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Georg
Karl Wichura
(15.12.1851 - 11.12.1923)
place of birth: Ratibor, Oberschlesien (Raciborz, Poland)
Königreich
Preußen: KG,
General der Infanterie
Imperial German General Georg
Wichura commanded the VIII. Reserve Corps during the Great War.
By 1912, Generalleutnant Wichura was at the head of 5th Infantry
Division, headquartered in Frankurt a.d. Oder. As Germany marched into
Belgium, he lead this group of soldiers into battle in support of
General von Lochow's III. Army Corps and von Kluck's First Army. During
the war, he saw action at Mons and Le
Cateau (1914). Following the First Battle of the
Marne, 5th Division covered both II. and III. Army Corps as
those troops fell back across the River Aisne and
the fighting settled into the trenches.
Generalleutnant Wichura's division fought in
battles at Soissons (1915) and at Champagne
and Verdun (1916), after which they were able to
leave the Front for a month's worth of R and R. They returned to the
trenches in the summer of 1916 in time to be engaged in the deadly Battle
of the Somme. Returning to the Champagne
region in early September, he was given command of VIII. Reserve Corps,
subordinate to Seventh Army. In the Spring of 1917, followoing
promotion to General der Infanterie, Wichura was awarded the Pour
le Merite for distinguished service and leadership as his
reservists fought the British at Arras. The VIII.
Reserves additionally saw action during hostilities at Chemin
des Dames, Coucy-le-Chateau, and the heights above Conde,
earning him the additional oak leaves to his PLM.
Wichura's reservists additionally fought during
the Second Marne campaign in
July 1918, which earned the general the Order of the Red Eagle (Roter
Adlerorden I. Klasse). Wichura was given command of the V. Army Corps
in 1919. After leading his troops back to Germany for demobilization,
Wichura was selected to command V. Army Corps, headquartered in Posen.
He retired from military service in September 1919. General Wichura,
who was married to Ellinoe Elisabeth von Langenn-Steinkeller, passed
away in 1923. A street in Berlin was named after him in 1937.
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