Desiderius Hampel

Desiderius Hampel was a SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS during World War II who commanded the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Early life
Desiderius Hampel was born 20 January 1895 in the town of Sisak, Austria-Hungary (modern-day Croatia). His father was an inspector on the Austrian Railway, and the family often had to move around Europe, living in different areas of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This had the benefit of teaching the young Hampel a number of languages. After he completed his primary school education, he was sent to a military school in Karlovac. After graduation he joined the Army in October 1914, as a warrant officer in the 16th Hungarian Infantry Regiment Freiherr von Giesl, and in December was sent to the front line.

World War I
In April 1915, he was given command of a platoon and shortly after promoted to Leutnant and given command of the 14th Company. At the end of the year he was sent on a heavy machine gun training course at Bruck an der Leitha. When he returned to the front in November he was given command of the 4th Company of his regiment and was promoted to Oberleutnant in May 1917. In September 1918, he was appointed as the second in command of the 36th Battalion fighting in Serbia until the end of the war when he became a prisoner of war in Serbia. He escaped from captivity just over a year later and made his way to Vienna and then Budapest.

Between the wars
After he returned from captivity he started work on a farm and studied forestry between 1925 and 1928 at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. He then worked in the forestry industry until December 1937 when he rejoined the Hungarian Army and served in Budapest.

World War II
Hampel served in Budapest until March 1941, and was then sent to the town of Csepel, in command of the area defences until December 1941 when he was dismissed from the army. He then joined the Croatian Home Guard with the rank of Major and was appointed as the intelligence officer for the IV Army Corps. In May 1942, after a request from Obergruppenführer Artur Phleps he joined the Waffen SS as a Sturmbannführer. He was given command of the III Battalion, 1st SS Gebirgsjager Regiment until June 1943 when he was moved to command the Training and Reserve Battalion, 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. Next he was given a position on the staff of the newly formed 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian). In November 1943 he was promoted to Obersturmbannführer and given command of the 27th SS Mountain Infantry Regiment of SS Handschar.

In April 1944, he was promoted to Standartenführer and soon after given command of SS Handschar, and in January 1945 promoted to Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of the Waffen-SS. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his command of the division near the end of the war in May 1945. The same month he surrendered the division in Austria to the advancing British troops.

Post war
Desiderius Hampel survived the war and died on 11 January 1981 in Graz, Austria.