Erich Marcks

Erich Marcks
File:Erich Marcks.jpeg
Born	(1891-06-06)6 June 1891 Schöneberg
Died	12 June 1944(1944-06-12) (aged 53) Hébécrevon, Saint-Lô
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Heer
Years of service	1910 – 1944
Rank	General der Artillerie
Unit	German LXXXIV Army Corps
Battles / wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Erich Marcks (June 6, 1891 – June 12, 1944) was a German general of artillery in World War II.

Biography

Born in Schöneberg, Marcks was the son of the German historian Erich Marcks. He began advanced studies in philosophy in Freiburg in 1909. He broke off his studies after only three semesters and became a career officer of the German Army in October 1910. In the early 1930s, he was assigned as the chief of public affairs for the armed forces minister. From 1932 until 1933 he served as the public affairs officer for chancellors Franz von Papen and Kurt von Schleicher.

During the 1940 Campaign in France, while serving as chief of staff of the 18th Army, Marcks altered German plans so as to prevent the bombardment of the city of Bruges and bombardment of bridges in Paris, believing that the historical significance of these sites required their preservation, even in time of war. In 1940, Marcks worked on the initial invasion plans of the Soviet Union. Taking part in Operation Barbarossa, Marcks was seriously wounded in the Ukraine on June 26, 1941 as the commander of the 101st Light Infantry Division. This wounding resulted in the amputation of one of Marcks's legs. Two of Marcks's three sons were lost during the Russo-German War.

Subsequently, despite his disability, Marcks commanded the 337th Infantry Division in Paris, the LXVI Army Corps at Clermont-Ferrand, and the LXXXVII Army Corps in northern Brittany before his final assignment.

In 1944, Marcks commanded the German LXXXIV Army Corps against the Allies' Normandy Invasion. He was one of the few Wehrmacht generals who believed an invasion in Normandy was a serious possibility. The D-Day invasion took place on Marcks's 53rd birthday. His suspicions of the true intention of the Allies to land at Normandy, and his birthday, are dramatized in the film The Longest Day. While on a daily round of troop unit inspections, Marcks was mortally wounded on June 12, 1944 by an Allied fighter-bomber attack near Hébécrevon (near Marigny), several kilometers northwest of Saint-Lô.

Marcks was a holder of the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st Class
• Cross of Honor
• Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung 4th to 2nd Classes
• Clasp to the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross (26 June 1941)
  • Oak Leaves (24 June 1944) (posthumous)
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 13 June 1944

Reference in the Wehrmachtbericht

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
14 June 1944	Der kommandierende General eines Armeekorps, General der Artillerie Marcks, der tapferer Verteidiger der Halbinsel Cherbourg, fand bei den schweren Kämpfen in vorderster Linie der Heldentod.	The commanding general of an Army Corps, General der Artillerie Marcks, the brave defender of the Cherbourg Peninsula, found a hero's death in the heavy fighting at the front line.

In popular culture

• In the 1962 film The Longest Day, Erich Marcks was portrayed by the German actor Richard Münch.

External links

• Photograph of General Marcks

Article Sources

• Das Deutsche Heer 1939-1945, Wolf Keilig, Part 211, Page 211. Bad Nauheim: Podzun Verlag, 1957.
• Biography of Marcks (in French)

Notes

• Template:German