SOME OF THE PRISONERS HELD AT
SPECIAL CAMP 11

This profile is based on a copy of Generalmajor Wüerst’s microfilmed service record housed at the United States National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.

NAME: Generalmajor Erich Franz Ferdinand Wüerst

PW NO:          560281
RANK:            Generalmajor
CAPTURED:   Oslo, Norway
DATE:             1 July 1945

PERSONAL
DATE OF BIRTH: 7 December 1892

PLACE OF BIRTH: Kiel/Schleswig-Holstein

DATE OF DEATH: 1950

PLACE OF DEATH: Göttingen

NATIONALITY: German

RELIGION: Evangelical

OCCUPATION: Regular Soldier

HEIGHT: 5’ 9”

WEIGHT: 168 Pounds

HAIR COLOUR: Grey

EYE COLOUR: Blue

NEXT OF KIN:

Parents: Franz and Margaretha (née Haase) Wüerst. Franz Wüerst held the civil service rank of Geheimer Oberbaurat and served in the Quartering Affairs Section of the Administrative Department of the Reich Navy Office in Berlin. A recipient of the Prussian Red Eagle Order 2nd Class with Oakleaf and the Prussian Crown Order 2nd Class, he died on 30 January 1915.

Wife: Married Dorothea von Schneidemesser on 4 March 1920 in Berlin – two sons and two daughters.

Promotions:

Easter 1899-Easter 1902: Attended Vorschule (Pre-School) in Wilhelmshaven.
Easter 1902-Easter 1913: Attended Gymnasium (High School) in Charlottenburg and Berlin; attained his certificate of graduation from that institution.
26 February 1913: Entered the Army as a Fahnenjunker in Pommersches Pionier-Bataillon Nr.2.
7 August 1914: In the field with the 4th Field Company of II./Pioneer Battalion 2 on the Eastern Front.
31 January 1915: Badly wounded by infantry fire in both upper thighs during the engagement at Bolimow.
12 February 1916: Transferred as Adjutant to the staff of I./Pioneer Battalion 2 in the High Command of Army Group “Linsingen” (General der Infanterie Alexander von Linsingen) on the Eastern Front.
3 April 1916: Invalided to Replacement Pioneer Battalion 2.
15 August 1916: In the field with Pioneer Company 237 on the Eastern Front.
13 December 1916: Returned to Replacement Pioneer Battalion 2.
5 January 1917: Detached to Group “Litzmann” (General der Infanterie Karl Litzmann) on the Eastern Front.
2 February 1917: Transferred to the Staff Officer of Pioneers of Army Front “Archduke Joseph” (Generaloberst Archduke Joseph of Austria) and detached as Deputy Adjutant to the Staff Officer for Pioneers 70 of the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian 1st Army on the Eastern Front.
29 March 1917: Detached as Adjutant to the Staff Officer for Pioneers 56 in Army Front “Archduke Joseph” on the Eastern Front.
1 December 1917: Moved with the Staff Officer for Pioneers 56 to the 2nd Army on the Western Front.
21 April 1918: Detached for four weeks to Section Ib (Chief Supply Officer) of the General Command of the XIV Army Corps.
1-30 June 1918: On the staff of Reserve Infantry Regiment 142 (under detachment to the General Command of the XIV Army Corps).
1 July 1918: In the budget (“Etat”) of Infantry Regiment 142 (under detachment to the General Command of the XIV Army Corps).
1 November 1918: In a budget position (“Etatstelle”) of the General Command (under detachment to the General Command of the XIV Army Corps).
7 October 1919: Detached to the Security Police Group in Gleiwitz/Hindenburg/Upper Silesia.
20 January 1920: Separated from the Army.
25 March 1920: Transferred to the 5th 100-Man Detachment of the Security Police in Groß Strehlitz/Upper Silesia as a Platoon Leader.
29 August 1920: Transferred as Adjutant to the Voting Police in Oppeln.
30 October 1920: Separated from the Security Police in Oppeln and expelled from Upper Silesia by the Interallied Commission.
1 November 1920: Entered as a laborer into an independent police detachment under the Detachment Staff of the Security Police in Liegnitz.
19 November 1920: Transferred from Lauban to the 1st 100-Man Detachment of the Security Police in Görlitz.
1 December 1920: Transferred to the Security Police in Lauban as a 100-Man Detachment Leader.
1 February 1921-30 April 1921: Detached to the Higher Police School in Eiche at Potsdam – promotion course for the rank of Polizei-Hauptmann.
1 May 1921: Transferred to the Schutzpolizei [Municipal Police] in Görlitz as a 100-Man Detachment Leader.
1 January 1925: Transferred to the Schutzpolizei in Glogau as a 100-Man Detachment Leader.
1 April 1926: Transferred to the Schutzpolizei in Hamburg as an Alarm Squad Leader.
30 May 1927: Transferred to the Schutzpolizei in Waldenburg as a Station Chief.
18 June 1928-13 July 1928: Detached to the Physical Education Course at the Police School in Berlin-Spandau.
5 January 1932-24 March 1932: Detached to the 9th Polizei-Major Candidate Course at the Higher Police School in Eiche.
1 June 1932: Transferred to the Police School in Treptow an der Rega as a Specialist Subject Instructor.
3 July 1933-27 July 1933: Detached to the 2nd Tactical Special Training Course at the Higher Police School in Eiche.
10 April 1934: Transferred to the staff of the Land Police Inspectorate North in Stettin as the Specialist for Intelligence (Ic).
1 April 1935: Separated from the Police and returned to the Army with the rank of Major and named Chief of the 1st Company of Pioneer Battalion “Stettin.”
26 August 1939-14 February 1940: Commander of Pioneer Battalion 49. [In September 1939, Oberst Wüerst’s battalion took part in the invasion of Poland. Advancing from East Prussia, the battalion built a bridge over the Narew River at Łomża and then took part in the attack on the fortress of Brest-Litovsk.]
15 February 1940-10 June 1941: Commander of Pioneer Regimental Staff for Special Employment 507. [Oberst Wüerst’s pioneer regimental staff was assigned to Generaloberst (later Generalfeldmarschall) Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb’s Army Group C on the Western Front as an army group-level asset. Composed of the 1st and 7th Armies, the army group faced the French Maginot Line from its positions in the Saarland and along the upper Rhine River.[1] Remaining on the defensive during the first phase of the German invasion of the Low Countries and France, Army Group C finally went over to the offensive on 14 June 1940. After penetrating the Maginot Line in several locations, Army Group C advanced into the Vosges and, operating in conjunction with Panzer Group Guderian (General der Panzertruppe Heinz Guderian) sweeping down from the northeast, encircled over 400,000 troops of the French 2nd Army Group in Alsace-Lorraine. Following the campaign, Wüerst’s pioneer regimental staff was allocated as a corps-level asset to General der Infanterie Erich von Lewinski genannt von Manstein’s XXXVIII Army Corps for Operation “Seelöwe” (Sea Lion), the proposed invasion of Great Britain. Earmarked as one of the first-wave assault corps of the 9th Army, von Manstein’s command was assigned landing zones on the English coast between Bexhill and Eastbourne.]
18 August 1941-30 May 1942: Leader of the Le Havre Army Troop Training Area in France.
1 June 1942-1 February 1943: Army Pioneer Leader of the 7th Army in France (Generaloberst Friedrich Dollmann).
1 February 1943-1 August 1943: Army Pioneer Leader of the 2nd Panzer Army on the Eastern Front (Generaloberst Rudolf Schmidt; General der Infanterie Heinrich Clößner from 10 July 1943; and then Generaloberst Walter Model from 15 July 1943).
1 August 1943-5 September 1943: Army High Command Leader Reserve.
5 September 1943-1 July 1945: Army Pioneer Leader of the 20th Mountain Army in Finland and Norway (Generaloberst Eduard Dietl; Generaloberst Dr. jur. Lothar Rendulic from 23 June 1944; and then General der Gebirgstruppe Franz Böhme from 8 January 1945-9 May 1945). [An officer evaluation dated 5 March 1944 prepared by Generalleutnant Ferdinand Jodl, the Chief of the General Staff of the 20th Mountain Army, and endorsed by Generaloberst Dietl, described Wüerst’s professional and personal qualifications: Conscientious reliable personality of an impeccable character…He has had little opportunity to prove himself before the enemy with this Army High Command.[2] His achievements as Army Pioneer Leader are good. Constrained in his field of work without particularly expanding outside of it. Educated and a wide range of interests, physically impaired by a foot injury, but sufficiently mobile. While Generalleutnant Jodl observed his subordinate possessed strong organizational talents, he viewed him as somewhat too quiet and slow.]
1 July 1945 1945-17 May 1948: Prisoner of war in British captivity
- 9 January 1946 transferred to Island Farm Special Camp 11 from Camp 1
- 17 May 1947 transferred to LDC (London District Cage) from Island Farm Special Camp 11
- 12 May 1947 transferred to Island Farm Special Camp 11 from LDC
- 12 May 1948 transferred to Camp 186 for repatriation.

