Daniels, Alexander Edler von.

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Alexander Edler von Daniels, born 17-03-1891, in Trier Germany, was a German General in the Wehrmacht during World War II. Daniels joined the 4th Lower Alsatian Infantry Regiment No. 143 as a lieutenant on 01-03-1910, and served as adjutant of the 1st Battalion from 01-10-1913. As such, he was sent to the front at the outbreak of the First World War. During the further course of the war, Daniels served as a company commander from September 9 to October 15, 1915, was then deployed as a court officer, and was finally promoted to regimental adjutant on  30-04-1916. For his services, he received both classes of the Iron Cross    and the Knight’s Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords.

After demobilization in early 1919, Alexander joined the Lichtschlag Freikorps as an adjutant at the end of February 1919, where Daniels ultimately served as commander of the machine gun company. The Freikorps Lichtschlag, after his commander Captain Otto Lichtschlag (1885–1961), was a German paramilitary unit established on 14-12-1918, shortly after the end of the First World War. On 15-09-1919, he was transferred to the 14th Reichswehr Infantry Regiment, which he left again at the end of 1920. He then served in the 18th Infantry Regiment as commander of the 12th Company until April 1933, before joining the regimental staff in Paderborn. After working as a teacher at the Dresden Infantry School from April 1933 to January 1934, Daniels was appointed commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Infantry Regiment on 01-02-1934. On 01-10-1934, he was appointed commander of the training battalion in the Königsberg Infantry Regiment, where he served until mid-October 1935. In 1936 he married Elma, born von Rössing von Daniels (1907–1992)

Daniels then served as commander of the 9th Machine Gun Battalion until the end of September 1938. During this period, he also completed a communications course. In October 1938, he was transferred to the staff of the 18th Infantry Regiment. Following this, on 24-11-1938, he was appointed regimental commander.

With this regiment, Daniels, as part of the 6th Infantry Division, under command of Generalleutnant Arnold Christiaan Rüdiger Joseph Maria  Freiherr von Biegeleben, was initially stationed along the West Wall as a security regiment at the outbreak of the Second World War. In the spring of 1940, the regiment, under his command, participated in the Western Campaign and subsequently remained there as an occupying force for the medium term. On 10-12-1940, Daniels was appointed commander of the 239th Infantry Regiment. As part of the 106th Infantry Division, under command of General der Infanterie Ernst Friedrich Dehner, the regiment, now under Daniels’ command, fought in the Eastern Campaign in the area of ​​Army Group Center via Białystok-Smolensk-Vyazma to Moscow. For his services, he was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 15-12-1941.[On 06-03-1942, Daniels relinquished command of the regiment and temporarily joined the Führer Reserve.  On 01-04-1942, Daniels was appointed commander of the 376th Infantry Division. From June 1942, his division was on the Don bend and from August 1942 took part in Operation Blue, where it advanced towards Stalingrad as part of the 6th Army. under command of Generalfieldmarshall Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst “Der Lord” Paulus Paulus, Friedrich “der Lord”. In the ensuing Battle of Stalingrad, the division was virtually wiped out. In the meantime, Daniels had been awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on 18-12-1942. The complete surrender of the 6th Army and Daniels’s division took place on  31-01-1943.

While a Soviet prisoner of war, Daniels joined the National Committee for a Free Germany and served on its presidium as vice president alongside Hans-Günther van Hooven. Van Hooven after the dissolution of the NKFD in November 1945, he remained in the USSR for another four years before returning to Germany in April 1950. From 01-12-1950, until his retirement, he worked for the GDR travel agency, where he was responsible for the development of international tourism in the GDR. Van Hooven passed away age 67 on 27-09-1964.

Daniels was a founding member of the League of German Officers. When his activities there became known to the German army leadership, Daniels was expelled from the Wehrmacht on 23-12-1944. His younger brother, Herbert von Daniels, a member of the Waffen-SS, was supposed to erase this “disgrace” by proving his worth at the front. However, this did not happen.

Daniels surrendered himself and his division to Colonel Ivan Konstantinovich Morozov, commander of the 422nd Rifle Division, and was marched into captivity by the Red Army on 29-01-1943, where he was interrogated by Captain Nikolay Dyatlenko.

Death and burial ground of Daniels, Alexander Edler von.

Daniels, Alexander Edler von passed away on 06-01-1960 (age 68) in Bielefeld, Stadtkreis Bielefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany and is buried at Friedhof Westhofen in Schwerte, Kreis Unna, Nordrhein-Westfalen, 58239, Mesenbecke, 58239 Schwerte, Germany.

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