Werner Kempf

Werner Kempf

Werner Kempf (right) in discussion with Hermann Breith (center) and Walter Chales de Beaulieu (left) during Operation Citadel at Kursk on 21 June 1943
Born (1886-03-09)9 March 1886
Königsberg
Died 6 January 1964(1964-01-06) (aged 77)
Bad Harzburg
Allegiance  German Empire (to 1918)
 Weimar Republic (to 1933)
 Nazi Germany
Service/branch Heer
Years of service 1905–45
Rank General der Panzertruppe
Battles/wars

World War I

World War II
Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

General Werner Kempf (9 March 1886 – 6 January 1964) was a Panzer General in the German army during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (mit Eichenlaub).

Before World War II

He joined the Imperial German Army on 14 March 1905 and served in the 149th Infantry Regiment. In World War I he reached the rank of Hauptmann. He then served in the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht. On 1 October 1937 Kempf took command of the newly formed 4th Panzer Brigade in Stuttgart. He was promoted to Generalmajor on 18 January 1939.

World War II

At the beginning of World War II he took part in the invasion of Poland,[1] commanding the eponymous Panzer Division Kempf, also known as the Panzerverband Ostpreußen (Panzer Group East Prussia), of the 3rd Army under Georg von Küchler. As divisional commander, he received the capitulation of Fort Zakroczym at the conclusion of the Battle of Modlin. The division returned to East Prussia at the end of the Poland campaign, and Kempf was named commander of the 1st Light Division, renamed 6th Panzer Division, on 18 October 1939.

In 1939 and 1940 Kempf led the 6th Panzer Division into the Battle of France.[1] He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 3 June 1940 for his role in the campaign, and was promoted to Generalleutnant on 1 August 1940. On 6 January 1941, he was ordered to form XXXXVIII. Armeekorps (motorized), and became its commander, along with a promotion to General der Panzertruppe, on 1 April 1941. With this corps Kempf took part in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, starting on 22 June 1941, as part of Panzer Group 1 of Army Group South,[1] where the corps took part in the Battle of Uman and Battle of Kiev (1941), and pushed as far as Kursk.

From 5 May 1942 he was commanding general of the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps and was in this position on 10 August 1942 when he was awarded the Oak leaves to the Knight's Cross. In July 1943, he participated in the Battle of Kursk as commander of the 'Army Detachment Kempf' on the Eastern Front. From May to September 1944 he was commander of the Wehrmacht in the Baltics. He was then moved to the leadership reserve until he was taken into captivity in May 1945. He was released in 1947.

Awards and decorations

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Glantz & House 2009, p. 25.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Thomas 1997, p. 356.
  3. ↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 208.
  4. ↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 54.

Bibliography

  • Alman, Karl (2008). Panzer vor - Die dramtische Geschichte der deutschen Panzerwaffe und ihre tapferen Soldaten (in German). Würzburg, Germany: Flechsig Verlag. ISBN 978-3-88189-638-2.
  • 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. 
  • 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 978-0-7006-1630-5. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • Glantz, David M.; House, Jonathan (2009). To the Gates of Stalingrad: Soviet-German Combat Operations, April-August 1942. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. p. 25. ISBN 9780700616305. 

External links

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