GdP Erich Brandenberger Arrives to Surrender German 19th Army

[30Mauser]

Caption on the reverse of this photo, note that General der Panzertruppe is actually equivalent to a 4-star, not LTG, hence {sic}

 

Credited to 1st Lt. George Coates

 

 

In the town of Innsbruck, Austria at 1330 hrs, 15th May 1945, a German surrender party crossed through Allied lines to unconditionally surrender the whole of the German 19th Army. The party consisted of Lt. Gen. {sic} Erich Brandenberger, C.G., 19th Army, and Counselar {sic "Councillor"} Lohrman, German Foreign Office, 19th Army.

Territory included in the surrender is the provinces of Tyrol, Boralberg {sic "Vorarlberg"}, Allgaeu, to the Italian frontier, This takes in all enemy troops facing the VI Corps.

Lt. Gen. Brandenberger and Col. Jos. E. Langevin, G-2, VI Corps, enter the building to begin negotiations for the surrender of the 19th German Army.

 

[patches]

Erich Brandenberger was listed as General der Artillerie, in the 1944 Allied intelligence list of German General officers, but we see they goofed. He as we remember commanded 7th Armee, the southern wing of Wacht am Rhein, the German Ardennes Counter Offensive.

[30Mauser]

Erich Brandenberger was listed as General der Artillerie, in the 1944 Allied intelligence list of German General officers, but we see they goofed. He as we remember commanded 7th Armee, the southern wing of Wacht am Rhein, the German Ardennes Counter Offensive.

 

Yes, seems they did goof! I have a copy of the minute-by-minute transcript of the surrender conference, wherein GdP Brandenberger strongly protested being referred to as a "Lt. Gen.", as he felt (accurately, I believe) that his rank of General der Panzertruppe was actually equivalent to the French rank of "General".

 

My great-grandfather essentially responded that he should stop stalling and enter the main room to sign the surrender already. LOL

[patches]

Yes, seems they did goof! I have a copy of the minute-by-minute transcript of the surrender conference, wherein GdP Brandenberger strongly protested being referred to as a "Lt. Gen.", as he felt (accurately, I believe) that his rank of General der Panzertruppe was actually equivalent to the French rank of "General".

 

My great-grandfather essentially responded that he should stop stalling and enter the main room to sign the surrender already. LOL

I,m not referring to this particular surrender incident, I referring to a official Allied (British War Office, used also by American military intellegence) listing of all German General Officers of the Heer, Luftwaffe, and Waffen SS and Polizei (No Kriegsmarine). In it, Brandenberg is listed as General d Artillery, effective 1. 8.42, that's the German way of saying August 8th.

 

The whole thing along with a whole array of stuff on the Germans can be found in this book, put together by the great British military historian Ian Hogg, I got the 1st 1975 edition, bought it 1979, had it so long it has no hard covers on it, no cover on the spine, no less a dust jacket

 

It's a copy of the Allied works for 1944, and list Allied critques of the performance of some of the German Divisions up till 1944, it was done no doubt to the run up to Overlord to give Allied forces to include American Forces a complete as possible back ground on the German Ground Forces.

 

This is the book, I still remember the dust jacket we're seeing, fell apart in by the 1983 around a year after I got out of the Army( left this book home).

 

[30Mauser]

 

 

Yes, seems they did goof! I have a copy of the minute-by-minute transcript of the surrender conference, wherein GdP Brandenberger strongly protested being referred to as a "Lt. Gen.", as he felt (accurately, I believe) that his rank of General der Panzertruppe was actually equivalent to the French rank of "General".

 

 

My great-grandfather essentially responded that he should stop stalling and enter the main room to sign the surrender already. LOL

 

 

I,m not referring to this particular surrender incident, I referring to a official Allied (British War Office, used also by American military intellegence) listing of all German General Officers of the Heer, Luftwaffe, and Waffen SS and Polizei (No Kriegsmarine). In it, Brandenberg is listed as General d Artillery, effective 1. 8.42, that's the German way of saying August 8th.

 

The whole thing along with a whole array of stuff on the Germans can be found in this book, put together by the great British military historian Ian Hogg, I got the 1st 1975 edition, bought it 1979, had it so long it has no hard covers on it, no cover on the spine, no less a dust jacket

 

It's a copy of the Allied works for 1944, and list Allied critques of the performance of some of the German Divisions up till 1944, it was done no doubt to the run up to Overlord to give Allied forces to include American Forces a complete as possible back ground on the German Ground Forces.

 

This is the book, I still remember the dust jacket we're seeing, fell apart in by the 1983 around a year after I got out of the Army( left this book home).

 

 

Thanks for clarifying. Yes, it seems they got his title wrong in that book. I just thought it was funny that they got it wrong in the book AND in the surrender document! Thanks also for sharing a picture of the book.

[30Mauser]

A couple more pictures in the series...

 

Photo Credit: T/5 Louis Weintraub

Caption:

L-R: Gen. Eric Brandeberg (sic), commanding the 19th German Army in Austria, after finishing conference with German generals and admirals on surrender to the Sixth American Army Gp. Shakes hands with General Admiral Marshall (sic), of German Navy outside their HQ. (Photographed by Signal Corps cameraman) Children stand looking curiously at first Americans, making the photos.

 

 

Photo Credit: T/5 Allan G Smith Jr

Here, Maj. Gen. Brooks tells his troops that the surrender has been signed.

 

[30Mauser]

WHOOPS! correction of an obvious error... "In the town of Innsbruck, Austria at 1330 hrs, 5th May 1945"