Friedrich Wilhelm von Mellenthin (30 August 1904 - 28 June 1997) was a Generalmajor in the German Army during World War II. A participant in most of the major campaigns of the war, he became well-known afterwards for his memoirs Panzer Battles, first published in 1956 and regularly reprinted since then. August 30 is the 242nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (243rd in leap years), with 123 days remaining. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... June 28 is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 186 days remaining. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... Von Brauchitsch was the high army commander from 1938 to 1941 Heer (German: Heer ) is the german word for Army, though in English it refers to the Army branch of the Wermacht. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Panzerschlachten (Panzer Battles) is the German language title of Major General F. W. von Mellenthins autobiography of his service in the Panzer arm of the Heer during World War II. The most prominent English language version is Panzer Battles: A Study of the Employment of Armor in the Second...

Early life

He was born at Breslau in Silesia (now in Poland but at the time in Germany), into a military family; his father Paul Henning von Mellenthin was a lieutenant colonel of artillery who would be killed in action in 1918. Friedrich's older brother, Horst von Mellenthin, would later become a WWII general also. In 1924, upon graduation from Breslau's Real-Gymnasium, Friedrich enlisted as a private in the Seventh Cavalry Regiment of the Reichswehr. He studied for his commission over the next several years, and won a rare promotion to lieutenant in 1928 (the Reichswehr at the time having only 4,000 officers in its entirety). He married Ingeborg von Aulock, granddaughter of a South African emigrant, in 1932. Although he described himself as "perfectly happy" with regimental life, his superior assigned him to prepare operational reports to divisional headquarters, and these were generally approved of. In recognition of his talents, he was assigned to the Kriegsakademie in 1935, where he took its two-year course for General Staff officers. Wrocław. ... Prussian Silesia, 1871, outlined in yellow; Silesia at the close of the Seven Years War in 1763, outlined in cyan (areas now in the Czech Republic were Austrian-ruled at that time) Silesia (Czech: ; German: ; Polish: ; Silesian: Åšlonsk / Åšlónsk) is a historical region in central Europe. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Reichswehr (help· info) (literally National Defense or Imperial Defense) formed the military organization of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when the government rebranded it as the Wehrmacht (Defence Force). ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... A Kriegschule was a General Military School used for basic officer training in Germany up until the defeat in 1945. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A General Staff is a group of professional military officers who act in a staff or administrative role under the command of a general officer. ...

Early war - Poland/France/Balkans/Greece

Just before and during the start of World War II, between 1937 through December 1939, he served as the Third General Staff Officer (Ic-Intelligence) in the III. Armeekorps of the Wehrmacht. He participated in the September 1939 invasion of Poland, where the III. Armeekorps attacked from Pomerania and pressed along the Vistula River toward Warsaw, cutting off the retreat of Polish units in the Corridor. 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... List of military corps — List of German corps in WWII This is a list of German army corps that existed during World War II. Army corps Infantry Corps I - IX German I Corps German II Corps German III Corps German IV Corps German V Corps German VI Corps German... German cavalry and motorized units entering Poland from East Prussia during the Polish Campaign of 1939 Wehrmacht (Defence force) was the name of the armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. ... Polish Defensive War of 1939 Conflict World War II Date 1 September - 6 October 1939 Place Poland Result Decisive German and Soviet victory The Polish September Campaign or Defensive War of 1939 (Polish: Wojna obronna 1939 roku) was the conquest of Poland by the armies of Nazi Germany, the Soviet... Historic Pomerania (outlined in yellow) on the background of modern country borders. ... Vistula river basin Vistula (Polish Wisła), is the longest river in Poland. ... Warsaw (Polish: , (?), in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: Miasto StoÅ‚eczne Warszawa) is the capital of Poland and its largest city. ... A Polish map showing the territory known as the Polish Corridor The Polish Corridor was the name given to a strip of territory which was transferred from Germany to Poland by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. ...

