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Ludwig Crüwell (20 March 1892 – 25 September 1958), was a German general known for his involvement with the ''Afrika Korps''. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves ((ドイツ語:Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub)). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Legally it was Germany's highest military decoration at the time of its presentation to Ludwig Crüwell. Crüwell was captured by the British on 29 May 1942, after his plane was forced to land. ==Career== Crüwell joined the German Army in 1911 as a Cadet in the 9th (1st Hanoveranian) Regiment of Dragoons. Being promoted to Lieutenant in 1912 he and his regiment went to the front in World War I. Besides serving as Company Commander and Regimental Adjutant in the 450th Infantry Regimentand, Crüwell also was detached to the staff of the 233rd Division. In 1918, shortly before the war ended, he was appointed Adjutant of the 19th Landwehr Brigade. After the war ended he stays in the Reichswehr, and for the next years is constantly shifted from one staff position to the next. In 1928, by now a Rittmeister, he is transferred to the 12th Cavalry Regiment. Utilized in several staff positions Crüwell was posted in the anti-tank troops in 1936, being promoted to Oberst, and in the same year he took over command of the 6th Panzer Regiment. In the looming of the Invasion of Poland he was posted in the general staff, and, after becoming a Generalmajor on 2 December 1939, during the Battle of France he was Quartermaster of the 16th Army. Crüwell became commander of the 11th Panzer Division in August 1940 and led it into the Balkan Campaign. For his conspicuous services during the Invasion of Yugoslavia, which was a highly successful blitzkrieg due to Crüwell's division, he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Then the division took part in Operation Barbarossa. In early 1941 the division was surrounded by 12 division near Beritchev, and Crüwell narrowly managed to get his bated division out. For this he was promoted to Generalleutnant and received the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross. Crüwell became commander of the Afrika Korps on 31 July 1941, answering to General Erwin Rommel, who on the same day took command of Panzer Army Africa, consisting of one infantry and two panzer divisions. Due to health reasons he took actual command on 15 September, and was promoted to General der Panzertruppe on 17 December 1941. Known to argue and differ heavily about strategy with Rommel, Crüwell and the ''Afrika Korps'' had to clear the Cyrenaica. On 29 May 1942, Crüwell was inspecting operations by air in Libya. His Fieseler Fi 156 pilot mistook British troops for Italian soldiers and landed. Although the pilot was fatally wounded, Crüwell survived and was taken prisoner.〔"A Pilot's Error Leads to Capture," ''Chillicothe Daily Tribune'', June 2, 1942, p.6〕 General Crüwell remained a prisoner and on March 22, 1943, was intentionally placed with another POW, General Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma (captured in November 1942 while in temporary command of the Afrika Korps), who during the meeting disclosed intelligence regarding the V-2 rocket, i.e. surprise that London was not yet in ruins from German rockets being tested at a "special ground near Kummersdorf" he had visited. This led to the British investigating Peenemünde and following confirmation, carried out a bombing raid on the Peenemünde facilities〔von Braun and Ordway III 1975, p. 51.〕 After the war Crüwell settled in Essen. He became Chairman of the ''Verband ehemaliger Angehöriger Deutsches Afrika Korps'' (Veterans Association of the Germany Africa Corps) and died on 25 September 1958. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ludwig Crüwell」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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