Albert Frey (SS officer)

See also Albert Frey (disambiguation) for other persons with the same name

Albert Frey
Born	16 February 1913 Heidelberg, Grand Duchy of Baden
Died	1 September 2003 (aged 90) Heilbronn, Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1933–45
Rank	Standartenführer (Colonel)
Unit	1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
Commands held	9th Company LSSAH 1st Company LSSAH 3rd Grenadier Battalion LSSAH 1st Battalion, 1st Panzer Grenadier Regiment LSSAH 1st SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment LSSAH 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class German Cross in Gold Infantry Assault Clasp in Bronze Winter War Medal 1941/42 Wound Badge in Bronze Sudetenland Medal SS Honour Ring[1]

Albert Frey (16 February 1913 – 1 September 2003) was a Standartenführer (Colonel) in the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. He was born on 16 February 1913 in Heidelberg, the son of a master baker. In December 1933 he joined the SS-Verfügungstruppe.^[2]

In 1937 as an SS Oberscharführer (Staff Sergeant), he attended the SS Junker school at Brunswick where he came out in the top 12 on the course.^[3]

In March 1938 he was promoted to an SS-Sturmfuhrer (Second Lieutenant) and was posted as a platoon commander to the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler Regiment.^[3]

On 20 April 1939 he was again promoted to SS-Obersturmführer (First Lieutenant) and given command of the 9th company of the Leibstandarte, for the Poland Campaign and the Battle of France.^[3]

In November 1940 he took command of the 1st Company LSSAH which he commanded throughout the Balkans Campaign. After the start of Operation Barbarossa he was in July 1941 given command of the 3rd Battalion LSSAH. With this battalion he had a decisive impact on the subsequent battle, capturing a bridge over the Mius north of Taganrog. The bridge was then attacked by three Russian armored trains. Despite severe losses all three armored trains were destroyed. For this action Frey was awarded the German Cross in Gold. Frey proved himself again in the fighting at Kharkov through his personal courage and leadership of his battalion.^[3]

On April 20, 1942, he was promoted to SS-Sturmbannführer (Major) and in July 1942 he took over the 1st battalion of the newly established 1st SS Panzer-Grenadier Regiment LSSAH.^[3]

For his achievements during the battle between the Donetz and Dnepr at the beginning of 1943, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and a short time later he was appointed commander of the 1st SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment. He had a brief deployment in Italy, where he convinced an Italian General it was better to surrender than fight. He captured 10.000 prisoners.^[3]

He quickly returned to the Eastern Front for the Battle of Kursk where he commanded a battle group, consisting of his regiment, a Panther tank Battalion, an assault gun Company and an artillery Battalion, which fought in the Kiev region. For this successful defence, he received on 27 December 1943 the oak leaves to the Knight's Cross. In March 1944 he was given command of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and transferred to the area Kamenez – Podolsk.^[3]

In June 1944 the Division was in France for the Battle of Normandy, during which Frey was seriously wounded and had to give up command of the Division.^[3]

Later in August 1944, he became a staff officer in the headquarters of 6th SS Panzer Army. At the end of the war he was a liaison officer to the Gauleiter for the Upper Danube. He subsequently fled abroad so as to escape captivity.^[3]

Albert Frey and his wife Lotte died in the morning of September 1, 2003 in Heilbronn.^[3]

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (25 September 1939)^[4]
  • 1st Class (30 June 1940)^[4]
• German Cross in Gold on 17 November 1941 as SS-Hauptsturmführer in the III./Bataillon "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"^[5]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 3 March 1943 as SS-Sturmbannführer and commander of the I./SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"^[6][7]
  • 359th Oak Leaves on 29 December 1943 as SS-Obersturmbannführer and commander of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 1 "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"^{[8][Note 1]}

Notes

1. According to Scherzer on 20 December 1943.^[6]

References

Citations

1. "biography".
2. "ww2.militaria".
3. "person.registar".
4. Thomas 1997, p. 180.
5. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 122.
6. Scherzer 2007, p. 318.
7. Fellgiebel 2000, pp. 186, 491.
8. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 76.

Bibliography

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. 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.
• Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
• 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.
• Thomas, Franz (1997). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 1: A–K [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 1: A–K] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2299-6.