Years of service 1914–44 Service/branch German Army | Name Wilhelm Falley | |
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Unit 4 InfRgt, 330th Inf Div, 246th Inf Div Battles/wars World War IWorld War II Place of burial Orglandes German war cemetery Similar People Erich Marcks, Friedrich Dollmann, Hans von Salmuth, Peter‑Erich Cremer, Gerd von Rundstedt | ||
Wilhelm Falley (25 September 1897 – 6 June 1944) was the first German general to be killed during the Normandy Landings in France. He was commander of the 91st Infantry Division.
Promoted to Major General (Generalmajor) in December 1943, and Lieutenant General (Generalleutnant) in May 1944, he held various commands before being appointed Commander of the 91st Infantry Division in April 1944. Falley was the first German general to fall in action during the Normandy landings. On D-Day, Falley was returning from Rennes, where a war game had been organized by the German High Command, to his Division headquarters, in Picauville. Falley was killed in an ambush carried out by paratroopers of the US 82nd Airborne Division, on the country road outside the rear wall of the German 91st Infantry Division's headquarters, Chateau de Bernaville, in Picauville, southwest of Sainte-Mère-Église, Normandy.
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