Heinrich von Vietinghoff

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Heinrich Goffried von Vietinghoff gennant Scheel (6 December 1887 Mainz - 23 February 1952 Pfrontenried) was a General of the German Wehrmacht during World War II.

His military career was strongly supported by his parents, Sgt. Hans-Hermann von Vietinghoff and his mother Julia Justyna Kuhn (born Beuth). This early contacts to military life made him joining the army in the age of 15, where he had to lie about his age in the first years.

On 24th November 1938 von Vietinghoff was appointed commander of the 5th Panzer Division and took part in the invasion of Poland under Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb. He was promoted to General in June 1940 after which he led the German XLVI Panzer Corps in Yugoslavia. During Operation Barbarossa his Corps was part of Army Group Centre under General Fedor von Bock. In this time, he had an accident after which he got his nickname "Panzerknacker" ("Tank breaker"). Von Vietinghoff also later served with General Heinz Guderian in the German Second Panzer Army.

From December 1941 to August 1943 he was Commander-in-Chief of the German Fifteenth Army in France. In Italy from 1943 onwards he commanded German Tenth Army, which was responsible for the telling delaying actions through the successive defensive lines built across Italy. Notable in this context were the defenses on the Winter Line from November 1944 to May 1945 and the fighting in the autumn of 1944 on the Gothic Line. In October 1944 he was temporarily raised to overall command in Italy (German Army Group C) when Field Marshall Albrecht Kesselring was seriously injured in a car crash^[1]. In January 1945, on Kesselring's return, he left Italy to command Army Group Courland in East Prussia. When Kesselring was moved in March 1945 to command German Army Group West in France von Vietinghoff returned as the supreme German commander in Italy^[2]. He surrendered on 2nd May 1945 and remained a prisoner of war until 1946.

Contents 1 Awards 2 See also 3 Bibliography 4 References

[edit] Awards

1. Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross - 24 June 1940
2. Oakleaves (No. 456)- 16 April 1944
3. German Cross in Gold - 22 April 1942
4. Prussian Royal Hohenzollern House Order - Knight’s Cross with Swords
5. Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class (1914) - 23 April 1915
6. Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class (1914) - 13 September 1914
7. 1939 Bar to the Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class - 28 September 1939
8. 1939 Bar to the Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class - 21 September 1939
9. Medal for the Winter Campaign in Russia 1941-1942 (East Medal)
10. Saxon Albert Order, Knight 2nd Class with Swords
11. Mecklenburg-Schwerin Military Merit Cross, 2nd Class
12. Saxe-Meiningen Cross for War Merit
13. Lübeck Hanseatic Cross
14. Cross of Honor for Combatants 1914-1918
15. Armed Forces Long Service Award, 1st Class (25-years)
16. Armed Forces Long Service Award, 3rd Class (12-years)
17. Austrian Order of the Iron Crown, 3rd Class with War Decoration
18. Austrian Military Merit Cross, 3rd Class with War Decoration
19. Turkish War Medal (Iron Crescent)
20. Bulgarian Military Merit Order (Officer’s Cross)
21. Panzer Assault Badge (Silver)
22. Wound Badge in Black – World War I

[edit] See also

• Italian Campaign (World War II)
• Winter Line
• Gustav Line
• Operation Shingle
• Gothic Line

[edit] Bibliography

• Gregory Blaxland (1979). Alexander's Generals (the Italian Campaign 1944-1945). London: William Kimber & Co. ISBN 0 7183 0386 5. 

[edit] References