General der Fallschirmptruppe Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke

SOME OF THE PRISONERS HELD AT
SPECIAL CAMP 11


	Photo shows Ramcke proudly displaying his Prussian Golden Military Merit Cross looped thorough his buttonhole. This was the highest decoration for valor a Prussian non-commissioned officer could be awarded. Ramcke received this decoration on 24 April 1918 as an Offizierstellvertreter (deputy officer) while assigned to the Assault Battalion of the Marinekorps in Flanders.

NAME: General der Fallschirmtruppe Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke (Luftwaffe)

PW NO:          18878
RANK:            General der Fallschirmtruppe
CAPTURED:   Pointe des Capuçins on the Crozon Peninsula, France (west of Brest)
DATE:             20 September 1944

PERSONAL

DATE OF BIRTH:       24 January 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH:    Schleswig-Friedrichsberg/Schleswig-Holstein
DATE OF DEATH:     5 July 1968
PLACE OF DEATH:   Kappeln/Schlei/Schleswig-Holstein
NATIONALITY:         German
RELIGION:
OCCUPATION:        Regular Air Force Officer
HEIGHT:
WEIGHT:
NEXT OF KIN:

Family: Married with seven children. Ramcke’s wife was the daughter of Generalleutnant a.D. Paul Göldner (3 September 1875-13 December 1945).

Promotions:

Navy:

Schiffsjunge: 4 April 1905
Matrose: 26 September 1907
Obermatrose: 1 July 1909
Bootsmannsmaat: 1 April 1912
Oberbootsmannsmaat: 19 July 1915
Feldwebel: 11 September 1915
Offiziers-Stellvertreter: 5 December 1916
Leutnant der Marine-Infanterie: 18 July 1918 – Patent 1 February 1913

Army:

Oberleutnant: 15 January 1921 – RDA 21 June 1918; later changed to 20 June 1918 (22)
Hauptmann: 1 February 1927 (10)
Major: 1 September 1934
Oberstleutnant: 16 March 1937 – RDA 1 March 1937
Oberst: 29 February 1940 – RDA 1 March 1940

Luftwaffe:

Oberst in Luftwaffe: 1 August 1940 – RDA 1 October 1938
Generalmajor: 22 July 1941 – RDA 1 August 1941
Generalleutnant: 21 December 1942
General der Fallschirmtruppe: 14 September 1944 – RDA 1 September 1944 (6)

Commands & Assignments:

4 April 1905: Entered the Imperial German Navy as 16-year-old Schiffsjunge [Ship’s Boy].
4 April 1905-25 April 1907: Schiffsjunge aboard the school ships Stosch and Moltke.
26 April 1907-29 September 1907: Schiffsjungen-Division.
30 September 1907-8 December 1907: Matrose in the I. Matrosen [Seaman]-Division.
9 December 1907-27 March 1908: Matrose aboard the light cruiser Medusa.
28 March 1908-10 May 1908: Matrose in the I. Matrosen-Division.
11 May 1908-30 September 1908: Matrose aboard the armored cruiser Prinz Adalbert.
1 October 1908-24 November 1908: Detached to the Ship Artillery School, Sonderburg.
25 November 1908-26 January 1909: Matrose aboard the light cruiser Undine.

27 January 1909-29 September 1911: Matrose/Obermatrose aboard the armored cruiser Prinz Adalbert.

Ramcke seen here in 1909 when he served aboard the armored cruiser Prinz Adalbert as a gunner on one of the 5.9-inch casemate-mounted cannons (note the ship’s name on his hat tally).

