__NOTOC__ Willibald Utz (20 January 1893 – 20 April 1954) was a German general 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 ...

who commanded several divisions. He was a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 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 ...

Life and career

Willibald Utz was born in

Furth im Wald Furth im Wald (in Czech ''Brod nad Lesy'', resp. ''Bavorský Brod'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany, near the Czech Republic, Czech border in the Bavarian Forest, northeast of Cham, Germany, Cham, and southwest of Domažlice. The city is known as ...

in Bavaria on 20 January 1893. In 1913, at the age of 20, he entered the

Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army () was the army of the Electorate of Bavaria, Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom (1806–1918) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereig ...

as an

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

, and by September 1914 he had been commissioned lieutenant. After serving in

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 ...

he joined the inter-war

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 ...

. By the outbreak of

in 1939 he was commander of the 100th (mountain) ''(

Gebirgsjäger ''Gebirgsjäger'' () is a German language, German military term for light infantry trained in mountain warfare. Currently used in the militaries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the term includes the word ''Jäger (military), jäger'', anot ...

)'' Regiment, and was awarded the

for his leadership of this regiment during the invasion of Crete during May and June 1941. In April 1943, Utz was appointed commander of the newly reconstituted

100th Jäger Division 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, Numeral (linguistics), numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest Positive number, positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in o ...

, which had been destroyed at the end of the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

. Promoted to major general (''

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 ...

'') on 1 July 1943, he held his command on the Eastern Front from March to December 1944. Now a lieutenant general (''

generalleutnant () is the German-language variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO ...

''), he took over command of the 2nd Mountain Division on 9 February 1945 when its previous commander was wounded. After fighting on the Western Front in the Saar-Moselle Triangle, his new command, earlier in the war considered an elite unit, was well below strength and combat effectiveness. The division finished the war in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

where Utz surrendered it to the Western Allies.

Awards and decorations

on 21 June 1941 as ''

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 ...

'' (colonel) and commander of Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 100 during the

Battle of Crete The Battle of Crete (, ), codenamed Operation Mercury (), was a major Axis Powers, Axis Airborne forces, airborne and amphibious assault, amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May ...

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Utz, Willibald 1893 births 1954 deaths Lieutenant generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) German Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class People from Furth im Wald Military personnel from the Kingdom of Bavaria Battle of Crete Military personnel from Bavaria German Army generals of World War II Gebirgsjäger of World War II