Wilhelm Marschall

Wilhelm Marschall
Born	30 September 1886(1886-09-30) Augsburg
Died	20 March 1976(1976-03-20) (aged 89) Mölln
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1919) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kaiserliche Marine Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1906–1945
Rank	Generaladmiral
Commands held	SM UC-74 SM UB-105 SMS Hessen heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Pour le Mérite German Cross in Gold

Wilhelm Marschall (30 September 1886 – 20 March 1976) was a German admiral during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Pour le Mérite which he received as commander of the German U-boat UB-105 during World War I. The Pour le Mérite was the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order for German officers until the end of World War I.

Biography

Marschall was born in Augsburg, Kingdom of Bavaria, in 1886. In 1906 he entered the Kaiserliche Marine as a Seekadett. During World War I he served as a Wachoffizier on the SMS Kronprinz. In 1916 he was educated as a U-boat commander and captained both UC-74 and UB-105 by war's end.

While in the Reichsmarine, Marschall served primarily as a Vermessungsoffizier (surveying officer) and in different staff positions. At the end of 1934 he became commander of the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer. As a Konteradmiral in 1936, he joined the Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine and headed the operations division. During the Spanish Civil War Marschall commanded the German naval forces off of the Spanish coast. He was promoted to Admiral and Flottenchef (fleet commander) in 1939. Marschall led the inspection of naval education for two years beginning in summer 1940 during World War II. During this time he often conducted the duties of a commanding admiral.

Admiral Marschall was at sea with the German battle fleet during the latter part of the Norwegian Campaign, flying his flag in battleship Gneisenau. On 8 June 1940, Marschall and part of his force (flagship Gneisenau, and her sister-ship Scharnhorst) fell in with British aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and two destroyers (Acasta and Ardent) about 280 miles west of Harstad, Norway. In a two-hour action, Glorious and her accompanying destroyers were all sunk, in exchange for damage to Scharnhorst (struck by one of Acasta's torpedoes). Although the battle was a German victory, Marschall had engaged Glorious despite orders to avoid action. Marschall's differences with the High Command on this subject, and the severe damage to Scharnhorst during the engagement, ensured that Marschall was replaced as Flottenchef by Admiral Günther Lütjens.

In 1942 Marschall was named commanding admiral of occupied France and replaced Alfred Saalwächter as commander of Marinegruppenkommando West. On 1 February 1943 he was promoted to Generaladmiral, but was replaced as western commander by Theodor Krancke and deactivated later that spring.

During the remainder of the war, Marschall was reactivated twice, once as Sonderbevollmächtigter (special agent) for the Danube, and once as commander of the Marineoberkommando West shortly before war's end. From 1945–47 he was held as a prisoner of war.

Marschall died in Mölln, West Germany, in 1976.

Awards

• Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class (1914)
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords
• Pour le Mérite (4 July 1918)
• Bavarian Military Merit Order 4th Class with Swords
• Order of the Iron Crown 3rd Class with War Decoration
• Austrian Military Merit Cross 3rd Class with War Decoration
• U-boat War Badge
• Nishan-e-Imtiaz in Silver with Sabres
• Liakat Medal in Silver with Sabres
• Gallipoli Star
• Cross of Honor
• Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung 2nd and 1st Class
• Clasp to the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class
• German Cross in Gold (23 March 1942)

Reference in the Wehrmachtbericht

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
Sunday, 9 June 1940	Deutsche Seestreitkräfte, darunter die beiden Schlachtschiffe "Gneisenau" und "Scharnhorst", operierten unter Führung des Admirals Marschall zur Entlastung der um Narvik kämpfenden Truppen im Nordmeer. Hierbei wurden am 8. Juni durch eine Kampfgruppe der englische Flugzeugträger "Glorious" (22 500t) und ein feindlicher Zerstörer in Grund geschossen.	German sea forces, among them the two battleships "Gneisenau" and "Scharnhorst", operated in the Norwegian Sea under the leadership of Admiral Marschall for the relief of the fighting troops at Narvik. The task force destroyed the English aircraft carrier "Glorious" (22 500t) and an enemy destroyer on 8 June.

References

Citations

Bibliography

• (in German) Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939-1945 Band 1, 1. September 1939 bis 31. Dezember 1941. München, Germany: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN 3-423-05944-3. 

External links

Media related to Wilhelm Marschall at Wikimedia Commons

• Wilhelm Marschall in the German National Library catalogue (German)
• Axis Biographical Research

Military offices
Preceded by Admiral Otto Schultze	Commanding Admiral France 9 August 1942 – November 1942	Succeeded by —
Preceded by Generaladmiral Alfred Saalwächter	Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine Group Command West 21 September 1942 – 19 April 1943	Succeeded by Admiral Theodor Krancke
Preceded by Admiral Hermann Boehm	Chief of Fleet of the Kriegsmarine 21 October 1939 – 7 July 1940	Succeeded by Admiral Günther Lütjens