Leeb, Wilhelm, born on 05-09-1872 in Landsberg, Germany, into a Roman Catholic family, the son of major a.d Adolf Leeb. His younger brother, Emil Leeb, here mid of picture, handshaking with Minister for armament and munitions. Leader of the Organisation “Todt” Fritz Todt
also served in the German Army and rose to the rank of General der Artillerie as Chief of Waffenamt. General Emil Leeb took part in the invasion of Poland, with his XI Corps
attacking towards Warsaw. He initially reported to Walther von Reichenau
of the 10th Army, before his unit formed the left wing of Reichenau’s drive towards Łódź. Later, his unit was transferred to Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz’s
8th Army in its attack from the east-central region of Germany into west-central Poland, before sweeping on towards Warsaw. On 15-04-1940, Emil Leeb became Chief of the Waffenamt (Army Ordnance Weapons Depot) at the War Ministry in Berlin. Emil Leeb survived the war and died 08-09-1969, aged 88, in Munich.
Wilhelm von Leeb joined the Imperial Army in 1895 as an officer cadet and after being commissioned in the artillery served in China (1901-02). He attended the Bavarian War Academy in Munich and on the General Staff in Berlin. Promoted to Hauptmann he did a tour of duty as a battery commander in the Bavarian 10th Field Artillery Regiment at Erlangen. On the outbreak of the first World War von Leeb was on the General Staff of the Bavarian Army Corps. He was sent to the Western Front were he served with the Bavarian 11th Infantry Division . Promoted to major he was transferred to the Eastern Front in the summer of 1916. The following year he was appointed to the Staff of Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria. Rupprecht died, age 85, on 02-08-1955.
After the war von Leeb remained in the new 10 divisions Reichswehr
and in 1919 was appointed chief of department in the Reich Defence Ministry. In 1920 he was promoted to Oberst and the following year he became Chief of Staff of Wehrkreis II. In February 1922 he returned to Munich as Chief of Staff of Wehrkreis VII and in 1923 he was involved in putting down the Beer Hall Putsch.
Von Leeb was appointed commander of the 2nd Mountain Artillery Battalion of the 7th Artillery Regiment in 1924. Considered an authority on defensive warfare von Leeb became the head of Wehrkries VII in 1930. A devout Roman Catholic, von Leeb was opposed to the policies of the Nazi Party.
Von Leeb with Generals Laegener and Friedrich von Rabenau.
After hearing Adolf Hitler make a speech to Germany’s senior army officers on 23-01-1933, von Leeb commented: “A businessman whose wares are good does not need to boost them in the loudest tones of a market crier.” Although the Gestapo
were told to keep von Leeb under surveillance, it did not stop him being promoted to General of the Artillery and in 1934 was given command of Army Group 2. In 1937 von Leeb published Die Abwehr
, where he argued that Germany could not defeat the Soviet Union in a two-front war. In 1938 Adolf Hitler (did you know) decided to purge the German Army of anti-Nazis and von Leeb, here with General George Küchler,









Death and burial ground of Leeb, Wilhelm Joseph Franz Freiherr von.
Wilhelm von Leeb died on 29-04-1956, age 73 and is buried with his wife Maria, born Schrott, who died in a crash age 67 in 1959, on the Waldfriedhof of Zolln, in Munich. Only steps away the graves of SA Leader, Franz Pfeffer von Salomon, General der Panzertruppe, Kommandeur der 4th Panzerdivision
, Dietrich von Saucken and General der Flieger, Inspektor der Tagesflieger, Johannes “Hannes” Trautloft.
Both of his sons had gone before him in death. The youngest Alfred already fell in the Poland campaign. The parents had to wait years for the return of the eldest son Luipold from Russian captivity. When he finally returned, the former Oberstleutnant started a dyer training and then died in an accident a year before the death of the Field Marshal.