From June to August 1940, he was the First General Staff Officer (Ia-Operations) with the 197th Infantry Division during the Battle of France and the preparations for Operation Sealion. From September 1940 to February 1941, he was the Third General Staff Officer (Ic-Intelligence) in the First Army, then on occupation duty in northern France. After this quiet period, from March through May 1941, he was the Third General Staff Officer (Ic-Intelligence) with the Second Army during Germany's invasion of the Balkans. 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... This is a list of German divisions in WWII. Only ground units are covered; divisions of aircraft are not. ... Combatants France United Kingdom Canada Poland Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg Nazi Germany Italy Commanders Maurice Gamelin, Maxime Weygand (French) Lord Gort (British Expeditionary Force) H.G. Winkelman (Dutch) Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Wilhelm von Leeb (Army Group C) H.R.H. Umberto di... Genera Eumetopias Zalophus Otaria Neophoca Phocarctos A sea lion rookery at Monterey, California A sea lion is any of several marine mammals of the family Otariidae. ... This article is about the year. ... Combatants Germany Italy Bulgaria Albania, Greece, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Yugoslavia Commanders Maximilian von Weichs Giovanni Messe Alexander Papagos Strength unknown unknown Casualties unknown unknown The Balkans Campaign was the Italian and German invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece during World War II. It began with Italys annexation of...

Africa

Following this, von Mellenthin was posted to North Africa, where from June 1941 to September 1942 he served as the Third General Staff Officer (Ic-Intelligence) at Generaloberst Erwin Rommel's HQ of the Afrikakorps (which later became Panzer Group / Panzer Army Afrika). He stayed in this role during the battles of Tobruk, Gazala, and El Alamein. From July to September of 1942 he also served as the Acting Operations Staff Officer to Fieldmarshal Erwin Rommel. Due to the high stress of these assignments, he spent September and October of 1942 in a military hospital at Garmisch, Germany recovering from exhaustion. The Western Desert Campaign was the primary early theatre of the North African Campaign of World War II. It is sometimes referred to as the Egypt-Libya Campaign. ... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel ( ) (November 15, 1891 – October 14, 1944) was one of the most distinguished German field marshals of World War II. He was the commander of the Deutsches Afrika Korps and also became known by the nickname The Desert Fox (Wüstenfuchs,  ) for the skillful military campaigns he... The Deutsches Afrikakorps (often just Afrika Korps or DAK) was the corps_level headquarters controlling the German Panzer divisions in Libya and Egypts Western Desert during the North African Campaign of World War II. Since there was little turnover in the units attached to the corps the term is commonly... Panzer Group Afrika Panzer Army Afrika German-Italian Panzer Army Panzer Group Afrika (German Panzergruppe Afrika)1 was established in September 1941 to control the German mechanized forces in North Africa during World War II. Erwin Rommel was placed in command, handing command of the Afrika Korps over to Ludwig... Combatants United Kingdom Australia Poland Czechoslovakia Germany Italy Commanders Leslie Morshead Erwin Rommel Strength 14,000 - Casualties Britain: 9009 killed 941 captured estimated 12,000 total 8,000 The Siege of Tobruk was a lengthy confrontation between Axis and Allied forces, mostly Australian, in the North African Campaign of World... The Battle of Gazala was an important battle of the World War II Western Desert Campaign, fought around the port of Tobruk in Libya from May 26 to June 21, 1942. ... Sup G There were two battles of El Alamein, both during 1942. ... Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel ( ) (November 15, 1891 – October 14, 1944) was one of the most distinguished German field marshals of World War II. He was the commander of the Deutsches Afrika Korps and also became known by the nickname The Desert Fox (Wüstenfuchs,  ) for the skillful military campaigns he... A casualty is a victim of an accident, injury or trauma. ... Garmisch-Partenkirchen (29,875 inhabitants; 01-01-2004) is a market town, and the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region of Bavaria, Germany, near the border with Austria. ...

