NAME: General der Panzertruppe Joachim Hermann August Lemelsen

Originally an artilleryman by trade, General der Panzertruppe Joachim Lemelsen is perhaps best remembered for his series of army-level commands during the Italian campaign. While a good corps commander and personally brave, Lemelsen was merely an adequate army commander-in-chief, no doubt aided by the largely static and defensive nature of the Italian theater of operations. In Kesselring: German Master Strategist of the Second World War, British author Kenneth Macksey described Lemelsen as being “…of relatively limited intellectual capacity, of whom it had been considered that the appointment of corps commander was about his ceiling.” Indeed, at least one evaluation found in Lemelsen’s service record supports this assessment.    

With no negative observations to report, Schmidt characterized his subordinate as an “above average” corps commander possessed with a clear head in the most difficult situations. Schmidt recommended Lemelsen’s employment as an army commander-in-chief, an opinion shared by Generalfeldmarschall Günther von Kluge, the Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Center. Of note, Lemelsen’s corps had been holding a generally inactive sector of the front since the end of the Soviet 1941-1942 Winter Offensive. During the previous 15 months, the XXXXVII Panzer Corps had conducted primarily anti-partisan and local defensive operations.  

• Fahnenjunker: 1 July 1907
• Fähnrich: 21 January 1908
• Leutnant: 19 November 1908 (Patent 18 November 1906)
• Oberleutnant: 24 December 1914
• Hauptmann: 18 August 1916 (5)
• Major: 1 June 1927 (2a)
• Oberstleutnant: 1 November 1931 (2)
• Oberst: 1 April 1934 (7)
• Generalmajor: 1 April 1937 (10)
• Generalleutnant: 1 April 1939 (2)
• General der Artillerie: 1 August 1940 (2)
• Renamed General der Panzertruppe: 4 June 1941

