Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg

Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg

Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg
Born (1886-03-02)2 March 1886
Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia,
German Empire
Died 27 January 1974(1974-01-27) (aged 87)
Irschenhausen near Munich,
West Germany
Allegiance  German Empire (to 1918)
 Weimar Republic (to 1933)
 Nazi Germany
Service/branch Wehrmacht
Years of service 1904–1945
Rank General der Panzertruppe
Battles/wars

World War I

World War II
Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Leo Dietrich Franz Freiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg[lower-alpha 1] (2 March 1886 – 27 January 1974) was a German cavalry officer in World War I and a general during World War II. He commanded the 5th Panzer Army during the Invasion of Normandy.

Early life and career

Geyr was born in Potsdam and joined the German Army in 1904. In World War I he fought on several fronts and rose to the rank of captain. After the war, he remained in the army, becoming an Oberst in 1932, and a Generalmajor in 1935. From 1933 to 1937, he was a military attaché to the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands, residing in London. Promoted to Generalleutnant upon his return from London, he took command of the 3rd Panzer (armoured) Division in 1937.

World War II

From 1 September – 7 October 1939 Geyr commanded the 3rd Panzer Division during the invasion of Poland. He was promoted to General der Kavallerie of the XXIV Panzer Corps on 15 February 1940. In 1940 he commanded the XXIV Panzer Corps in the Invasion of France. In 1941, in the invasion of the Soviet Union, Geyr’s XXIV Panzer Corps was part of General Heinz Guderian’s Second Panzer Army, which spearheaded the advance of Army Group Centre during the Battle of Moscow. On 9 July 1941, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross as General der Panzertruppe.

From 21 July, taking over from the court-martialed Georg Stumme,[1] to 30 September 1942, he was commanding General of the XXXX Panzer Corps, taking part in the fighting in the Caucasus. Geyr was relieved in a command cadre shakeup at the end of September 1942.[1]

In the spring of 1943 Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt ordered Geyr to prepare a force of 10 Panzer and motorised infantry divisions. On 19 November 1943 Geyr's command was formalised as Panzer Group West, which had responsibility for the training and formation of all armoured units in the west. This group of armoured divisions near Paris constituted the Germans’ main force of tanks in France.

The Allied invasion of Normandy took place on June 6, 1944. By June 8, Geyr moved three panzer divisions northward against British and Canadian forces advancing on the town of Caen.

On 10 June 1944, Geyr was wounded when Royal Air Force aircraft attacked his newly established headquarters at La Caine in Normandy. Geyr had previously not had experience dealing with an enemy that had air superiority, and did not camouflage his HQ. British reconnaissance planes were able to spot it due to large concentration of staff vehicles, including wireless trucks. The next day the RAF bombed it with precision. The HQ and vehicles were destroyed. Several staff officers were killed; others were wounded. The confusion and destruction forced the cancellation of the counterattack.[2]

Geyr was relieved of command on July 2. He was succeeded by Heinrich Eberbach and served as Inspector General of Armoured Troops until the closing phase of the war.

Post-war

Between 1945 and 1947, Geyr was in American captivity. He participated in the work of the U.S. Army Historical Division, whereas, under the guidance of Franz Halder, German generals wrote World War II operational studies for the U.S. Army, first as POWs and then as employees.[3][4] After his release Geyr wrote a memoir of his years in London as a military attaché, Erinnerungen eines Militärattachés, London 1933–1937 (1949), which was translated and published along with additional material covering his life through World War II as The Critical Years (1952). Geyr died in Irschenhausen near Munich.

Works and memoirs

Ranks

Awards and decorations

Notes

  1. ↑ Regarding personal names: Freiherr was a title before 1919, but now is regarded as part of the surname. It is translated as Baron. Before the August 1919 abolition of nobility as a legal class, titles preceded the full name when given (Graf Helmuth James von Moltke). Since 1919, these titles, along with any nobiliary prefix (von, zu, etc.), can be used, but are regarded as a dependent part of the surname, and thus come after any given names (Helmuth James Graf von Moltke). Titles and all dependent parts of surnames are ignored in alphabetical sorting. The feminine forms are Freifrau and Freiin.

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. 
  • Glantz, David M.; House, Jonathan (2009). To the Gates of Stalingrad: Soviet-German Combat Operations, April-August 1942. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 9780700616305. 
  • Kienle, Polly (2005). "Still Fighting for the Myth: German Wehrmacht Officers' Reports for the U.S. Historical Division". H-net.com. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. 
  • Searle, Alaric. "Wehrmacht Generals, West German Society, and the Debate on Rearmament, 1949–1959," Praeger Pub., 2003.
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2. 
  • Wette, Wolfram (2007). The Wehrmacht: History, Myth, Reality. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674025776. 
Military offices
Preceded by
Generalmajor Ernst Feßmann		 Commander of 3. Panzer-Division
1 September 1939 – 7 October 1939 		Succeeded by
Generalleutnant Horst Stumpff
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