World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseMaximilian Maria Joseph Karl Gabriel Lamoral Reichsfreiherr von Weichs zu Glon was born into a noble family in Dessau, Germany in 1881. He attended Wilhelmsgymnasium in München (Munich), Germany and then in 1900 joined the Bavarian Cavalry. During WW1, he served with the General Staff of the 3rd Bavarian Army Corps. During the inter-war years, he served with the German Reichswehr. In Oct 1935, he was transferred from 3rd Cavalry Division to the newly formed 1st Panzer Division as its commanding officer. In Oct 1937, he was made the commanding officer of 13th Corps, which he led into Sudetenland when Germany forcibly annexed the Czechoslovakian territory. In the opening chapter of the European War, he commanded a corps in the invasion of Poland. He was promoted to lead at the army level in Oct 1939, and in the following year he took German 2nd Army into France, for which he would be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross medal. After participating in the invasion of the Balkan Peninsula, he led 2nd Army and later Army Group B in the Soviet Union. In the Stalingrad region in southern Russia, he warned about his lines being stretched too thinly, but Adolf Hitler ignored his warnings; when defeat loomed and Weichs recommended falling back, he was punished by a gradual reduction in the strength of his Army Group B (which were transferred to the new Army Group Don) until it was completely dissolved in Feb 1943. As a consolation, he was promoted to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall, but he would remain on the reserve list for six months. In Aug 1943, he was activated to lead German Armeegruppe F in Belgrade, Yugoslavia to organize defenses against a possible Allied invasion of the Balkans. In that role, he oversaw the German retreat from the region late in the war. Again on the reserve list, he retired from service on 25 Mar 1945. He was arrested by the Americans in May 1945 for war crimes committed against Yugoslavian partisan fighters. He was released for medical reasons without being tried. He passed away in Burg Rösberg near Bonn, West Germany in 1954.

Photographs

Maximilian von Weichs Timeline