Heinrich Wosch

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Birth name	Karl Georg Erdmann Heinrich Wosch
Birth date	10 April 1888(1888-04-10)
Place of birth	Breslau, Lower Silesia, Province of Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	27 September 1959 (aged 71)
Place of death	Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	File:War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army File:Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army File:Freikorps Flag.png Freikorps File:War Ensign of the Reichswehr, 1919 - 1935.png Reichswehr File:Balkenkreuz.png Heer
Years of service	1908–1945
Rank	Generalleutnant
Commands held	Infanterie-Regiment 8 14. Infanterie-Division Division Nr. 233 Division Nr. 408
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross House Order of Hohenzollern German Cross in Gold
Relations	∞ 1921 Elisabeth Emilie Klara Sofie Schuster

Karl Georg Erdmann Heinrich Wosch (1888–1959) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Freikorps, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) in World War II. He was buried on 30 Septemer 1959 in the cemetery of Hademarschen (Kreis Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein).

Military career (chronology)

• March 1908 Abitur at the Königliches Gymnasium zu Allenstein in East Prussia
• 1.4.1908 Joined the Infanterie-Regiment „von Courbière“ (2. Posensches) Nr. 19 stationed in Görlitz and Lauban
  • served in the 9th Company/III. Bataillon in Görlitz
  • Winter 1908/09 Attended the war school (Kriegsschule) in Anklam
  • as of Rangliste 1912 service in the 5th Company//II. Bataillon in Lauban
  • as of Rangliste 1913 service in the 11th Company/III. Bataillon in Görlitz
  • as of Rangliste 1914 service in the 10th Company/III. Bataillon in Görlitz
• August 1914 Wosch went into the field with his regiment and served as a platoon commander.
  • 1.10.1914 Battalion adjutant (Bataillonsadjutant)
  • 8.7.1915 Company leader (Kompanieführer)
  • 18.1.1916 Regiment adjutant (Regimentsadjutant)
  • 1.9.1918 Adjutant of the 9. Infanterie-Division
• 1919 Freikorps service (Grenzschutz Ost)
• 20.2.1920 Orderly officer on the staff of the Reichswehr-Brigade 6
• 19.4.1920 Brigade adjutant
• 1.10.1920 Adjutant of the Liegnitz command post (Adjutant der Befehlsstelle Liegnitz)
• 22.11.1920 Adjutant of the Reichswehr-Infanterie-Regiment 7
• 13.1.1922 Commander of the 14th Company/III. Bataillon/7. (Preußisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Breslau
• 1.5.1926 Commander of the 7th Company/II. Bataillon/7. (Preußisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Hirschberg
• 1.5.1931 in the Staff of the II. Bataillon/7. (Preußisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Hirschberg
• 1.3.1934 Commander of the Ausbildungs-Bataillon of the Infanterie-Regiment Potsdam (9th) in Lübben
  • The training battalion of Infantry Regiment 9 was stationed in Lübben im Spreewald, military district III, at the beginning of 1934. In autumn of 1934, it formed the new III. Battalion of the 8th Infantry Regiment. After that, no new training battalion was set up in the 9th Infantry Regiment.
• 1.10.1934 Kommandeur of the III. Bataillon/Infanterie-Regiment Frankfurt (8th) stationed in Lübben
• 12.10.1937 in the Staff of the Infanterie-Regiment 8 in Frankfurt an der Oder
• 4.2.1938 Commander of the Infanterie-Regiment 8 (Frankfurt an der Oder)
  • he lived in Frankfurt an der Oder (Gubener Straße 5/6)
  • the regiment was subordinated to the 3. Infanterie-Division (Poland Campaign)
• 24.3.1941 Führerreserve OKH (III)
• 9.8.1941 Commander of the 14. Infanterie-Division (Operation Barbarossa)
  • Among other things, he writes in parting: "I am proud of the 14. Infanterie-Division (mot.), which has gained a particularly good reputation within the 9th Army." He really has every right to say that! His successor is Generalmajor Walther Krause.
• 3.10.1942 with effect from 1.10.1942 Führerreserve OKH (III)
• 1.3.1943 with effect from 11.3.1943 Commander of the 233. Panzergrenadier-Division (the former Division Nr. 233), renamed 233. Panzer-Division on 5 April 1943
  • Raised on 15 May 1942 in Frankfurt an der Oder, Military District Command III, for the uniform support of the fast and motorized replacement troops in Military District Command III. Renamed 233rd Panzergrenadier Division on 7 July 1942.
• 8.8.1943 Führerreserve OKH (III)
• 1.7.1944 Commander of the Division Nr. 408
  • Raised on 1 October 1942 through the reorganization of the Division z. b. V. 408 in Military District Command VIII. The division took over the replacement units that had been moved back from Lorraine and Alsace to central and lower Silesia. In November 1944, the division set up a staff of Einsatz-Division 408, which was renamed Division L (L like Liegnitz) in February 1945. The division was mobilized at the same time with field post numbers and some divisional units. She was then at the LVII. Army Corps of the 17th Army deployed in Silesia.
• 25.1.1945 Führerreserve OKH (III)
• 2.2.1945 Commanded to the Military District Command VIII (Wehrkreiskommando VIII)
• 26.3.1945 Führerreserve OKH (III)
• 1.4.1945 Commanded to Army Group Center as deputy commander of the absorbation staff (kommandiert zur Heeresgruppe Mitte als stellvertretender Kommandeur des Auffangstabes)
  • Individual groups and stragglers from the Eastern Front were recorded, grouped together and transferred to organized troop units or discharged from military service, deserters were punished.
• 8.5.1945 to 7.7.1947 Prisoner of war (POW) of the Western Allies

