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Friedrich Sixt von Armin

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Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin (27 November 1851 – 30 September 1936) was a Prussian and German general who participated in the Franco-Prussian War and was a senior commander in the First World War. In the latter he participated in many battles on the Western Front, including the Battles of Passchendaele and the Lys. He was the recipient of many decorations for his leadership, including the Order Pour le Mérite with Oakleaves, Prussia's highest military honor.

Friedrich Sixt von Armin
Sixt von Armin in 1916
Born(1851-11-27)27 November 1851
Wetzlar, Rhine Province, Prussia
Died30 September 1936(1936-09-30) (aged 84)
Magdeburg, Saxony, Nazi Germany
Allegiance German Empire
Service / branchArmy
Years of service1870–1919
RankGeneral
Commands13th Division
IV Corps
4th Army
Battles / wars
AwardsPour le Mérite
RelationsHans-Heinrich Sixt von Armin (son)

Family

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Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin was born on 27 November 1851 in Wetzlar, an exclave of the Rhine Province, Kingdom of Prussia, as the son of Heinrich Joseph Jacob Sixt von Armin (†1872), a career officer, and Amöne, née Hiepe (†1901).[1] He was married on 11 June 1882 to Klara Pauline Auguste Henriette Karoline von Voigts-Rhetz (1 October 1859 - 28 November 1937), the daughter of General der Artillerie Julius von Voigts-Rhetz [de] (1822-1904)[2][3] The couple had two daughters and three sons. On son, Friedrich-Wilhelm (1889-1914), was killed in action in France as a Leutnant in Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 4. Another, Hans-Heinrich, was also career officer, reaching the rank of Generalleutnant (lieutenant general); he was taken a prisoner of war in 1942 and died in the Soviet Union in 1952.

Military career

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Sixt von Armin entered service as an Avantageur on 16 July 1870 in 4. Garde-Grenadier-Regiment „Königin“ (later renamed Königin Augusta Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 4).[4] He was wounded by rifle rounds in both legs in the fighting near Saint-Privat-la-Montagne on 18 August 1870 while serving with the regiment's 11th Company.[5] He was commissioned a Secondelieutenant on 9 March 1872 with a Patent of 12 January 1871.[6] He served as regimental adjutant from 18 April 1876 to 21 March 1881 and was promoted to Premierlieutenant on 17 February 1880.[7]

From 1 April 1881 to 15 April 1884, Sixt von Armin served as adjutant of the 3rd Guards Infantry Brigade.[8] This was followed by a one-year assignment to the Great General Staff on 1 May 1884, which was then extended for a second year.[9] On 17 April 1886, he was promoted to Hauptmann and transferred to the auxiliary establishment (Nebenetat) of the Great General Staff.[10] On 7 February 1888, he was transferred to the Great General Staff and on 26 May 1888 to the general staff of the 22nd Division.[11] On 12 January 1889 he was assigned to the Ministry of War in Berlin.[12] He was transferred to Grenadier-Regiment König Friedrich Wilhelm IV. (1. Pommersches) Nr. 2 as a company commander on 15 July 1890.[13]

On 22 March 1891, Sixt von Armin was promoted to Major, transferred back to the General Staff of the Army, and assigned to the general staff of the VII Army Corps.[14] On 15 July 1893, he was transferred to the Great General Staff[15] and on 18 August 1896, he was named a battalion commander in Magdeburgisches Füsilier-Regiment Nr. 36.[16] On 22 March 1897, he was promoted to Oberstlieutenant and on 20 July 1897 he became Chief of the General Staff of the XIII (Württemberg) Army Corps in Stuttgart.[17]

On 27 January 1900, Sixt von Armin was promoted to Oberst[18] From 18 October 1900 to 14 November 1901, he commanded Infanterie-Regiment Graf Bülow von Dennewitz (6. Westfälisches) Nr. 55.[19] He was then named Chief of the General Staff of the Guards Corps.[20]

On 18 April 1903, Sixt von Armin was promoted to Generalmajor.[21] He returned to the Ministry of War on 2 June 1903 and on 18 August was named director of the General War Department (Allgemeines Kriegsdepartment).[22] In this capacity he also served as deputy plenepotentiary to the Bundesrat of the German Empire, chairman of the Reichs-Rayon-Kommission,[23] and member of the Imperial Disciplinary Court (Reichsdisziplinarhof).[24]

On 25 October 1906, Sixt von Armin was promoted to Generalleutnant.[25] He was named commander of the 13th Division on 30 July 1908.[26] On 20 March 1911, he took provisional command of the IV Army Corps in Magdeburg and on 7 April 1911, he was promoted to General der Infanterie and formally named commanding general of the corps.[27]

World War I

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Sixt von Armin led the IV Army Corps into Brussels on 20 August 1914, and then engaged with the enemy in the Battle of Mons on 23 and 24 August 1914.[28] On 26 August, the corps engaged the British at Le Cateau.[29]

His corps then participated in the First Battle of the Marne.[30] At the end of September 1914, as part of the Race to the Sea, the corps was transferred to the 6th Army in the Artois region, where it remained in trench warfare until mid-1916.[31] Among the major battles were the Battle of Arras in early October 1914 and in the fighting by La Bassée and Arras, including at the Loretto Heights (Lorettoschlacht), followed by the Battle of Loos in the autumn of 1915, and the Battle of the Somme from 12 to 25 July 1916 and from mid-September to early October 1916.[32] He was awarded the Order Pour le Mérite on 10 August 1916 for his leadership in the Battle of the Somme.[33]

From 1 March 1917 to 29 November 1918, he was supreme commander of the 4th Army in Flanders.[34] He led the army in the defensive battles in Flanders in 1917, especially from May to July 1917 in the Battle of Messines and at Wytschaete, and from July to early December 1917 in the Third Battle of Ypres or the Battle of Passchendaele.[35] These battles included the Battle of Pilckem Ridge (31 July – 2 August), the Battle of Langemarck (16–18 August), the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge (20–25 September), the Battle of Polygon Wood (26 September – 3 October), the Battle of Poelcappelle (9 October), the First Battle of Passchendaele (12 October) and the Second Battle of Passchendaele (26 October – 10 November).[36] For his leadership in the heavy fighting, he would be decorated with the Oakleaves to the Pour le Mérite on 3 August 1917.[37]

From 10 to 25 April 1918, during the Battle of the Lys (Fourth Battle of Ypres), the army captured Messines, Wytschaete and the Ypres bend and stormed the Kemmel.[38] However, the German offensive then lost momentum, and the Germans went back on the defensive. The 4th Army was forced to give more ground in the Fifth Battle of Ypres, including losing control of the Flanders coast and the key submarine bases there.[39] After the Allies defeated his forces on the Lys on 25 October, Sixt von Armin was forced to pull the 4th Army back to the Antwerp–Maas defensive position, where it remained until the Armistice.[40]

On 29 November 1918, Sixt von Armin took command of Army Group Crown Prince Rupprecht from its namesake, Field Marshal Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, and led the formation, redesignated Army Group A, in the withdrawal from Allied territory back to Paderborn, where Sixt von Armin's command was demobilized.[41][42] He retired from the army on 2 January 1919.[43]

Later life

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After the war, Sixt von Armin lived in Magdeburg, Province of Saxony, where he was a popular speaker and made frequent appearances at public events. When he died in 1936, he was buried with full military honors.

Decorations and awards

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Staff building of the former Sixt-von-Armin-Kaserne in Wetzlar

Additional honours

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  • The honorary title "Lion of Flanders" (Der Löwe von Flandern) was given to Sixt von Armin, his Chief of the General Staff Fritz von Loßberg, and Admiral Ludwig von Schröder, the commander of the Marinekorps Flandern.[61]
  • A Kaserne (barracks) (1928) and Sixt-von-Armin-Weg (1933), both in Magdeburg, were named after him, although both were subsequently renamed.
  • A Bundeswehr barracks in Wetzlar was renamed the Sixt-von-Armin-Kaserne [de] in 1964. It was closed in 1993 and converted to commercial and residential properties.

Notes

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  1. ^ Offizier-Stammliste des Königin Elisabeth Garde-Grenadier-Regiments Nr. 3, E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1910, p. 153
  2. ^ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Adeligen Häuser, Justus Perthes, 1942, p. 550
  3. ^ Kurt von Priesdorff: Soldatisches Führertum. Band 8. Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg. o.J. S. 323.
  4. ^ Braumüller 1901, p. 48*
  5. ^ Braumüller 1901, p. 124*
  6. ^ Militär-Wochenblatt, 1872 No. 24, 16 March 1872, p. 212
  7. ^ Braumüller 1901, p. 48*
  8. ^ Mansberg 1910, pp. 54-55
  9. ^ Mansberg 1910, pp. 54-55
  10. ^ Braumüller 1901, p. 48*
  11. ^ Braumüller 1901, p. 48*
  12. ^ Braumüller 1901, p. 48*
  13. ^ Braumüller 1901, p. 48*
  14. ^ Mansberg 1910, pp. 54-55
  15. ^ Braumüller 1901, p. 48*
  16. ^ Braumüller 1901, p. 48*
  17. ^ Braumüller 1901, p. 48*
  18. ^ Braumüller 1901, p. 48*
  19. ^ Mansberg 1910, pp. 54-55
  20. ^ Mansberg 1910, pp. 54-55
  21. ^ Militär-Wochenblatt, 1903 No. 36, 19 April 1903, p. 932
  22. ^ Militär-Wochenblatt, 1903 No. 55, 4 June 1903, p. 1873; 1903 No. 90, 20 August 1903, p. 2157
  23. ^ The Reichs-Rayon-Kommission handled disputes regarding the laws governing the use of property which adjoined military fortresses.
  24. ^ Mansberg 1910, pp. 54-55
  25. ^ Mansberg 1910, pp. 54-55
  26. ^ Militär-Wochenblatt, 1908 No. 95, 4 August 1903, p. 2214
  27. ^ Militär-Wochenblatt, 1911 No. 38, 22 March 1911, p. 833; 1911 No. 47, 11 April 1911, p. 1063
  28. ^ Möller-Witten, p. 340
  29. ^ Möller-Witten, p. 340
  30. ^ Möller-Witten, p. 341
  31. ^ Möller-Witten, p. 341
  32. ^ Möller-Witten, p. 341
  33. ^ Möller-Witten, p. 341
  34. ^ Puttkamer 1931, p. 18
  35. ^ Möller-Witten, p. 341
  36. ^ Möller-Witten, p. 341
  37. ^ Möller-Witten, p. 341
  38. ^ Möller-Witten, p. 342
  39. ^ Möller-Witten, p. 342
  40. ^ Möller-Witten, p. 342
  41. ^ Möller-Witten, p. 342
  42. ^ Puttkamer 1931, p. 18
  43. ^ Militär-Wochenblatt, 1919 Nr. 84, 14 January 1919, p. 1477
  44. ^ Möller-Witten 1935, p. 342
  45. ^ Militär-Wochenblatt, 1918 No. 80, 8 January 1918, p. 2032
  46. ^ Puttkamer 1931, p. 18
  47. ^ Awards of the Red Eagle with the Royal Crown continued to be worn when one received a higher class of the order
  48. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kriegsministerium (Hrsg.): Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee und des XIII. (Königlich Württembergischen) Armeekorps für 1914, E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin, 1914
  49. ^ Militär-Wochenblatt, 1911 No. 10, 22 January 1911, p. 197
  50. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Kriegsrangliste der Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht, Bavarian State Archives, Department IV, War Archive, Kriegsranglisten und -stammrollen, 1914-1918, Munich.
  51. ^ Richard Lundström and Daniel Krause: Verleihungen des Fürstlichen Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern und der Goldene Ehrenmedaille mit Schwertern 1914-1947, Phaleristischer Verlag Michael Autengruber, Konstanz am Bodensee, 2008, ISBN 3-937064-12-5, p. 9
  52. ^ Militär-Wochenblatt, 1912 No. 156, 7 December 1912, p. 3594
  53. ^ Verordnungsblatt des Königlich Bayerischen Kriegsministeriums, 1908 No. 17330, 10 September 1908, p. 152
  54. ^ Verordnungsblatt des Königlich Bayerischen Kriegsministeriums, 1914 No. 47845, 13 November 1914, p. 409
  55. ^ Erhard Roth: Verleihungen von militärischen Orden und Ehrenzeichen des Königreichs Bayern im Ersten Weltkrieg 1914-1918, Phaleristischer Verlag Michael Autengruber, Offenbach am Main, 1997, ISBN 3-932543-19-X, p. 1
  56. ^ a b Der Königlich Sächsische Militär-St. Heinrichs-Orden 1736-1918: Ein Ehrenblatt der Sächsischen Armee, Druck und Verlag der Wilhelm und Bertha v. Baensch Stiftung, Dresden 1937, pp. 84, 123
  57. ^ Militär-Wochenblatt, 1912 No. 156, 7 December 1912, p. 3594
  58. ^ Militär-Wochenblatt, 1912 No. 10, 21 January 1912, p. 219
  59. ^ Richard Lundström and Daniel Krause: Verleihungen von militärischen Orden und Ehrenzeichen der Ernestinischen Herzogtümer Sachsen-Altenburg, Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha und Sachsen-Meiningen im Ersten Weltkrieg, 1914-1918, Phaleristischer Verlag Michael Autengruber, Konstanz am Bodensee 2008, ISBN 3-937064-09-5
  60. ^ Militär-Wochenblatt 1903 No. 94, 29 August 1903, p. 2258
  61. ^ Möller-Witten 1935, p. 342

References

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  • Braumüller, Maximilian von: Geschichte des Königin Augusta Garde-Grenadier-Regiments Nr. 4, E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1901
  • Mansberg, Ernst-Adolf von: Offizier-Stammliste des Königlich Preußischen Infanterie-Regiments Graf Bülow von Dennewitz (6. Westfälischen) Nr. 55 vormals 6. Westfälischen Infanterie-Regiments Nr. 55, 1. Nachtrag, E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1910
  • Möller-Witten, Hanns: Geschichte der Ritter des "Ordens pour le mérite" im Weltkrieg, Band II: M-Z, Verlag Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1935
  • Puttkamer, Feodor von: Offizier-Stammliste des Grenadier-Regiments König Friedrich Wilhelm IV. (1. Pommerschen) Nr. 2, Band II, von 1906 bis 1919 Stettin 1931
  • Winkelvoß, Jörn: Magdeburger Biographisches Lexikon, Magdeburg 2002, ISBN 3-933046-49-1
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Military offices
Preceded by Commander, 4th Army
25 February 1917–28 January 1919 		Succeeded by
Dissolved
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