13 July 1917-16 July 1917: Detached to the 2nd Matrosen-Regiment in Flanders.
17 July 1917-26 October 1918: Platoon Leader in the Assault Battalion of the Flanders Naval Corps. [Composed of young, fit and highly motivated “stormtroopers,” the assault battalions generally operated in squad-sized numbers on hit and run raids and attacks against enemy trenches to create breaches for follow-up exploitation. Bypassing enemy strong points, the “stormtroops” would attack lightly held points while advancing as quickly as possible into the enemy rear. In addition to fulfilling its prime function, the Assault Battalion of the Flanders Naval Corps served as the close combat instruction and training cadre for officers and men from regiments throughout the naval corps. Upon the dissolution of Admiral von Schröder’s naval corps in October 1918, Ramcke was detached to Infantry Regiment 425 to serve as a platoon leader during the German withdrawal from Flanders. For his role in the earlier combat at Dixmude, subsequent rearguard actions at St. Joris and along the Gent—Bruges Canal and during house-to-house fighting at Leischoot, Ramcke was recommended for the coveted Knight’s Cross with Swords of the Prussian Royal Hohenzollern House Order. However, the signing of the Armistice and the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II prevented the award from ever being approved.]
27 October 1918-31 December 1918: Wounded/in hospital.
1 January 1919-3 April 1919: Transferred to the 1st Replacement Sea Battalion, Kiel.
7 January 1919-3 April 1919: Company Leader in Freikorps “von Brandis.” [Commanded by Hauptmann Cordt von Brandis, a recipient of the Prussian Pour le Mérite Order, Freikorps “von Brandis” took part in the Baltic fighting of 1919.[3] Following the end of World War I, numerous Freikorps units formed the German VI Reserve Corps under command of Generalmajor Rüdiger Graf von der Goltz to fight against Bolshevik domination of the newly independent Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Ostensibly fought to prevent the Russian Red Army from seizing the Baltic States and threatening the German eastern frontier, many Germans, including Graf von der Goltz, viewed the campaign as a chance to pursue German expansion in the east. When the Allies demanded that Germany withdraw from the region by August 1919, many German Freikorps units, including Freikorps “von Brandis,” volunteered for service with the White Russian Army. Formed in September 1919, the independent “Russian Army of the West” (composed mainly of Germans) commanded by the inept Colonel Prince Pavel Mikhailovitch Avalov-Bermondt continued to fight in the Baltic region. On 8 October 1919, the Russian Army of the West attacked Riga but was repulsed by the Latvian nationalists backed by gunfire support from a mixed British and French naval squadron. After a long and grueling retreat through the Baltic States (Colonel Avalov-Bermondt had previously resigned from command), the last of the Freikorps troops had returned to German soil by mid-December 1919.]
10 March 1919: Transferred from the Navy to the Army.
4 April 1919-14 July 1919: Wounded (shot in the right shoulder) in Latvia/evacuated to Schleswig, Germany for hospitalization. [After returning to duty with his company in the Baltic, Ramcke recalled that he trained himself to shoot and throw hand grenades left handed while simultaneously exercising his right arm until the shoulder wound fully healed.]
15 July 1919-10 November 1919: Company Leader in Freikorps “von Brandis.”
11 November 1919-30 September 1920: Platoon Leader in Reichswehr-Schützen-Regiment 1 of Reichswehr-Brigade 1.
1 October 1920-28 February 1921: Company Officer in the 1st (Prussian) Infantry Regiment upon the formation of the new Reichsheer from the Übergangsheer or Transitional Army.
1 March 1921-31 January 1923: Technical Leader of the Signals Service of the 1st (Prussian) Infantry Regiment.
1 April 1921-30 June 1921: At the same time, detached to signals courses at Jüterbog.
1 February 1923-30 April 1925: Adjutant of the Commandant of the Arys Troop Training Area.
1 May 1925-31 January 1927: Hauptmann on the Staff of the III. Battalion of the 2nd (Prussian) Infantry Regiment.
1 February 1927-30 September 1934: Chief of the 11th Company of the 2nd (Prussian) Infantry Regiment.[4]
1 October 1934-14 October 1935: Commander of the III. Battalion of Infantry Regiment “Allenstein.”
15 October 1935-31 October 1935: Commander of the II. Battalion of Infantry Regiment 3 of the 21st Infantry Division.
1 November 1935-30 June 1936: Instruction Staff Officer with the Heeresdienststelle [Army Command Center] Breslau – training the Silesian Border Defense Units.
1 July 1936-17 July 1936: On the staff of Infantry Regiment 49 of the 28th Infantry Division.
15 July 1936-9 November 1938: On the staff of the Commandant of the Großborn Troop Training Area.
10 November 1938-9 September 1939: Commandant of the Zeithain bei Riesa Troop Training Area.
