Faeckestedt, Ernst Felix.

Faeckestedt, Ernst, born 17-12-1896 in Dresden , joined the Army, age 17, as a Fahnenjunker in the Replacement Squadron of the 2^nd Horse Jäger Regiment . With the 2^nd Regiment he was in the field of the first war and ended the war as 1^st Ordinance Officer with the 3^rd Infantry Regiment. He remained in the Reichswehr  and at the beginning of World War II he was Chief of Operations of the General Staff of the 3^rd Infantry Division  under command of Generalleutnant Walter Lichel  . Lichel survived the war and died 10-12-1969, aged 84.

Faeckenstedt, a Cavalry officer by training and highly experienced Staff Officer, had been Ia, III Korps  under command of Generaloberst Curt Haase  during the campaign in Poland and Chief of Staff in France. Curt Haase, on 09-02-1943, died at the age of 61 from advanced heart disease, age 61 in Berlin. Faeckestedt also held this post in Russia and won the Iron Cross in January 1942, shortly before joining the Staff of 1^st Panzer Army  under command of Generalmajor Walther Wenck, the Boy General , where he became Commander of Staff within two weeks in April 1942. Generalmajor Faeckenstedt took over from Generalmajor der Infanterie, Johannes Nedtwig

   as commander of the 5^th Panzer Division  in either early May or late June 1943 whilst the division was held in reserve in the Orel area, undergoing a refit, during the offensive against the Kursk Salient. They did not see action until the Russians began counter attacking on the 16^th when they joined 2^nd Panzerarmee’s LV Korps. Lost his command to General of the Panzer Troops to General der Infanterie , Karl Gustav Adolf Decker  . Karl Decker committed suicide on 21-04-1945, the same day as Field Marshal  , Walter Model , after the total defeat and encirclement of the Heeresgruppe in the Ruhr Pocket in April. Decker was posthumously awarded the 149th Swords to the Knight’s Cross on 26 April 1945. Promoted to Generalleutnant at the beginning of September, around the same time as his command was transferred to 9^th Army XII Corps under General der Panzertruppe, Kommandierend des XLVI. Panzerkorps, Smilo Freiherr von Lüttwitz

     as they fell back to Bryansk Fäckenstedt handed the division over to General der Infanterie, Karl Decker. The youngest Generalleutnant in WWII with 36, was Theodor Tolsdorff.   The 9^th Army XII Corps had famous leaders (see Johannes Blaskowitz), (see Josef Harpe), (see Theodor Busse).  After a spell in the reserves, he returned to the Eastern Front as Chief of Staff at VI Korps, under command of General der Infanterie Horst Großmann     on 15^th December. It would appear that he avoided the fate of his commander, General der Artillerie, Georg Pfeiffer,   who was killed in action, on 28-06-1944, age 54, when 3^rd Panzerarmee collapsed during the destruction of Heeresgruppe Mitte the following June and held the same position at XII Korps from the middle of November, holding this position until the end of the war. The XII Korps posting seems unlikely, this unit was also destroyed during Bagration and was not re-created, in SW Germany, until March 1945. It may be that he held this position at Wehrkreis. XII, from which the Corps was built. General der Infanterie Horst Großmann died, age 80 on 04-05-1972 in Rüsselsheim

Faeckenstedt landed in Allied captivity on 06-05-1945 until 27-03-1948 and lived in Höxter. He died at the age of 64, on 06-04-1961 and is buried on the Friedhof Am Wall, in Höxter and only steps from the grave of WWII Generalmajor der Artillerie, Kommandeur Gebirgstruppe 20, Wolf Graf von Luckner  .

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