(Photos courtesy of Gareth Collins)


Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Josef Franz Ritter von Leeb

Born: 05 Sep 1876 in Landsberg am Lech / Baeyern.
Died: 29 Apr 1956 in Hohenschwangau.

Promotions:
Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier (01 Dec 1895); F�hnrich (18 Jan 1896); Leutnant (03 Mar 1897); Oberleutnant (13 May 1905); Hauptmann (07 Mar 1912); Major (19 May 1916); Oberstleutnant (28 Dec 1920); Oberst (01 Feb 1925); Generalmajor (01 Feb 1929); Generalleutnant (01 Dec 1929); General der Artillerie (01 Jan 1934); Charakter als Generaloberst (28 Feb 1938); Generaloberst (01 Nov 1939); Generalfeldmarschall (19 Jul 1940)

Career:
Entered Army Service (16 Jul 1895)
Fahnenjunker in the 4th Bavarian Field-Artillery-Regiment K�nigs, Augsburg (16 Jul 1895-18 Aug 1900)
Detached to the War-School Munich (01 Mar 1896-15 Jan 1897)
Detached to the Bavarian Artillery & Engineer School, Munich (01 Oct 1898-00 Jul 1899)
Detached to the Gun Factory Amberg (12 Feb 1900-10 Mar 1900)
Transferred into the East-Asian Field-Artillery-Regiment & Platoon-Leader in the 1st Mountain-Battery (Boxer-Rebellion) (18 Aug 1900-01 Sep 1901)
Transferred back into the 4th Bavarian Field-Artillery-Regiment (01 Sep 1901-23 Mar 1912)
Detached to the Bavarian War Academy (01 Oct 1903-30 Sep 1904)
Detached to the Central-Office of the Bavarian General Staff (01 Oct 1907-01 Oct 1909)
Detached to the Prussian Grand General Staff, Berlin (01 Oct 1909-30 Sep 1911)
Detached to 2nd Course at the Prussian Field-Artillery-Firing-School, J�terbog (15 Feb 1912-31 May 1912)
Battery-Chief in the 10th Bavarian Field-Artillery-Regiment, Erlangen (23 Mar 1912-25 Jan 1914)
Transferred to the Central-Office of the Bavarian General Staff (25 Jan 1914-19 Mar 1914)
2nd General-Staff-Officer in the General-Staff of I. Bavarian Army-Corps (19 Mar 1914-25 Mar 1915)
Chief of Operations (Ia) in the General-Staff of the 11th Bavarian Infantry-Division (25 Mar 1915-29 May 1917)
Transferred into the General-Staff of Army-Group Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern (29 May 1917-28 Oct 1918)
Senior-Quartermaster of Army-Group Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern (28 Oct 1918-20 Dec 1918)
Transferred to the Central-Office of the Bavarian General Staff (20 Dec 1918-06 May 1919)
Chief of the Army-Department in the Bavarian Ministry for Military Affairs (06 May 1919-01 Oct 1919)
Department-Director T 1 (Army Department), RWM (01 Oct 1919-15 Jun 1921)
Chief of Staff of the 2nd Division (Military-District II), Stettin (15 Jun 1921-01 Oct 1923)
Chief of Staff of the 7th Division (Military-District VII), Munich (01 Oct 1923-01 Oct 1924)
Commander of II. Mountain-Battalion of the 7th Artillery-Regiment, Landsberg (01 Oct 1924-01 Feb 1926)
Commander of the 7th Artillery-Regiment, Nuremberg (01 Feb 1926-01 Feb 1928)
Artillery-Leader V, Stuttgart (01 Feb 1928-01 Feb 1929)
Artillery-Leader VII, Munich (01 Feb 1929-01 Feb 1930)
Commander of the 7th Division & Commander in Military-District VII & State-Commandant in Bavaria (01 Feb 1930-01 Oct 1933)
Commander-in-Chief of Group-Command 2, Kassel (01 Oct 1933-04 Feb 1938)
Recieved submitted request to Retire as a result of the Blomberg-Fritsch-Crisis in the evening by an Officer-Courier of Hitler (04 Feb 1938-28 Feb 1938)
Retired mit der Erlaubnis zum Tragen der Uniform des Artillerie-Regiments 7 (28 Feb 1938)
Placed to Disposal (Army) (01 Jul 1938)
Commander-in-Chief of the 12th Army with the Occupation of the Sudetenland (00 Sep 1938-00 Oct 1938)
Commander-in-Chief of Army-Group C (26 Aug 1939-22 Jun 1941)
Commander-in-Chief of Army-Group North (22 Jun 1941-13 Jan 1942)
F�hrer-Reserve OKH (16 Jan 1942-02 May 1945)

Postwar Prosecution:
In US Captivity in Hohenschwangau (02 May 1945-13 May 1947)
Principal Defendant during the 'OKW-Trials' (Case 12) 'United States of America Vs. Wilhelm von Leeb et al'. The Focus was - Command and Commissar Order of the Wehrmacht Operations and the war crimes arising as a result of their passing onto the Troop, in particular against Soviet POWs and Civilian Forced Labourers (13 May 1947-29 Oct 1948)
Indictment read (28 Nov 1947)
Sentenced to 3 Years Imprisonment. The 3 Years already served on remand were applied. Released immediately (27 Oct 1948)

Awards & Decorations:
- Ritterkreuz: am 24.06.1940 als Generaloberst und Oberbefehlshaber der Heeresgruppe C
- RK des Kgl. Bayer. Milit�r-Max Joseph-Ordens: am 02.05.1915 als Major und Ia im Generalstab 11. bayer. Infanterie-Division
- RK des Kgl. Preuss. Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern
- 1914 EK I
- 1914 EK II
- Kgl. Bayer. Prinz-Regent-Luitpold Jubil�ums-Medaille
- Kgl. Bayer. Milit�r-Verdienstorden III Klasse mit Schwertern
- RK I. Klasse des Kgl. S�chs. Albrechts-Ordens mit Schwertern
- RK des kgl. W�rttembergischen Ordens der Krone mit Schwertern
- Hamburgisches Hanseatenkreuz
- Grossherzoglich Mecklenburg-Schwerinsches Milit�r-Verdienstkreuz II Klasse
- Bremisches Hanseatenkreuz
- k.u.k. �sterr. Orden der Eisernen Krone III Klasse mit der Kriegsdekoration
- T�rkischer Eiserner Halbmond
- Kgl. Bayer. Dienstauszeichnungskreuz II Klasse
- Ehrenkreuz f�r Frontk�mpfer
- Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV. bis I. Klasse
- Heeresbergf�hrer-Abzeichen
- Medaille zur Erinnerung an 01.10.938 mit Spange �Prager Burg�
- Spange zum EK I
- Spange zum EK II


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