Walther Wenck
Walther Wenck (September 18, 1900 - May 1, 1982) was the youngest general in the German Army during the Second World War. Prior to joining the Reichswehr in 1920, he was a member of the Freikorps in 1919 [1]. He commanded the German Twelfth Army which he ordered to surrender to the United States in order to avoid capture by the Soviets.
The area of control of Wenck's Twelfth Army east of the Elbe had become a vast refugee camp as German civilians fled the path of the approaching Soviet forces. Wenck took great pains to provide food and lodging for refugees; at one stage the Twelfth Army was estimated to be feeding more than half a million people every day.
Wenck had disengaged the Americans shortly before the Battle of Berlin under orders to relieve the city. His army, only recently formed, made a sudden turn to the east and in the general confusion surprised the Russians surrounding the Reich's capital. Hitler saw Wenck's drive as Berlin's final outside hope.
Wenck's forces moved towards Berlin in good morale but were halted outside Potsdam by strong resistance from the Red Army. After the attempt to reach Berlin failed, he planned to move towards the Forest of Halbe and link up with the remnants of the Ninth Army and the Potsdam garrison, as well as provide an escape route for citizens of Berlin. Arriving at the furthest point of his attack he radioed the message "Hurry up, we are waiting for you." Despite the attacks on his escape path, Wenck brought his own and the remnants of the Ninth Army as well as many civilian refugees safely across the Elbe into territory occupied by the US Army. Estimates vary, but it is likely the corridor his forces opened enabled up to 250,000 refugees, including up to 25,000 men of the Ninth Army to escape from the advancing Red Army towards the west.
According to Antony Beevor in "Berlin, The Downfall 1945" (Chapters: The Bombarded City & False Hopes), Wenck's eastward attack toward Berlin was aimed specifically at providing the population and garrison of Berlin with an escape route to areas occupied by US armed forces. Beevor (page 286) quotes Wenck as saying: "Boys, you've got to go in once more... It's not about Berlin any more, it's not about the Reich any more." Their task was to save people from Red Army atrocities. Hans-Dietrich Genscher, a young sapper with the Twelfth Army, described their emotions as a 'feeling of loyalty, a sense of responsibility and comradeship.'
References
- Bradley, Dermot. Walther Wenck, General der Panzertruppe. Biblio Verlag (January 1981). ISBN 3-7648-1177-3
- Ryan, Cornelius. "The Last Battle". Simon and Schuster (1966)
- Beevor, Antony "BERLIN, The Downfall 1945". Viking 2002; Penguin 2003
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