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Otto von Moser
(21.03.1860 - 11.10.1931)
place of birth: Stuttgart, Württemberg
Königreich
Württemberg: KG,
Generalleutnant
Royal Württemberg
general officer Otto von Moser commanded XIV.
Reserve Corps during the latter part of the Great War.
He was also a prolific writer on military issues, having authored the
book "Die Württemberger
im Weltkrieg" (Württemberg
Participants in the World War), published in 1938.
Otto's father, Major Ernst Otto Moser, served honorably in
Württemberg's military forces and was thus elevated to nobility status
in 1845 by His Majesty King Wilhelm I.
On Mobilization Day, Generalmajor von Moser
led his 53rd Brigade from their garrison in Ulm to the Diedenhofen to
guard the border. Notably, one of the soldiers serving in von Moser's
infantry brigade was the future Wehrmacht Field
Marshal Erwin Rommel. Von Moser and his troops crossed the border into
Belgium two weeks later to join battle at Virton-Bleid.
Pushing into France, his troops were engaged in heavy fighting near Gesnes-en-Argonne;
having joined them at the front, General von Moser unfortunately ended
up with a severe shrapnel wound on 2 September, an injury which put him
out of action until the summer of 1915.
After his long convalescence, Generalmajor von
Moser was selected to lead the newly-formed 107th Infantry Division,
which entrained for the Lubaczowka River, Poland to
support General von Mackensen's Eleventh Field Army near Korzenica.
They continued their push eastward through Galicia
and into Russian territory, where the Germans formed the Bug-Armee
(Army of the Bug). As soon as they arrived in Pinsk
(Belarus), however, the 107th was ordered to transfer southern Hungary
to take part in the October/November 1915 offensive into Serbia. After
their success versus the Serbs, Generalleutnant von Moser's division
was recalled back to Hungary and then sent to Lithuania in the Baltic
region by year's end.
In the summer of 1916, Generalleutnant von
Moser was transferred to Lys, France to replace
General Graf von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth as commander of the 27th
Infantry Division. This unit was sent in July 1916 to the
River Somme where they were engaged in four straight weeks
of heated battle. Following a stint in early 1917 where he provided
front line infantry units with specialized training in defensive
tactics, von Moser was sent to the Artois region to
replace Georg Fuchs as commander of XIV. Reserve Corps, fighting in
support of Sixth Army. During the ensuing Battle of Arras (1917),
his corps was pounded by British guns during a German defensive action.
For his skill and leadership during this conflict, Generalleutnant von
Moser was decorated with the Pour le Merite medal.
In mid-June 1917, von Moser's troops were
designated Gruppe Arras, switching subordination
from Sixth Army to Second Army, commanded by Georg von der Marwitz. The
relative quiet in the trenches there came to a sudden end on 20
November when the British launched a massive tank attack along the
front by Cambrai. The constant physical and mental
stress eventually took its toll on the general, and he retired from the
battlefield in February 1918. For his exemplary service, His Majesty
the King of Württemberg
awarded von Moser with the Commander's Cross of the Militär-Verdienstorden (MVO). In his retirement years,
General von Moser penned several notable works on
military history and tactics. It was at his
estate in Isny im Allgäu that he passed away in October
1931.
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Generalleutnant |
18.09.1915 |
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Pour
le Mérite |
26.04.1917 |
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Württemberg
MVO |
18.07.1918
Komtur |
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