Generalmajor Heinrich Kreipe

SOME OF THE PRISONERS HELD AT
SPECIAL CAMP 11

This profile is based on a copy of Generalmajor Kreipe’s microfilmed service record housed at the United States National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.

NAME: Generalmajor Karl Heinrich Georg Ferdinand Kreipe

PW NO: 046002

RANK: Generalmajor

CAPTURED: Crete

DATE: 26 April 1944

PERSONAL
DATE OF BIRTH: 5 June 1895

PLACE OF BIRTH: Niedererspier/Kreis Sondershausen/Thüringen

DATE OF DEATH: 14 June 1976

PLACE OF DEATH: Northeim

NATIONALITY: German

RELIGION: Evangelical

OCCUPATION: Regular Soldier

HEIGHT: 5'9"

WEIGHT: 175lbs

HAIR COLOUR: Dark Brown Turning Grey

EYE COLOUR: Blue Grey

NEXT OF KIN: Margarete Schmidt, Nordheim Hannover (British Zone)

Parents: Friedrich and Maria (née Pfannschmidt) Kreipe. A pastor in Niedererspier, Friedrich Kreipe died on 30 October 1914 in Sondershausen.

Wife: None (Bachelor).

Promotions:

War Volunteer: 11 August 1914
Gefreiter: 7 February 1915
Unteroffizier: 1 October 1915
Vizefeldwebel: 20 October 1915
Leutnant der Reserve: 24 December 1915
Leutnant without Patent (Active): 3 April 1918 (RDA later established at 1 September 1915 (88))
Oberleutnant: 1 April 1925 (67)
Hauptmann: 1 February 1930 (28)
Major: 1 November 1935 (49)
Oberstleutnant: 1 October 1938 (17)
Oberst: 1 September 1941 (47); RDA later changed to 1 October 1940 (12b)
Generalmajor: 1 September 1943 (17)

Commands & Assignments:

Schooling: Attended Volksschule (Elementary School) at Niedererspier; Lateinschule (Latin School) at Greussen; and Gymnasium (High School) at Sondershausen.
11 August 1914: Entered the Army as a War Volunteer in the Replacement Battalion of the 1.Thüringisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.19.
12 October 1914: Transferred to the 2. Ostpreußisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.52.
5 June 1915: Transferred to the Recruit Depot of the XXVI Reserve Corps.
5 July 1915: Transferred to Reserve Infantry Regiment 237.
20 August 1915: Assigned to Reserve Replacement Infantry Regiment 29.
1 September 1915-22 December 1915: Detached to the Officer Aspirant Course at Sennelager.
28 January 1916: Returned to the field.
5 September 1916-4 December 1916: Adjutant of the I. Battalion of Reserve Infantry Regiment 237.
4 December 1916: In the 3rd Machinegun Company of Reserve Infantry Regiment 237.
1-10 January 1917: Detached to the Machinegun School at Solesines.
22 April 1917: Transferred to the 1st Machinegun Company of the 3. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.71.
3 July 1917-29 August 1917: Deputy Leader of the 2nd Machinegun Company of Infantry Regiment 71.
10 November 1917-2 January 1918: Deputy Leader of the 3rd Machinegun Company of Infantry Regiment 71.
20-31 January 1918: Deputy Leader of the 3rd Machinegun Company of Infantry Regiment 71.
1 February 1918-17 March 1918: Leader of the 3rd Machinegun Company of Infantry Regiment 71.
14-17 May 1918: Deputy Machinegun Officer on the Staff of Infantry Regiment 71.
6-9 September 1918: Deputy Machinegun Officer on the Staff of Infantry Regiment 71 while retaining his leadership of the 3rd Machinegun Company.
2 October 1918-18 December 1918: Deputy Machinegun Officer on the Staff of Infantry Regiment 71 while retaining his leadership of the 3rd Machinegun Company.
18 February 1919: Assigned to the Hessen-Thüringen-Waldeck Freikorps.
1 October 1919: Transferred to the I. Battalion of Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 21 of Reichswehr-Brigade 11.
23 November 1919-28 February 1920: Detached to the Military Physical Institute at Wünsdorf.
11-19 August 1920: Leader of the 2nd Machinegun Company of Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 21 of Reichswehr-Brigade 11.
8-30 November 1920: Deputy Battalion Adjutant of the II. Battalion of Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 21 of Reichswehr-Brigade 11.
18 December 1920: Transferred to the 15th Infantry Regiment upon the formation of the new Reichsheer from the Übergangsheer or Transitional Army.
15 January 1921-11 March 1922: Detached to the 5th Transport Battalion for training as a Driving and Equipment Instructor.
1 October 1923-31 March 1924: Detached to the 16th Reiter [Mounted]-Regiment as a Riding Instructor.
1 April 1924-30 September 1924: Detached to the Infantry School.
1 March 1925-30 September 1927: Detached to the Infantry School.
15 October 1925-28 February 1926: At the same time, detached to the 5th Motorized Battalion.
1 October 1927: Adjutant of the II. Battalion of the 15th Infantry Regiment.
4-23 March 1929: Participated in a Course for Physical Training at Wünsdorf.
1 July 1929: Chief of the 8th Company of the 15th Infantry Regiment.
7-30 October 1930: Detached to the Firing Course for Heavy Infantry Weapons at Döberitz.
18-28 May 1932: Detached to the Firing Course for Heavy Infantry Weapons at Döberitz.
1 October 1934: Transferred to the I. Battalion of Infantry Regiment “Kassel.”
24 April 1935-30 September 1935: Detached as an Instructor to the Döberitz Infantry School.
15 October 1935: Instructor at the Hannover War School.
27 August 1939: Commander of Infantry Regiment 209 of the 58th Infantry Division. [In May-June 1940, the 58th Infantry Division, commanded by Generalmajor (later Generalleutnant) Iwan Heunert, took part in the invasion of France as a component of the 16th Army. After marching through Luxembourg, the division wheeled southwards and advanced to Verdun and Toul by the end of the campaign. After occupation duty in Belgium, the 58th Infantry Division transferred to East Prussia in May 1941 preparatory to the launch of Operation “Barbarossa,” the invasion of the Soviet Union, on 22 June 1941. Assigned to Army Group North, the division advanced across the Baltic States into northern Russia.[1] On 12 September 1941, Oberst Kreipe’s regiment captured Krasnoye Selo during the drive on Leningrad and shortly thereafter reached the suburb of Uritsk, only 10 kilometers from the center of the city. After serving on the Leningrad front until March 1942, the 58th Infantry Division saw action on the southern edge of the Volkhov pocket (created by the breakthrough of the Soviet 2nd Shock Army north of Lake Ilmen) where Oberst Kreipe’s regiment was mauled by a Russian armored counterattack later that month. An evaluation dated 1 April 1942 prepared by Generalmajor Dr. phil. Friedrich Altrichter, the Commander of the 58th Infantry Division, and endorsed by General der Infanterie Siegfried Haenicke, the Commanding General of the XXXVIII Army Corps, assessed Oberst Kreipe’s personal and professional qualities: A dignified character. Strong leader personality. Rough exterior, golden heart. Loved by his subordinates and admired. Clear tactical judgment. Outstanding issuance of commands. Daring devotion to duty of the highest gallantry before the enemy. Sharp judgment. Perfect views on the education of the Officer Corps and the troops. Both generals recommended Kreipe for employment as a division commander.]
1 May 1942: Transferred to Infantry Replacement Battalion 209.
4 June 1942: Transferred to the Army High Command Leader Reserve – after regaining his health, further duties determined by the Deputy Commanding General of the XI Army Corps and the Commander of Wehrkreis [Military District] XI, Hannover.
25 July 1942: At the same time, detached as Commander of School I for Infantry Officer Candidates at Dresden.
5 August 1942: Commander of School I for Infantry Officer Candidates at Dresden.
21 January 1943: Transferred to the Army High Command Leader Reserve – duties determined by the Deputy Commanding General of the IV Army Corps and the Commander of Wehrkreis IV, Dresden.
18 March 1943: At the same time, appointed Chief of the 2nd Department of the Army Personnel Office.
10 June 1943: Delegated with the leadership the 79th Infantry Division on the Eastern Front. [After being destroyed at Stalingrad in January 1943, the 79th Infantry Division was reformed two months later at Stalino, Russia. Transferred to the Kuban bridgehead in June 1943 as a component of the 17th Army, the division participated in the many bitter defensive battles fought there in the summer of that year. Evacuated across the Kerch Straits when the Germans abandoned the Kuban bridgehead in late September-early October 1943, the 79th Infantry Division transferred to control of the 6th Army in the Ukraine. On 25 October 1943, Generalleutnant Friedrich-August Weinknecht assumed command of the division from Generalmajor Kreipe.]
1 September 1943: Commander of the 79th Infantry Division on the Eastern Front.
25 October 1943: Transferred to the Army High Command Leader Reserve – duties determined by the Deputy Commanding General of the X Army Corps and the Commander of Wehrkreis X, Hamburg.
1 March 1944-26 April 1944: Commander of the 22nd Infantry Division on Crete. [In January 1944, the Cairo East section of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) conceived a daring plan to kidnap Generalleutnant Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller, the commander of the 22nd Infantry Division based on Crete.[2] After parachuting into Crete in early February, Major Patrick Leigh-Fermor, the operation leader, was joined four weeks later by his second-in-command, Captain W. Stanley Moss, and two Greek SOE agents all of whom arrived by sea. Although Generalmajor Kreipe succeeded Generalleutnant Müller effective 1 March 1944, the SOE elected to continue with the kidnap mission. Joining with Cretan partisans, the SOE agents studied Generalmajor Kreipe’s daily work habits and the travel route from his quarters at Knossos to the divisional headquarters at Ano Arkhanais. On the evening of 26 April 1944, Major Leigh-Fermor and Captain Moss, dressed as German military policemen, stopped Generalmajor Kreipe’s staff car on a hairpin turn under the guise of a routine traffic control point. After pulling the general out of the car and throwing him into the back seat, the agents drove him to an isolated spot where he was taken on a grueling cross-country trek over the mountains to the southern shore of the island. On 14 May 1944, the SOE agents and their captive German general were finally picked up by a British motor-launch on a desolate beach near Rodakino and transported to Mersa Matruh, Egypt. Major Leigh-Fermor and Captain Moss both received the Distinguished Service Order for the operation.[3]]

Generalmajor Heinrich Kreipe, Commander Of Troops, Crete. Captured wearing this tropical uniform during a Commando raid intended to kidnap him. Note this field marchal's collar insignia

Extract from the book Thresholds of Peace: Four Hundred Thousand German Prisoners and the People of Britain, 1944-1948 by Matthew Barry Sullivan (Hamish Hamilton, London, United Kingdom, 1979):

The luckless Heinrich Kreipe, the general abducted from Crete had come back from Canada rather earlier. He was twice moved to hospital Camp 99 at Shugborough Park in Staffordshire to have his diabetes treated before being moved to Special Camp 11. His hurt pride, because of the indignity of those eighteen days in the Cretan mountains would dog him for the rest of his life: he would one day take out an injunction against both the book [Ill Met by Moonlight by W. Stanley Moss] and the film about the kidnap appearing in Germany, on the grounds of defamation of character: he had not, he claimed, given his word of honour not to try to escape, as was maintained. He won his case.