10 September 1939-2 October 1939: Detached as an observer to the 14th Army and General der Kavallerie Ewald von Kleist’s XXII Army Corps (Motorized) – planning and construction of the Milowitz Troop Training Area.[5] [While traveling between forward elements of the XXII Army Corps (Motorized) during the latter stages of the Polish campaign, Oberstleutnant Ramcke encountered an enemy column near Magierow. Coaxing the Poles into surrendering, Ramcke directed the captured troops—nine officers, 16 noncommissioned officers and 84 soldiers—to drive their 18 vehicles loaded with pioneer equipment, weapons and explosives to the German lines. The next day, while acting as a representative of Oberst Kurt Zeitzler, the corps chief of staff, Ramcke assisted Oberst Wilhelm von Apell, the commander of Kavallerie-Schützen-Regiment 11 of the 4th Light Division, by taking charge of elements of his regiment during the engagement at Tomaszów. A grateful von Kleist later awarded Ramcke the 1939 Bar to his First World War Iron Cross 2nd Class for capturing the enemy column and his actions at Tomaszów. Following 23 days of combat in Poland, Ramcke led a small scouting staff to the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia to examine the Milowitz Troop Training Area and craft a plan for its future expansion and development.]
3 October 1939-10 January 1940: Commandant of the Zeithain bei Riesa Troop Training Area.
11 January 1940-15 January 1940: Commander of Infantry Regiment 401 of the 170th Infantry Division.
16 January 1940-18 July 1940: Commander of Infantry Replacement Regiment 69 of Division Nr. 166. [Commanded by Charakter als Generalleutnant Walter Behschnitt (Generalmajor Otto Schellert from 1 May 1940), this replacement and training division, headquartered at Bromberg in Wehrkreis XX, provided basic training for new recruits.]
19 July 1940-10 August 1940: Simultaneously detached to the staff of the 7th Flieger-Division and to Parachute School III, Braunschweig-Broitzem, for the parachute qualification course [at age 51].
1 August 1940: Transferred from the Army to the Luftwaffe.
11 August 1940-22 August 1940: Transferred to Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 3 and detached to Parachute School III, Braunschweig-Broitzem.
23 August 1940-31 December 1940: Assigned to the staff of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1 and charged with the development of heavy weapons for German parachute troops.
1 January 1941-12 February 1943: Commander of Operational Training Units and Schools of the XI. Flieger-Korps [Air Corps]. [Commanded by General der Flieger Kurt Student, this corps served as the controlling headquarters staff of Germany’s parachute and air landing forces.]
21 May 1941-18 June 1941: At the same time, delegated with the leadership of Fallschirmjäger-Sturm [Assault]-Regiment 1 and Leader of Battle Group West during Operation “Merkur” (Mercury), the German airborne invasion of Crete. [On 20 May 1941, the XI. Flieger-Korps opened the invasion of Crete with the drop of two massive waves of paratroopers and glider-borne troops onto the island. The next morning, Oberst Ramcke and 550 German reinforcements dropped into Crete west of the Tavronitis and east of the airfield at Maleme. Upon landing, Ramcke took command of the Fallschirmjäger-Sturm-Regiment 1 as its commander, Generalmajor Eugen Meindl, had been seriously wounded by machinegun fire the day before.[6] Advancing in conjunction with elements of Generalmajor Julius Ringel’s 5th Mountain Division, Ramcke led his battle group in tough fighting along the coast road that culminated in the capture of Canea on 27 May 1941. Five days later, the last British and Dominion troops who had not been evacuated from Crete surrendered to the Germans north of Sphakia. In addition to earning the 1939 Bar to his First World War Iron Cross 1st Class, Ramcke later received Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross for his role in the conquest of Crete.]
1 March 1942-31 March 1942: At the same time, detached to the Headquarters Staff of the Royal Italian Armed Forces to assist in training Generale di Divisione Enrico Frattini’s Folgore Parachute Division for Operation “Herkules” (Hercules), the proposed German-Italian invasion of Malta.
1 April 1942-12 February 1943: At the same time, delegated with the leadership of Fallschirmjäger-Brigade 1 (Ramcke). [Formed for Operation “Herkules,” Ramcke’s brigade transferred from Greece to Libya to counter the British buildup before El Alamein. Arriving by air between July-August 1942, the brigade took up defensive positions on the El Alamein front. On 23 October 1942, the British Eighth Army began its offensive and the German-Italian front soon cracked wide open. After conducting a spirited holding action north of the Ruweisat Ridge, Ramcke’s brigade, without vehicles, began a fighting retreat on foot to the west on 3 November 1942. On the night of 6 November 1942, Ramcke’s men high jacked an entire British supply column and made off with their vehicles. Traveling some 200 miles through enemy-controlled territory, the 600 survivors of Ramcke’s brigade later rejoined Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel’s panzer army. After passing leadership of the brigade to Oberstleutnant Hans Kroh on 30 November 1942, Ramcke returned to Germany to personally receive the Oakleaves to his Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross from Adolf Hitler.]

