Generalleutnant August Krakau

SOME OF THE PRISONERS HELD AT
SPECIAL CAMP 11

NAME: Generalleutnant August Wilhelm Krakau

PW NO: 451686

RANK: Generalleutnant

CAPTURED: Oslo, Norway

DATE: 30th August 1945

PERSONAL
DATE OF BIRTH: 12 September 1894

PLACE OF BIRTH: Pirmasens/Rhein-Pfalz/Bayern

DATE OF DEATH: 7 January 1975

PLACE OF DEATH: Amberg District Hospital/Oberpfalz/Bayern

NATIONALITY: German

RELIGION:

OCCUPATION: Regular Soldier

HEIGHT:

WEIGHT:

NEXT OF KIN:

Promotions:

War Volunteer: 7 August 1914
Gefreiter: 13 September 1915
Fahnenjunker: 5 October 1915
Fähnrich: 11 August 1916
Leutnant: 3 August 1917 (without Patent)
Leutnant: 26 December 1917 (Patent 25 August 1918; later changed to 1 April 1914)
Oberleutnant: 15 September 1923 (RDA 1 September 1923)
Hauptmann: 16 April 1928 (RDA 1 April 1928)
Major: 1 February 1935
Oberstleutnant: 31 December 1937 (RDA 1 January 1938)
Oberst: 20 October 1940 (RDA 1 November 1940)
Generalmajor: 1 August 1942 (RDA 1 September 1942)
Generalleutnant: 10 July 1943 (RDA 1 June 1943)

Commands & Assignments:

7 August 1914: Entered the Royal Bavarian Army as a War Volunteer in the Replacement Squadron of the Bavarian 3. Chevaulegers [Light Cavalry]-Regiment Herzog Karl Theodor.
20 April 1915: In the field with the 5th Squadron of the Bavarian 3. Chevaulegers-Regiment Herzog Karl Theodor.
4 June 1915-17 July 1915: Officer Aspirant Course with the Bavarian 3rd Infantry Division.
5 October 1915: Transferred to the Replacement Battalion of the Bavarian 2nd Jäger Battalion.
28 January 1916: In the field with the 4th Company of the Bavarian 2nd Jäger Battalion.
17 July 1916-9 October 1916: Wounded by grenade fragments in the right and left thighs/in hospital.
10 October 1916: Transferred to the Replacement Battalion of the Bavarian 2nd Jäger Battalion.
31 May 1917: In the field as a Platoon Leader in the 4th Company of the Bavarian 2nd Jäger Battalion.
21 November 1917-3 December 1917: Deputy Leader of the 1st Company of the Bavarian 2nd Jäger Battalion.
13 January 1918-8 February 1918: Deputy Leader of the 4th Company of the Bavarian 2nd Jäger Battalion.
11 March 1918-7 May 1918: Detached to the Field Recruit Depot of the Alpine Corps as a Training Officer.
12 May 1918: Transferred to the 2nd Company of the Bavarian 2nd Jäger Battalion.
27 May 1918-1 June 1918: Deputy Adjutant of the Bavarian 2nd Jäger Battalion.
21 September 1918-12 October 1918: Adjutant of the Bavarian 2nd Jäger Battalion.
13 October 1918: Detached as an Ordnance Officer to the staff of the Bavarian 2nd Jäger Battalion.
26 November 1918: Leader of the 3rd Company of the Bavarian 2nd Jäger Battalion upon the demobilization in Germany.
10 March 1919: Leader of the People’s Home Defense Company.
6 May 1919: Leader of the 1st People’s Defense Company.
14 June 1919: Leader of the 9th Company of Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 45.
10 September 1919: Platoon Leader in the 9th Company of Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 45.
29 October 1919: Leader of the Signals Platoon of the III. (Jäger) Battalion of Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 45. [Took part in the suppression of internal unrest in central Germany, 29 March 1920-10 April 1920.]
1 October 1920: Platoon Leader in the 10th Company of the 20th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.
1 January 1921: Platoon Leader in the 6th Company of the 20th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.
1 December 1921-28 February 1922: Detached with the 6th Company to the Guard Troops of the Commandant of Berlin.
1 October 1923: Transferred to the 8th (Machinegun) Company of the 20th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.
18 September 1924-16 October 1924: Detached to the Machinegun Course at the Grafenwöhr Troop Training Area.
1 April 1925-15 August 1924: Detached to the Weapons School Course at Döberitz.
23 March 1925-27 March 1925: Military District training with the 3rd Division, Berlin (during this time in the 8th (Machinegun) Company with Berlin Guard Troops).
19 October 1926-16 November 1926: Detached to the Weapons School Course at Döberitz.
14 March 1928: Delegated with the post of Chief of the 6th Company of the 20th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.
1 April 1928: Chief of the 6th Company of the 20th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.
9 October 1928-24 October 1928: Participation in the Combat School Course A at Döberitz.
1 October 1929: Chief of the 8th (Machinegun) Company of the 20th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.
1 July 1934: Transferred to the staff of the Commandant of the Grafenwöhr Troop Training Area.
6 October 1936: Allowed to carry the Uniform of the 20th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment.
12 October 1937: Commander of the II. Battalion/Infantry Regiment 41 of the 10th Infantry Division. [In September 1939, the 10th Infantry Division, commanded by Generalleutnant Conrad von Cochenhausen, took part in the invasion of Poland where it participated in the capture of Warsaw while serving under Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz’s 8th Army.]
6 February 1940: Commander of Infantry Regiment 85 of the 10th Infantry Division. [After being initially held in Army High Command reserve, Generalleutnant von Cochenhausen’s division took part in the invasion of France in May-June 1940 as a component of Generaloberst Wilhelm List’s 12th Army. While subordinated to the XVII Army Corps commanded by General der Infanterie Werner Kienitz, the 10th Infantry Division made an assault crossing of the Aisne Canal on 11 June 1940. The division then fought in the Argonne and pursued retreating French forces toward the demarcation line.]
5 October 1940: Infantry Regiment 85 redesignated Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 85 and assigned to the 5th Mountain Division. [On 6 April 1941, Generalmajor Julius Ringel’s 5th Mountain Division took part in the invasion of Greece as a component of General der Infanterie Franz Böhme’s XVIII Mountain Corps. After penetrating the Metaxas Line, the corps continued its advance into Greece capturing Mount Olympus and Larisa in the face of withdrawing British and New Zealand troops. Following the cessation of hostilities on 30 April, the 5th Mountain Division began concentrating in southern Greece in preparation for Operation “Merkur” (Mercury), the invasion of Crete. On 20 May 1941, the Germans opened the invasion by dropping two massive waves of paratroopers and glider-borne troops onto the island. Following the failure of reinforcements to arrive by sea on the night of 21-22 May 1941 (a British naval task force annihilated a German convoy carrying a battalion of the 5th Mountain Division), the commander of the operation, General der Flieger Kurt Student, elected to airlift the rest of Ringel’s troops to Crete. On 22 May 1941, Oberst Krakau’s I. Battalion arrived by air at Maleme airfield and immediately went into action as part of a battle group led by Oberst Willibald Utz, the commander of Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 100. Following the arrival of his II. and III. Battalions and regimental staff on 24-25 May 1941, Krakau’s regiment concentrated near Alikianu and pushed east in a 50-mile flanking movement across rugged mountains to cut the Canea-Retimo road east of Suda Bay. After seizing the heights west of Stylos on 27 May, Krakau’s regiment continued to pursue the British, Australian and New Zealand forces eastward to Retimo. On 1 June 1941, the last British and Dominion troops who had not been evacuated from Crete surrendered to the Germans north of Sphakia.]
1 May 1942: Delegated with the leadership of the 7th Mountain Division in Finland.
22 July 1942-31 August 1942: Army High Command Leader Reserve.
10 September 1942: Leader of the 7th Mountain Division in Finland.
1 December 1942-9 May 1945: Commander of the 7th Mountain Division 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 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 (6th SS-Mountain Division “Nord,” 7th Mountain Division, Division Group “Kräutler,” and the Machinegun Ski Brigade “Finland”) and Generalleutnant (later General der Gebirgstruppe) Emil Vogel’s XXXVI Mountain Army Corps—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.) Withdrawing from its position at Uhtua on 10 September, the 7th Mountain Division fell back to Pudasyärvi where it had received orders to remain until early October before proceeding to Rovaniemi. However, on 28 September 1944, the division was engaged by the Finns who demanded Krakau’s withdrawal. After almost two weeks of firefights with tough Finnish troops in the Karelian wilderness, the 7th Mountain Division continued it’s retrograde to Rovaniemi. Departing there in mid-October 1944, Krakau’s division continued its long and arduous march through northern Finland back to Norway.]
8 October 1943-8 November 1943: Cure in Bad Gastein.
28 April 1944-31 May 1944: On leave.
30th August 1945-1947: Prisoner of war. [At the time of the German surrender, the 7th Mountain Division—composed of Gebirgsjäger-Regiments 206 and 218, Gebirgs-Artillerie-Regiment 82 and divisional support units numbered 99—was in 20th Mountain Army reserve and in the midst of redeploying to southern Norway. As a result, it was spread out almost the entire length of the country on 30th August 1945. Divisional units could be found from Narvik to Lillehammer.]
- 2nd May 1946 transferred to LDC (London District Cage), No 2 WCHC Fishheck

