August Wittmann | |
---|---|
Born | 19 March 1895 |
Died | 18 October 1944 | (aged 49)
Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
Service/ | Army (Wehrmacht) |
Rank | Generalleutnant |
Unit | 1st Mountain Division |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Walter Stettner Ritter von Grabenhofen (18 March 1895 – 18 October 1944) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was killed in action on Mount Avala, near Belgrade in Serbia.
He fought in World War I.
He started World War II as commander of a Gebirgsjäger-Regiment and fought in Poland, Norway, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, where his unit advanced into the Caucasus.
On 17 December 1942, he replaced Hubert Lanz as commander of the 1st Mountain Division, when the Division was retreating to the Kuban Bridgehead. The bridgehead held out until September 1943, but the 1st Mountain Division was transfered before in April to Yugoslavia for anti-partisan operations.
Under Stettner's command, the 1st Mountain Division committed several war crimes in Yugoslavia and Greece, including the Massacres of Kommeno, Mousiotitsa, Lyngiades and the Massacre of the Acqui Division.
In October 1944, during the Soviet Belgrade Offensive, his unit was cut off and Stettner went missing in action, presumed killed on Mount Avala, near Belgrade.