[1] Commanded by Admiral Ludwig von Schröder since 23 August 1914, the Marine-Division Flandern participated in the siege and capture of Antwerp from 27 September 1914-10 October 1914 under Army Group “Beseler” (General der Infanterie Hans von Beseler). Storming Fort Waelhem, von Schröder’s naval division crossed the Nethe River at Duffel, penetrated the city’s inner defense line and captured Forts Liezele and Bornhem. After taking part in the Battle of the Yser—including the capture of Lombartzyde, northwest of Nieuport—in October-November 1914, the Marine-Division Flandern was expanded into corps strength for the defense of the Belgian coastline and the development of the captured ports to support the war at sea.

[2] The 1st Marine-Division occupied the Belgian coastline while the 2nd Marine-Division held the land front along the Yser River; the naval infantry regiments frequently alternated between the two divisions/sectors. By July 1917, the 3rd Marine-Division had been created and assigned to the land front. Several other prisoners held at Island Farm Special Camp 11 served in land, sea and air formations of the Flanders Naval Corps during World War I: General der Artillerie Eduard Crasemann, Generalleutnant Karl Köchy, Generalmajor Kurt Loebell, Generalleutnant Herbert Olbrich, Konteradmiral Richard Rothe-Roth, Generalingenieur Dipl.-Ing. Rudolf Spies and Vizeadmiral Kurt Utke.

[3] On 14 March 1916, then Oberleutnant Cordt von Brandis received the Prussian Pour le Mérite Order for his role in the capture of Fort Douaumont on 25 February 1916 during the Battle of Verdun. At the time, he was leader of the 8th Company of the Infanterie-Regiment Großherzog Friedrich Franz II von Mecklenburg-Schwerin (4. Brandenburgisches) Nr.24

[4] From 1 March 1933-10 September 1934, Oberstleutnant Bodewin Keitel commanded the regiment’s III. Battalion to which Ramcke’s company was assigned. The younger brother of Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel who was hanged at Nürnberg for war crimes, Bodewin attained the rank of General der Infanterie and served as Chief of the Army Personnel Office from 1 March 1938-1 October 1942. Of note, future Generaloberst Kurt Student soldiered alongside Ramcke in the 2nd (Prussian) Infantry Regiment from 1 December 1928-31 January 1933. Student was held for a time at Island Farm Special Camp 11 after the war.

[5] Achieving the rank of Generalfeldmarschall, Ewald von Kleist was held as a prisoner of war at Island Farm Special Camp 11 until August 1946 when he was extradited to Yugoslavia to stand trial for war crimes. Extradited to the Soviet Union in 1948, von Kleist died in the Vladimir POW Camp on 16 October 1948.

[6] Achieving the rank of General der Fallschirmtruppe, Eugen Meindl was held for a time at Island Farm Special Camp 11 after the war.

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