Years of service 1902–41 Name Eugen von | Rank Generaloberst Service/branch Bavarian Army, Reichswehr | |
Allegiance Bavaria
German Empire
Weimar Republic
Nazi Germany Battles/wars World War I
Battle of Verdun
Spring Offensive of 1918
World War II
Polish campaign
Battle of France
Operation Barbarossa Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (1940)
Military Order of Max Joseph, Knight's Cross
House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords
Bavarian Military Merit Order, 4th Class with Crown and Swords (1918)
Romanian Order of Michael the Brave (1941) Died September 12, 1941, Mykolaiv, Ukraine Battles and wars Battle of Verdun, World War II, Invasion of Poland, Battle of France, Operation Barbarossa Commands held 17th Infantry Division (1935–1936) Similar People Petre Dumitrescu, Nicolae Ciuperca, Yakov Cherevichenko, Ivan Tyulenev | ||
Eugen Siegfried Erich Ritter von Schobert (13 March 1883 – 12 September 1941) was a German general who served in World War I and World War II. He died in the Soviet Union when his observation plane crashed in a Soviet minefield.
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Early life
Schobert was born as Eugen Schobert in Wurzburg in the Kingdom of Bavaria, a member state of the German Empire. He was the son of Major Karl Schobert and Anna nee Michaely. Schobert entered the Royal Bavarian Army in July 1902. He served primarily in the 1st Bavarian Infantry Regiment "Konig" and underwent pilot training in 1911.
World War I and post-war
During World War I, Schobert remained a Bavarian infantry officer, serving the entire war on the Western Front. During the German Spring Offensive of 1918, he led the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Bavarian Infantry Regiment. For his actions on 23 March 1918, when he personally and successfully led his battalion in the crossing of a canal near Jussy against stiff British resistance, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph. This was Bavaria's highest military honor, comparable to the Prussian Pour le Merite, and conferred a patent of nobility on a recipient who was a commoner. Hence Eugen Schobert became Eugen Ritter von Schobert.
After World War I, Schobert remained in the Reichswehr and then the Wehrmacht, steadily rising up the ranks. He was Inspector of Infantry from December 1933 to September 1934 and then commanded the 17th Infantry Division and the 33rd Infantry Division. He took command of the VII Army Corps (VII. Armeekorps) on 4 February 1938.
World War II and death
In September 1939, Schobert led his VII Army Corps in the invasion of Poland as part of the reserve of Army Group South. In May–June 1940, his corps, part of General Ernst Busch's Sixteenth Army of Army Group A, participated in the invasion of Belgium and Luxembourg and the Battle of France. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his leadership of the VII Corps in the breakthrough of the Maginot Line and the capture of Nancy and Toul. He remained in command of the corps during preparations for the invasion of Great Britain.
In September 1940, Schobert was given command of the Eleventh Army. The army was assigned to Army Group South for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. During combat operations in the southern Soviet Union, Schobert and his pilot Wilhelm Suwelack were killed when their Fieseler Storch observation aircraft crashed in a Soviet minefield.
Family
Schobert married Alice Rieder-Gollwitzer in 1921. They had three children: two sons and one daughter. His younger son was killed in combat in 1944 while serving as a fighter pilot for the Luftwaffe.