Hasso von Manteuffel

Hasso-Eccard Freiherr von Manteuffel (14 January 1897 – 24 September 1978) was a German soldier and classical liberal politician of the 20th century.

He served in both world wars, and during World War II was a distinguished general. He was a tank commander noted for his tactical skill and was one of only 27 holders of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds.

After the war, he was elected to the Bundestag (West German legislature) and was the spokesman for defense of the Liberal Party. A prominent proponent of rearmament, he was responsible for coining the new name for the post-World War II German armed forces, the Bundeswehr.

Military career
Von Manteuffel was born in Potsdam to a respected Prussian aristocratic family. In 1908, he became a cadet in a military school.

World War I
He joined the Imperial German Army on 22 February 1916 as an officer in a Hussar regiment. His World War I service began in April 1916 with the 5th Squadron of 3rd Hussar Regiment, attached to the 6th Prussian Infantry Division on the Western Front. He was wounded on 12 October fighting in France. After recuperating, he returned to active service in February 1917 and was posted to the Divisional General Staff.

Inter-war years
With the outbreak of the German Revolution in November 1918, he was assigned to guard the bridge over the Rhine at Köln against the revolutionaries and thus enable a safe withdrawal of the army from France and Belgium to Germany. Following the dissolution of the Imperial Army, he entered the Freikorps in January 1919. After the establishment of the Weimar Republic, he joined the newly created Reichswehr and was assigned to the 25th Cavalry Regiment at Rathenow in May 1919. During the early 1920s, he was a squad leader with the 3rd Prussian Mounted Regiment, later becoming the Regimental Adjutant. On 1 February 1930, he became the commander of the Technical Squad.

On 1 October 1932, von Manteuffel was transferred to the 17th Bavarian Mounted Regiment at Bamberg, serving as a squadron commander. Two years later, on 1 October 1934 he was transferred again, this time to the Mounted Regiment "Erfurt". On 15 October 1935 he was appointed commander of the 2nd Motorcycle Rifle Battalion of Heinz Guderian’s 2nd Panzer Division. From 1936 to 1937 he served as a major on the staff of the 2nd Panzer Division and as a training officer of cadets and cadet officers. On 25 February 1937 he became a consultant in the Panzer Troop Command of the OKH, and on February 1, 1939 a senior professor at Panzer Troop School II in Berlin-Krampnitz. He remained there until 1941, thus missing out on the campaigns in Poland and France.

World War II
On May 1, 1941, von Manteuffel was appointed commander of the 1st Battalion, 7th Rifle Regiment of the 7th Panzer Division. With this unit, he served under Hermann Hoth’s Panzer Group 3 of the Army Group Centre in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. On 25 August 1941, he took over the 6th Rifle Regiment of the 7th Panzer Division after its commander was killed in action. In May 1942, after having engaged in heavy fighting around Moscow in the winter of 1941–1942, the 7th Panzer Division was transferred to France for refitting. On 15 July 1942, while the division was still in France, von Manteuffel was made the commander of the 7th Panzer Grenadier Brigade of the 7th Panzer Division.

In early 1943, von Manteuffel was sent to Africa, where on 5 February he became the commander of the Division von Broich/von Manteuffel, serving in Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's 5th Panzer Army of Erwin Rommel's Army Group Afrika. Here von Manteuffel took part in defensive operations during the Battle of Tunisia, conducting a series of successful counteroffensives that tied down Allied forces. In the midst of heavy fighting, he collapsed from exhaustion on March 31, and was evacuated back to Germany. On 1 May 1943, von Manteuffel was promoted to the rank of Major General for his exploits in Africa.

After recuperating, von Manteuffel was made the commander of the 7th Panzer Division on 22 August 1943 and was once again on the Eastern Front, which had by then collapsed following the Battle of Kursk and the resulting Soviet counteroffensive. Despite being wounded in the back in a Soviet air attack on 26 August 1943 he stayed on, battling in Ukraine. After ferocious fighting at Kharkov, Belgorod, and along the Dnieper River, he succeeded in bringing the Red Army offensive to a halt. In late November, he managed to recapture Zhitomir, thus saving the almost encircled 8th Panzer Division north of the city.

As a result, von Manteuffel was made the commander of the élite Grenadier Division Großdeutschland on 1 February 1944. His command engaged in a series of intense defensive battles west of Kirovograd, then withdrew across Ukraine, and reorganized in Romania in late March 1944. It engaged in a series of successful defenses in northern Romania through June, when the exhausted Großdeutschland was moved into reserve for a refit. In late July Großdeutschland was ordered to East Prussia, which was being threatened after the Red Army crushed Army Group Centre in Operation Bagration. Here he launched a successful but costly counterattack into Lithuania, managing to stabilize the front, but failing to break through to the Courland Pocket, where Army Group North was trapped after the decimation of Army Group Centre.

