NAME: General der Infanterie Kurt von Tippelskirch

PW NO:           A938950

RANK:            General der Infanterie

CAPTURED:   Vicinity of Lübeck-Schwerin-Wismar, Germany

DATE:             2 May 1945

PERSONAL
DATE OF BIRTH:     9 October 1891

PLACE OF BIRTH:   Berlin-Charlottenburg

DATE OF DEATH:   10 May 1957

PLACE OF DEATH: Lüneburg/Niedersachsen

NATIONALITY:       German

RELIGION:

OCCUPATION:        Regular Soldier

HEIGHT:

WEIGHT:
NEXT OF KIN:

Wife: Elly (née Gallencamp) von Tippelskirch.

Son: Adolf-Hilmar von Tippelskirch received the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 September 1941 as an Oberleutnant while serving as Chief of the 1st Battery of Artillery Regiment 3 (Motorized) on the northern sector of the Eastern Front. On 28 June 1944, he was killed in action near Mogilev in Russia as a Major in the General Staff (see Hitler Moves East 1941-1943 by Paul Carell for an account of Oberleutnant von Tippelskirch’s heroism during the early stages of the Russian Campaign).

Brother-in-Law: General der Artillerie Curt Gallencamp (17 February 1890-13 April 1958). Received  the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 November 1941 while commanding the 78th Infantry Division on the Eastern Front.

Promotions:

Commands & Assignments:

On 22 June 1940, Generalleutnant Kurt von Tippelskirch (on right climbing stairs) escorted the French delegation into the railway carriage at Compiègne for the ceremonial signing of the armistice ending the war with France. Right to left: Generalleutnant von Tippelskirch; French General Charles L. C. Huntziger (chairman of the delegation); Ambassador Léon Nöel (in civilian clothing behind unknown German staff officer); French Air Force General Jean-Marie Joseph Bergeret; French Vice-Admiral Maurice R. LeLuc. The railway carriage (and location of Compiègne) was the same one where French Marshal Ferdinand Foch had met the German delegation that signed the armistice on 11 November 1918 ending World War I.

• 5 January 1941-5 June 1942: Commander of the 30th Infantry Division. [After succeeding the renowned General der Infanterie Kurt von Briesen as divisional commander, von Tippelskirch led his new command in the invasion of the Soviet Union from 22 June 1941 as a component of Army Group North. After advancing across the Baltic States with Generaloberst Ernst Busch’s 16th Army, the 30th Infantry Division moved into the wilderness south of Lake Ilmen in early August 1941. During a weeklong battle there in August, von Tippelskirch’s division helped defeat a Russian counterattack that threatened to turn the southern flank of the German X Army Corps (General der Artillerie Christian Hansen). His division was instrumental in pushing the Russian 34th Army back across the Pola River and advancing the German front to the line Lishno-Lytschkowa-Knewizy. In November, von Tippelskirch received the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross in recognition of his leadership during this action. Although the 30th Infantry Division was amongst the units encircled at Demyansk in 1942 by the Russian winter offensive, von Tippelskirch handed his post over to Generalmajor Thomas-Emil von Wickede in early June 1942 and left the pocket.]
• 27 August 1942-1 February 1943: German General assigned to the Italian 8th Army on the Eastern Front. [In August 1942, Generale d’armata Italo Gariboldi’s Italian 8th Army in Russia consisted of the II Corps (2nd Sforzesca, 3rd Ravenna, and 5th Cosseria Infantry Divisions), the XXXV Corps (9th Pasubio and 52nd Torino Infantry Divisions and the 3rd Principe Amedeo Duca d’Aosta “Celere” Division), the Alpini Corps (2nd Tridentina, 3rd Julia, and 4th Cuneense Alpini Divisions), and the 156th Vicenza Infantry Division on lines of communications duties. In early August 1942, the Italian 8th Army moved forward into positions on the Don River in support of the German drive on Stalingrad. Following the Russian counteroffensive in November that encircled the German 6th Army at Stalingrad, the Russians launched a second offensive (Operation “Little Saturn”) aimed in the general direction of Rostov on 16 December 1942. Three Russian armies struck the left wing of the Italian 8th Army and, despite pockets of tough resistance, the Italian front collapsed leaving a 100-mile gap in the Axis lines. After regrouping in the Ukraine in January 1943, the remnants of the Italian 8th Army began leaving for Italy the following month.]
• 18 February 1943-4 June 1944: Commanding General of the XII Army Corps on the Eastern Front. [Kurt von Tippelskirch succeeded General der Infanterie Walther Gräßner as Commanding General of the XII Army Corps, which was on the right flank of Army Group Center’s 4th Army. Apart from a brief break in September 1943, when Generalleutnant Edgar Röhricht stood in for him, von Tippelskirch ably led this corps throughout the subsequent retreat through Belorussia until shortly before the massive Soviet “Bagration” offensive in June 1944. At this time, he turned over command of the corps to Generalleutnant Vincenz Müller and assumed temporary command of the 4th Army from Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici when that officer went into Leader Reserve following a four week cure for Hepatitis.]
• 4 June 1944-18 July 1944: Delegated with the leadership of the 4th Army on the Eastern Front. [This “promotion” nearly proved his undoing as the Russians launched Operation “Bagration” on 22 June 1944. On that date, a massive Russian offensive opened along a 300-mile front that tore deep into Army Group Center with the intent of liberating Belorussia and driving to the Vistula River and the Prussian border. Not only were the German forces vastly outnumbered with virtually no armor in reserve, but the leadership of the army group commander-in-chief, Generalfeldmarschall Ernst Busch, had, in the words of American historian Earl F. Ziemke, “…become a mindless instrument for transmitting the Fuehrer’s will. Busch did not intend to exercise any leadership outside the very narrow bounds of Hitler’s order to hold the front exactly where it was.” (Nonetheless, Busch was dismissed from command on the 28th of June by Hitler.) General von Tippelskirch’s 4th Army defended the sector south of Mogilev, but he was fortunate in that the main Russian spearheads passed to the north of his positions, though they suffered heavy casualties nonetheless when repeated requests to be allowed to withdraw were either refused or delayed. (General von Tippelskirch eventually gave the order for a general retreat, but, under pressure from Generalfeldmarschall Busch, later modified it with the proviso “only when attacked”). Since the Armed Forces High Command insisted on Mogilev being held as a “Fester Platz” (strong point), none of his three corps commanders and only one (Generalmajor Dipl.-Ing. Paul Schürmann) of his 11 divisional commanders avoided being killed or captured during the difficult withdrawal that was approved too late. However, von Tippelskirch managed to extract as much of his army as possible by urging a steady withdrawal across the Dnepr, Prut, Beresina and Neman Rivers where a new defense line was established. His own son, Major Adolf-Hilmar von Tippelskirch, was also counted among the dead at Mogilev. As the fighting petered out in mid-July, General der Infanterie Friedrich Hoßbach assumed command of the shattered remnants of the 4th Army shortly after von Tippelskirch was injured in an airplane crash.]