Post WWII

Wosch lived his retirement in Hanerau-Hademarschen (Lerchenfeld) , where he was a member of the Landessynode der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Landeskirche Schleswig-Holsteins.

Family

Heinrich was the son of government builder (Regierungsbaumeister) as well as royal building council (Königlicher Baurat) Heinrich Wosch (d. 8 April 1909) and his wife Martha, née Neugebauer (d. 28 July 1914). His younger brother was Wilhelm Wosch (b. 1891), a wounded veteran of WWI, mason, construction leader (Bauführer), owner of a construction business (Baugeschäfts-Inhaber) in Breslau and since his exams in December 1925 master mason (Maurermeister).

Marriage

Regimental adjutant Hauptmann Heinrich Wosch married on 17 February 1921 in Lauban (Lusatia, Lower Silesia) his fiancée Elisabeth Emilie Klara Sofie Schuster (b. 25 May 1890 in Lauban), daughter of wealthy factory owner Kurt Schuster. In 1922, their son Heinrich was born.

Heinrich (1922–1943)

Young Heinrich also joined the Wehrmacht, became an officer and was killed in action (⚔) as a Leutnant on 13 November 1943 while repelling the allied invasion of Italy, which had started in Sicily (Invasion auf Sizilien) and continued near Anzio (Invasion bei Anzio). His body was recovered from the war grave in 1959/1960 and transferred, with c. 20,100 other German soldiers, to the German Cassino War Cemetery; location of the final grave: Block 7, Grave 268. His name is also listed with honor on the memorial to the fallen of the Franco-German War, WWI and WWII in the Hanerau-Hademarschen cemetery, just steps from the grave of his parents.

Promotions

File:Heinrich Wosch and Heinrich Wiedemann, 1942.png

Heinrich Wosch (in general's coat) paying his last respects to Oberst Heinrich Arthur Wiedemann from Plauen, who had fallen on 23 July 1942 in Tereschkowo/Rshew, commander of the Infanterie-Regiment (mot.) 11 since 30 June 1942 as successor of Dipl.-Ing. Paul Schürmann; to the right with Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and Stahlhelm is Oberstleutnant d. R. Alexander Leschke, new commander of the Infanterie-Regiment (mot.) 11.

• 1.4.1908 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
• 19.11.1908 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 19.8.1909 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
• 24.7.1915 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 15.7.1918 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 1.6.1931 Major
• 1.9.1934 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
• 1.3.1937 Oberst (Colonel)
• 1.3.1941 Generalmajor
• 21.1.1943 Generalleutnant with Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1.1.1943

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 3rd Class with the War Decoration (ÖM3K)
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (HOH3⚔)
• Silesian Eagle Order (Schlesischer Adler-Orden)
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (1934) with Swords
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class
• Sudetenland Medal (Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938)
• Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
  • Clasp to EK II on 30 September 1939
  • Clasp to EK II on 18 December 1939
• Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal
• German Cross in Gold on 1 or 19 January 1942 as Generalmajor and Commander of the 14. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert)