Werner Kempf
- Birth Date:
- 09.03.1886
- Death date:
- 06.01.1964
- Extra names:
- Werner Kempf
- Categories:
- General, Military person, WWI participant, WWII participant
- Nationality:
- german
- Cemetery:
- Set cemetery
General Werner Kempf (9 March 1886 – 6 January 1964) was a Panzer general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.
Before World War II
He joined the Imperial German Army on 14 March 1905 and served in the 149th Infantry Regiment. In World War I he reached the rank of Hauptmann. He then served in the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht. On 1 October 1937 Kempf took command of the newly formed 4th Panzer Brigade in Stuttgart. He was promoted to Generalmajor on 18 January 1939.
World War II
At the beginning of World War II in Europe, he took part in the invasion of Poland as commander of Panzer Division Kempf, which was also known as the Panzerverband Ostpreußen (Panzer Group East Prussia) of the 3rd Army under Georg von Küchler. As divisional commander, he received the capitulation of Fort Zakroczym, which was followed by Massacre in Zakroczym, at the conclusion of the Battle of Modlin. The division returned to East Prussia at the end of the Poland campaign, and Kempf was named commander of the 1st Light Division, renamed 6th Panzer Division, on 18 October 1939.
In 1939 and 1940 Kempf led the 6th Panzer Division in the Battle of France. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 3 June 1940 for his role in the campaign, and was promoted to Generalleutnant on 1 August 1940. On 6 January 1941, he was ordered to form XXXXVIII Army Corps (motorized), and became its commander, along with a promotion to General der Panzertruppe, on 1 April 1941. With this corps Kempf took part in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, starting on 22 June 1941, as part of Panzer Group 1 of Army Group South, where the corps took part in the Battle of Uman and Battle of Kiev (1941), and pushed as far as Kursk.
From 5 May 1942 he was commanding general of the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps and was in this position on 10 August 1942 when he was awarded the Oak leaves to the Knight's Cross. In July 1943, he participated in the Battle of Kursk as commander of the Army Detachment Kempf. From May to September 1944 he was commander of the Wehrmacht in the Baltics. He was then moved to the leadership reserve until he was taken into captivity in May 1945. He was released in 1947.
Awards and decorations
- Iron Cross (1914)
- 2nd Class (15 September 1914)
- 1st Class (28 February 1916)
- Military Merit Order, 4th class with Swords (Bavaria)
- Friedrich August Cross, 1st and 2nd class
- The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
- Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
- 2nd Class (15 September 1939)
- 1st Class (28 September 1939)
- Order of Michael the Brave 3rd Class (Romania, 6 November 1942)
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
- Knight's Cross on 3 June 1940 as Generalleutnant and commander of 6 Panzer-Division
- 111th Oak Leaves on 10 August 1942 as General der Panzertruppe and commander of XXXXVIII. Panzerkorps
Source: wikipedia.org
No places
01.09.1939 | Invasion of Poland
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War (Polish: Kampania wrześniowa or Wojna obronna 1939 roku) in Poland and the Poland Campaign (German: Polenfeldzug) or Fall Weiß (Case White) in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the beginning of World War II in Europe. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, while the Soviet invasion commenced on 17 September following the Molotov-Tōgō agreement which terminated the Russian and Japanese hostilities (Nomonhan incident) in the east on 16 September. The campaign ended on 6 October with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing the whole of Poland.
29.09.1939 | Battle of Modlin
The Battle of Modlin took place during the German invasion of Poland at the beginning of the Second World War. Modlin Fortress was initially the headquarters of the Modlin Army until its retreat eastwards. From 13 September to 29 September 1939 it served as a defensive citadel for Polish forces under the command of General Wiktor Thommée against assaulting German units. This fighting was closely linked with the strategic situation of the Battle of Warsaw.