1. Hans-Valentin Hube was a German general during World War II who commanded armoured forces in the invasions of Poland, France and the Soviet Union.
28 Facts About Hans-Valentin Hube
1. 2.
Hans-Valentin Hube died in an air crash on 21 April 1944.
3.
Hans-Valentin Robert Friedrich Hube was born on 29 October 1890, in Naumburg an der Saale, German Empire to Margarete and Richard Hube.
4.
Hans-Valentin Hube volunteered for military service in the Prussian Army in 1909, and served during World War I where he saw action during the Race to the Sea, and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and the Knight's Cross of the House Order of Hohenzollern.
5.
Hans-Valentin Hube had an arm amputated as a result of injuries sustained at the battle of Verdun.
6.
In 1918, following the end of the war which ended with the German Empire's defeat and subsequent collapse, Hans-Valentin Hube briefly served with the right-wing Freikorps paramilitary during the instability.
7.
Hans-Valentin Hube joined the Reichswehr, the successor of the Imperial German Army after the establishment of the Weimar Republic, and continued his army service in the Wehrmacht after the founding of Nazi Germany, reaching the rank of Oberst in 1936.
8.
Hans-Valentin Hube took part in the invasion of Poland and the Battle of France as a regimental commander.
9.
Hans-Valentin Hube was appointed commander of 16th Infantry Division in June 1940.
10.
Hans-Valentin Hube then led the division during Fall Blau and the Battle of Stalingrad.
11.
On 16 September 1942, Hans-Valentin Hube was given command of XIV Panzer Corps, the parent formation of the 16th Panzer Division.
12.
Hans-Valentin Hube commanded the XIV Corps during the Soviet counter-offensive, Operation Uranus.
13.
Hans-Valentin Hube was promoted to and received the Swords to the Knight's Cross with Oak leaves from Adolf Hitler personally on 21 December 1942.
14.
Hans-Valentin Hube created in Sicily, a four-division force whose task was to defend the island.
15.
On 17 July 1943 Hans-Valentin Hube was given command of all army and Flak troops on the island.
16.
Hans-Valentin Hube had prepared a strong defensive line, the 'Etna Line' around Messina, that would enable the Germans to make a progressive retreat while evacuating large parts of his army to the mainland.
17.
Hans-Valentin Hube later took part in the battles defending positions at Salerno during the Allied Operation Avalanche.
18.
On 23 October 1943, Hans-Valentin Hube was designated commander of the 200,000 man 1st Panzer Army, then serving with Army Group South under Field Marshal Erich von Manstein.
19.
In February 1944, Hans-Valentin Hube was officially confirmed as commander of the 1st Panzer Army.
20.
Shortly after, III Panzer Corps, one of Hans-Valentin Hube's units, was required to assist German forces breaking out of the Korsun-Cherkassy pocket.
21.
Hans-Valentin Hube led the breakout which lasted from 27 March 1944 until 15 April 1944.
22.
On 20 April 1944, Hans-Valentin Hube returned to Germany to attend Adolf Hitler's 55th birthday celebrations at the Obersalzberg, where Hitler personally awarded him the Diamonds to the Knight's Cross, one of just 27 recipients, and promoted him to for his actions in Sicily, Salerno, and in the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket.
23.
Hans-Valentin Hube was killed the following day when the Heinkel He 111 that was transporting him from Reichenhall-Berchtesgaden Airport in Ainring to the Eastern Front crashed shortly after take-off on 21 April 1944.
24.
Hans-Valentin Hube was given a state funeral attended by Adolf Hitler in Berlin on 26 April 1944.
25.
Hans-Valentin Hube's coffin was laid out in the Reich Chancellery, and the eulogy was delivered by Heinz Guderian.
26.
Hans-Valentin Hube married Annamarie Elisabeth Klara Helene Kosak in Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt on 5 September 1919.
27.
Hans-Valentin Hube's wife who was born on 23 November 1894 died in Magdeburg on 11 April 1922.
28.
Hans-Valentin Hube subsequently married Wilhelmine Luise Klara Philippine Ruth Bollert in Berlin on 30 January 1925.