Hermann Balck

Hermann Balck (December 7, 1893 - November 29, 1982) was a general in Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht during World War II.

Biography

Balck entered the Imperial German army in 1913 as an officer candidate. He served as a company grade officer in World War I, ending in command of a machine-gun company. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939 Balck was in the OKH (High Command of the German Army) and was transferred to the command of Schützenregiment 1 (motorised rifle regiment 1) in 1. Panzerdivision in late October 1939, where he served during the Battle of France. His unit was closely involved in the German Sichelschnitt plan, and led the Sedan crossing.

During the winter and spring of 1940 - 1 he commanded Panzerregiment 3 during the Battle of Greece, and later 2. Panzerbrigade. He returned to staff duties in the Inspectorate of Armoured Forces in the OKH in July 1941. In May 1942, Balck went to the Eastern Front and commanded the 11. Panzer Division in Ukraine and southern Russia. He was removed into officer reserve, but immediately given command of Panzergrenadierdivision Grossdeutschland in the east. After a brief spell in Italy he came to command the 48. Panzerkorps in the east in 1943, and finally 4th Panzer Army from August 1944. During this time his Division or Panzerkorps engaged in the defense against the Soviet breakthrough at Stalingrad, and the attempt to relieve Stalingrad in late 1942, the defense against the Soviet breakthrough across the Dnieper, and the counterattack at Zhitomir in 1943, as well as the defense against the Soviet winter/spring offensive in western Ukraine in 1944, where Balck was one of the two commanders responsible for the disastrous attempt to create and hold a Fester Platz at Tarnopol. In July 1944 Balck commanded the 48. Panzerkorps during the initial phase of the Soviet Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive. Balck was closely involved in the failed defense, and the unsuccessful attempt to relieve the encircled 13. Armeekorps at Brody which was destroyed.

He was transferred from command of the 4th Panzer Army in Poland to the command of Army Group G in the Alsace region of France in September 1944. In late December Balck was relieved of his command and transferred back to the Eastern Front and demoted to command Army Group Balck in Hungary. Balck was captured in Austria by American troops on 8 May 1945.

After the war he became a depot worker. In 1948 he was arrested, tried and convicted for murder for the execution by firing squad, without proper trial, of the artillery commander Lieutenant-Colonel Johann Schottke, who was found drunk on duty, on 28 November 1944 near Saarbrücken. This incident occurred while Balck was serving as commander of Army Group G on the western front. He served half of his sentence.

Career assessment

Balck was a prime example of a class of German officers who rose rapidly through the ranks during the war, together with e.g. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Erhard Raus, Generaloberst Josef Harpe, and Field Marshal Ernst Busch. Balck started the war as an Oberstleutnant (lieutenant-colonel) in 1939 and ended it as a General der Panzertrupper (general of armored troops = U.S. or British lieutenant general). Balck is often described as a very gifted commander of armoured troops, and his handling of 11. Panzerdivision and 48. Panzerkorps during 1942-3 would support this view. Critics claim that his rather less gifted performance at Tarnopol in March/April 1944, and during the defensive battles in the west in autumn 1944 indicates the risk that such a rapid promotion policy might cause one to rise above one's level of competence.

Many of the battles Balck participated in are described in Generalmajor Friedrich von Mellenthin's Panzer Battles. Critics charge, however, that this work is not reliable as a historical study, and in particular battles in which the German side did not do well are not adequately described, while any assessment of Soviet forces in the book is highly questionable. Balck's own autobiography is entitled Ordnung im Chaos[1].

Additional information on General der Panzertruppe Hermann Balck appears at http://www.geocities.com/~orion47/WEHRMACHT/HEER/General/BALCK_HERMANN.html , Mike Miller / Axis Biographical Research