PERSONAL
DATE OF BIRTH:     20 July 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH:  Zwickau/Sachsen 
DATE OF DEATH:   1 October 1985    
PLACE OF DEATH: Mülheim
NATIONALITY:       German
RELIGION:               Evangelical
OCCUPATION:        Regular Soldier
HEIGHT:                   5’ 4”
WEIGHT:                  151 Pounds
HAIR COLOUR:       Dark Brown
EYE COLOUR:         Blue
NEXT OF KIN:
Parents: Emil Wilhelm and Berta (née Hoffritz) Vogel.

• Fahnenjunker: 3 August 1914
• Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier: 1 January 1915
• Fähnrich: 13 March 1915
• Leutnant: 2 June 1915 – Patent 15 November 1913; later changed to 1 April 1914
• Oberleutnant: 1 August 1923 (3)
• Hauptmann: 1 April 1928 (30)
• Major: 1 November 1934 (6)
• Oberstleutnant: 1 August 1937 (17) – RDA later changed to 1 January 1937 (47a)
• Oberst: 1 December 1939 (11)
• Generalmajor: 1 October 1942 (16f)
• Generalleutnant: 1 April 1943 (12c)
• General der Infanterie: 9 November 1944 (7) (later renamed a General der Gebirgstruppe)

• Easter 1905-July 1914: Attended Realgymnasium (High School) in Zwickau and München; attained his certificate of graduation from the latter institution.
• 3 August 1914: Entered the Royal Bavarian Army as a Fahnenjunker in the Replacement Battalion of the Bavarian 2nd Pioneer Battalion.
• 27 February 1915: In the field with the Bavarian 2nd Pioneer Battalion.
• 27 April 1916: Poisoned by gas attack/in Bavarian Field Hospital 11 of the Bavarian II Army Corps.
• 10 November 1916: Detached to Army Group “Mackensen” (Generaloberst/Generalfeldmarschall August von Mackensen) for the campaign in Romania.
• 26 July 1917: Transferred to the Replacement Battalion of the Bavarian 2nd Pioneer Battalion for training as an Adjutant.
• 10 November 1917: Adjutant of the Bavarian Staff Officer of Pioneers No. 41.
• 27 June 1918: Sick with influenza/remained with the troops at the front.
• 15 December 1918: Returned to the Replacement Battalion of the Bavarian 2nd Pioneer Battalion upon the demobilization.
• 1 February 1919: Adjutant of the I. Battalion of Infantry Regiment 1.
• 24 April 1919: Entered Freikorps “Landsberg.” [Took part in the freeing of München from Communist control, 24 April 1919-3 May 1919.]
• 3 May 1919: Assigned to Reichswehr-Schützen [Rifle]-Regiment 41 of Reichswehr-Brigade 21.
• 15 May 1919: Allocated to the II. Battalion of Reichswehr-Schützen-Regiment 42 of Reichswehr-Brigade 21. [Took part in the suppression of Communist uprisings in the Rhineland-Westfalen industrial areas, 14 March 1920-20 May 1920.]
• 7 July 1919-1 December 1919: Detached to the München Officer School.
• 1 January 1921: Transferred to the II. Battalion of the 19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment upon the formation of the new Reichsheer from the Übergangsheer or Transitional Army.
• 25 June 1921: Ordonnanz-Offizier on the Staff of the 19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.
• 1 October 1922: Regimental Adjutant of the 19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment. [Took part in the suppression of the Nazi uprising (Adolf Hitler’s “Beer Hall Putsch”) in München, 8-23 November 1923.]
• 1 October 1924: Machinegun Officer on the Staff of the 19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.
• 1 July 1926-5 September 1926: Detached to Group Command 1.
• 1 October 1926: Transferred to the staff of the 7th Division.
• 1 June 1927-19 July 1927: Detached to 2nd (Prussian) Signals Battalion.
• 20 July 1927-18 August 1927: Detached to the 2nd (Prussian) Motorized Battalion.
• 1 July 1928-31 July 1928: Detached to 12th (Saxon) Reiter [Mounted]-Regiment.
• 1 August 1928-30 September 1928: Detached to the 2nd (Prussian) Pioneer Battalion.
• 1 October 1928: Detached to the staff of the Commandant of Berlin – duties determined by the Chief of the Troop Office.
• 1 October 1929: Transferred to the 19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment and detached to the 9th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment in Potsdam – duties determined by the Chief of the Troop Office.
• 1 October 1929: Administratively allocated (“Haushaltstelle”) to the 13th (Mortar) Company of the 19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.
• 30 September 1930: Detachment to the 9th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment waived.
• 1 February 1931: Chief of the 11th Company of the 19th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.
• 1 October 1933: Transferred to the 20th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment – authorized to carry the Uniform of a Leadership Staff Officer.
• 1 October 1934: Transferred to the General Staff of the Commandant of Regensburg.
• 15 October 1935: Transferred to the General Staff of the 10th Division.     
• 12 October 1937-30 October 1939: Operations Officer (Ia) in the General Staff of the VII Army Corps. [Commanded by General der Infanterie Eugen Ritter von Schobert, the VII Army Corps with the 27th and 68th Infantry Divisions under its control was initially held in Army Group South reserve for the invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. Released from reserve on the 8th of September, the corps was assigned to Generaloberst Wilhelm List’s 14th Army and advanced deep into Poland crossing the San River. With the campaign all but finished, the 14th Army began pulling back to the German-Soviet demarcation line. On 27 September 1939, the VII Army Corps was transferred to the control of General der Artillerie Walter von Reichenau’s 10th Army.]
• 1 November 1939-14 May 1940: Operations Officer (Ia) in the General Staff of Border District North; on 1 November 1939, renamed Higher Command Border District North (Wehrkreis [Military District] Command I); on 14 May 1940, reverted to original designation of Deputy I Army Corps (Wehrkreis I), Königsberg (Generalmajor Oskar von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg and then General der Artillerie Alfred von Vollard-Bockelberg from 5 November 1939).
• 15 May 1940-24 October 1940: Chief of the General Staff of the Deputy I Army Corps (Wehrkreis I), Königsberg (General der Artillerie Alfred von Vollard-Bockelberg and then General der Artillerie Wilhelm Ulex from 20 June 1940).
• 25 October 1940-20 June 1942: Chief of the General Staff of the XX Army Corps. [Commanded by General der Infanterie Friedrich Materna, the XX Army Corps was engaged in the invasion of the Soviet Union from 22 June 1941 in Army Group Center. Initially a component of the 9th Army, General Materna’s corps was transferred to the control of several other higher headquarters formations over the next year: 2nd Panzer Group (August 1941), 4th Army (September 1941), 4th Panzer Army (February 1942) and the 3rd Panzer Army (May 1942).]
• 21 June 1942-31 August 1942: Army High Command Leader Reserve – duties determined by the Deputy Commanding General of the VII Army Corps and Commander of Wehrkreis VII, München.
• 1 September 1942-30 September 1942: Delegated with the leadership of the 101st Jäger Division on the Eastern Front.
• 1 October 1942-12 July 1944: Commander of the 101st Jäger Division on the Eastern Front. [General Vogel’s division fought in the 1942 Caucasus campaign and then retreated into the Kuban bridgehead where it suffered heavy losses during the many bitter defensive battles fought there. Among the casualties was Knight’s Cross recipient Oberst Karl Busche, commander of the division’s Jäger-Regiment 228, who was killed in action on 28 May 1943 while attempting to recapture Hill 121.4 near Krymskaya. Evacuated across the Kerch Straits when the Germans abandoned the Kuban bridgehead in late September-early October 1943, the 101st Jäger Division was transferred to the lower Dnieper from where it conducted a fighting retreat across the Ukraine. On 26 March 1944, a massive Soviet offensive encircled the one-armed General der Panzertruppe Hans Hube’s 1st Panzer Army, including Vogel’s 101st Jäger Division, in a pocket near the Ukrainian town of Kamenets Podolsky. Although surrounded, Hube’s army maintained its morale and integrity and continued fighting its way westward in blizzard conditions. On 5 April 1944, the 4th Panzer Army commanded by General der Panzertruppe Erhard Raus—augmented by SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser’s tough II SS-Panzer Corps—attacked eastwards to force a corridor through to Hube’s beleaguered army. On 9 April 1944, the two German armies linked up on the River Strypa and, within a few days, Hube’s 1st Panzer Army returned to its place in the German line with most of its heavy equipment intact.]
• 13 July 1944-9 August 1944: Army High Command Leader Reserve – duties determined by the Deputy Commanding General of the VII Army Corps and Commander of Wehrkreis VII, München.
• 10 August 1944-8 November 1944: Delegated with the leadership of the XXXVI Mountain Army Corps in Finland. [After the Finnish government concluded an armistice with the Soviet Union on 4 September 1944, all German troops in that country were required to withdraw by the middle of the month or face internment. At the time, the 20th Mountain Army commanded by Generaloberst Dr. jur. Lothar Rendulic was based in northern Finland and consisted of three corps. General der Gebirgstruppe Ferdinand Jodl’s XIX Mountain Army Corps was dug in along the Litsa River and the Barents Sea coast guarding the nickel mines near Petsamo and the iron ore mines at Kirkenes. The other two corps—General der Infanterie Friedrich Hochbaum’s XVIII Mountain Army Corps and Generalleutnant Emil Vogel’s XXXVI Mountain Army Corps (163rd and 169th Infantry Divisions)—were further south centered on Uhtua/Kestenga and Salla respectively. In light of the political developments, Adolf Hitler granted permission for Rendulic’s army to withdraw from Finland into Norway in two phases: Operation “Birke” (Birch), the movement of the XVIII and XXXVI Mountain Army Corps starting on 6 September; and Operation “Nordlicht” (Northern Lights), the withdrawal of the XIX Mountain Army Corps scheduled to begin in October. (Operation “Nordlicht” was, however, preempted by the Soviet Petsamo-Kirkenes Offensive on 7 October 1944.) After Russian troops and tanks threatened his flank at Korya by cutting the road to Salla on 7 September 1944, Generalleutnant Vogel began withdrawing his corps via an alternate route to new holding positions at Kayrala and east of Korya. The corps also dispatched the bulk of its 169th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Georg Radziej) to the northwest to setup a blocking position at Savukoski. Continuing its march two weeks later through Rovaniemi, Vogel’s corps advanced northwards where it established a blocking position centered on Ivalo to support General Jodl’s corps that was withdrawing in the face of the Soviet Petsamo-Kirkenes Offensive. (A Battle Group from the 163rd Infantry Division led by the divisional commander, Generalleutnant Karl Rübel, had been detached to the XIX Mountain Army Corps and performed sterling service on Jodl’s right flank before falling back to the Ivalo position.) Abandoning the Ivalo position in early November, the XXXVI Mountain Army Corps withdrew to Lakselv in Norway and finally to the safety of the Lyngen Fjord defensive position in January 1945.]
• 9 November 1944-9 May 1945: Commanding General of the XXXVI Mountain Army Corps in Finland and then Norway. After redeploying to Norway in January 1945, Vogel’s XXXVI Mountain Army Corps initially controlled the troops guarding the Swedish border before transferring to southern Norway. At the time of the German surrender, Vogel’s corps controlled only two small units: the Machinegun Ski Brigade “Finland” and the Panzer Brigade “Norway.” Commanded by Oberst Georg Maetschke, the panzer brigade was equipped with a modest number of French “booty” tanks and German PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV tanks.]
• 12 September 1945-Circa 1948: Prisoner of war in British and then U.S. captivity
  • 11 on 9 January 1946 transferred from Camp 1 to Island Farm Special Camp
  • 16 August 1947 transferred on loan to Allendorf
  • 10 December 1947 in U.S. custody

• Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross: 7 August 1943, Generalleutnant, Commander of the 101st Jäger Division.
• Oakleaves (No. 475): 14 May 1944, Generalleutnant, Commander of the 101st Jäger Division.
• German Cross in Gold: 25 April 1942, Oberst i.G., Chief of the General Staff of the XX Army Corps.
• Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class (1914): 25 October 1916.
• Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class (1914): 11 June 1915.
• 1939 Bar to the Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class: 20 October 1939.
• 1939 Bar to the Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class: 25 September 1939.
• Medal for the Winter Campaign in Russia 1941/1942 (“East Medal”): 7 August 1942.
• Bavarian Military Merit Order, 4th Class with Swords: 9 January 1916.
• Cross of Honor for Combatants 1914-1918
• Armed Forces Long Service Award, 1st Class (25-year Service Cross): 3 August 1939.
• Armed Forces Long Service Award, 3rd Class (12-year Service Medal): 2 October 1936.
• Commemorative Medal of 13 March 1938:  8 November 1938.
• Commemorative Medal of 1 October 1938: 15 August 1939.
• Hungarian War Commemorative Medal with Swords: 2 November 1934.
• Wound Badge in Black – World War I award
• Infantry Assault Badge in Silver: 14 October 1942.
• Kuban Shield (It is unknown if he actually received this battle shield, but his service in the region fit the award criteria)
• Bulgarian Military Merit Order, 4th Class (Officer’s Cross) – World War I award
• Romanian Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd Class: 15 June 1943 (Royal Decree No. 1616).
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht [Armed Forces Communiqué]: 29 March 1944.

General der Gebirgstruppe Vogel’s World War I Combat Service Record:

• 27 February 1915-29 November 1915: Positional combat in French Flanders.
• 24 June 1916-22 September 1916: Reconnaissance and demonstration engagement of the 6th Army and the Battle of the Somme.
• 23 September 1916-10 November 1916: Positional combat in French Flanders.

Eastern Front, 1917

• 26 November 1916-August 1917: Combat in Dobrudscha (Dobrogea), Romania (the region between the Black Sea and the Danube River and its delta).

Western Front, 1917-1918

• 12 November 1917-24 December 1918: Positional combat in Artois; the Great Battle in France (“Ludendorff Offensive”); combat between Arras and the Albert; defensive combat between the Scarpe and the Mosel; combat on the “Siegfried” Front; defensive combat between Cambrai and St. Quentin; fighting retreat from the Antwerp-Maas Position; evacuation of the occupied territories and the return home.