Ferdinand Schaal

Ferdinand Friedrich Schaal (7 February 1889 &mdash; 9 October 1962) was a German career military officer and panzer commander in World War II. He commanded the 10th Panzer Division in the 1939 Invasion of Poland and directed the successful Siege of Calais in 1940. Later, he became involved in the unsuccessful July 20 plot against Adolf Hitler and the implementation of Operation Walküre that was to follow. For this, he was imprisoned until the end of the war.

Early life and World War I
Ferdinand was born on 7 February 1889 in Brunswick, Lower Saxony. In 1908, at the age of 19, Schaal joined the military as an officer in a regiment of dragoons. After World War I, he became a captain of cavalry in the Reichswehr.

World War 2
In April 1939, as part of the lead-up to the invasion of Poland, Schaal was tapped to lead the new 10th Panzer Division. He continued to command that unit through the invasions of Poland, France, and the USSR. On 16 March 1942, as the 10th Panzer Division returned to France from its bloody tour of the Eastern Front, Schaal was given the command of LVI Panzer Corps, which was also stationed in the Soviet Union. He served in that capacity until 1 August 1943, when he became Wehrmacht commander in the military district of Bohemia and Moravia.

Operation Walküre
His role in Operation Walküre was to involve subduing the Nazi party and establishing military control over Bohemia and Moravia. On the evening of 20 July 1944, Schaal waited for clarification on how to proceed from General Friedrich Fromm, a co-conspirator in Berlin. None came, however, as the assassination attempt had failed and Fromm had decided to betray the other plotters. Schaal was arrested the next day on the orders of Heinrich Himmler and imprisoned. Unlike many of his compatriots in the German resistance, Schaal avoided execution and survived the war.

Awards and decorations

 * Iron Cross (1914)
 * 2nd Class
 * 1st Class
 * Wound Badge (1914)
 * in Black
 * Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg
 * Knight's Cross Second Class of the Order of the Zähringer Lion with Swords
 * Cross of Honor
 * Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th to 1st Class
 * Sudetenland Medal
 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (19 October 1939)
 * 1st Class (13 May 1940)
 * Panzer Badge
 * Eastern Front Medal
 * German Cross in Gold (8 March 1942)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 13 July 1940 as Generalleutnant and commander of 10. Panzer-Division