• Easter 1898-Easter 1900: Attended the Royal Gymnasium (High School) at Gleiwitz.
• Easter 1900-Easter 1907: Attended the Ducal Gymnasium at Blankenburg; attained his certificate of graduation from that institution.
• 1 July 1907: Entered the Army as a Fahnenjunker in the Altmärkisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.40.
• 1 October 1911-21 November 1912: Detached to the Artillery Firing School at Jüterbog.
• 3 October 1912-29 July 1913: Detached to the Military Physical Institute in Berlin.
• 26 March 1914: Adjutant of the II. Battalion of Field Artillery Regiment 40.
• 6 March 1915: Transferred to Field Artillery Regiment 104 and appointed the Regimental Adjutant.
• 14 September 1916: Detached to the staff of the 52nd Infantry Division as an Ordonnanzoffizier.
• 20 September 1916: Transferred to the staff of the 52nd Infantry Division.
• 26 February 1917: Transferred to a General Staff position in the Oberkommando der Küstenverteidigung or Coastal Defense High Command (Generaloberst Josias von Heeringen).
• 2 May 1917: While retaining his previous duty position, transferred to a General Staff position in the 21st Infantry Division.
• 26 July 1917-26 August 1917: Detached to the 1. Nassauisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.87 to serve as a Battalion Leader.
• 23 October 1917-19 November 1917: Detached to the 4th General Staff Course at Sedan.
• 20 November 1917: Transferred to a General Staff position in the VI Reserve Corps.
• 27 January 1918: Transferred into the Army General Staff.
• 6 September 1918: Transferred into the Officer of the Army and allocated for special employment to the General Command for Special Employment 18.
• 20 December 1918: Returned to Field Artillery Regiment 40 and delegated with the leadership of the 6th Battery.
• 26 February 1919: Appointed Leader of the 3rd Volunteer Battery of Field Artillery Regiment 40.
• 12 May 1919: Transferred with the 3rd Volunteer Battery of Field Artillery Regiment 40 to Halberstadt.
• 1 October 1919: Transferred to Reichswehr Schützen [Rifle]-Regiment 7 of Reichswehr-Brigade 4 and delegated with the leadership of the Machinegun Company of the II. Battalion.
• 27 October 1919: Delegated with the leadership of the 7th Infantry Gun Battery of Reichswehr Artillery Regiment 4 of Reichswehr-Brigade 4. [Took part in suppressing the Communist uprisings at Quedlinburg, 20 March 1920, and Halle, 22 March 1920-2 April 1920.] 
• 6 April 1920: Transferred into a General Staff position in Reichswehr-Brigade 4. [Took part in the occupation of Tangermünde, 7-9 April 1920.]
• 1 January 1921: Transferred to the 4th Artillery Regiment as a Battery Officer in the 3rd Battery upon the formation of the new Reichsheer from the Übergangsheer or Transitional Army.
• 20 May 1921-12 July 1921: Detached to the Artillery Firing Course.
• 5 August 1921: Transferred to the staff of the II. Battalion of the 4th Artillery Regiment.
• 1 April 1922: Transferred to the General Staff of the 1st Division.
• 1 October 1923: Chief of the 8th Battery of the 1st (Prussian) Artillery Regiment.
• 1 April 1927: Transferred to the staff of the I. Battalion of the 1st (Prussian) Artillery Regiment and detached to the Artillery School at Jüterbog.
• 1 October 1929: Chief of the 1st Battery of the 1st (Prussian) Artillery Regiment.
• 1 October 1930: Detached to the staff of Group Command 1 in the Uniform of a Leadership Staff Officer.
• 1 October 1931: Commander of the III. Battalion of the 5th Artillery Regiment.   
• 1 October 1933: Course Leader at the Artillery School at Jüterbog.
• 1 October 1934: Commander of Artillery Regiment “Jüterbog.”
• 1 April 1935: Commandant of the Infantry School; renamed the Dresden War School on 1 May 1935.
