Georg Otto Hermann Balck (7 December 1893 – 29 November 1982) was a highly decorated officer of the German Army who served in both World War I and World War II, rising to the rank of General der Panzertruppe.
. . .At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Balck was serving in the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) as a staff officer in the Inspectorate of Motorized Troops, which was in charge of refitting and reorganizing the growing panzer forces. In October he was placed in command of one of the mechanised regiments of the 1st Panzer Division, with which he served during the Battle of France. The 1st Panzer Division made up a part of Guderian's panzer corps. Balck's regiment spearheaded a crossing over the Meuse, and established a bridgehead on the far side.
During the winter of 1940 through the spring of 1941 he commanded a panzer regiment, and led this unit during the Battle of Greece. He later commanded a panzer brigade in the same division. He returned to staff duties with the OKH in the Inspectorate of Armoured Forces in July 1941. In May 1942, Balck went to the Eastern Front in command of the 11th Panzer Division in Ukraine and southern Russia. Following the encirclement of the 6th Army at Stalingrad in the Soviet Operation Uranus, the German southern front faced a generalized collapse. Balck's division took part in the efforts to stop the Soviet advance. In battles along the Chir River his division destroyed an entire Soviet Tank Corps and much of the Soviet 5th Tank Army. For this and other achievements Balck was made one of only twenty-seven officers in the entire war who received the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds.
Description of "Hermann Balck, Hitler’s Forgotten General" by Phillip Kay-Bujak:
Though less famous than Rommel or von Manstein, Hermann Balck was considered by peers and enemies to be among the most talented German commanders of the Second World War. He was a veteran of the First World War, in which he served as a junior officer on the Western, Eastern, Italian and Balkan fronts and was wounded seven times. In 1940 he led the successful crossing of the River Meuse with dramatic consequences.
Balck led from the front in the new and very dynamic and aggressive command style of Auftragstaktik- continuously touring forward HQs to brief officers personally, regardless of personal risk. He refused two offers to join the General Staff preferring to remain in combat roles. Balck was a pivotal moving force behind the growth of the Panzer forces. In 1942 he commanded a depleted division against massive odds, virtually destroying Soviet 5th Tank Army. He was rewarded with the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (one of only 27 recipients) He briefly commanded Grossdeutschland Panzergrenadier Division and suggested Hitler was wrong in how the Waffen-SS was constructed. Philip Kay-Bujak argues that, had Hitler ignored Balck's criticisms of the Waffen-SS and promoted him Field Marshal, Balck might have changed the course of the war on the Eastern Front. It was also Balck that nearly defeated the Americans at Salerno in 1943.
Commanding Army Group G, in 1944 he came up against General Patton but could not halt his advance in Alsace. First sacked then reinstated by Hitler, he fought on until surrendering to US forces on 8 May 1945 to avoid capture by the Soviets. Post-war, as a convicted war criminal, Balck chose obscurity and refused to take part in US interviews but by the 1980's he changed his mind on both and advised NATO on how to win a land war against Russia - his tactics are still relevant today.
"Order in Chaos: The Memoirs of General of Panzer Troops Hermann Balck" by Hermann Balck, University Press of Kentucky, 2015 (Google Books):
German general Hermann Balck (1897–1982) was considered to be one of World War II's greatest battlefield commanders. His brilliantly fought battles were masterpieces of tactical agility, mobile counterattack, and the technique of Auftragstaktik, or "mission command." However, because he declined to participate in the U.S. Army's military history debriefing program, today he is known only to serious students of the war.
Drawing heavily on his meticulously kept wartime journals, Balck discusses his childhood and his career through the First and Second World Wars. His memoir details the command decision-making process as well as operations on the ground during crucial battles, including the Battle of the Marne in World War I and his incredible victories against a larger and better-equipped Soviet army at the Chir River in World War II. Balck also offers observations on Germany's greatest generals, such as Erich Ludendorff and Heinz Guderian, and shares his thoughts on international relations, domestic politics, and Germany's place in history. Available in English for the first time in an expertly edited and annotated edition, this important book provides essential information about the German military during a critical era in modern history.
