SOME OF THE PRISONERS HELD AT
SPECIAL CAMP
11
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NAME: Generaloberst
Gotthard Heinrici
PW NO: 560270
RANK: Generaloberst
CAPTURED: Huerna bei Flensburg
DATE: 28 May 1945
PERSONAL
DATE OF BIRTH:
21 December 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH: Gumbinnen / Ostpreußen
DATE OF DEATH: 13 December 1971
PLACE OF DEATH: Waiblingen / Württemberg
NATIONALITY: German
RELIGION: Evangelical
OCCUPATION: Regular Soldier
HEIGHT: 5' 7"
WEIGHT: 161 lbs
HAIR COLOUR: Grey
EYE COLOYR: Blue
NEXT OF KIN: Gertrud Heinrici, Muenster Westfalen, (British Zone)
Account
The Heinrici family had been soldiers since the 12th century, so it was not
surprising that he should continue the tradition by joining the 95th Infantry
Regiment in 1905.
Heinrici played an important part in the fighting on the Eastern Front, being
appointed to command the 4th Army in January 1942.
He was a very professional military man who had a reputation for being a master
of defensive tactics. On 20 March 1945, Heinrici succeeded Reichsführer-SS
Heinrich Himmler as Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Weichsel [Vistula] on
the Eastern Front. On the 17 April 1945, Heinrici was made responsible
for the defence of Berlin, but Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel, the Chief
of the Armed Forces High Command, personally relieved him of his command on
29th April because he ordered a withdrawal despite Hitler’s wishes to the
contrary. Keitel later recalled the incident in his memoirs:
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“…Colonel-General Heinrici telephoned me…announcing that in view of the continued worsening of the situation…he had ordered his Army Group to resume its retreat. I told him that his attitude—for which there was no valid justification whatsoever—was flagrant disobedience. He countered that in that case he would no longer accept responsibility for the command of his troops, for whom he claimed he alone was responsible. I replied that in my view he was no longer suitable to command an Army Group, and that he was to consider himself dismissed: he was to relinquish his command to the senior army commander [21st Army], General [Kurt] von Tippelskirch.” |
Heinrici was related to Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt and spent much time with him at Island Farm. (See picture of Heinrici returning from the Nuremburg War Trials with Generalfeldmarschall von Rundstedt and General der Infanterie Günther Blumentritt. Click here for link.)
- Fahnenjunker: 8 March 1905
- Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier: 19 July 1905
- Fähnrich: 19 December 1905
- Leutnant: 18 August 1906 (Patent 15 February 1905)
- Oberleutnant: 17 February 1914
- Hauptmann: 18 June 1915
- Major: 1 February 1926
- Oberstleutnant: 1 August 1930
- Oberst: 1 March 1933
- Generalmajor: 1 January 1936
- Generalleutnant: 1 March 1938
- General der Infanterie: 1 June 1940
- Generaloberst: 30 January 1943 (RDA 1 January
1943)
Commands & Assignments:
- 8 March 1905: Entered Army service as a Fahnenjunker
in 6. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.95.
- 1905-1906: War School Hannover.
- 10 May 1905: Adjutant of the II. Battalion of
Infantry Regiment 95.
- November 1914: Regimental Adjutant of Infantry
Regiment 95, Gotha.
- 1915: Company Leader in and, later, Battalion
Leader of II. Battalion of Infantry Regiment 95.
- May 1916: Adjutant of the 83rd Infantry Brigade.
- 27 August 1916: Transferred to a General Staff
position in the General Command of XXIV Reserve Corps.
- 7 December 1916: Transferred to the General Staff
of the 115th Infantry Division.
- 13 March 1917: In this position, transferred to
the General Staff of the Army.
- 28 March 1917: Transferred to the General Staff
of Inspectorate 15.
- September 1917: General Staff course in Sedan.
- 9 October 1917: Officer of the Army and transferred
as Second General Staff Officer for Special Employment to the General Command
of the VII Army Corps.
- 4 December 1917: Transferred to the High Command
of Army Detachment B for Special Employment (VIII Army Corps).
- 28 February 1918: Operations Officer (Ia) in the
General Staff of the 203rd Infantry Division.
- 19 January 1919: Transferred back to Infantry
Regiment 95.
- 18 February 1919: Transferred to the General Staff
of the I Army Corps; took part in the border defense of East Prussia as
Operations Officer (Ia) of Volunteer Division von Tschischwitz.
- 1 October 1919: Transferred to the staff of Wehrkreis
[Military District] Command I.
- 1 October 1920: Tactics Instructor for leader
assistant training on the staff of the 1st Division.
- 1 September 1924: Chief of the 14th Company in
Infantry Regiment 13, Schwäbisch-Gmünd.
- 1 October 1927: Transferred to the Reich Defense
Ministry as Group Leader in the Army Organization Department (T2), Troop
Office.
- 1 October 1930: Transferred to Infantry Regiment
3.
- 1 November 1930: Commander of the III. Battalion
of Infantry Regiment 3, Osterode.
- 7 October 1930-30 October 1930: Detached to the
Firing Course for Heavy Infantry Weapons in Döberitz.
- 10 September 1931-1 October 1931: Detached to
the Lithuanian Army.
- 1 October 1932: Operations Officer (Ia) on staff
of Group Command 1, Berlin.
- 1 February 1933: Transferred to the Reich Defense
Ministry as Chief of the General Department of the Defense Office.
- 1 March 1933: Department Chief in the Reich Defense
Ministry, on 21 May 1935 in the Reich War Ministry.
- 1 June 1937: Chief of the Replacement and Army
Matters Office Group in the Reich War Ministry/AHA (Ag EH(AHA) (after introduction
of conscription).
- 12 October 1937: Commander of the 16th Infantry
Division, Münster/Westfalen.
- 31 January 1940: Führer Reserve in the Army High
Command.
- 31 January 1940-12 February 1940: Delegated with
the leadership of the VII Army Corps.
- 8 April 1940: Delegated with the leadership of
the XII Army Corps.
- 18 June 1940-20 January 1942: Commanding General
of the XXXXIII Army Corps. [Heinrici’s corps took part in the invasion of
France in May-June 1940 and was engaged in Russia from 22 June 1941.]
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