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Oskar
Freiherr von Watter
(02.09.1861 - 23.08.1939)
place of birth: Ludwigsburg, Württemberg
Königreich Württemberg: KG,
Generalleutnant (Art)
Württemberg general
officer and Baron Oskar Freiherr von Watter headed 54th
Infantry Division during the Great War. He also
commanded a reserve corps during the War's final few months. General
von Watter was descended from old Pomeranian nobility. His cousin
Theodor was likewise a Württemberg general
and corps-level commander during the First
World War.
During the two years leading up to German
mobilization, Freiherr von Watter headed the 10th Field Artillery Brigade in Posen. This unit went into
battle on 2 August 1914 subordinate to General Robert Kosch's
10th Division and Crown Prince Wilhelm's Fifth Field Army. By the end
of August, V. Corps commander General von Strantz had put von Watter in
charge of artillery for the entire corps. Then in September 1914, he
was charged with artillery support for between the rivers Orne
and Meuse. In February 1915, General von Watter was
placed in command of the newly-formed 54th Infantry Division.
Inititially engaged in northern France, the division was transported
east to Ukraine in order to support Army Group Gallwitz during the Narew
Offensive.
Freiherr von Watter's infantry division
returned to the Western Front in September 1915 and were engaged in the
Spring Offensive near Douai. The subsequent
few months saw his troops in action at Noyon, Compiegne,
and Verdun. From November 1916 through April 1917,
the divisional troops were bogged down in the trenches of
Woëvre Plains,
France. By the end of July, they joined Fourth Army in Flanders to
battle the British, then in August to Cambrai to occupy trenches in the
Havrincourt - La Vacquières
sector. For his energetic
leadership during this period, Kaiser Wilhelm recognized the
newly-promoted Generalleutnant von Watter with Pour le Merite
in December 1917.
Early in 1918, von Watter replaced
General von Hügel
as commander of XXVI. Reserve Corps, and his new troops were soon
transferred from Savigny to Charleville.
In April, the corps became part of General von Hutier's 18th Army,
remaining so until War's end. After cessation of hostilities, von
Watter led his corps back to the Kassel region for the demobilization
process. He continued as a commanding general in the Reichswehr.
He also led Freikorps
troops in April 1920 as they killed thousands during the five-day Ruhr
Red Uprising. Oskar Freiherr von Watter passed away in 1939
and was buried at Berlin's Invaliden Friedenhof.
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Generalleutnant |
06.11.1917 |
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Pour
le Mérite |
23.12.1917
(Eichenlaub: 03.11.1918) |
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