NAME: Generalmajor Paul Goerbig

PW NO:         939908

RANK:          Generalmajor

CAPTURED: Bad Grund

DATE:            11 April 1945

 

PERSONAL
DATE OF BIRTH:      23 May 1895

PLACE OF BIRTH:    Saarbrcken

DATE OF DEATH:    17 August 1974

PLACE OF DEATH:  Hamburg

NATIONALITY:        German

RELIGION:

OCCUPATION:         Regular Soldier

HEIGHT:

WEIGHT:

NEXT OF KIN:

Account

Generalmajor Paul Goerbig was an early member of the German Motorized and Panzer Troops.  After seeing motorized troop service in the 1920s and early 1930s, he briefly separated from the Army to serve at the clandestine German Panzer Command in the USSR. As the Treaty of Versailles that formally ended World War I had forbidden Germany to possess tanks, the Germans signed a secret treaty with the USSR and established an armored fighting vehicle testing station at Kazan. Here the Germans were able to test new tanks and operational concepts far from the Allied Control Commission, the agency responsible for monitoring Germany’s compliance with treaty obligations.

After his return to Germany, Goerbig was reactivated in the Army and served successively on the staffs of the Inspectorate of Motorized Troops and the newly created Command of Panzer Troops. Both organizations were headed by General der Panzertruppe Oswald Lutz who, together with his highly talented Chief of Staff, Oberstleutnant (later Generaloberst) Heinz Guderian, helped create the operational art of modern armored warfare universally known as the “Blitzkrieg” (Lightning War). Influenced by leading British tank warfare theorists, both Lutz and Guderian developed the concept of grouping tanks into Armored (Panzer) Divisions. Guderian opined that tanks, teamed with motorized infantry and artillery, would operate as a “combined arms team” to deliver fast and decisive blows to an enemy’s flanks and rear as well as achieving decisive breakthroughs. Although these theories remained much at odds with the traditional military thinking of the day, Adolf Hitler believed in the concept and gave his support to the creation of the German Panzer Arm.

Promotions:

• War Volunteer: 8 August 1914
• Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier: 5 December 1914
• Fähnrich: 27 January 1915
• Leutnant: 18 April 1915 (without Patent)
• Leutnant: 22 June 1918 (Patent 22 May 1915; later changed to 1 September 1915)
• Oberleutnant: 31 July 1925 (RDA 1 April 1925)
• Hauptmann: 1 February 1930
• Major: 1 November 1935
• Oberstleutnant: 1 October 1938
• Oberst: 1 September 1941 (RDA later changed to 1 October 1940)
• Generalmajor: 1 April 1944

Commands & Assignments:

• 8 August 1914: Entered Army service as a War Volunteer, later Fahnenjunker in the Replacement Battalion of Pioneer Regiment 30.
• 14 October 1914: Allocated to Pioneer Regiment 30 in the field.
• 22 February 1915: Wounded/in hospital.
• 15 November 1915: Allocated to Replacement Battalion of Pioneer Regiment 30.
• 7 April 1916: Platoon Leader in Mortar Company 19.
• 12 February 1917: Adjutant of the Inspector of Mortar Services 2.
• 24 October 1918: Transferred to the 5th Mortar Replacement Battalion.
• 4 November 1918: Company Leader in Mortar Battalion 23.
• 9 January 1919: Adjutant of the Assault Detachment “Henschkel.”
• 1 February 1919: Court Officer of the 5th Mortar Replacement Battalion, Unterlüss.
• 2 April 1919: Allocated to the Assault Battalion “Henschkel.”
• 3 April 1919: Leader of the 1st Mortar Company of the Assault Battalion “Henschkel.”
• 6 October 1919: Transferred to the Assault Battalion “Schmidt”/Reichswehr Brigade 15.
• 24 January 1920: Transferred to Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 6.
• 3 May 1920: Transferred to the Mortar Company of Reichswehr Rifle Regiment 2.
• 1 October 1920: Transferred to the Mortar Company of Infantry Regiment 2.
• 23 February 1921-16 April 1921: Detached to the Mortar Training Course in Königsbrück.
• 1 November 1922: Transferred to Infantry Regiment 16.
• 20 June 1923-31 March 1924: Detached to the Inspectorate of Weapons and Equipment/Reich Defense Ministry.
• 1 October 1924: Transferred to Motorized Battalion 5.
• 1 April 1926-15 August 1926: Detached to the Officers Weapons School Course in Dresden.
• 1 June 1928: Transferred to the Motorized Personnel of Medical Battalion 2.
• 1 March 1930: Detached to Motorized Battalion 3/Panzer-Special Command Döberitz. [Major Heinz Guderian commanded Motorized Battalion 3 from 1 February 1930-1 October 1931.]
• 1 February 1931: Separated from the Army and detached to the clandestine Panzer Command in the USSR.
• 1 January 1932: Reactivated in the Army and assigned to the staff of Motorized Battalion 2.
• 1 August 1934: Detached to staff of the Inspectorate of Motorized Troops headed by Generalleutnant Oswald Lutz.
• 15 October 1935: Detached to the staff of the Command of Panzer Troops headed by General der Panzertruppe Oswald Lutz (Generalleutnant Heinz Guderian from 4 February 1938).
• 1 April 1938: Transferred to the General Staff of the XVI Army Corps (Motorized).
• 10 November 1938: Commander of Panzer Battalion 67 of the 3rd Light Division, redesignated and reformed as the 8th Panzer Division on 16 October 1939. [Commanded by General der Panzertruppe Adolf Kuntzen, the 3rd Light Division took part in the invasion of Poland in September 1939.]
• 1 November 1939: Chief of the Department of Troop Training Areas in the General Army Officer/Army High Command.
• 1 April 1943: Führer Reserve in the Army High Command.
• 15 April 1943: Detached to the Commanding General of Security Troops and Commander in Army Area South.
• 15 May 1943: Field Commandant 509.
• 10 June 1944: Führer Reserve in the Army High Command.
• 10 July 1944: Detached to the Commandant of Troop Training Area Bergen for familiarization.
• 15 August 1944: Commandant of Troop Training Area Wischau near Brünn.
• 1 October 1944: Führer Reserve in the Army High Command.
• 1945: Commandant of Troop Training Area Sennelager.
• 1 April 1945: Commander of Battle Group Goerbig, also Battle Group Senne and then named Division Goerbig (formed from troops at Sennelager).
• 11 April 1945: Taken prisoner by U.S. troops near Bad Grund.
• 11 April 1945-1947: Prisoner of war.
  • 29 April 1945 transferred to Trent Park Camp 11 sorting camp.

Decorations & Awards:

• Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class (1914)
• Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class (1914)
• Oldenburg Friedrich August Cross, 1st Class
• Oldenburg Friedrich August Cross, 2nd Class
• 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)
• Wound Badge in Black – World War I award

NOTE: Goerbig’s World War II decorations, if any, are not known. However, he was not a recipient of any high decorations such as the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords, or the German Cross in Gold/Silver.