Hasso von Manteuffel

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Hasso-Eccard Freiherr von Manteuffel (January 14, 1897 — September 24, 1978) was a German soldier and politician of the 20th century. He is usually noted for becoming a General during World War II, though he also served in WWI, and did many jobs later in his life including serve in the Bundestag. During WWII he spent time as a tank commander noted for his tactical skill and was one of only 27 holders of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds. He was responsible for coining the new name for the post-WW2 German Army, the Bundeswehr.

General Hasso von Manteuffel

Contents

1 Early life up to 1932
2 1932 to 1947
3 1947 to 1978
4 References

Early life up to 1932

Von Manteuffel was born in Potsdam to a respected Prussian aristocratic family. In 1908 he became a cadet in a military school, he joined the Imperial German Army on February 22, 1916 as an officer in a Hussar regiment. He entered the World War I in April 1916 with the 5th Squadron of 3rd Hussar Regiment attached to the 6th Prussian Infantry Division stationed on the Western Front, where he was wounded on October 12 during the fighting in France. After recuperation he reentered active service in February 1917 and was posted to the Divisional General Staff.

With the outbreak of the German Revolution in late 1918, he was assigned to guard the bridge over the Rhine at Köln from revolutionaries, and thus enable a safe withdrawal of the army from France and Belgium to Germany. Following the dissolution of Imperial Army, he entered the Freikorps in January 1919. After the establishment of the Weimar Republic, he joined the newly created Reichswehr and was assigned to the 25th Cavalry Regiment at Rathenow in May 1919. He married Armgard von Kleist, the niece of Ewald von Kleist, on June 23, 1921, they had two children. During the early 1920s he was a squad leader with the 3rd Prussian Mounted Regiment, later becoming the Regimental Adjutant. On February 1 1930, he became the commander of the Technical Squad.

1932 to 1947

On October 1, 1932 he was transferred to the 17th Bavarian Mounted Regiment at Bamberg where he served as a squad commander; two years later, on October 1 1934 he was transferred again, this time to the Mounted Regiment “Erfurt”. A year later, on October 15 1935 he was appointed commander of the 2nd Motorcycle Rifle Battalion of Heinz Guderian’s 2nd Panzer Division. From 1936 to 1937 he served as a Major on the Staff of the 2nd Panzer Division and as a Training Officer of Cadets and Cadet Officers. On February 25, 1937 he became a consultant within the Panzer Troop Command of the OKH and on February 1, 1939 a senior professor at the Panzer Troop School II in Berlin-Krampnitz, where he stayed until 1941, thus missing out of Germany’s early campaigns in Poland and France.

On May 1, 1941 he was appointed the commander of the 1st Battalion of 7th Rifle Regiment of the 7th Panzer Division. It was with this unit that he entered World War II, serving under Hermann Hoth’s Panzer Group 3 of the Army Group Centre in Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. On August 25, 1941 he took over the 6th Rifle Regiment of the 7th Panzer Division after its commander was killed in action. In May 1942, after heavy fighting around Moscow in the winter of 1941–1942, the 7th Panzer Division was transferred to France for refitting. On July 15, 1942, while the division was still recuperating in France, von Manteuffel was made the commander of the 7th Panzer Grenadier Brigade of the 7th Panzer Division.

In early 1943 he was sent to Africa, where on February 5 he became the commander of Division "von Manteuffel", serving under Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's 5th Panzer Army of Erwin Rommel's Army Group Afrika, here von Manteuffel took part in defensive operations during the Battle of Tunisia, conducting successful counteroffensives that tied down Allied forces. Amid heavy fighting, he collapsed from exhaustion on March 31, and was evacuated back to Germany. On May 1, 1943, while still recovering, von Manteuffel was promoted to the rank of Major General for his exploits in Africa.

After recuperating, he was made the commander of the 7th Panzer Division on August 22, 1943, thus he was once again on the Eastern Front, which in the meantime had collapsed following the Battle of Kursk and the resulting Soviet counteroffensive. Being wounded in the back by a Soviet air attack on August 26 1943 he stayed, battling in Ukraine, and after some ferocious fighting at Kharkov, Belgorod and along the Dnieper River he succeeded in bringing the Red Army offensive to a halt. In late November, he managed to recapture Zhitomir thus saving the almost encircled 8th Panzer Division north of the city.

As a result, he was made the commander of the elite Grenadier Division “Großdeutschland” on February 1, 1944. Fighting with “Großdeutschland”, he was engaged in a chain of intense defensive battles west of Kirovograd, then withdrawing across Ukraine he reorganized in Romania in late March 1944, engaging in a series of successful defensives in northern Romania through June, when the exhausted “Großdeutschland” was moved into reserve for a refit. In late July “Großdeutschland” was ordered to transfer to East Prussia, which was being directly endangered after Red Army crushed Army Group Centre in Operation Bagration. Here he launched a successful but costly counterattack into Lithuania, managing to stabilize the front, but failing to break through to the Courland Pocket, where Army Group North was trapped after the decimation of Army Group Centre.

On September 1 1944, he was promoted to General of the Panzer Troops and given command of the Fifth Panzer Army fighting on the Western Front. After engaging in heavy combat in Lorraine against George S. Patton’s Third Army, the unit was withdrawn to reserve and began refitting for the upcoming Ardennes Offensive. Although he was assigned to a support role, von Manteuffel’s 5th Panzer Army achieved one of the deepest penetrations of Allied lines during the offensive, almost reaching the Meuse River. This penetration included the Battle of Bastogne.

On March 10, 1945 he was made the commander of the Third Panzer Army on the Eastern Front. The Third Panzer Army was assigned to defend the banks of Oder River, north of the Seelow Heights thus preventing the Soviets access to Western Pomerania and Berlin, but was faced with an overwhelming attack launched by General Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front during the Battle of Berlin. On April 25 the 2nd Belorussian Front broke through Third Panzer Army's line around the bridgehead south of Stettin and crossed the Randow Swamp. Manteuffel was forced to retreat to Mecklenburg where he successfully surrendered his troops to the western Allies on May 3, 1945, thus escaping capture by the Soviets.

1947 to 1978

Manteuffel was held in an Allied POW camp until September 1947. After his release von Manteuffel entered politics and was a representative of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) in the German Bundestag from 1953 to 1957. He was also a guest in the United States, visiting the Pentagon and with the invitation by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the White House. In 1968 he lectured at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and also worked as a technical adviser on war films.

He died in Reith im Alpbachtal, Tyrol, Austria on September 24, 1978. Note regarding personal names: Freiherr is a title, translated as Baron, not a first or middle name. The female forms are Freifrau and Freiin.

References

Panzer Baron: the military exploits of General Hasso von Manteuffel by Donald Grey Brownlow, The Christopher Publishing House, North Quincy, Massachusetts, 1975. ISBN 0815803257
The 7th Panzer Division: An Illustrated History of Rommel's "Ghost Division" 1938-1945 by Hasso von Manteuffel, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. January, 2000. ISBN 0764312081

Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds during World War II

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