OKH internal organization, Summer 1940

[CNE503]

Hello!

Does anyone know how was organized the Oberkommando des Heeres Operationsabteilung (OQu I) in June and July 1940?
I need to know especially what were its different cells and what were their areas of responsibility.

Thanks!
Cheers

CNE EMB

[histan]

Hi

I am sure you know that OQu I and the Operationsabteilung were separate.

OQu I acted as deputy to the CGS and coordinated across the departments of the General Staff, easing the load on the CGS. In addition he undertook studies / projects as and when tasked. His control of departments stopped at the outbreak of the war and so none of them reported directly to him.

The main departments, operations, organisation, and training reported directly to the CGS.

The Operationsabteilung for the French Campaign was organised as follows:
Abt Chef Oberst iG von Greiffenberg 26.08.1939 - 25.10.1940
Ia and Gruppe Ltr I Otl iG Heusinger 26.08.1939 - 25.10.1940 Deputy Branch Chief - Gruppe 1 to III reported to him
[Sub-Section] 1a Hauptmann iG Operations of Heeresgruppe A
[Sub-Section] 1b Hauptmann iG Operations of Heeresgruppen B & C and Security Measures in the East
Gruppe Ltr II ? iG War Diary, Studies, Liaison with Foreign Armies Intelligence Branch
Gruppe Ltr III Maj iG Stieff 26.08.1939 - 24.09.1941 Reports, GHQ units, Map production and Printing, Mapping and Survey
Gruppe Ltr IV Otl iG Winter 26.08.1939 - 25.10.1940 HQ Commandant, Internal Affairs of the Branch, Personnel, Security

Later in 1940 and into 1941 the Branch changed as follows:
New Gruppe V added responsible for national fortifications
Ia became responsible for preparations for transfer of large forces from the Western to the Eastern theatre
Gruppe I
Staff Officer IN Heeresgruppe Nord
Staff Officer IM Heeresgruppe Mitte and Heesgruppe Süd
Staff Officer IS Preparation for assembly and campaign in Greece and Yugoslavia, Reports on the Italian campaign in the Balkans, and Crete
Gruppe II Occupied territories in France and Belgium, Preparation and later reports on the campaign in Africa,
Other Gruppe responsibilities unchanged. All Gruppe reported to Abt Chef

All information (except for appointment holders which is taken from the Handliste of Generalstabsoffiziere) on the Operationsabteilung has been taken from English version of FMS P-41e "Army High Command: Operations Branch of the Army General Staff"

Regards

John

[CNE503]

John,

It is exactly what I was looking for. May I ask precisions?

According to your message, Gruppe I under Oberstleutnant Heusinger coordinated two "sub-sections", 1a and 1b, the first one for the Heeresgruppe "A" area of operations, the second one for Heeresgruppen "B" and "C" areas of operations and "Security Measures in the East". The latter was under a breveted captain if I read well.
Do you know who he was? What was the exact German terms used for "Security Measures in the East"? And precisely when was this specific task was devolved to the sub-section 1b?

Thanks a lot for your help,
Very best regards from France,

CNE503

[Stauffenberg II]

CNE503, here you have the requested info including the info on both sub-group captains (v. Bonin, Gaedcke)

1. The table is from various sources, so I am available for any follow ups re sources.
2. The sub captains in the Op. Abt. Gru. I. were v. Bonin and Gaedcke. Believe it or not, although busy with the campaign against France Part 2 (Fall Rot) Oberst i. G. v. Greiffenberg let both sub-group captains go to play around outside. Gaedcke became Ia 25. ID on 01.06.1940 and v. Bonin became Ia 26. ID on 06.06.1940. Gaedcke was replaced by v. Menges, who was later doing the planing for the operations against Switzerland (Op. Tannenbaum). I even do not know by whom v. Bonin was replaced.
3. I fully agree with John. However the only divergence is Op. Abt. Group I (Heusinger) was an Operations Group. Group II (Winter) actually was a manouevre group but was also used as an Operations Group, mostly for non core war theatres. In the Handliste 1941 Winter is listed as Gru. Ltr. IV. However I am sure that this is a typo and should read Gru. Ltr. II. Group III (Stieff) was set up for HQ mapping, HQ units, HQ controlling. Group IV was a non-GS-Group dealing with administration. On NOV 1st 1940 the Gru. Landesbefestigungen was added as Group V.

Oberquartiermeister I
01.07.1935-05.10.1936: v. Wietersheim (Gustav)
06.10.1936-31.03.1938: v. Lewinski gen. v. Manstein (Erich)
01.04.1938-31.08.1938: Halder (Franz)
01.09.1938-29.05.1940: v. Stülpnagel (Heinrich)
Vertretung durch Mieth (Friedrich) im Zeitraum 10.02.1940-07.04.1940 wg. Erkrankung
30.05.1940-02.09.1940: unbesetzt, Ch. Op. Abt. mdWdGb (s. KTB Halder 03.07.1940)
03.09.1940-18.01.1942 (hs): Paulus (Friedrich)
19.01.1942 (hs)-23.09.1942: Blumentritt (Günter)

Adj. Ob. Qu. I
01.07.1935-05.10.1936: Gehlen (Reinhard)
06.10.1936-11.10.1937: Strempel (Helmut)
12.10.1937-09.11.1938: Hauser (Wolf)
10.11.1938-04.12.1939: Schultze (Helmut)
05.12.1939-31.05.1940: v. Menges (Otto)
01.06.1940-31.08.1940: unbesetzt
01.09.1940-31.03.1941: v. Rumohr (Detlev)

Oberquartiermeister II (aufgelöst am 26.08.1939, wiederaufgestellt am 08.04.1940)
08.04.1940-21.06.1940: Mieth (Friedrich)

Operationsabteilung
01.04.1922-31.01.1926: v. Stülpnagel (Joachim)
01.02.1926-31.10.1928: Frhr. v. Fritsch (Werner)
01.11.1928-31.01.1931: Geyer (Hermann)
01.02.1931-30.09.1932: Feige (Hans)
01.10.1932-31.01.1934: v. Goßler (Konrad)
01.02.1934-30.06.1935: v. Wietersheim (Gustav)
01.07.1935-05.10.1936: v. Lewinski gen. v. Manstein (Erich)
06.10.1936-09.11.1938: Hansen (Erik)
10.11.1938-24.10.1940: v. Greiffenberg (Hans)
25.10.1940: Heusinger (Adolf)

Stv. Ch. Op. Abt./Ia
26.08.1939-24.10.1940: Heusinger (Adolf)
25.10.1940: v. Grolman (Helmut)

Gru. I:
01.11.1929-30.09.1932: v. Lewinski gen. v. Manstein (Erich)
01.10.1932-30.06.1935: Jodl (Alfred)
01.07.1935-11.10.1937: Frhr. v. Mauchenheim gen. Bechtolsheim (Anton)
12.10.1937-09.07.1940: Heusinger (Adolf)
10.07.1940-07.10.1940: Feyerabend (Gerhard)
08.10.1940-30.04.1942 (hs): Gehlen (Reinhard)

U. Gru. IA (1939: H. Gru. Süd, 1940: H. Gru. A)
26.08.1939-05.06.1940: v. Bonin (Bogislaw)

U. Gru. IB (1939: H. Gru. Nord, 1940: Ost & H. Gru. C, Op. Tannenbaum):
26.08.1939-31.05.1940: Gaedcke (Heinz)
01.06.1940-31.10.1940: v. Menges (Otto)

ab 01.04.1941 geteilt in Untergruppen IN, IM und IS.

Gru. II (1939: H. Gru. C):
12.10.1937-24.10.1940: Winter (August)

Gru. III
10.11.1938-23.09.1941 (hs): Stieff (Helmut)

Gru. E (Op. Seelöwe)
07.07.1940: Pistorius (Werner)

Gru. Ltr. V (Landesbefest.) (m. 01.11.1940 in die Op. Abt. überführt)
06.10.1939-07.10.1940: Gehlen (Reinhard), ab 12.06.1940 zugl. Adj. Ch. d. Gen. St. d. H.
08.10.1940-19.05.1941 (hs): Wüstefeldt (Wolfgang)

[Stauffenberg II]

Additional note:

1. In various sources there are documents from an Op. Abt. (E). So this was obviously the group (or subgroup) responsible for Sealion. According to the Halder diary Werner Pistorius joining 07.07.1940 was dealing with E ("England")-matters. I am quite sure that this group was later incorporated into Gru. II.
2. Whilst Pistorius was dealing with England according to the Halder diary the persons responsible for Eastern Europe were Heusinger and Feyerabend. Feyerabend joined on 10.07.1940. So my assumption is that he was given Gru. I so that Heusinger could concentrate on his Ia position. This would also match with Gehlen taking over Group I in the beginning of OCT.

[CNE503]

Wonderful. Your knowledge about the inside details of German top-level headquarters is astonishing... Waw!
But I'm pretty confused about one thing and maybe I'd do better to go straight to my point: Robert Kirchubel's Operation Barbarossa 1941 states that Halder set up a "Eastern Front Study Group" on June 18th, 1940. Apparently to coordinate the transfer of the 18. Armee's fifteen divisions from France towards East Prussia and occupied Poland. Who was in charge of this "group"? If I read well, those concerned with eastern matters were Heusinger, Gehlen or Menges. Was he in this short list?

Thanks again,
Very best regards,

CNE503

[Stauffenberg II]

I don´t have any source re a further group in the General Staff or a special group dealing with Eastern European matters.

The usual persons dealing with the transfer of troops to Eastern Europe were:
1. v. Greiffenberg: Ch. Op. Abt. and delegated with the business of Oberquartiermeister I until Paulus took over until 24.10.1940
2. Heusinger: Ia Op. Abt. until 24.10.1940 and Ch. Op. Abt. from 25.10.1940
3. Feyerabend from 10.07.1940 on until he left on 07.10.1940
4. Gehlen from 08.10.1940 on
5. Marcks: Ch. d. Gen. St. 18. Armee

and of course Chef des Transportwesens, Gercke.

[histan]

I agree with Stauffenberg II who is an expert on the Generalstab in the early years of the war.

The diagrams in FMS P-41e shows the Gr Ltr IV as not a member of the Generalstab.
It makes more sense for Winter to Gr Ltr II
His "Generalskartei show him only as a member of the Operationsabteilung and do not give a specific post - so no help there.

Regards

John

[CNE503]

Thank you both, these pieces of information are a great deal for me. As a conclusion: in June 1940, those who were in charge of any matter concerning the Eastern borders were Greiffenberg and Heusinger, with the help of Menges as of June 1st, 1940, and of course Gercke's contribution.

Thanks again,
Best regards,

CNE503

[santiago167]

Again , sorry for the mistake

Regards

Santiago

[Stauffenberg II]

Thank you very much!

[Boby]

Same source can be found here
http://wwii.germandocsinrussia.org/ru/n ... ect/zoom/4

[Stauffenberg II]

I agree with Stauffenberg II who is an expert on the Generalstab in the early years of the war.

The diagrams in FMS P-41e shows the Gr Ltr IV as not a member of the Generalstab.
It makes more sense for Winter to Gr Ltr II
His "Generalskartei show him only as a member of the Operationsabteilung and do not give a specific post - so no help there.

Regards

John

John, as usual you are right. But we are both right.
I have meanwhile seen documents from Sept/Oct 1939 in which Winter first signed as Gru Ltr IV and some days later as Gru Ltr II. So it appears that Gru IV was renamed Gru II in late 1939, which ist not reflected in the Op Abt studies. This would also explain, why Winters Position in the handlist is given as Gru Ltr IV.

[Rossano]

Hello
I have a few questions, when did die Gruppe V become Abteilung Landesbefestigung and who Ltr. of both after Wüstefeldt ?
I saw a Gruppe I and II in this Abteilung. For both Gruppen I only have Thilo and Sandmann, who else ?
Thanks
P.S.: I saw a Gruppe II, later Abteilung II (Landesbefestigung) beim General der Pioniere too.........

[Stauffenberg II]

Wüstefeldt suceeded by Menzel.