Herbert Otto Gille
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Herbert Otto Gille (March 8, 1897 in Gandersheim - December 27, 1966) was a German general, and the highest decorated member of the Waffen SS.
Military Career
He started his military career as a first lieutenant during the First World War .
In 1934 he was re-activated by the SS combat support forces. He became a Company Commander in Ellwangen , then a Battalion Commander of the SS regiment Germania in Arolsen . He later served as the commander of an artillery unit in Jueterbog . As a department commander of this regiment Gille participated in the invasion of Poland and in the western campaign. In 1940 he took over an artillery regiment in the SS Viking Division led by SS Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner.
After the assault on the Soviet Union, Gille, as a leader of an advance guard, reached the Kuban and received the Knight's Cross. Shortly thereafter he took over command of the Viking Division (5th SS Panzer) on the Eastern Front. Early in 1944, Gille was instrumental in the withdrawal of his command and others of the encircled Group Stemmermann through "Hells Gate" during the Korsun cauldron disaster. The Soviets greatly outnumbered the German forces but they failed to cut their retreat. Gille received the diamonds addition on 19 April 1944 to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.
His troops stood strong on the East Prussia border with the SS Totenkopf Division (3rd SS Panzer) and prevented the planned Soviet breakthrough to Berlin in the autumn 1944. When the end of war was clear, he marched towards the U.S. troops in order to avoid surrendering to Soviet forces. Because of his SS affiliation, Gille was regarded as a member of a criminal organization. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, which was shortened by time he spent in custody.
The author Heinz Höhne in The Order under the Death Head characterized Gille as an enigma and "Nur-Soldat" (soldier - nothing else) who once threatenend a newly assigned Weltanschauungsoffizier (political indoctrination officer) to assign him a disrobing detail to get his Nazi Brownshirt removed.
Post-War
After the war he worked for a newspaper until 1958. On 26 December 1966 Herbert Otto Gille died of a heart attack.
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Werner Mölders | Adolf Galland | Gordon Gollob | Hans-Joachim Marseille | Hermann Graf | Erwin Rommel | Wolfgang Lüth | Walter Nowotny | Adelbert Schulz | Hans-Ulrich Rudel | Hyazinth Graf von Strachwitz | Herbert Otto Gille | Hans-Valentin Hube | Albert Kesselring | Helmut Lent | Sepp Dietrich | Walter Model | Erich Hartmann | Hermann Balck | Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke | Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer | Albrecht Brandi | Ferdinand Schörner | Hasso von Manteuffel | Theodor Tolsdorff | Karl Mauss | Dietrich von Saucken | |
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