Hermann Ritter von Speck
Hermann Ritter von Speck (8 August 1888 – 15 June 1940) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Speck was killed by French machine gun fire on 15 June 1940 in Pont-sur-Yonne, France.[1]
Hermann Ritter von Speck | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 8 August 1888 |
| Died | 15 June 1940 (aged 51) Pont-sur-Yonne, France |
| Allegiance | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Nazi Germany |
| Service/ | Army (Wehrmacht) |
| Rank | Full General |
| Commands held | 33. Infanterie-Division XXXXIII. Armeekorps XVIII. Armeekorps |
| Battles/wars | Battle of France |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
After World War I, Speck joind the Freikorps and participated in the suppression of the German Revolution of 1918–1919 in southern Bavaria, Landshut, Augsburg, and Munich. He later joined became a colonel in the Reichswehr.[2]
He was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 17 October 1940.
In 2010, Jay Nordlinger spoke with von Speck's daughter, who claimed that the general deliberately sought death in battle: "According to his daughter, he wanted to die, and arranged to die. He felt he could not break his oath to the army — he could not desert. And his Catholic faith prevented him from committing suicide — suicide straight out, you might say. So, he put himself in the line of fire. In his dying words, he did not say, 'Give my love to my family', or anything like that. He said, 'It had to be this way'.”[3]
Awards and decorations
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 17 October 1940 as Generalleutnant and commander of XVIII. Armeekorps[4]
References
Citations
- Forczyk, Robert (30 November 2017). Case Rot; the Collapse of France. 5715: Osprey Publishing.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - Jürgen Kraus: Handbuch der Verbände und Truppen des deutschen Heeres 1914–1918. Teil IX: Feldartillerie. Band 1. Verlag Militaria, Wien 2007, ISBN 978-3-902526-15-1, S. 129.
- Jay Nordlinger, "Salzburg Souvenirs, Part IV", National Review Online, 30 August 2010
- Fellgiebel 2000, p. .
Bibliography
- Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.