Military District I in Königsberg. Military-Replacement-Inspector Allenstein in Military District I was at this time Carl Emil Paul Gerhardt, whom he considered a close comrade. On 1 May 1941, he was placed in the leader's reserve (Führer-Reserve OKH/Wehrkreis I), on 31 December 1941, he retired again, still with the right to wear the uniform of the 12th Artillery Regiment, which he did until 1945

Post-WWII

After the end of World War II, he was arrested in Güstrow by the Soviet occupying forces on 16 May 1945. He was then transported to a Russian Gulag and not released until 28 August 1949 when he was placed in Camp No. 69 in Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, from where he was handed over to the West German authorities. From 1955, he lived at Rockwinkler Heerstraße 21 in Bremen for several years. After his death, his widow Meta Ulex lived at Oberneulander Landstraße 108 in Bremen.

Family

Wilhem was the son of the Higher Regional Court Councilor (Oberlandesgerichtsrat) and Senate President at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court Caspar Hinrich Otto Ulex (b. 20 February 1846 in Hannover; d. 8 June 1921 in Hamburg) and his wife (∞ 5 April 1877 in Celle) Marie Sophie Mathilde, née Roscher (b. 14 April 1855 in Hannover), daughter of Dr. jur. h. c. Wilhelm Theodor Roscher. Her younger sister, Emilie Adolfine Elisabeth Roscher (b. 30 March 1858), married architect Friedrich Georg Heinrich Ulex, as of 1891 Regierungs-Baumeister and 1896 Landesbaumeister.

Wilhem's older sister was Anna Metta Henriette Ulex, born on 26 July 1878 in Bremerhaven. On 3 June 1899, she married the businessman Franz Bernhard Meyer, who was almost twelve and a half years her senior. From 17 August 1921, the couple had the surname Meyer-Ulex. His younger brother was Heinrich August Ulex, born on 20 January 1883 in Bremerhaven. As public prosecutor and first lieutenant in the reserve, Dr. jur. Heinrich August Ulex and a member of the Infanterie-Regiment "von der Marwitz" (8. Pommersches) Nr. 61 died of his serious wounds in WWI on 23 April 1917 in Cherisy near Arras at the Western Front. According to the Prussian casualty list No. 850, he was ⚔.

Marriage

On 17 October 1906 (another source states 1908), 2nd Lieutenant Ulex married his fiancée Meta Susanne Hegeler, daughter of lord of the manor Gerhard Heinrich Hegeler (b. 24 August 1860 in Bremen) from Karow (Allodialgut). They had three children:

• Gerda Elisabeth (b. 25 March 1912 in Hannover; d. 2007); ∞ 27 September 1935 1st Lieutenant Oberstleutnant Erik Julius Wilhelm Friedrich Wallrath von Amsberg (1908–1980), later Lieutenant Colonel of the Wehrmacht, finally adjutant of the 19th Army. The couple divorced 1946.
• Otto Heinrich (b. 18 March 1914 in Güstrow)
• Meta Maria Herzliebe Fanny (b. 29 September 1918)

Promotions

• 2.9.1899 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
• 22.7.1900 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 16.2.1901 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) with Patent from 1.2.1900
• 18.10.1909 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 18.12.1913 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 1.10.1922 Major
• 1.4.1928 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 1.2.1931 Oberst (Colonel)
• 1.10.1933 Generalmajor
• 1.8.1935 Generalleutnant
• 1.10.1936 General der Artillerie

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Mecklenburg-Schwerin Military Merit Cross (Großherzoglich Mecklenburgisches Militärverdienstkreuz), 2nd Class (MMV2/MK2)
• Hanseatic Cross of Bremen (BremH/BH)
• Austrian Military Merit Cross, 3rd Class with War Decoration (ÖMV3K/ÖM3K)
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (HOH3⚔)
• Wound Badge (1918) in Black
• Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz)
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (1934) with Swords
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class on 2 October 1936
• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class

Further reading

• Heinrich August Ulex: Zur Geschichte der Familie Ulex, Hamburg 1913