Josef Folttmann
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Birth name | Josef Anton Karl Petrus Folttmann |
Birth date | 18 January 1887 |
Place of birth | Breslau, Lower Silesia, Province of Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire |
Death date | 11 April 1958 (aged 71) |
Place of death | Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany |
Allegiance | File:Flag of the German Empire.svg German Empire (to 1918) File:Flag of Germany.svg Weimar Republic (to 1933) File:Flag of the NSDAP (1920–1945).svg 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:War Ensign of the Reichswehr, 1919 - 1935.png Reichswehr File:Balkenkreuz.png Heer |
Years of service | 1907–1945 |
Rank | Generalleutnant |
Commands held | 164. Infanterie-Division |
Battles/wars | World War I World War II
|
Awards | Iron Cross German Cross in Silver |
Relations | ∞ 1913 Elisabeth Klose |
Josef Anton Karl Petrus Folttmann (18 January 1887 – 11 April 1958) was a German officer of the Prussian Army and the Imperial German Army in World War I as well as an officer of the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) in World War II.
Military career (chronology)
- Abitur in March 1907
- Entered Army Service (18 Mar 1907)
- Fahnenjunker in the Füsilier-Regiment „General-Feldmarschall Graf Moltke“ (Schlesisches) Nr. 38
- Adjutant of the II. Battalion of the 38th Fusilier-Regiment (01 Mar 1912-26 Sep 1914)
WWI
- Regiments-Adjutant of the 38th Fusilier-Regiment (26 Sep 1914-00 May 1916)
- Company Commander in the 38th Fusilier-Regiment (00 May 1916-00 Jun 1916)
- Adjutant of the 21st Infantry-Brigade (00 Jun 1916-17 Dec 1916)
- In the General-Staff of Staging-Inspection 6 (17 Dec 1916-13 Mar 1917)
- In the General-Staff of the 242nd Infantry-Division (13 Mar 1917-18 Jun 1917)
- In the General-Staff of the IX. Army-Corps (18 Jun 1917)
- From 23 July 1917 to 9 August 1917, he was assigned to a foot and field artillery battery of the 18th Infantry Division for practical training. From 12 September 1917 to 17 October 1917, he was ordered to the general staff course in Sedan.
- Transferred into the General Staff (Oct 1917-19 Jul 1918)
- 2nd General-Staff-Officer (Supply-Officer) in the General-Staff of the 5th Guards-Infantry-Division (19 Jul 1918-04 Nov 1918)
- General-Staff-Officer with the Chief of the General-Staff of the Field-Army (04 Nov 1918-12 Aug 1919)
- Generalstab des Chefs des Feldheeres bei der Obersten Heeresleitung (OHL)
Reichswehr
- In the General-Staff of Command-Office Kolberg (12 Aug 1919-01 Oct 1919)
- In the Staff of Group-Command 1 (01 Oct 1919-01 Oct 1921)
- Company Commander in the 9th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1921-01 Oct 1924)
- Advisor (Referent) in the Army-Department, RWM (01 Oct 1924-01 Oct 1927)
- Instructor at the Infantry-School (01 Oct 1927-01 Feb 1930)
- Chief of Staff of the Inspection of Education and Training Affairs of the Army (01 Feb 1930-01 Oct 1933)
- Commander of the II. Battalion of the 7th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1933-01 Oct 1934)
- Commander of the III. (Jäger) Battalion of Infantry-Regiment G rlitz (01 Oct 1934-15 Oct 1935)
Wehrmacht
- Commander of the 52nd Infantry-Regiment (15 Oct 1935-10 Nov 1938)
- Commander of the 103rd Infantry-Regiment (10 Nov 1938-01 May 1939)
- Inspector of Personnel-Test-Affairs, OKH (01 May 1939-01 Sep 1939)
WWII
- Commander of the 256th Infantry-Division (01 Sep 1939-10 Jan 1940)
- The 256th Infantry Division was formed on 26 August 1939 as the 4th wave division from the supplementary units of Wehrkreis IV and a third of Wehrkreis XIII. After the formation was completed, the division became an occupation force in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and in November 1939 served as an OKH reserve in the Lippstadt area.
- Commander of the 164th Infantry-Division (10 Jan 1940-10 Jan 1942)
- The 164th Infantry Division was set up on 27 November 1939 at the Königsbrück military training area in Military District IV as a division of the 7th deployment wave made up of replacement troops from Military District IV as a two-unit division. After the fighting began in the west, the 164th ID marched in June 1940 as an OKH reserve from the Bitburg area via Luxembourg to northern France and from July 1940 moved towards to Reims subordinated to the XXIII. (23rd) Army Corps as part of the 9th Army of Army Group A. The division remained north of Reims from August for further training until December 1940 (from August to November 1940 first with the XXXXII (42nd) Army Corps and then again with the XXIII (23rd) Army Corps of the 16th Army, then in December briefly with the XI (11th) Army Corps of the 1st Army), initially for harvest operations, refugee care and prisoner guarding, later in preparation for the - unrealized - land operation against England ("Operation Sea Lion"). Die Division verlegte Ende Januar 1941 gemeinsam mit dem XXX. (30.) Armee-Korps der 12. Armee (Generalfeldmarschalls Wilhelm List) nach Rumänien in den Bereich des Befehlshaber Südost.