Eastern Front

Upon recovery, from November 1942 to May 1944, he served as Chief of General Staff for the XXXXVIII. Panzerkorps on the Eastern Front in Russia, where he participated in the battles following the encirclement of Stalingrad, and later in Kursk, the Kiev, and the spring 1944 battles in western Ukraine, including the battle for Tarnopol. As Chief of Staff for the XXXXVIII. Panzerkorps, he made frequent radio contact with General Paulus at Stalingrad, to learn of his plans for complying with Hitler's order to hold the encircled city against the attacking Red Army. 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... // Background A Panzerkorps was a military formation type in the German Wehrmacht during World War II. The name was introduced in 1942, when the motorised Armeekorps (AK (mot. ... The Eastern Front was the theatre of combat between Nazi Germany and its allies against the Soviet Union during World War II. It was somewhat separate from the other theatres of the war, not only geographically, but also for its scale and ferocity. ... Combatants Axis Powers Soviet Union Commanders Friedrich Paulus Erich von Manstein Hermann Hoth Georgy Zhukov Vasily Chuikov Aleksandr Vasilevsky Strength German Sixth Army German Fourth Panzer Army Romanian Third Army Romanian Fourth Army Hungarian Second Army Italian Eighth Army 500,000 Germans Unknown number Reinforcements Unknown number Axis-allies Stalingrad... Combatants Germany Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein, Günther von Kluge, Walther Model Georgy Zhukov, Konstantin Rokossovsky, Nikolai Vatutin Strength 800,000 infantry, 2,700 tanks, 2,000 aircraft 1,300,000 infantry, 3,600 tanks, 2,400 aircraft Casualties 500,000 dead, wounded, or captured 500 tanks 200... Two battles of World War II are known as the Battle of Kiev, fought around the city of Kiev in the Soviet Union (now Ukraine): In the Battle of Kiev (1941) two German Panzer Groups encircled a Soviet army in the city. ... Ternopil (Тернопіль in Ukrainian, Tarnopol in Polish, Ternopol in Russian) is a city in Western Ukraine, located at the banks of the Seret river. ... Field Marshall Friedrich Paulus Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (September 23, 1890, Breitenau – February 1, 1957, Dresden) was a German general, later promoted to field marshal, during World War II. Paulus was the son of a schoolteacher. ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... The short forms Red Army and RKKA refer to the Workers and Peasants Red Army, (in Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия - Raboche-Krestyanskaya Krasnaya Armiya), the armed forces first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918. ...

In July 1944 von Mellenthin was Chief of Staff of XXXXVIII. Panzerkorps when it unsuccessfully tried to relieve the Brody encirclement during the first days of the L'vov-Sandomierz Operation. When a range of commanders were moved, von Mellenthin followed General Hermann Balck when Balck was promoted to commander of 4. Panzerarmee in August 1944, during the later stages of the battles in western Ukraine and south-eastern Poland. During this time Soviet Marshall Konev's forces pressed the German forces behind the San river in south-eastern Poland, creating a bridgehead that would become one of the springboards for the Vistula-Oder Operation in January 1945. Combatants Germany Soviet Union Commanders Josef Harpe (Heeresgruppe Nordukraine) Ivan Koniev (1st Ukrainian Front) Strength 368,000 men 340 AFVs 4,800 guns 1,200,000 men 1,979 AFVs 11,265 guns Casualties 37,400 men 520 AFVs 198,000 men 1,285 AFVs The Lvov-Sandomierz Operation was... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Panzergruppe 4 4. ... Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Koniev Ivan Stepanovich Koniev (Russian Иван Степанович Конев) (December 28, 1897 - May 21, 1973), Soviet military commander, was born into a peasant family near Podosinovsky in central Russia... Combatants Wehrmacht i. ...

Western Front

In September 1944 von Mellenthin was transferred to eastern France together with his commander Generaloberst Hermann Balck when Balck was promoted again to command a Heeresgruppe. Until November he served as Chief of General Staff Army Group G under Balck. He participated in the Campaign in the West along the front line between Luxembourg and Switzerland, serving in battles around Nancy, Metz, Arracourt, the Vosges and Alsace-Lorraine. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with List of German divisions in WWII. (Discuss) Listing of German divisions and division-sized units operational during World War II. Formation dates are provided where known. ... Nancy is a city in France. ... For other uses of Metz, see Metz (disambiguation) City motto: Si paix dedans, paix dehors (French: If peace inside, peace outside) City proper (commune) Région Lorraine Département Moselle (57) Mayor Jean-Marie Rausch Area 41. ... Vosges is a French département, named after the Vosges mountain range. ... Imperial Province of Elsaß-Lothringen Alsace-Lorraine (French: Alsace-Lorraine; German: Elsaß-Lothringen) was a territory disputed between the nation states of France and Germany. ...

