Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin

Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin
Born	4 September 1891 Waldshut
Died	9 January 1963 (aged 71) Freiburg
Allegiance	German Empire(to 1918)  Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Heer
Rank	General der Panzertruppe
Commands held	17. Panzer-Division XIV. Panzerkorps
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
Relations	Ferdinand Maria von Senger und Etterlin

Fridolin Rudolf Theodor, Ritter und Edler von Senger und Etterlin (September 4, 1891 – January 9, 1963) was a German general during World War II.

Biography

Early life

Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin was born in Waldshut, Germany, into an aristocratic Roman Catholic family. He began his military career in 1910, serving in an artillery regiment. After that he went to the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

First World War

Senger fought in the First World War, beginning it in 1914 as a second lieutenant and being promoted to lieutenant in 1918. After the war he continued to serve in the Reichswehr as a squadron commander in the 18th Cavalry Regiment. He was promoted to the rank of captain in 1924, to major in 1932, lieutenant-colonel in 1936, and colonel in 1939, while commanding the 22nd Cavalry Regiment.

Second World War

During the Battle of France, Senger und Etterlin commanded the Schnelle Brigade von Senger (Senger's Fast Brigade), and was part of the German commission for the French-Italian Armistice of 1940. On September 1, 1941, he was promoted to Generalmajor (brigadier-general).

On October 10, 1942, Senger und Etterlin was given command of the 17th Panzer Division in Southern Russia. On May 1, 1943, he was promoted to Generalleutnant (major-general). In June 1943 he received the command of the German forces in Sicily during the Battle of Sicily. In August 1943, he took command of the German forces on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. He conducted the evacuation from all of these islands when the German position there became untenable. On October 8, 1943, he received the command of the XIV Panzer Corps in Italy, and on January 1, 1944, he was promoted to General der Panzertruppen (lieutenant-general of armoured troops).

During the Battle of Monte Cassino, Senger und Etterlin fought at the Gustav Line, which included Monte Cassino. The German position was only broken by the Allies in May, 1944.^[1] There was an ironic twist to the battle: the monastery overlooking the town of Cassino which was destroyed by Allied bombing belonged to the Benedictines, the order of which Senger was a lay member.^[2]

Before the battle General von Senger und Etterlin employed the transportation facilities of, among others, the Hermann Goering Panzer Division, to evacuate the treasures of the monastery..

Frido von Senger und Etterlin was one of the generals who opposed the principles of Nazism, and he refused to carry out Hitler's order to execute some 200 Italian officers taken prisoner after Italy switched sides.^[3] Though he did not take part in the July 20 Plot to kill Hitler, his known anti-Nazi feelings resulted in his contribution to the defence of Cassino being played down by the German authorities.^[2]

After the war

After the war he wrote his memoirs, entitled Neither Fear nor Hope (which were translated into English), and he continued to write on military matters and theory. He was invited to the Konigswinter conferences by Lilo Milchsack. These annual conferences helped to heal the bad memories after the end of the Second World War. At the conference he worked with the politician Hans von Herwath, future German President Richard von Weizsäcker and other leading German decision makers as well as British politicians like Dennis Healey, Richard Crossman and the journalist Robin Day.^[4]

In 1950, Senger und Etterlin was one of the authors of the Himmerod memorandum which addressed the issue of rearmament (Wiederbewaffnung) of the Federal Republic of Germany after World War II.

He took part in a BBC Radio discussion on the Battle of Monte Cassino. He was interviewed on the BBC TV programme Face to Face in 1960.

Frido von Senger und Etterlin died in Freiburg. He was the father of Bundeswehr General and military author Ferdinand Maria von Senger und Etterlin (1923–1987).

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class (28 June 1915)
  • 1st Class (17 August 1917)
• Wound Badge (1914)
  • in Black
• Knight's Cross Second Class of the Order of the Zähringer Lion with Swords
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th to 1st Class
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (20 May 1940)
  • 1st Class (8 July 1940)
• German Cross in Gold on 11 October 1943 as Generalleutnant and commander of the German Wehrmacht on Corsica^[5]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 8 February 1943 as Generalmajor and commander of the 17. Panzer-Division
  • 439th Oak Leaves on 5 April 1944 as General der Panzertruppe and commanding general XIV. Panzerkorps
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 5 October 1943

Wehrmachtbericht reference

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
5 October 1943	Unter Führung des Generalleutnants von Senger und Etterlin, der als letzter mit seinem Stabe die Insel verließ, ist hier in ständigen Kampf gegen nachdrängende Badogliotruppen, Gaullisten und Amerikaner und gegen eine starke feindliche Überlegenheit zur See und in der Luft erneut eine einzigartige Leistung vollbracht worden.[6]	Under the leadership of Lieutenant-General von Senger and Etterlin, who was the last with his staff to leave the island, again achieved a unique accomplishment in constant battle against pursuing Badoglio troops, Gaullists and Americans, and against a strong enemy superiority at sea and in the air.

See also

• Senger Line

Notes

1. Fridd von Senger und Etterlin (sic) An Cosantoir, n.d.
2. Majdalany (1957), p. 46
3. Dupuy, Trevor N. (1977). A Genius For War: The German Army General Staff, 1807-1945. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. p. 282. ISBN 0-13-351114-6.
4. Long Life: Presiding Genius, Nigel Nicholson, 15 August 1992, The Spectator, Retrieved 28 November 2015]] ]
5. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 442.
6. Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 2, pp. 575–576.

References

• Majdalany, Fred (1957). Cassino: Portrait of a Battle. London: Longmans, Green.
• 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.
• Schaulen, Fritjof (2005). Eichenlaubträger 1940 – 1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe III Radusch – Zwernemann [Oak Leaves Bearers 1940 – 1945 Contemporary History in Color III Radusch – Zwernemann] (in German). Selent, Germany: Pour le Mérite. ISBN 978-3-932381-22-5.
• 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.
• von Senger und Etterlin, Fridolin (1963). Neither fear nor hope: the wartime career of general Frido von Senger und Etterlin, defender of Cassino. translated from the German by George Malcolm. London: Macdonald.
• 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 2, 1. Januar 1942 bis 31. Dezember 1943 (in German). München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1985. ISBN 3-423-05944-3.

External links