- The alliance with Italy led the German high command to plan a German attack on Greece on November 13, following the Italian attack on October 28, 1940 and Britain's support of Greece. This was made possible by the approval of the Bulgarian Tsar, who allowed German troops to be made available in Bulgaria for an attack. The attack on Greece began at 5:15 a.m. on 6 April 1941. The division, as part of XXX. (30th) Army Corps (50th Infantry Division and 164th Infantry Division), took part in the campaign against Greece from 9 April 1941. The formations attacked the northeastern part of mainland Greece (Thrace), which was quickly conquered, and then split up. After breaking through to the coast, the 164th Infantry Division advanced further west into the eastern Macedonian area and occupied the Salonika area. For strategic reasons, it was decided that the area around the city of Thessaloniki and areas up to the Yugoslavian border should remain occupied.
- From April 1941, the division was based in the Thessaloniki area with the XXX. (30th) Army Corps deployed as occupation force. In June 1941, the XXX. (30th) Army Corps was assigned a new task and the corps was placed directly under the 12th Army. From September to October 1941, it was subordinated to the XVIII. (18th) Army Corps in Yugoslavia, as parts of the division were now also used as guard companies in Belgrade, but also in Athens.
- Commander of Fortress-Division Crete (164th) (10 Jan 1942-09 Aug 1942)
- From November 1941, the division was transferred to the island of Crete in sea and air transport. During this time it continued to be directly subordinate to the 12th Army. On 10 January 1942, the previous 164th Infantry Division was renamed and reclassified to become the Crete Fortress Division (Festungs-Division Kreta). The commander was still Lieutenant General Josef Folttmann. From 7 July 1942, part of the division was flown to Tobruk by air transport.Further parts were brought by ship from Crete (Suda) to Tobruk.
- At the beginning of August 1942, Folttmann was reported to the Army Personnel Office by the Africa Panzer Army (Panzer-Armee „Afrika“) as "suffering from phlebitis with thrombosis." It became necessary to transport him to Europe. His representative was to be Colonel Helmuth Beukemann; until his arrival, Colonel Carl-Hans Lungershausen took over as commander. On 9 August 1942, Folttmann's return transport was reported by the division.
- Führer-Reserve OKH (11 Aug 1942-10 Nov 1942)
- Commander of the 338th Infantry-Division (10 Nov 1942-10 Jan 1944)
- Occupation troops in Antwerp
- Transferred to the Special-Staff III in OKH (10 Jan 1944-07 Apr 1945)
- Commander of the Sonderstab III im OKH as of 1. Februar 1944
- Führer-Reserve OKH (08 Apr 1945-30 Apr 1945)
- In US Captivity (30 Apr 1945-09 Sep 1947)
Family
Descent
Josef was the son of the businessman and managing director (Geschäftsführer) Carl Franz Friedrich Casimir Folttmann (1851–1911) and his wife Maria, née Höpfner (d. 16 January 1905 in Breslau). He had, according to "MyHeritage", six siblings.[1]
Marriage
On 14 January 1913 in Breslau, 2nd Lieutenant Folttmann married his fiancée Elisabeth Helene Maria Klose (1893–1974), daughter of lord of the manor Captain (ret.) Hermann Richard Ernst Maximilian Klose (1864–1927) and his wife (∞ 1891) Elfriede Martha Bertha, née Fröhlich (b. 1872). They had three children:
- Hans-Wolfgang Josef Karl Hermann (b. 5 August 1914 in Glatz; d. 7 August 1914 ibid)
- Renate Elfriede Maria Elisabeth (b. 23 August 1922 in Potsdam; d. 29 July 2008 in Aachen)
- Christa-Maria Hedwig Hermine (b. 27 August 1924 in Potsdam; d. 29 December 2012 in Essen)
Promotions
- 18 March 1907 Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate)
- 19 December 1907 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
- 18 August 1908 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) with Patent from 17 September 1906
- 28 November 1914 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
- 18 April 1916 Hauptmann (Captain)
- 1 April 1929 Major
- 1 September 1933 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
- 1 July 1935 Oberst (Colonel)
- 20 April 1939 Generalmajor (Major General)
- 1 February 1941 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)
Awards and decorations
- Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
- Saxe-Meiningen Cross for Merit in War (SMK) on 24 July 1915
- Bremen Hanseatic Cross (BH)
- Hamburg Hanseatic Cross (HH)
- Lübeck Hanseatic Cross (LübH/LüH) on 2 October 1918
- Silesian Eagle (de), 2nd Class
- Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords
- Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class
WWII
- Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
- War Merit Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class with Swords
- Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria), Grand Cross with the War Decoration
- German Cross in Silver on 10 March 1944 as Generalleutnant and Commandeur of the 338. Infanterie-Division