Walter Petzel (28 December 1883 – 1 October 1965) was a German

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

who finished as a General of Artillery in the

Second World War 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 ...

Life and early career

Petzel was born on 28 December 1883, the son of a landowner, in Oborzysk in the

Province of Posen The Province of Posen (; ) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920, occupying most of the historical Greater Poland. The province was established following the Greater Poland Uprising (1848), Poznań Uprisi ...

in what is now

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He joined the army in 1902 as a ''

Fahnenjunker ''Fahnenjunker'' (short Fhj or FJ, ; ) is a military rank of the Bundeswehr and of some former German armed forces. In earlier German armed forces it was also the collective name for many officer aspirant ranks. It was established by the ''Pre ...

'' and, in 1903, was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in the 1st Posen Field Artillery Regiment Number 20. In 1905, he was posted to the Artillery and Engineer School and, in 1908, became

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

of the 2nd battalion (''Abteilung'') of his field artillery regiment. In 1910, he was sent to the Military Riding Institute for 2 years where he was promoted to lieutenant and, shortly thereafter, married Margarete Hauffe on 28 August 1911.

First World War service

Rejoining his regiment in the post of adjutant in 1913, he was sent to the front at the start of the

First World War 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 ...

. In September that year he was badly wounded. In November he was promoted to the rank of captain and, in January 1915, was appointed as adjutant of the 10th Field Artillery Brigade. In December 1916, he returned to his Posen regiment, this time as a battery commander. In August 1917, he was appointed as a battalion commander within his regiment. For his service during the war, he was awarded a Knight's Cross of the

House Order of Hohenzollern The House Order of Hohenzollern ( or ') was a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Hohenzollern awarded to military commissioned officers and civilians of comparable status. Associated with the various versions of the order were crosses an ...

and both

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 ...

es as well as the

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 ...

Inter-war service

Following the end of the war, Petzel transferred to 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 ...

as a captain and initially commanded batteries within the 5th Reichswehr Artillery and 3rd (Prussian) Artillery Regiments. Over the next few years he served as a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large milita ...

within the HQs of 1st Cavalry Division and 3rd Division of the Reichswehr before being promoted to colonel in 1933 and commanding the horse artillery of the Inspectorate of the Cavalry. In 1935 he was appointed briefly as the CO of 76th Artillery Regiment, but only a month later was promoted to major general and appointed as Artillery Commander 3 (Arko 3),Mitcham, Samuel W. ''The Rise of the Wehrmacht: Vol 1''. London: Praeger, 2008. p. 216. a peacetime post in

Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Marchian dialects, Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With a ...

and, later, as commander of the 3rd Infantry (or Motorised) Division there.Mitcham, Samuel W. ''German Order of Battle: Panzer, Panzer Grenadier and Waffen SS Divisions in World War II''. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole, 2007. In 1938, he was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed as Inspector of Artillery.

Second World War service

In 1939, as 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 ...

mobilised, Petzel took over the I Army Corps as its commanding general and led it during the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

. On 1 October 1939 he was promoted to General of Artillery and Commander I Army Corps, but was almost immediately given command of two military districts,

Wehrkreis The military districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name as Wehrkreise (singular: ''Wehrkreis''), were administrative territorial units in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. The task of military dist ...

III and Wehrkreis XXI with his headquarters in German occupied city of Posen (today

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

). In 1945 he was commandant of the German occupied Posen Fortress, but was retired on 29 January 1945 just before the region was overrun.

Post-war years

Petzel escaped to the west and settled in

Hamelin Hameln ( ; ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hameln-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. History Hameln ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, where he died on 1 October 1965.

Decorations

(1914) II and I class *

(1918) in Black * Knight's Cross of the House Order of Hohenzollern with swords *

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 silver on 1 October 1943

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petzel, Walter 1883 births 1965 deaths Generals of Artillery (Wehrmacht) German Army generals of World War II German Army personnel of World War I Major generals of the Reichswehr Recipients of the German Cross Recipients of the Iron Cross, 1st class