Hermann Balck

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Template:Cleanup-date Hermann Balck (December 7, 1893 - November 29, 1982) was a military commander in the German Reich's Wehrmacht during World War II.

1 Biography
2 Career Assessment
3 References

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Biography

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WW I, Inter-war, early war

Balck entered the imperial German army in 1913 as an officer candidate. He served as a company grade officer in World War I, ending in command of a machine-gun company. At the outbreak of war in 1939 Balck was in the OKH (Army High Command of the German Army) and was transferred to the command of Schützenregiment 1 (motorised rifle regiment 1) in 1. Panzerdivision in late October 1939, where he served during the war against France. His unit was closely involved in the German Sichelschnitt plan, and led the Sedan crossing.

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Greece, Eastern Front

During the winter and spring of 1940-41 he commanded a Panzerregiment 3 during the attack on Greece, and later 2. Panzerbrigade. He returned to staff duties in the Inspectorate of Armoured Forces in the OKH in July 1941. In May 1942, Balck went to the Eastern Front and commanded 11. Panzer Division in Ukraine and southern Russia. He was removed into officer reserve, but immediately given command of Panzergrenadierdivision Grossdeutschland in the east. After a brief spell in Italy he came to command XXXXVIII. Panzerkorps in the east in 1943, and finally 4th Panzer Army from August 1944. During this time his Division or Panzerkorps engaged in the defense against the Soviet breakthrough at Stalingrad, and the attempt to relieve Stalingrad in late 1942, the defense against the Soviet breakthrough across the Dnepr, and the counterattack at Zhitomir in 1943, as well as the defense against the Soviet winter/spring offensive in western Ukraine in 1944, where Balck was one of the two commanders responsible for the disastrous attempt to create and hold a Fester Platz at Ternopil (Tarnopol). In July 1944 Balck was commanding XXXXVIII. Panzerkorps during the initial phase of the Soviet L'vov-Sandomierz operation. Balck was closely involved in the failed defense, and the unsuccessful attempt to relieve the encircled XIII. Armeekorps at Brody which was destroyed.

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Western Front, Hungary, Late War

He was transferred from command of the 4th Panzer Army in Poland to the command of Army Group G in the Alsace region of France in September 1944. In late December Balck was relieved of his command and transferred back to the Eastern Front and demoted to command Army Group Balck in Hungary. Balck was captured in Austria by US troops on 8 May 1945.

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Post-war

After the war he became a depot worker. In 1948 he was arrested, tried and convicted for murder for the execution by firing squad, without proper trial, of the artillery commander lieutenant-colonel Johann Schottke, who was found drunk on duty, on 28 November 1944 near Saarbrücken. This incident occurred while Balck was serving as commander of Army Group G on the western front. He served half of his sentence.

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Career Assessment

Balck was a prime example of a class of German officers who rose rapidly through the ranks during the war, together with e.g. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Erhard Raus, Generaloberst Josef Harpe, and Feldmarschall Ernst Busch. Balck started the war as an Oberst (Colonel) or Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant-Colonel) in 1939 and ended it as a Generaloberst (Colonel-General = 4 Star General), which is an astonishing career. Balck is often described as a very gifted commander of armoured troops, and his handling of 11. Panzerdivision and XXXXVIII. Panzerkorps during 1942/43 would indicate that this view is largely correct. His rather less gifted performance at Tarnopol in March/April 1944, and during the defensive battles in the west in autumn 1944 indicates the risk of this rapid promotion policy however.

Many of the battles Balck participated in are described in Generalmajor Friedrich von Mellenthin's 'Panzer Battles'. It needs to be pointed out however that this work is not a reliable historical study, and in particular battles in which the German side did not do well are not adequately described, while any assessment of Soviet forces in the book is highly questionable. Unlike other German commanders Balck did not author an autobiography.

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