Senger von Etterlin, Fridolin Rudolf Theodor von.

Senger von Etterlin, Fridolin Rudolf Theodor von, born 04-09-1891 in Tübingen, into a family rich in military tradition, with over 250 years of service to various German polities. His father, Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin, who served as a Wehrmacht officer throughout World War II, reached the rank of General der Panzertruppe, “General of Armored Troops”, and began his own highly decorated military service before World War I in service with the Reichswehr. His mother, Hilda Margarethe, born von Kracht, was the daughter of Prussian General Ernst Alexander von Kracht. Like most of his male forbears, he sought a military career and began it at age 17, by joining the cavalry regiment commanded by his father. In 1946, he married Ebba von Keudell; daughter of Generalleutnant Friedrich Wilhelm Horst von Kracht (born 17-05-1844 in Guben; died 17-07-1933 in Dessau), and they had two children, a boy, Stefan, and a girl, Marina Josepha Anna Sidonie. His son Stefan was the Rittmeister of the Wehrmacht (including tank destruction badge, close combat clasp in silver, German cross in gold on 04-09-1944 and wound badge in silver) and later lawyer and General of the Bundeswehr as well as NATO supreme commander in Central Europe and military writer Ferdinand Maria Johann Fridolin Ritter and Edler von Senger and Etterlin (born 08-06-1923 in Tübingen; died 10-01-1987, age 63, in Koblenz).

Von Senger und Etterlin started his military career on 01-10-1940 in the replacement section of the 3^rd Cavalry Regiment, Göttingen, commanded at the time by his father. Fridolin had had three siblings: Elisabeth (born 1893), Johann (born 12-12-1894) and Hadwig (born 1903). Brother Johann Gustav Edler von Senger fell on 30-11-1917 as a leutnant and pilot in Fighter Squadron 12 in an aerial battle over Sains-les-Marquion.

Von Senger und Etterlin took part in the Battle of France in 1940. On 21-06-1941, Adolf Hitler

launched Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Fridolin fought on this front as a Leutnant with the 24^th Panzer Division under the comand of General Kurt Feldt    in the German 6^th Army under command of Friedrich “Der Lord” Paulus ,ultimately participating in the Battle of Stalingrad, one of history’s bloodiest battles.

The 6th Army was a field army unit of the German Wehrmacht during World War II (1939–1945). It was widely remembered for being the most highly decorated German army unit until its defeat by the Red Army at the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942–1943. It also acquired a reputation for the war crimes (such as the massacre of more than 30,000 Jews at Babi Yar in September 1941) that it committed under the command of Field Marshal Walther Karl Ernst August von, “The Sports General” Reichenau  during Operation Barbarossa.

Senger von Etterlin was placed in command of a panzer squadron on 23-08-1942, in the later stages of this Stalingrad battle. Not long before the end of the battle, Fridolin was evacuated back to Germany, having been badly wounded, thus saving him from a worse fate as the Soviets surrounded and eventually destroyed the German 6th Army, Generalfeldmarschall der Panzertruppe Friedrich Paulus . Upon his recovery and promoted to Oberleutnant, he was assigned to serve as a regimental adjutant in northern Italy with the re-constituted 24^th Panzer Division  In October 1942 he was given command of the 17 Panzer Division  in Southern Russia. In June 1943, during the Battle of Sicily he was German Liaison Officer to the Italian 6th Army, under General Alfredo Guzzoni  , and commanded the German units on the island until 17 July 1943 when General Hans Valentin Hube   assumed control of all Axis troops on the island. General Guzzoni died old age 88 on 15-04-1965. In August 1943, Senger took command of the German forces on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. He conducted the evacuation when the German positions became untenable. On 08-10-1943 he received the command of the XIV Panzer Corps in Italy, where he replaced General der Panzertruppe Hans-Valentin Hube. The Corps also participated in the Battle of Monte Casino under the command of Senger von Etterlin and included among its formations, the 1^st Fallshirmjager Division   under Generalmajor Karl-Lothar Schulz   , the 15^th Panzer Grenadier Division  under Generalleutnant Eberhard Rodt   and the 29^th Panzer Grenadier Division , under General Dr. Hans Boelsen

which had previously fought under it in Sicily. It remained on the Italian front until its surrender at the end of the war. His unit being transferred back to the Eastern Front, after October 1943, he found himself again facing the Soviet Army in combat, this time at Kiev and the Dnieper Bend. Soviet offensives having pushed the German forces along with the 24^th Infantry Division back to Romania, in August 1944, during the Second Battle of Jassy-Kishinev he was wounded again , this time losing his right arm, again requiring his evacuation from the front. From left: Fridolin von Senger and Etterlin, Joachim Lemelsen, Anton Dostler    and Wolf Rüdiger Hauser.

During the Battle of Monte Casino,

Senger und Etterlin fought at the Gustav Line, which included Monte Casino. The German position was only broken by the Allies in May 1944.

  Archbischop Diamare with General von Senger after the abbot left the monastery of Monte Casino.

   . While serving in this capacity, he was captured by General Mark Clark

       commander of the 15^th Army  at the end of the war. The 15th Army’s headquarters at Bad Nauheim. Germany was inactivated 31-01-1946. After four years in command of one of the most powerful military formations standing in defense of central Europe, General von Senger und Etterlin retired, honored with the Großer Zapfenstreich on 30-09-1983. In his long and productive career in military and political affairs, von Senger und Etterlin was also responsible for many contributions to military literature. He authored a number books on military tactics and history, covering such subjects as armor, artillery and military vehicles and made over 1.000 contributions to military magazines, primarily Soldat und Technik (“Soldier and Technology”). Among his historical works were a history of his old wartime unit, the 24^th Panzer Division. His son Ferdinand Maria von Senger und Etterlin , born in 1923 was a Oberleutnant with the 24^th Panzer Divison in Stalingrad and was lucky to be wounded in battle and transferred home by plane, before the pocket was defiantly closed. After the war he became a Bundeswehr General and military author. Maria Josepha Anna Sidonie died old age 87 on 10-01-1987 in Koblenz.

Death and burial ground of Senger von Etterlin, Fridolin Rudolf Theodor von.

   Apart from military subjects, he was interested in baroque and modern art history and classical music. He died on 04-01-1963, age 71, in Ühlingen, Baden-Württemberg, surrounded by his family. He is buried with his wife Hilde M, born Kracht, who died at very old age 92, in 1983, on the local cemetery of Häg-Ehrberg near, Freiburg im Breisgau.