On 1 September 1944, von Manteuffel was promoted to General of Panzer Troops (General der Panzertruppen_US equivalent Lieutenant General) and given command of the Fifth Panzer Army, fighting on the Western Front. After engaging in heavy combat in Lorraine against George S. Patton’s Third Army, the unit was withdrawn to reserve and began refitting for the upcoming Ardennes Offensive. Although he was assigned a support role, von Manteuffel’s 5th Panzer Army achieved one of the deepest penetrations of Allied lines during the offensive, almost reaching the Meuse River. This penetration included the Battle of Bastogne.

On 10 March 1945 von Manteuffel was made the commander of the Third Panzer Army on the Eastern Front. Von Manteuffel's army was part of Army Group Vistula, commanded by General Gotthard Heinrici.

The Third Panzer Army was assigned to defend the banks of the Oder River north of the Seelow Heights. This position, if held, would prevent a Soviet thrust into Western Pomerania and then into Berlin. But von Manteuffel was faced with an overwhelming attack launched by General Konstantin Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front during the Battle of Seelow Heights, the prelude to the Battle of Berlin. At one point in the battle, six Soviet soldiers entered his headquarters, killing four of his staff, and wounding four more, including Manteuffel himself. Despite his injuries, he shot one Soviet soldier and used his trench knife to kill another Soviet soldier.

On 25 April the 2nd Belorussian Front broke through Third Panzer Army's line around the bridgehead south of Stettin. The Soviets crossed the swampy Randow river valley. Von Manteuffel was forced to retreat to Mecklenburg. Around April 28, he was offered Heinrici's command of Army Group Vistula but turned down the promotion out of protest for Heinrici being wrongly punished by OKW. On 3 May 1945 von Manteuffel surrendered his troops to the western Allies and thus escaped capture by the Soviets.

Post-war
Manteuffel was held in an Allied POW camp until September 1947. After his release, he entered politics and was a representative of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) in the German Bundestag from 1953 to 1957. In 1957 he joined the German Party. In the early 1950s Manteuffel advised on the redevelopment of the Bundeswehr (see: Searle's Wehrmacht Generals).

Manteuffel was not charged with war crimes by the Allies although in 1959 he was brought to trial for having a deserter shot in 1944. He was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. This trial was highly controversial however. Supporters argued that these actions did not constitute a violation of the "laws or customs of war" clause in the Nuremberg Principles, the rules governing what constituted war crimes that occurred during the war, since it was legal in the German military and that Allied armies had similar provisions in their military codes at the time. German political leaders lobbied for an overturn of the conviction and he was eventually released after serving four months.

He spoke fluent, even sophisticated, English, and was an honored guest in the United States, visiting the Pentagon and, by the invitation of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the White House. In 1968 he lectured at the United States Military Academy at West Point, speaking about combat in deep snow winter conditions (from personal experience) and worked as a technical adviser on war films and was featured in Cornelius Ryan's The Last Battle. He also featured in the acclaimed documentary, The World at War.

Hasso von Manteuffel died while on a trip to Reith im Alpbachtal, Tyrol, Austria on 24 September 1978.

Personal life
He married Armgard von Kleist, the niece of Ewald von Kleist, on 23 June 1921. They had two children.

Awards

 * Iron Cross (1914)
 * 2nd Class (13 October 1916)
 * 1st Class (2 May 1917)
 * Austrian Military Merit Cross (4. Class)
 * Bavarian Military Merit Cross (3. Class)
 * Panzer Badge in Silver (2nd Class)
 * War Merit Cross (2nd Class)
 * "Afrika" Cuffband
 * Wound Badge in Silver
 * Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (22 July 1941)
 * 1st Class (1 August 1941)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
 * Knight's Cross on 31 December 1941 as Oberst and commander of Schützen-Regiment 6
 * 332nd Oak Leaves on 23 November 1943 as Generalmajor and commander of the 7. Panzer-Division
 * 50th Swords on 22 February 1944 as Generalleutnant and commander of the 7. Panzer-Division
 * 24th Diamonds on 18 February 1945 as General der Panzertruppe and commander-in-chief of 5. Panzerarmee
 * Mentioned four times in the Wehrmachtbericht (8 October 1943; 16 November 1943; 14 March 1944; 8 May 1944)