Rank General der Artillerie Service/branch German Army | Battles/wars World War II Name Erwin Engelbrecht | |
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Erwin Engelbrecht (12 November 1891 in Wildpark Potsdam – 8 April 1964 in Munich) was a German military officer.
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Career
In January 1939 Engelbrecht was promoted to General, in September 1942 to General of the Artillery. During 1939 - 1942 he was the commander of the 163rd Infantry Division (Engelbrecht Division); later he was assigned to special forces.
On 9 April 1940, on board the German cruiser Blücher, he led the staff of the forces designated to occupy Oslo during the invasion of Norway. When the ship was sunk, he managed to swim ashore. Along with hundreds of other survivors, Engelbrecht was detained by Norwegian guardsmen at a farm near Drøbak for several hours before being abandoned by their captors.
In 1941 his division was allowed to cross Sweden to join Finnish forces in Karelia, the only such large scale transit at the time. (See the transit of German troops through Scandinavia for details.)
Engelbrecht was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz).