Kurt von der Chevallerie

December 23, 1891 (age 53)

Berlin, Germany, Germany

A Berliner, he was commissioned in 1911 and assigned to the 5th Guards Grenadier Regt. In WWI he was decorated for valor and rose to be a captain commanding a company of the 4th Inf Regt. At the start of WWII he was a Generalmajor heading the 83d Inf Div. Promoted to Generalleutnant, he led the 99th Light Div in Russia and was awarded the RK on 23 October 1941. Two months later he took over the 59th Corps as a General of Infantry. Remaining in the east, he was awarded the Oakleaves on 19 December 1943. Von der Chevallerie then went to France as commander of the 1 st Army, deployed between the Loire and the Pyrenees. When the Allies broke out of the Normandy beachhead and raced east, Chevallerie was directed to leave elements to defend an enclave from La Rochelle to the Gironde River and shift the bulk of his 1 st Army to defensive positions on the Seine between Paris and Fontainebleau. For failing to accomplish the impossible, Chevallerie was sacked late in August and replaced by Knobellsdorf. Still on the inactive list, he disappeared around 19 Mar 45 when the Red Army liberated Kolberg (now Kolobrzeg, Poland). He died about this time or later as a POW in the USSR.

Kurt von der Chevallerie

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General military

Education

Kurt von der Chevallerie was educated locally.

Career

A Berliner, he was commissioned in 1911 and assigned to the 5th Guards Grenadier Regt. In WWI he was decorated for valor and rose to be a captain commanding a company of the 4th Inf Regt. At the start of WWII he was a Generalmajor heading the 83d Inf Div. Promoted to Generalleutnant, he led the 99th Light Div in Russia and was awarded the RK on 23 October 1941. Two months later he took over the 59th Corps as a General of Infantry. Remaining in the east, he was awarded the Oakleaves on 19 December 1943. Von der Chevallerie then went to France as commander of the 1 st Army, deployed between the Loire and the Pyrenees.

When the Allies broke out of the Normandy beachhead and raced east, Chevallerie was directed to leave elements to defend an enclave from La Rochelle to the Gironde River and shift the bulk of his 1 st Army to defensive positions on the Seine between Paris and Fontainebleau. For failing to accomplish the impossible, Chevallerie was sacked late in August and replaced by Knobellsdorf. Still on the inactive list, he disappeared around 19 Mar 45 when the Red Army liberated Kolberg (now Kolobrzeg, Poland). He died about this time or later as a POW in the USSR.

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