SOME OF THE PRISONERS HELD AT
SPECIAL CAMP
11
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NAME: Generalleutnant Edgar Feuchtinger
RANK: Generalleutnant
CAPTURED: Hamburg
DATE: 29 May 1945
PERSONAL
DATE OF BIRTH: 9
November 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH: Metz
DATE OF DEATH: 21 January 1960
PLACE OF DEATH: Krefeld
NATIONALITY: German
RELIGION: Roman Catholic
OCCUPATION: Verlagsbesitzer (owner of a publishing house)
HEIGHT: 6’ 3”
WEIGHT: 186 lbs.
HAIR COLOUR: Dark Brown
EYE COLOUR: Brown
NEXT OF KIN: Edith Feuchtinger, Hamburg (British Zone)
Promotions:
- Fahnenjunker: 7 August 1914
- Leutnant (without Patent): 18 August 1915
- Leutnant: October 1917 – Patent 19 December 1915; RDA later established at 19 December 1915 (47)
- Oberleutnant: 1 April 1925 (26)
- Hauptmann: 1 November 1929 (1)
- Major: 1 November 1935 (1)
- Oberstleutnant: 1 August 1938 (18)
- Oberst: 1 August 1941 (14)
- Generalmajor: 1 August 1943 (22)
- Generalleutnant: 1 August 1944 (3b)
- 7 August 1914: Entered the Army as a Fahnenjunker in the Badisches Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr.14.
- 20 April 1916: Transferred to the Replacement Battalion of Foot Artillery Regiment 14.
- 1 May 1917: Returned to Foot Artillery Regiment 14 in the field.
- 25 September 1917: Transferred to Foot Artillery Regiment 212.
- 21 March 1919: Transferred to Reichswehr Artillery Regiment 13.
- 1 October 1920: Transferred to Schützen [Rifle]-Regiment 25.
- 1 January 1921: Transferred to the 13th (Württemberg) Infantry Regiment.
- 1 October 1921: Transferred to the 5th Artillery Regiment.
- 1 October 1924: Transferred to the 2nd (Prussian) Artillery Regiment.
- 1 February 1929: Battery Chief in the 7th (Bavarian) Artillery Regiment.
- 1 October 1934: Battery Chief in Artillery Regiment “Amberg.”
- 1 January 1935: Instructor in Training Staff A at the Artillery School at Jüterbog.
- 1 October 1937: Commander of the III. Battalion of Artillery Regiment 26 of the 26th Infantry Division.
- 26 August 1939: Commander of Artillery Regiment 227 of the 227th Infantry Division. [Formed primarily from personnel of the Landwehr, the division took part in the invasion of Belgium and France in May-June 1940. After serving in northern France as part of the occupation force from July 1940-October 1941, the division transferred to the Eastern Front where it fought as a component of Army Group North.]
- 16 August 1942: Army High Command Leader Reserve. [On 27 November 1942, Oberst Feuchtinger commanded Battle Group A, one of four battle groups comprising the German assault force for Operation “Lila,” the occupation of Toulon and the attempted seizure of the French fleet lying in the port. Battle Group A consisted of elements of the 10th Panzer Division (Panzer Grenadier Regiment 69, the I. Battalion of Panzer Artillery Regiment 90, the 2nd Company of Panzer Pioneer Battalion 49, and Anti-Tank Battalion 90) plus two army reserve units (Artillery Regiment 2 and Flak Regiment 69) and a 30-man naval commando unit. The other three battle groups consisted of Battle Group B (Oberstleutnant Wolfgang Glaesemer) – elements of the 7th Panzer Division plus about 400 naval personnel; Battle Group C (Oberstleutnant Friedrich-Karl von Steinkeller) – elements of the 7th Panzer Division; Battle Group D (SS‑Sturmbannführer Jakob Fick) – SS-Motorcycle Battalion “Langemarck.” Additionally, Battle Group “Brenner” commanded by SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Karl Brenner, followed Battle Group A to occupy the area surrounding Sanary to the west of Toulon. For further information on this operation, refer to the profile of General der Artillerie Anton-Reichard Freiherr von Mauchenheim genannt Bechtolsheim.]
