Erich Marcks

Erich Marcks
Born	6 June 1891 Schöneberg, Berlin, Germany
Died	12 June 1944 (aged 53) Hébécrevon, Saint-Lô, Normandy, France
Buried at	German War Cemetery, Marigny
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918)  Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Heer
Years of service	1910–44
Rank	General der Artillerie
Unit	German LXXXIV Army Corps
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
Relations	Gerhard Marcks (cousin)

Erich Marcks (6 June 1891 – 12 June 1944) was a German general of artillery in the Second World War. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, awarded by Nazi Germany to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Marcks is known as the first draft of the operational plan, Operation Draft East, for the invasion of the Soviet Union, advocating what was later known as A-A line as the goal for the Wehrmacht to achieve, within nine to seventeen weeks.

Operation Draft East

In the summer of 1940, Franz Halder, chief of OKH General Staff, directed Marcks to draft an initial operational plan for the invasion of the Soviet Union. Marcks produced a report entitled "Operation Draft East". Citing the need to "protect Germany against enemy bombers", the report advocated the A-A line as the operational objective of the invasion of "Russia" (sic). This goal was a line from Arkhangelsk on the Arctic Sea through Gorky and Rostov to the port city of Astrakhan at the mouth of the Volga on the Caspian Sea. Marcks envisioned that the campaign, including the capture of Moscow and beyond, would require between nine to seventeen weeks to complete.^[1]

The Marcks Plan (published 5 August 1940) showing the A-A line in the invasion of the Soviet Union.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class (25 September 1914)^[2]
  • 1st Class (August 1915)^[2]
• Wound Badge (1914)
  • in Black
• Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th to 2nd Classes
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (21 September 1939)^[2]
  • 1st Class (29 September 1939)^[2]
• Wound Badge (1939)
  • in Gold
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 26 June 1941 as Generalleutnant and commander of 101. leichten Infanterie-Division^[3][4]
  • 503rd Oak Leaves on 24 June 1944 as General der Artillerie and commander of LXXXIV. Armee-Korps^[3][5]
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 13 June 1944

Wehrmachtbericht reference

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
13 June 1944	Der kommandierende General eines Armeekorps, General der Artillerie Marcks, der tapferer Verteidiger der Halbinsel Cherbourg, fand bei den schweren Kämpfen in vorderster Linie der Heldentod.[6]	The commanding general of an Army Corps, General der Artillerie Marcks, the brave defender of the Cherbourg Peninsula, found a hero's death in the heavy fighting at the front line.

In popular culture

• In the 1962 film The Longest Day, Erich Marcks was portrayed by the German actor Richard Münch.

References

Citations

1. Kay 2011, p. 31.
2. Thomas 1998, p. 58.
3. Scherzer 2007, p. 526.
4. Fellgiebel 2000, pp. 302, 497.
5. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 84.
6. Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Volume 3, p. 126.

Bibliography

• Beevor, Antony (2009). D-Day: The Battle for Normandy. London: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-88703-3.
• 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.
• Kay, Alex J. (2011) [2006]. Exploitation, Resettlement, Mass Murder: Political and Economic Planning for German Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union, 1940–1941. New York: Berghahn Books. ISBN 9781845451868.
• 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.
• Stockert, Peter (2012). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 6 [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 6] (in German) (3rd ed.). Bad Friedrichshall, Germany: Friedrichshaller Rundblick. OCLC 76072662.
• Thomas, Franz (1998). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 2: L–Z [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 2: L–Z] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2300-9.
• Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 3, 1. Januar 1944 bis 9. Mai 1945 [The Wehrmacht Reports 1939–1945 Volume 3, 1 January 1944 to 9 May 1945] (in German). München, Germany: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN 978-3-423-05944-2.

External links

• "Ich würfelte mit dem Schicksal—Dwight D. Eisenhower und die Invasion am 6. Juni 1944". Der Spiegel (in German) 23. 1964. Retrieved 10 November 2013.