1. Fritz Hermann Michael Bayerlein was a German general in the Wehrmacht, during World War II.
15 Facts About Fritz Bayerlein
1. 2.
Fritz Bayerlein initially served as a staff officer, including with Erwin Rommel in the Afrika Korps.
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Fritz Bayerlein then commanded the 3rd Panzer Division, the Panzer Lehr Division and LIII Army Corps in the European theatre.
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Fritz Bayerlein served as a staff officer of General Heinz Guderian for the invasion of Poland and the Battle of France.
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In Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, during June 1941, Fritz Bayerlein was assigned to Guderian's Panzer Group 2 staff.
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Fritz Bayerlein was moved to the Fuhrerreserve in August 1942, then reassigned to the Afrika Korps as Chief of Staff.
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Fritz Bayerlein served as a staff officer under the command of Generalmajor Walter Nehring beginning in March 1942 upon Nehring's transfer to Africa.
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When Rommel left Tunisia in March 1943 after the failed attack during the Battle of Medenine, Fritz Bayerlein was appointed German liaison officer under the new commander, Italian Giovanni Messe.
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Fritz Bayerlein was sent to Italy before the German troops in Tunisia surrendered on 12 May 1943.
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Fritz Bayerlein was sent to the Eastern Front in October 1943, to lead the 3rd Panzer Division, which was surrounded at Kirovograd.
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The division next took part in the Ardennes Offensive, in December 1944, as part of the XLVII Panzer Corps; Fritz Bayerlein was relieved of command following the failed offensive.
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Fritz Bayerlein took command of the LIII Army Corps in February 1945 and surrendered to the US Army in the Ruhr Pocket on 19 April 1945.
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Fritz Bayerlein was a prisoner of war from April 1945 through April 1947.
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Fritz Bayerlein wrote about military subjects and continued his work for the Historical Division.
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Fritz Bayerlein is credited as a technical advisor for the 1961 film, The Guns of Navarone.