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Ernst von Oven
(03.02.1859 - 21.05.1945)
place of birth: Kreis Hamm, Westfalen (Westphalia)
Königreich
Preußen: KG,
Generalleutnant
Imperial
German general Ernst von Oven commanded 21st Infantry
Division at mobilization. His divisional troops were subordinate to
General von Schenck's XVIII. Army Corps, which was part of Herzog
Albrecht's Fourth Army as they marched through Luxembourg and into
France. Von Oven's division saw their first action on 20 August near Longlier
and were subsequently victorious during the two-day battle for Neuchateau.
They continued fighting on the Western Front near the towns of Reims,
Roye, and Le Quesnoy, and
in 1915, von Oven was promoted to Generalleutnant on the occasion of
Kaiser Wilhelm's birthday.
General von Oven's infantry division moved to
the Verdun area in early 1916 and then joined
battle in late February. They were then transferred to the River
Somme in September 1916 in order to help prevent attempts at
breakthrough by the British troops. At the start of 1917,
Generalleutnant von Oven was sent to the Eastern Front to replace Oskar
von Hutier as commander of the XXI. Army Corps, engaged in the area of
Russia's Narocz-See (Lake Narach). In November
1917, XXI. Army Corps was moved to the Western Front where they
initially fought in support of General von Mudra's Armeeabteilung
A, and then moved to support of General von Gündell's
Armeeabteilung B in France's Vosges
Mountains. The Spring of 1918 found von Oven once again in
the Verdun area, this time in charge of the
detachment Meuse-West defending between the Argonne
and the River Meuse. Although wounded during the
fighting their, von Oven maintained command of his corps troops and was
soon thereafter awarded the Pour le Merite for his
exemplary leadership.
Immediately following the Armistice, General
von Oven lead his corps back to the German homeland for demobilization.
He remained on active duty himself, leading Freikorps
soldiers in fighting post-War rebel activity in Munich and in training
Germany's 200,000 man transitional military forces. His first cousin
Georg also served as an Imperial German general officer during the War,
while von Oven's uncle Wilfred served as Reichsminister Goebbel's
right-hand man during World War Two. General von Oven passed away in
1945 in Goslar.
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Generalleutnant |
27.01.1915 |
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Pour
le Mérite |
25.10.1918 |
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