• 1 March 1938: Commander of the 29th Infantry Division (Motorized). [Succeeding General der Infanterie Gustav von Wietersheim as commander, Lemelsen led his division in the occupation of the Czech Sudetenland seven months later. Crossing the Austrian-Czech border on 8 October 1938, the division bivouacked in the area of Lundenburg (Břeclav) and Nikolsburg (Mikulov) before receiving orders to return to home garrison a week later. In March 1939, after deploying to Silesia, Lemelsen’s division also assisted in the occupation of Bohemia-Moravia where, after crossing the region, it bivouacked for a time at Deutsch-Brod (Havlíčkův Brod). In September 1939, the division took part in the invasion of Poland during which it helped encircle and defeat seven Polish divisions in the Radom Pocket. After transferring to the west, the division was assigned to Panzer Group “Kleist” and participated in the invasion of France in May 1940. Following in the wake of the rapidly advancing armored spearheads, elements of Lemelsen’s division reached the Somme on May 20th and began establishing a defensive line on the river. Eight days later, Lemelsen relinquished his division to Generalmajor Willibald Freiherr von Langermann und Erlencamp when he was tapped to command the 5th Panzer Division.]
• 28 May 1940: Commander of the 5th Panzer Division. [Upon succeeding Generalleutnant Max von Hartlieb genannt Walsporn, Lemelsen found his new command engaged against the Franco-British armies encircled in a fluid pocket along the Channel coast at Dunkirk (the Belgian Army had surrendered the day Lemelsen took command). After participating in the separate encirclement and capture of about 50,000 troops of the French 1st Army between Armentières and Lille on 31 May 1940, the 5th Panzer Division, along with the bulk of the German armored forces, was withdrawn from the area of Dunkirk to rest and reorganize for the second phase of the Battle of France. As a component of General der Infanterie Hermann Hoth’s XV Army Corps (Motorized), the 5th Panzer Division jumped off on 5 June 1940. Crossing the Somme, Lemelsen’s division captured Rouen and advanced to Brest by the time the Franco-German ceasefire took effect on 25 June 1940. Lemelsen relinquished the 5th Panzer Division to Generalmajor Gustav Fehn to take command of a newly activated motorized corps.]
• 25 November 1940: Commanding General of the XXXXVII Army Corps (Motorized); redesignated the XXXXVII Panzer Corps on 21 June 1942. [On 22 June 1941, Lemelsen’s corps participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union as a component of Generaloberst Heinz Guderian’s Panzer Group 2 under Army Group Center.[1] Lemelsen quickly proved himself to be a capable corps commander. During the summer of 1941, he led his troops in the crossing of the Dnieper River, the capture of Smolensk and in the giant encirclement battles of Kiev and Bryansk. During Operation “Taifun” (Typhoon), the final drive on Moscow, Guderian’s forces advanced from the south in an attempt to close the pinchers around the Russian capital. Lemelsen’s corps captured Michailov on the east bank of the Don River, but ground to halt in the face of extreme cold and the tough Siberian troops that began arriving at the front. On 6 December 1941, the Russians launched the first of a series of major counteroffensives that forced the Germans back from Moscow to the Rzhev-Gzhatsk-Orel-Kursk line (Königsberg Line). From 6 June-4 July 1942, the XXXXVII Panzer Corps conducted Operations “Vogelsang” (Bird Song) I and II against the partisan strongholds between the Bolva and Desna Rivers. Lemelsen’s corps continued to serve under the 2nd Panzer Army on defensive operations in the area of Bryansk for the remainder of 1942 and into the following year. In July 1943, Lemelsen’s command—one of three panzer corps assigned to Generaloberst Water Model’s 9th Army—took part in Operation “Zitadelle” (Citadel), the ill-fated German offensive aimed at destroying the Russian-held salient around Kursk. After withdrawing in the face of the Russian counteroffensive, the XXXXVII Panzer Corps transferred to Army Group South in September 1943. Serving under General der Infanterie Otto Wöhler’s 8th Army, Lemelsen’s command saw heavy combat during the German withdrawal to the Dnieper River. After retiring to the west bank of the Dnieper near Kremenchug, Lemelsen relinquished his corps command to General der Panzertruppe Erhard Raus on 5 November 1943.]

