Joachim Lemelsen
| Joachim Lemelsen | |
|---|---|
Joachim Lemelsen
|
|
| Born |
28 September 1888 Berlin |
| Died |
30 March 1954 (aged 65) Göttingen |
| Allegiance |
German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany |
| Years of service | 1907–45 |
| Rank | General der Panzertruppe |
| Commands held |
XLVII Motorized Corps 1. Armee 14. Armee |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves |
Joachim Hermann August Lemelsen (28 September 1888 – 30 March 1954) was a German general during the Second World War. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.
Early years
Born in Berlin as the son of a German career military officer, Lemelsen entered the German army in 1907. During the First World War Lemelsen served as an artillery officer until 1916, when he was transferred to the staff of the 52nd infantry division. In 1917 he was transferred to the staff of the commanding officer of the German sea coast, Josias von Heeringen, commanded a battalion and was sent to the staff of the VI Reserve Corps. Lemelsen ended the war as a captain with the Iron Cross First and Second class and the House Order of Hohenzollern.
Interbellum
After the Armistice, Lemelsen returned to the artillery. He served as commandant of the Artillery School in 1934 and as commandant of the Infantry School in 1935. In March 1938, Lemelsen was given command of the 29th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht), later motorized, with which he participated in the invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Second World War
Lemelsen and the 29th served in the Polish campaign {the 29th was involved in the Massacre in Ciepielów of 8 September 1939} and the early stages of the Battle of France. On May 28, 1940 Lemelsen was given command of the 5th Panzer Division with which he participated in the Dunkirk campaign.
On November 25, 1940, Lemelsen was given command of the new XLVII Motorized Corps, which he led in the capture of Smolensk and the battles of Kiev and Bryansk. The Corps was designated a Panzer Corps in June 1942 and participated as such in anti-partisan operations and in the Battle of Kursk. Lemelsen made a strong but futile protest to the Wehrmacht High Command against the shooting of unarmed Russian prisoners during the early phases of Operation Barbarossa.
After having commanded the XLVII Panzer Corps in Russia, Lemelsen was placed in the Army Leadership Reserve and temporarily commanded the Tenth Army in Italy for two months until the end of December 1943. Lemelsen was given command of the First Army, stationed near the Atlantic coast in France in May 1944. Only one month later, upon the Allies' capture of Rome and landing in Normandy on the same day, Lemelsen was transferred to Italy to take over command of the Fourteenth Army to replace Eberhard von Mackensen who the theatre commander Albert Kesselring had dismissed. Lemelsen commanded the army in the Italian Campaign from June 1944 until mid October when he was given command of Germany's other major formation in Italy 10th Army. In February 1945 he returned to the leadership of 14th Army until the end of hostilities in Italy in early May.
Imprisoned by British forces after the war, Lemelsen in 1947 testified on behalf of his former commander,[2] Generalfeldmarschall Kesselring, during Kesselring’s war crimes trial before a British military court convened at Venice, Italy. Soon thereafter, Lemelsen was freed from captivity. Kesselring, however, received a death sentence, immediately commuted to life imprisonment. Lemelsen's former commander was nevertheless released from prison five years later on health grounds.
For his service, Lemelsen was awarded the German Cross in Gold and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oakleaves.
Released from captivity in 1947, General der Panzertruppen Joachim Lemelsen died in Göttingen in 1954.
Awards
- Iron Cross (1914)
- Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg (14 April 1917)
- Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords (30 October 1918)
- Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
- Sudetenland Medal with Prague Castle Bar
- Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
-
Wound Badge (1939)
- in Black (14 June 1942)
- Eastern Front Medal (1 August 1942)
- Panzer Badge in Silver (13 January 1942)
- German Cross in Gold (15 July 1942)
-
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
- Knight's Cross on 27 July 1941 as General der Panzertruppe and commanding general of the XXXXVII. Panzerkorps[4][5]
- 294th Oak Leaves on 7 September 1943 as General der Panzertruppe and commanding general of the XXXXVII. Panzerkorps[4][6]
References
- Citations
- Bibliography
- Alman, Karl (2008). Panzer vor - Die dramtische Geschichte der deutschen Panzerwaffe und ihre tapferen Soldaten. Würzburg, Germany: Flechsig Verlag. ISBN 978-3-88189-638-2.
- Hastings, Max (2011). Inferno: the world at war, 1939-1945. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-27359-8.
- 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.
- Schaulen, Fritjof (2004). Eichenlaubträger 1940 – 1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe II Ihlefeld - Primozic [Oak Leaves Bearers 1940 – 1945 Contemporary History in Color II Ihlefeld - Primozic] (in German). Selent, Germany: Pour le Mérite.
- 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.
- 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.
External links
- Profile, General der Panzertruppe Joachim Hermann August Lemelsen based on a microfilm copy of Lemelsen’s service record housed at the United States National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.
- Joachim Lemelsen @ Axis Biographical Research at the Wayback Machine (archived January 17, 2011)
- Joachim Lemelsen @ Ritterkreuztraeger 1939-1945
- Joachim Lemelsen @ World War 2 Awards.com
- Joachim Lemelsen @ Lexikon der Wehrmacht
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Preceded by Generalleutnant Max von Hartlieb-Walsporn |
Commander of 5. Panzer-Division May 29, 1940 - November 25, 1940 |
Succeeded by General der Panzertruppen Gustav Fehn |
|
Preceded by General Johannes Blaskowitz |
Commander of 1. Armee 3 May 1944 - 3 June 1944 |
Succeeded by General Kurt von der Chevallerie |
|
Preceded by Generaloberst Eberhard von Mackensen |
Commander of 14. Armee 5 June 1944 - 15 October 1944 |
Succeeded by General der Panzertruppen Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin |
|
Preceded by General der Infanterie Kurt von Tippelskirch |
Commander of 14. Armee 22 February 1945 - 2 May 1945 |
Succeeded by none |
|
- Articles needing additional references from November 2012
- All articles needing additional references
- Articles containing German-language text
- CS1 German-language sources (de)
- WorldHeritage articles with VIAF identifiers
- WorldHeritage articles with GND identifiers
- VIAF not on Wikidata
- 1888 births
- 1954 deaths
- People from Berlin
- Wehrmacht generals
- German military personnel of World War I
- Prussian Army personnel
- People from the Province of Brandenburg
- Recipients of the Hanseatic Cross (Hamburg)
- Knights of the House Order of Hohenzollern
- Recipients of The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
- Recipients of the Gold German Cross
- Recipients of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves
- German prisoners of war
- World War II prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom
- Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class