__NOTOC__ Eugen Meindl (16 July 1892 – 24 January 1951) was a German paratroop general in the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was lower in precedence than the Grand C ...

Life and career

Born in 1892, Eugen Meindl enlisted in the army in 1912 and served during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Meindl served with various artillery units in the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

, the post-war armed forces of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, and subsequently in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

(Armed Forces after Weimar). In November 1938, Meindl was named commander of the 112th Mountain Artillery Regiment in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

. Promoted to

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German language, German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the Army, ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, a ...

, he led the "Meindl Group" and made his very first parachute jump at Narvik. He transferred to the

in November 1940. During the airborne invasion of Crete, Meindl jumped near the

Platanias Platanias (Greek: Πλατανιάς) is a village and municipality on the Greek island of Crete. It is located about west from the city of Chania and east of Kissamos, on Chania Bay. The seat of the municipality is the village Gerani. Platani ...

Bridge, where he was shot in the chest and seriously wounded. In February 1942, Meindl, now a

Generalmajor is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and R ...

, became commander of the newly formed Luftwaffe Division 'Meindl' in the Soviet Union. In September he took over the 13th Air Corps (later I Luftwaffe Field Corps). In 1943, he was promoted to commanding general of the 2nd Parachute Corps, which he led in the west on the invasion front and later at

Cleves Kleve (; traditional ; ; ; ; ; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century onwards, Cleves was capital of a county and later a duchy ...

and in the

Klever Reichswald The Klever Reichswald is a state forest in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between the rivers Rhine and Meuse at the German–Dutch border. The forest is located in the municipal territories of Kleve, Goch, Kranenburg and Bedburg-Hau. It is the ...

. His unit participated in the

Battle of Nijmegen The Battle of Nijmegen, also known as the Liberation of Nijmegen, occurred from 17 to 20 September 1944, as part of Operation Market Garden during World War II. The Allies of World War II, Allies' primary goal was to capture the two bridges ove ...

during Operation Market Garden (September 1944), but was halted on the

Groesbeek Groesbeek () is a town and former municipality in the province of Gelderland, the Netherlands. In January 2015 the former municipality merged with Millingen aan de Rijn and Ubbergen. The larger area was known as Groesbeek until January 2016, whe ...

Heights by dug-in American paratroopers, and thus unable to stop the Allies from taking the city and the strategically important bridges across the river Waal. Meindl's corps fought at Goch and in the

Wesel Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel (district), Wesel district. Geography Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine. Division of the city Suburbs of Wesel i ...

bridgehead, where he was made commander on 5 March 1945. Meindl immediately advised High Command that the bridgehead ought to be evacuated but was unable to secure Hitler's agreement to this until the evening of 9 March. In the intervening four days Meindl had already organized the evacuation of the bridgehead and was therefore able to bring away the remains of seven divisions and two panzer units with most of their equipment; in his words, "all that would float came back again". Meindl continued to command the 2nd Parachute Corps until its eventual surrender at Grossbrekendorf near Schleswig in early May. He died in 1951.

Awards

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

(1914) 1st Class (17 January 1916) and 2nd Class (18 July 1915) *

Clasp to the Iron Cross Clasp, clasper or CLASP may refer to: * Book clasp, fastener for a book cover * Folding clasp, a device used to close a watch strap * Lobster clasp, fastener for jewellery * Wrist clasp, a dressing accessory * Medal bar, an element in militar ...

(1939) 1st Class (10 June 1940) and 2nd Class (22 October 1939) *

Narvik Shield The Narvik Shield () was a World War II German military decoration awarded to all German forces that took part in the battles of Narvik between 9 April and 8 June 1940. It was instituted on 19 August 1940 by Adolf Hitler. The ''Oberkommando der Weh ...

(10 November 1940) *

Wound Badge The Wound Badge () was a German military decoration first promulgated by Wilhelm II, German Emperor on 3 March 1918, which was first awarded to soldiers of the Imperial German Army, German Army who were wounded during World War I. Between the worl ...

(1939) in Black (25 October 1941) *

Eastern Front Medal The Eastern Medal (), officially the Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal (), was a military award of the ''Wehrmacht'' which was created by ordinance of Adolf Hitler on 26 May 1942. The Eastern Medal was awarded to any member of the ''W ...

(9 August 1942) *

German Cross The War Order of the German Cross (), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repeated acts of bravery or military leade ...

in Gold on 27 July 1942 as ''

'' in the Luftwaffen-Division "Meindl" *

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...

** Knight's Cross on 14 June 1941 as ''

'' and commander Fallschirmjäger-Sturm-Regiment ** 564th Oak Leaves on 31 August 1944 as ''

General der Fallschirmtruppe (en: ''General of the parachute corps'') was a General of the branch rank of the Deutsche Luftwaffe (en: German Air Force) in Nazi Germany. Until the end of World War II in 1945, this particular general officer rank was on three-star level ( ...

'' and commanding general of the II. Fallschirmkorps

Nomination for Swords to Knight's Cross

In April 1945, Meindl was nominated for Swords to the Knight's Cross; the nomination by the troop was approved by each of his commanding officers. However, the nomination contains no final remark on the proceedings.

Nicolaus von Below Georg Ludwig Heinrich Nicolaus von Below (20 September 1907 – 24 July 1983) was an officer in the German ''Luftwaffe'' and an adjutant to Adolf Hitler. Early life Below was born on the estate of Jargelin near Anklam in the Province of P ...

, Hitler's ''Luftwaffe'' adjutant, had sent a teleprinter message to the commanding general of the Fallschirmarmee ''Generaloberst''

Kurt Student Kurt Arthur Benno Student (12 May 1890 – 1 July 1978) was a German general in the Luftwaffe during World War II. An early pioneer of airborne forces, Student was in overall command of developing a paratrooper force to be known as the ''Fallschi ...

, requesting a statement for this nomination. The copy of the teleprinter contains a note: resubmission "23 April 1945". It seems that the statement was never returned. The paperwork was not finalized by the end of the war. The

Association of Knight's Cross Recipients The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was lower in precedence than the Grand Cr ...

(AKCR) claims that the award was presented in accordance with the

Dönitz-decree The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...

. According to the

Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) The was a German government agency based in Berlin which maintained records of members of the former German who were killed in action, as well as official military records of all military personnel during World War II (ca. 18 million) as well a ...

, this process lacks legal justification. Fellgiebel assigned the presentation date. Meindl is mentioned on a list of the for "Nominations and Bestowal of War Awards" from May 1945. This list, which was intended to be presented to

Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (; 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German grand admiral and convicted war criminal who, following Adolf Hitler's Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide, succeeded him as head of state of Nazi Germany during the Second World ...

, contained twelve names of pending nominations which had been submitted via the chain of command. Dönitz never signed the paper. The responsible personnel offices awarded or declined eight nominations from this list by the end of the war, two remained unprocessed by the ('HPA—Army Personnel Office') and ('LPA — Luftwaffe Personnel Office') and two further were left ready for signing at the ('OKW/WFSt—leadership staff of the Army High Command').

References

Sources

* * — vi
Sturmpanzer.com's FMS index
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meindl, Eugen 1892 births 1951 deaths People from Donaueschingen People from the Grand Duchy of Baden German Army personnel of World War I Generals of Parachute Troops Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Military personnel from Baden-Württemberg