World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbasePetre Dumitrescu was born in 1882. Between 1901 and 1903, he attended the Romanian Artillery and Engineers Officers School; upon graduation, he was commissioned a second lieutenant. In 1906, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, followed by the rank of captain in 1911. Between 1911 and 1913, he attended the military academy in Bucharest, Romania. In 1920, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1930, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. In 1937, he was promoted to the rank of major general. Between 1937 and 1939, he was posted to Paris, France and then Brussels, Belgium as a military attaché. In 1940, he was made the commanding officer of Romanian 1st Army. In the following year, he was made the commanding officer of Romanian 3rd Army, a position which he would hold through WW2. He participated in Operation Barbarossa, overseeing the capture of territory in southwestern Ukraine taken from Romania in the previous year. He then took Romanian 3rd Army into Ukraine proper, advancing into Crimea by Oct 1941, capturing 15,565 Soviet prisoners of war at the cost of 10,541 casualties. For his achievement in Operation Barbarossa, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross medal, becoming only the second Romanian to receive this German award; in the same month, he was awarded the Order of Michael the Brave 3rd Class. Continuing the advance, Dumitrescu led Romanian 3rd Army into southern Russia, but by Nov 1942, he would find his army to be on the retreat. Romanian 3rd Army suffered very heavy casualties in 1944 during the Soviet Jassy-Kishinev Offensive. When Romania surrendered and the new government turned on Germany, Dumitrescu continued to be in command and his units were credited with the capture of 6,000 German troops. After the war, he was tried for war crimes by the communist government in Romania. Acquitted, he retired from military service and passed away in 1950.

Petre Dumitrescu Timeline