1943 GdPzt Lemelsen with SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS August Zehender

• 15-22 October 1943: General der Panzertruppe Heinrich Eberbach was delegated with the temporary leadership of the XXXXVII Panzer Corps during this period.
• 5 November 1943: Transferred to Army High Command Leader Reserve and, at the same time, delegated with the deputy leadership of the 10th Army in Italy. [Lemelsen received his first army-level command when Generaloberst Heinrich-Gottfried von Vietinghoff genannt Scheel, the permanent commander-in-chief of the 10th Army, went on sick leave. (Generalfeldmarschall Albert Keßelring, the Commander-in-Chief South, took personal command of the 10th Army for 44 hours pending Lemelsen’s arrival.[2]) Under von Vietinghoff’s command, the 10th Army had already completed its withdrawal to the formidable Bernhard and Gustav Lines anchored on the Garigliano and Rapido Rivers. Although forced to cede ground in December to the British Eighth Army on the Adriatic coast and to the U.S. Fifth Army at San Pietro, Lemelsen successfully defended the breadth of the Italian peninsula during his tenure of command. The immediate Allied objective of capturing Rome had been thwarted for the time being.[3]]
• 31 December 1943: Deputy leadership of the 10th Army terminated and returned to Army High Command Leader Reserve (Generaloberst von Vietinghoff genannt Scheel resumed command of the 10th Army) – allocated to the General Staff of the Deputy Commanding of the IX Army Corps and Commander of Wehrkreis IX, Kassel.
• 5 March 1944: Delegated with the deputy leadership of the 8th Army on the Eastern Front for the duration of the absence of the commander-in-chief. NOTE: While this entry appears in Lemelsen’s Dienstlaufbahn or service record, it seems unlikely the posting ever took effect. In Stalingrad to Berlin: The German Defeat in the East, author Earl F. Ziemke describes General der Infanterie Otto Wöhler, the permanent commander-in-chief of the 8th Army, in command during the Soviet Spring Offensive of March 1944. If, in fact, Lemelsen deployed for the Eastern Front, then it seems likely he was there for only a brief period.
• 10 May 1944: Delegated with the deputy leadership of the 1st Army in France. [Headquartered at Bordeaux, the 1st Army occupied the French Atlantic coast from south of the Loire River to the Spanish border. After succeeding Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz, Lemelsen briefly led the army until relinquishing command to General der Infanterie Kurt von der Chevallerie shortly before the Allied invasion of Normandy.]
• 2 June 1944: Delegated with the leadership of the 14th Army in Italy. [Displeased with Generaloberst Eberhard von Mackensen’s handling of the 14th Army at Anzio, Generalfeldmarschall Keßelring relieved him of his command. When Lemelsen replaced von Mackensen he found the battered 14th Army in a precarious position. After cracking the Gustav Line at Cassino and breaking out of the Anzio bridgehead, the Allies captured Rome on 4 June 1944. Lemelsen’s 14th Army, in conjunction with von Vietinghoff’s adjacent 10th Army, executed a difficult withdrawal through central Italy. By August 1944, both armies were ensconced in the Arno and Gothic Line defensive positions in the North Apennines.]
• 1 September 1944: Commander-in-Chief of the 14th Army in Italy.
• 7 September 1944: Generalfeldmarschall Keßelring struck down Lemelsen’s consideration for promotion to the rank of Generaloberst.
• 15-19 October 1944: Suffering from acute catarrh, an inflammation of the nose and throat, Lemelsen was briefly evacuated from the front for medical treatment. During his absence, General der Panzertruppe Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin, the Commanding General of the XIV Panzer Corps, assumed temporary leadership of the 14th Army.
• 24 October 1944: Delegated with the deputy leadership of the 10th Army in Italy. [On the night of 23 October 1944, Generalfeldmarschall Keßelring suffered a fractured skull when his staff car collided with a towed artillery piece. In the wake of the accident, the senior German command structure in Italy underwent a complete change. Generaloberst von Vietinghoff genannt Scheel assumed duties as the acting Commander-in-Chief Southwest and Army Group C during Keßelring’s convalescence.[4] Vietinghoff, in turn, relinquished command of his 10th Army to Lemelsen while General der Artillerie Heinz Ziegler received temporary leadership of the 14th Army.[5]]
• 17 February 1945-2 May 1945: Commander-in-Chief of the 14th Army in Italy. [After succeeding General der Infanterie Kurt von Tippelskirch, Lemelsen commanded the 14th Army for the remainder of the war. In April 1945, the Allies launched their spring offensive in Italy. With the LI Mountain Army Corps (General der Artillerie Friedrich-Wilhelm Hauck) and the XIV Panzer Corps (von Senger und Etterlin) under his command, Lemelsen’s army defended the line from Bologna to the Serchio Valley opposite the U.S. Fifth Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lucian K. Truscott, Jr. Piercing Lemelsen’s front, U.S. forces broke through into the Po Valley and captured Bologna. With the Axis forces in Italy routed, representatives of Generaloberst von Vietinghoff genannt Scheel and SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Karl Wolff signed the instrument of local surrender at Caserta on 29 April 1945.[6] At noon on 2 May 1945, all Axis forces under the control of Army Group C surrendered to the Allies thus ending the long and costly Italian campaign.[7]]
• 10 March 1945: Delegated with the deputy leadership of Army Group C in Italy pending the arrival of the newly appointed commander-in-chief, Generaloberst von Vietinghoff genannt Scheel, from Courland.[8]
• 2 May 1945-October 1947: Prisoner of war in American and, later, British captivity. [After being held in prisoner of war camps in Italy, including the officers’ camp at Rimini, Generals Lemelsen and von Vietinghoff were transferred to the camp at Afragola in February 1946. One day after arriving, both officers, along with General der Panzertruppe von Senger und Etterlin, were flown to London for interrogation at the Central District Cage in Kennsington. Following their interrogations, the three generals were transferred to Island Farm Special Camp 11 at Bridgend. In 1947, Lemelsen returned to Italy where he testified on behalf of his former commander-in-chief, Generalfeldmarschall Keßelring, during his war crimes trial before a British military court at Venice-Mestre.]
  • 2nd March 1946 transferred Island Farm Special Camp 11 from LDC (London District Cage)
  • 13th March 1947 transferred to LDC from Island Farm Special Camp 11
  • 17th May 1947 transferred Island Farm Special Camp 11 from LDC
  • 27th May 1947 transferred to LDC from Island Farm Special Camp 11
  • 14th June 1947 transferred to Island Farm Special Camp 11 from LDC
  • 5th October 1947 transferred via Camp No 43 to Camp No 2 WC Holding Centre Fishheck
• 1960: The divisional history 29. Division, 29. Infanterie-Division (mot.), 29. Panzergrenadier-Division was published in Germany under the authorship of Lemelsen (posthumously) and Julius Schmidt.

• Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross: 27 July 1941, General der Panzertruppe, Commanding General of the XXXXVII Army Corps (Motorized).
• Oakleaves (No. 294): 7 September 1943, General der Panzertruppe, Commanding General of the XXXXVII Panzer Corps.
• German Cross in Gold: 15 July 1942, General der Panzertruppe, Commanding General of the XXXXVII Panzer Corps.
• Prussian Royal Hohenzollern House Order, Knight’s Cross with Swords: 30 October 1918.
• Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class (1914): 5 December 1916.
• Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class (1914): 21 September 1914.
• 1939 Bar to the Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class: 30 September 1939.
• 1939 Bar to the Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class: 21 September 1939.
• Medal for the Winter Campaign in Russia 1941/1942 (“East Medal”): 1 August 1942.
• Hamburg Hanseatic Cross: 14 April 1917.
• Cross of Honor for Combatants 1914-1918
• Armed Forces Long Service Award, 1st Class (25-year Service Cross): 2 October 1936.
• Armed Forces Long Service Award, 3rd Class (12-year Service Medal): 2 October 1936.
• Commemorative Medal of 1 October 1938 with Prague Castle Bar
• Panzer Assault Badge in Silver: 13 January 1942.
• Wound Badge in Black – World War II award: 14 June 1942.

General der Panzertruppe Lemelsen’s World War I Combat Service Record:

• Bradley, Dermot & Schulze-Kossens, Richard (editors). Tätigkeitsbericht des Chefs des Heerespersonalamtes General der Infanterie Rudolf Schmundt, 1.10.1942-29.10.1944. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, Germany, 1984.
• Fisher, Ernest F. Jr. Cassino to the Alps – The United States Army in World War II: The Mediterranean Theater of Operations. Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1989.
• Kesselring, Albert. The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Kesselring. New foreword by Kenneth Macksey. Presidio Press, Novato, California, 1989 printing (originally published in Germany in 1953 as Soldat bis zum letzten Tag).
• Macksey, Kenneth. Kesselring: German Master Strategist of the Second World War. Greenhill Books, London, United Kingdom, 2000 printing of the original 1978 edition.
• Lemelsen, Joachim & Schmidt, Julius. 29. Division, 29. Infanterie-Division (mot.), 29. Panzergrenadier-Division. Podzun-Pallas Verlag, Germany, 1960. 
• Senger und Etterlin, Frido von. Neither Fear nor Hope. George Malcolm, translator. Presidio Press, Novato, California, 1989 printing (originally published in Germany in 1961 as Krieg in Europa).
• Taylor, Telford. The March of Conquest: The German Victories in Western Europe, 1940. Simon and Schuster, Inc., New York, New York, 1958.
• Ziemke, Earl F. Moscow to Stalingrad: Decision in the East. Army Historical Series. Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1987.
• Ziemke, Earl F. Stalingrad to Berlin: The German Defeat in the East. Army Historical Series. Washington D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, United States Army, 1968.