On 17 July 1945, Generalfeldmarschall Ernst Busch (PW NO: A423794) died of a heart attack caused by Myocarditis while being held as a prisoner of war at the Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre at Wilton Park, Buckinghamshire. Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt and eight other captured German generals were allowed to attend the burial at Aldershot Cemetery which, much to the aged field marshal’s chagrin, was performed with very little ceremony.

• 18 July 1944: Injured in an airplane crash/in hospital/convalescence.
• 31 October 1944-11 November 1944: Delegated with the leadership of the 1st Army on the Western Front in Lorraine.
• 12 December 1944-22 February 1945: Delegated with the leadership of the 14th Army in Italy. [General von Tippelskirch took over temporary army command from General der Panzertruppe Traugott Herr who underwent a head operation in mid-December 1944. The Italian front remained quiet during his tenure and he relinquished command to General der Panzertruppe Joachim Lemelsen in late-February 1945. NOTE: Both Herr and Lemelsen were held for varying periods of time at Special Camp No. 11, Island Farm.]
• 27 April 1945-2 May 1945: Delegated with the leadership of the 21st Army on the Eastern Front in Brandenburg and Mecklenburg.
• 29 April 1945-1 May 1945: At the same time, delegated with the leadership of Army Group Weichsel [Vistula] on the Eastern Front in Brandenburg and Mecklenburg. [On 29 April 1945, Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel personally dismissed Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici from command of Army Group Weichsel for conducting an unauthorized withdrawal. Keitel named Generaloberst Kurt Student as his replacement. However, Student did not arrive from Holland to assume physical command of Army Group Weichsel until 1 May 1945. In the meantime, von Tippelskirch had been persuaded by Generalfeldmarschall Keitel and Generaloberst Alfred Jodl to assume acting command of the army group on 29 April 1945 pending Student's arrival. Keitel recalled their meeting in his memoirs: "I was obliged to order him [von Tippelskirch] to assume command, as he repeatedly begged me not to confer it on him…I learned from him that SS General [Felix] Steiner had taken over command of his [21st] Army (for the time being!)…" NOTE: Both Heinrici and Student were held for varying periods of time at Special Camp No. 11, Island Farm.]
• 2 May 1945-1947: Prisoner of war in British captivity after surrendering his 21st Army in the Lübeck-Schwerin-Wismar sector of northern Germany.

  • 9th January 1946 transferred from Camp 1 to Island Farm Special Camp 11
  • 4th December 1946 transferred from Island Farm Special Camp 11 to Allendorf and transferred to US custody
• 1951: Published his acclaimed book Geschichte des Zweiten Weltkriegs (History of the Second World War).

Decorations & Awards: