Walter Gericke
Walter Gericke
Born	(1907-12-23)23 December 1907 Bilderlahe
Died	19 October 1991(1991-10-19) (aged 83)
Allegiance	Weimar Republic Nazi Germany West Germany
Service/branch	Luftwaffe (Wehrmacht) German Army (Bundeswehr)
Years of service	1929–45, 1956–65
Rank	Oberst (Wehrmacht) Generalmajor (Bundeswehr)
Commands held	11th Parachute Division 1. Luftlandedivision
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Walter Gericke (23 December 1907 – 19 October 1991) was a German paratroop officer in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany during World War II and a general in the Bundeswehr of West Germany. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

Gericke took part in the Battle of the Netherlands and the Battle of Crete as a Fallschirmjäger battalion commander. He later commanded the Fallschirjäger-Regiment 11 (part of the 4. Fallschirmjäger-Division) and fought in the Battle of Anzio.

Gericke joined the newly formed Bundeswehr after the rearmament of West Germany and as a Generalmajor led the 1. Luftlande-Division from 1962 to 1965.

In 1974, Gericke supported the establishment of a war cemetery in Maleme which is the final resting place for 4.465 German soldiers who lost their lives on the island of Crete during World War II.

Awards

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Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (10 April 40) & 1st Class (12 May 1940)^[1]
German Cross in Gold on 12 December 1943 as Major in the II./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6^[2]
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
- Knight's Cross on 14 June 1941 as Hauptmann and commander of the IV./Fallschirmjäger-Sturm-Regiment^[3]
- 585th Oak Leaves on 17 September 1944 as Major and commander of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 11^[3]

References

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Citations

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^ Thomas 1997, p. 195.
^ Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 135.
^ ^a ^b Scherzer 2007, p. 332.

Bibliography

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Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
Thomas, Franz (1997). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 1: A–K [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 1: A–K] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2299-6.

Military offices Preceded by— Commander of the 11th Parachute Division (Wehrmacht) March 1945 – April 1945 Succeeded by— Preceded by— Commander of the 21. Fallschirmjäger-Division (Wehrmacht) 5 April 1945 – 8 May 1945 Succeeded by— Preceded byGeneralmajor Hans Kroh Commander of the 1. Luftlande-Division (Bundeswehr) 1 October 1962 – 31 March 1965 Succeeded byGeneralmajor Hubert Sonneck

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