- 7 April 1943: Commander of the Schnellen Brigade West. [Feuchtinger commanded a brigade-sized formation in France known variously as (Armored) Artillery Brigade West (931), Schnellen Brigade West, and Schnellen Brigade 931. This formation served as the initial cadre around which a new 21st Panzer Division was built after that unit was destroyed in North Africa.]
- 15 July 1943: Delegated with the leadership of the 21st Panzer Division in France.
- 1 August 1943: Commander of the 21st Panzer Division in France. [On 6 June 1944, the 21st Panzer Division (98 Pz IV long-barreled tanks and six obsolete Pz IV short-barreled tanks and 16,297 personnel) was the only German armored division in the immediate vicinity of the Allied landing beaches in Normandy. Confusion reigned as Feuchtinger was not at divisional headquarters but in Paris. The lack of firm leadership combined with the total Allied air and sea superiority, all contributed to the 21st Panzer Division making a sluggish and ultimately unsuccessful counterattack against the Anglo-Canadian beachheads on the morning of the Allied D‑Day landings.]
- 5 January 1945: Arrested and imprisoned at Torgau Fortress to face a court martial regarding his absence from divisional headquarters on the night of 5/6 June 1944. [Indeed, when word of the court martial arrived on Christmas Eve 1944, the 21st Panzer Division was engaged in heavy combat at Saarlautern and Feuchtinger, again, was not with his unit but at home in Germany!]
- January 1945: Sentenced to death and reduced in grade to the rank of Kanonier, a private in the artillery.
- 2 March 1945: Pardoned and transferred to the 20th Panzer Grenadier Division as a Kanonier; however, Feuchtinger disobeyed the order and fled to Celle.
- 29
May 1945-1947: Prisoner of war in British captivity.
- 9 January 1946: Transferred to Island Farm Special Camp 11 from Camp 1.
- 17 December 1946: Transferred to the London District Cage (LDC) from Island Farm Special Camp 11 for onward routing to the U.S. Historical Section Allendorf on loan (W.O. Auth. UM/M/3616/PW1).
- 7 August 1947: Transferred to Island Farm Special Camp 11 from the LDC.
- 23 August 1947: Transferred to Wuppertal Jail from Island Farm Special Camp 11.
In
May 1944, Oberst Hans von Luck received assignment to the 21st Panzer Division
as commander of its Panzer Grenadier Regiment 125. In his memoirs, Panzer
Commander, von Luck described his divisional commander:
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General Edgar Feuchtinger, an artilleryman, had no combat experience [in World War II], and none at all of panzer units. He had become known in Germany as the organizer of the military part of the so-called Reichsparteitage, the national Party rallies, and through that was very familiar with Hitler and the Party apparatus. |
Oberst
von Luck recorded his reaction to Feuchtinger’s court martial in his memoirs:
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Although I too hold to the saying de mortuis nil nisi bene (“of the dead say nothing but good”), when I think of our brave men, who fought so brilliantly, and of the thousands of dead, wounded, and missing…I cannot help reproaching Feuchtinger with having done us all poor service. |
Decorations & Awards:
- Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross: 6 August 1944, Generalmajor, Commander of the 21st Panzer Division.
- German Cross in Silver: 15 July 1943, Oberst, Commander of (Armored) Artillery Brigade West (931).
- Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class (1914) with 1939 Clasp
- Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class (1914) with 1939 Clasp
- War Merit Cross, 1st Class with Swords
- War Merit Cross, 2nd Class with Swords
- Baden Order of the Zähringer Lion, Knight 2nd Class with Swords
- Württemberg Friedrich Order, Knight 2nd Class with Swords
- Hamburg Hanseatic Cross
- 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)
- Austrian Bronze Bravery Medal
Sources:
- Bradley, Dermot; Hildebrand, Karl-Friedrich; Rövekamp, Markus. Die Generale des Heeres, 1921-1945, Band 3 (Dahlmann-Fitzlaff). Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, Germany, 1994.
- Luck, Hans von. Panzer Commander. Dell Publishing, New York, New York, 1989.
- Pallud, Jean Paul. “The French Navy at Toulon,” After the Battle, Number 76 (1992), pp. 1-29.
- Prisoner of War File Card for Generalleutnant Edgar Feuchtinger prepared by Captain Edward “Ted” Lees, camp intelligence officer and interrogator, Island Farm Special Camp 11.