Hans Emil Vincent Stanislaus von Below
(27.06.1862 - 06.08.1933)
place of birth:  Graudenz  (Grudziadz, Poland)
Königreich Preußen:  Div-Kdr,  Genkdo,  Generalleutnant


Prussian General Hans von Below was the younger brother of General Otto von Below and served during the Great War as a division level commander. The two Below brothers were born into the Prussian aristocracy, the sons of Generalleutnant Hugo von Below and his spouse Alexandra von Lupinski. Hans launched his military career in 1880 when he joined up with his brother Otto serving with Füsilier-Regiment Nr. 80 in Wiesbaden. Although Hans graduated from the Prussian War College in 1892, he did not subsequently spend much time at Great General Staff headquarters. From 1906 to 1910, he took a sabbatical from the Prussian Army in order to serve as a military instructor at Argentina's central military academy in Buenos Aires. It was there that he met and married the American Nina Ross Bryce.


As the Great War broke out in August 1914, General von Below was placed in command of a reserve brigade, with his troops marching into Belgium under Karl von Bülow's 2. Armee-Oberkommando. By summer 1915, Generalmajor von Below found himself commanding at the divisional level on the Eastern Front. In January 1917, he oversaw the establishment of the newly-formed 238. Infanterie-Division which was active in Flanders under overall command of brother Otto. Hans von Below's outstanding leadership during the Third Battle of Flanders was recognized in 1916 when he was decorated with the highest Royal Prussian order of bravery, the Pour le Mérite. In August of the following year, he replaced General von Hofacker as commander of Generalkommando 51. His soldiers continued the fight on the Western Front until the Armistice, after which Generalleutnant von Below led them back to Germany for deactivation. Upon retiring from the military, von Below moved to the United States where he lived until the age of 71 years.

	Generalleutnant	18.04.1918
	Pour le Mérite	24.11.1917