General der Pioniere Walter Kuntze Born: 23 Feb 1883 in Pritzerbe, District Westhavelland Died: 01 Apr 1960 in Detmold Promotions:
F�hnrich (18 Oct 1902); Leutnant (18 Aug 1903); Oberleutnant (18 Aug 1911); Hauptmann (08 Nov 1914); Oberstleutnant (01 Feb 1929); Oberst (01 Oct 1931); Generalmajor (01 Sep 1934); Generalleutnant (01 Aug 1936); General der Pioniere (10 Feb 1938) Career:
Entered Army Service (24 Mar 1902)
Fahnenjunker in the 5th Pioneer-Battalion, Glogau (24 Mar 1902-01 Oct 1905)
Detached to the Artillery & Engineer School, then, Military Technical Academy in Berlin (01 Oct 1905-15 Jun 1907)
Transferred into the 16th Pioneer-Battalion, Metz (15 Jun 1907-01 Oct 1908)
Detached to the Infantry-Firing-School (22 Jul 1918-25 Aug 1908)
Detached for Service to the 17th Infantry-Regiment (01 Oct 1908-17 May 1910)
Transferred into the 9th Pioneer-Battalion, Harburg (17 May 1910-13 Sep 1912)
Detached to the War Academy, Berlin (01 Oct 1911-00 Jul 1914)
Transferred into the 26th Pioneer-Battalion, Graudenz (13 Sep 1912-01 Aug 1914)
Chief of 2nd Field-Company of the 26th Pioneer-Battalion, West Prussia (01 Aug 1914-00 Nov 1914)
Severely wounded, in Hospital (00 Nov 1914-00 May 1917)
Transferred to Army High Command 4 (00 May 1917-1917)
Chief of Operations (Ia) in the Staff of the 4th Cavalry-Division (1917-00 Sep 1918)
Chief of Operations (Ia) in the Staff of the 89th Infantry-Regiment (00 Sep 1918-01 Oct 1919)
Advisor in Department Foreign Armies (Fremde Heere), T 3, RWM (01 Oct 1919-01 Nov 1923)
Company-Chief in the 3rd Pioneer-Battalion, C�strin (01 Nov 1923-01 Oct 1925)
With the Staff of Group-Command 1, Detached as Chief of Operations (Ia) to the Staff of Command-Office C�strin (01 Oct 1925-01 May 1928)
Commander of the 1st Pioneer-Battalion, K�nigsberg (01 May 1938-01 Mar 1930)
Chief of Staff of the Inspection of Pioneers & Fortresses (01 Mar 1930-01 Oct 1932)
Higher Pioneer Officer I (01 Oct 1932-15 May 1935)
Delegated with the Leadership of the 6th Division (15 May 1935-15 Sep 1935)
Commander of the 6th Infantry-Division (15 Sep 1935-04 Feb 1938)
Commander of Command-Staff Kaiserslautern (Inspection & Maintenance of the Westwall between Merzig/Saar and the Rhine) (04 Feb 1938-01 Oct 1938)
Commanding General of the General-Command of Border-Troops Saarpfalz (01 Oct 1938-26 Aug 1939)
Commanding General of the General-Command of Saarpfalz (26 Aug 1939-17 Sep 1939)
Commanding General of XXIV. Army-Corps (17 Sep 1939-15 Feb 1940)
Commanding General of XXXXII. Army-Corps (15 Feb 1940-10 Oct 1941)
F�hrer-Reserve OKH (24 Oct 1941-29 Oct 1941)
Delegated with the Leadership of the 12th Army (29 Oct 1941-08 Aug 1942)
At the same time, Wehrmacht-Commander South-East (29 Oct 1941-03 Jul 1942)
F�hrer-Reserve (08 Aug 1942-15 Sep 1942)
Chief of Training Matters in the Replacement Army (15 Sep 1942-15 Mar 1945)
Commanding General of the Replacement III. Army-Corps & Commander in Military-District III, Berlin (15 Mar 1945-02 May 1945)
Surrendered in Mecklenberg to the British, handed over to the US (02 May 1945-19 Feb 1948)
Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Alleged War Crimes by the Allied Military Tribunal in Nuremberg during the Trials against the South-East Generals (Balkan Generals Trial) (Case VII), as he was, aswell as Generalfeldmarschall List, Wehrmacht-Commander South-East, Highest Instance in War Crimes was during the Anti-Partisan Fighting in Yugoslavia. Held in Landsburg Castle (19 Feb 1948-10 Feb 1953)
Released (because of severe illness) (10 Feb 1953)
Awards & Decorations:
- Ritterkreuz: am 18.10.1941 als General der Pioniere und Kommandierender General des XLII. Armeekorps
- Deutsches Kreuz in Silber: am 03.12.1943 als General der Pioniere und Chef des Ausbildungswesens beim Chef der Heeresr�stung und Befehlshaber des Ersatzheeres
- RK des Kgl. Preuss. Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern
- 1914 EK I
- 1914 EK II
- Kgl. Bayer. Milit�r-Verdienstorden IV. Klasse mit Schwertern
- Hamburgisches Hanseatenkreuz
- k.u.k. �sterr. Milit�r-Verdienstkreuz III. Klasse mit der Kriegsdekoration
- T�rkischer Eiserner Halbmond
- Offizierkreuz des Kgl Bulgar. Milit�r-Verdienstorden
- Verwundetenabzeichen, 1918 in Schwarz
- Ehrenkreuz f�r Frontk�mpfer
- Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV. bis I. Klasse
- Spange zum EK II
- Spange zum EK I
- Kriegsverdienstkreuz II. Klasse mit Schwertern
- Kriegsverdienstkreuz I. Klasse mit Schwertern
- Grosskreuz des Kroatisches Kriegsorden der Krone des K�nigs Zvonimir
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