Max Friedrich Ernst von Bock und Polach
(05.09.1842 - 04.03.1915)
place of birth:  Trier, Rhein Provinz
Königreich Preußen:  GenInsp,  Generalfeldmarschall


Imperial German Field Marshal Max von Bock und Polach was 72 years old when his country mobilized for the Great War in August 1914. He had retired from military service in 1912 as the Inspector General overseeing Germany's Third Army Inspectorate and was not reactivated for the War. As a retired Generalfeldmarschall, however, he remained on the Prussian Army's seniority list as Chef of 3. Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 16 and as à la suite 6. Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 55.

As the son of a Prussian artillery officer, Max grew up in Germany's Rheinprovinz with his older brother Karl (1840-1902) and younger brother Fritz (1849-1934) who was a General der Infanterie and corps commander. Their father died when Max was eleven, and he was soon sent off as a student within the Cadet Corps. At seventeen, he was commissioned as a Sekonde-Lieutenant with Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 55 in Minden. Max did not have to wait long before being sent into battle during the Second Schleswig War of 1864. He distinguished himself during the capture of Alsen Island and also took part in the storming of Düppeler Schanzen (Battle of Dybbol) where he received a shrapnel wound to the head. Less than two years later, he once again took up arms during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, serving as regimental adjutant with the Main-Armee's Göben Division.

In the aftermath of that conflict, Bock graduated in 1869 from the prestigious Prussian War College in Berlin. His soldiering skills were soon once again put to the test during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Here Premier-Lieutenant von Bock spent most of the war as an adjutant with the mobile 13. Infanterie-Division, part of General von Steinmetz's 1. Armee-Oberkommando. He was thus engaged in fighting in battles as Spicheren, Gravelotte, and the siege of Metz. Returning to peace-time Germany, von Bock passed the subsequent 20 years as an officer in Prussia's General Staff, with various appointments to divisional and corps-level staffs. From 1891 to 1893, he functioned as Ober-Quartiermeister (Sr Quartermaster) with the General Staff of the Army.

With a promotion to General-Lieutenant in 1893, von Bock was assigned command of 20. Infanterie-Division headquarters in Hannover. He then was promoted to General and commanded Prussia's elite Garde-Korps in Berlin for five years. At the close of his tour in 1902, he was decorated with Prussia's highest order of chivalry, the Schwarzer Adler-Orden (Order of the Black Eagle.) In 1902 he was transferred to Karlsruhe to head up XIV. Armee-Korps headquarters. After about five years, von Bock returned to Hannover to serve as Chief Inspector of the III. Armee-Inspektion, overseeing the VII., VIII., IX. and XIII. corps districts. He was promoted to Generaloberst in 1908 and ultimately to Generalfeldmarschall in January 1911. Although he retired from active military service in 1912, Field Marshal von Bock was named Chef of Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 16. He was not recalled to active duty when the First World War began in 1914, but he did remain on Prussia's Dienstaltersliste (Seniority List) as one of four Prussian Field Marshals.

	Generalfeldmarschall	01.01.1911
	Kriegs-Denkmünze	Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg  1864
	Erinnerungs-Kreuz	Deutscher Krieg  1866
	Eisernes Kreuz II	Deutsch-Französischer Krieg  1870–1871
	Schwarzer Adler	27.01.1902