19-20 August 1914: Battle of Gawaiten – Gumbinnen.
26 August 1914: Battle on Lake Büssauer.
23-31 August 1914: Battle of Tannenberg.
5-15 September 1914: Battle of the Masurian Lakes.
25-30 September 1914: Engagement on the Niemen.
30 October 1914-5 November 1914: Positional combat around Wirballen.
17-18 November 1914: Combat on the Gostynin – Gombin road.
30 November 1914-17 December 1914: Battle of Lowicz – Sanniti.
18 December 1914-31 January 1915: Battle on the Rawka – Bzura (badly wounded during the engagement at Bolimow).
15 August 1916-15 September 1916: Positional combat on the Bystrzyca.
5 January 1917-end of July 1917: Combat in Moldavia and in the “Waldkarpathen,” the eastern part of the Carpathian Mountains located approximately in present-day southwest Ukraine.
End of July 1917-27 August 1917: Liberation of Bukovina and combat in the eastern Carpathian Mountains and in the mountain passes in eastern Moldavia and Bukovina.

Western Front, 1917-1918

14 December 1917-31 January 1918: Combat in the “Siegfried” Position.
1 February 1918-20 March 1918: Preparation time for the Great Battle in France and combat in the “Siegfried” Position.
21 March 1918-6 April 1918: Great Battle in France (“Ludendorff Offensive”).
21-22 March 1918: The Breakthrough between Gouzeaucourt and Vermand.
23-26 March 1918: Combat pursuit in the area of the Somme.
27 March 1918-17 June 1918: Combat on the Aisne, the Somme and the Avre.
28 March 1918-5 April 1918: Breakthrough at the position at Hamel east of Amiens.
24-26 April 1918: Battle of Villers-Bretonneux, on the Luce and the Avre.
16 June 1918-14 July 1918: Positional combat at Reims.
15-17 July 1918: Attack Battle on the Marne and in Champagne.
18-25 July 1918: Defensive Battle between Soissons and Reims.
26 July 1918-3 August 1918: Mobile Defensive Battle between the Marne and the Vesle.
4-22 August 1918: Defensive Battle between the Oise and the Aisne.
5-18 September 1918: Combat on the “Siegfried” Front.
19 September 1918-9 October 1918: Combat on the “Siegfried” Front.
10 October 1918-4 November 1918: Combat before and in the “Hermann” Position.
10-26 October 1918: Combat between the Oise and the Serre.
5-11 November 1918: Fighting retreat from the Antwerp-Maas Position.
12-30 November 1918: Withdrawal from the occupied territories and the return home.

[1] Generaloberst (later Generalfeldmarschall) Erwin von Witzleben and General der Artillerie (later Generaloberst) Friedrich Dollmann commanded the 1st and 7th Armies respectively.

[2] The 20th Mountain Army front in northern Finland had been a relatively quiet and inactive theater of operations for several years until the Russians launched their Petsamo-Kirkenes Offensive on 7 October 1944.