von Mellenthin was relieved of his command along with several other German officers in early December 1944, due to the unauthorized retreat of the German forces in the sector, and retired to the Officers’ Pool of German High Command. Chief of Staff of the German Army, General Heinz Guderian obtained restoration to duty for him in late December. From December 28 through February 1945 he was attached to the 9th Panzer Division during the Battle of the Bulge, where the division fought just north of Bastogne. Between March and May 1945 he was Chief of Staff to General Hasso von Manteuffel's Fifth Panzer Army, which was defending western Germany against the US and British forces attacking in the Ruhr region and around Cologne. Oberkommando der Wehrmacht OKW most notably stands for Oberkommando der Wehrmacht - the high Command of the Third Reich armed forces. ... Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (17 June 1888 - 14 May 1954) was a military theorist and innovative General of the German Army during the Second World War. ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... German 9th Panzer Division, sometimes simply called as 9th Panzer Division came into existence after 4th Light Division was reorganized in January 1940. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Ardennes: Battle of the bulge Wacht Am Rhein redirects here. ... Bastogne (Dutch: Bastenaken, German: Bastenach, Luxembourgish: Baaschtnech) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes. ... Hasso-Eccard Freiherr von Manteuffel (January 14, 1897 — September 24, 1978) was a German soldier and politician of the 20th century. ... 5. ... Map of the Ruhr Area The Ruhr Area (German Ruhrgebiet, colloquially Ruhrpott or Kohlenpott or simply Pott) is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, consisting of a number of large (former) industrial cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to the south, Rhine to the west, and Lippe to... Köln redirects here. ...

During the eastward retreat he was captured by the British at Höxter on the Weser River, on May 3, 1945. Weser watershed Orthographic projection centred over Bremen The Weser is a river of north-western Germany. ... May 3 is the 123rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (124th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...

Later life

Von Mellenthin spent 2 1/2 years in prison, during which time he talked with many of his fellow inmates about the events of the war, and took notes. One of the nonpolitical officers, he professed unawareness of Nazi activities, writing that "not until we were behind barbed wire did we learn of the misdeeds of the Supreme Authority, deeds which shook us to the core and made our cheeks burn with shame" (Panzer Battles, ch. 23).

After his release, he emigrated with his family to South Africa. His book Panzerschlachten, translated into English as Panzer Battles, documents all the campaigns he participated in with substantial detail. He later became director of Lufthansa in South Africa, and died in Johannesburg. Panzerschlachten (Panzer Battles) is the German language title of Major General Frederich W. von Mellenthins autobiographical account of his service in the Panzer arm of the Heer during World War II. The most prominent English language version is Panzer Battles: A Study of the Employment of Armor in the... Lufthansa (Deutsche Lufthansa AG) is the largest German airline. ... , City motto: Unity in Development Province Gauteng Mayor Amos Masondo Area  - % water 1,644 km² 0. ...

The reliability of Panzer Battles has been called into question over the years. Critics point out that Generalmajor v. Mellenthin tends to downplay German failures while focusing exclusively on successes, and some are offended by his extremely frank observations on the positive and negative qualities of the Russian soldier. Like all postwar accounts written by combatants, Panzer Battles is subject to the author's prejudices and subjective judgements. However, the casualty statistics of the Eastern war tend to give some substance to many of the claims made by the former general as to the tactical superiority of the German army during the period 1939–1944, especially over its Soviet counterpart.

It should be noted that Panzer Battles is presently included in the libraries of the premier military academies in the world: Sandhurst (Britain) West Point (America) and Frunze (Russia), and 2006 is the 50th anniversary of its original publishing date. While it cannot be accepted as gospel, neither can any of the works produced by participants in the conflict. One must read many different works, including von Mellenthin's, to get a broader view.

References

• von Mellenthin, Major General F. W. (1956). Panzer Battles: A Study of the Employment of Armor in the Second World War. First Ballantine Books Edition, 1971. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-24440-0
• "German Generals of World War II" - 1977
• "NATO Under Attack" - 1984 (co-authored)
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