| Emil Leeb | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 17, 1881 Passau |
| Died | September 8, 1969 Munich |
| Allegiance | German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany |
| Years of service | 43 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | Commander of ‘Military District XI’; Chief des Heereswaffenamt |
| Battles/wars | Lothringen, Nordfrankreich, Galizien, Karpathen, Flandern and Ruckzug Nordfrankreich (World War I) |
Emil Leeb (17 June 1881 - 8 Sept. 1969) was a German general who served during World War II. His older brother was Fieldmarshall Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb; W. Ritter was a “von Leeb”, he was not “noble born” but W. Ritter’s title of “von” derived from the patent of knighthood carried by the Bavarian order: Militaer-Max-Joseph, which had been conferred upon him. Hence, the younger Emil had no “von” in his name.
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Leeb entered Army service on 7 July 1901. After being promoted to Leutnant (junior lieutenant) on 9 March 1903 he served in the ‘4th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment König’ (7 July 1901-2 June 1914). During this period he attended the War School in Munich, the Bavarian Artillery & Engineer School, and then studied at the Bavarian War Academy. He was promoted to Oberleutnant (senior lieutenant) on 26 Oct 1911 and then to Hauptmann (captain) on 1 June 1915.
Several months prior to the start of World War I, he became an adjutant of the ‘1st Bavarian Reserve Field Artillery Regiment’ (2 June 1914-4 March 1915), then served as an adjutant for several months at the ‘10th Bavarian Infantry Division’ (4 March 1915-11 May 1915), before becoming its 2nd General Staff Officer (11 May 1915-1 June 1917). He was promoted to Hauptmann (captain) on 1 June 1915. He then transferred to the General staff in ‘XV. Reserve Korps’ (13 Aug 1917-24 Dec 1917). After staffing very briefly at the ‘Artillery Survey School Wahn’ (12 Nov 1917-17 Nov 1917), he was assigned to the ‘Army Artillery Firing School Bitsch’ (24 Dec 1917-1 March 1918), before transferring back to the General Staff of ‘XV. Reserve Corps’ (1 March 1918-19 May 1918). Once again he was briefly detached to the staff of ‘Army Artillery Firing School Bitsch’ (19 May 1918-22 Aug 1918) before transferring back into the General Staff of ‘XV. Reserve Corps’ (22 Aug 1918-5 Oct 1918). For the last month of the war he became the 1st General Staff Officer of the ‘2nd Bavarian Infantry Division’ (5 Oct 1918-1 Jan 1919) and participated in battles around Lorraine, Northern France, Galicia, the Carpathian Mountains, Flanders and the withdrawal from Northern France.
During 1919 Leeb served as a staff officer with the ‘4th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment’, the Detachment Hierl (Freikorps), the ‘24th Reichswehr Brigade’, ‘Niederwerfung des Spartacus Aufstandes’ in Bayern, before landing at the Reichs War Ministry (1 Oct 1919-1 Oct 1921). He stabilized for awhile at the ‘7th Artillery Regiment’ (1 Oct 1921-1 Oct 1924), before becoming a Tactics instructor at the War Academy (7th Division )in Munchen (1924 -1 Oct 1928). A decade after his last promotion, he became a Major on 1 Feb 1925. He rotated back to the ‘7th Artillery Regiment’ (1 Oct 1928-1 Feb 1929) before serving with the ‘II. Battalion of the 7th Artillery Regiment’ (1 Feb 1929-1 Oct 1929). He then became commander of the ‘Gebirgsart. Abt and Beobachtungs Abt.’ [Mountain Transport Squadron] in Landsberg (1 Oct 1929-1 April 1933). He was promoted to Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) on 1 Dec 1929. Just a few years later he was promoted to Oberst (Colonel) on 1 Oct 1932. He became a supply officer [Provision Matters] in the War Ministry (1 April 1933-1 April 1936), before promotion to Generalmajor (similar to a one-star Brigadier General in the U.S. Army) on 1 July 1935, and later commander of the ‘XV Div zuerst Warzburg’ [15th Infantry Div.] (1 April 1936-1 April 1939) in Frankfurt-am-Main. After promotion to Generalleutnant in early 1937, he became Commanding General of ‘XI Armeeskorps und Befehlshaber des Wehrkreises’ [XI. Army Corps] (1 April 1939-16 April 1940) in Hanover, where he was responsible for recruiting, training, and mobilization. During this period he was promoted to General der Artillerie (1 April 1939) and also became commander of ‘Military District XI’ (1 April 1939-31 Aug 1939).
1 Sept 1939: Emil Leeb was the 30th most-senior general at the start of the war. He participated in the invasion of Poland with his XI Corps attacking towards Warsaw. He initially reported to Gen. W. von Reichenau (Tenth Army), before his unit formed the left wing of von Reichenau's drive towards Lodz. Later, his unit was transferred to Gen. Blaskowitz (Eighth Army) in his drive from the central-east region of Germany into central-west Poland, before sweeping towards Warsaw. On 15 April 1940 Leeb became ‘Chief des Heereswaffenamt’ (HWA: Army Ordinance Weapons Depot) at the War Ministry in Berlin (15 April 1940-1 Jan 1945). His predecessor had committed suicide because he was unable to properly supply the field units with ammunition. During this period Leeb also served as an advisor to the ‘Reichs Works AG for Weapons and Mechanical Engineering’ that was directed by Airfieldmarshall Herman Goering in Berlin (17 Jan 1941-29 Dec 1942), and then served as a member of the Armaments Advisory (1942-1 May 1945). On 23 Nov 1943 Leeb escaped injury when his office in Berlin was bombed during an air raid. In late 1944 his section became part of Himmler's Replacement Army. The day following Adolf Hitler’s death, Leeb retired on 1 May 1945. The war lasted barely a week longer until Hitler’s successor, GrossAdmiral Doenitz, surrendered Germany to the Allies on 7 May.