Decorations & Awards:

Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross: 21 June 1941, Oberst, Commander of Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 85.
Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class (1914): 18 May 1918.
Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class (1914): 17 June 1917.
1939 Bar to the Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class: 25 June 1940.
1939 Bar to the Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class: 12 June 1940.
Bavarian Military Merit Cross, 2nd Class with Swords: 25 June 1917.
Cross of Honor for Combatants 1914-1918
Armed Forces Long Service Award, 1st Class (25-year Service Cross)
Armed Forces Long Service Award, 3rd Class (12-year Service Medal)
Commemorative Medal of 13 March 1938
Austrian Military Merit Cross, 3rd Class with War Decoration: 2 May 1918.
Wound Badge in Black – World War I award: 10 June 1918.
“KRETA” Campaign Cuff-Title
Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class with Swords: 15 May 1943.
Saber of Honor for good shooting with the heavy machinegun: 21 November 1933.
Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht [Armed Forces Communiqué]: 11 June 1941; 24 August 1943.

Generalleutnant Krakau’s World War I Combat Service Record:

9 May 1915-23 July 1915: Combat on the Western Front.
1 February 1916-19 March 1916: Combat in the Balkans.
2 April 1916-18 July 1917: Combat on the Western Front.
6 August 1917-11 September 1917: Combat in Romania/Eastern Front.
18 September 1917-16 December 1917: Combat in Italy.
5 February 1918-1 October 1918: Combat on the Western Front.
10 October 1918-5 November 1918: Combat in the Balkans.

PREVIOUS PAGE NEXT PAGE TITLE PAGE