Wilhelm Stemmermann (23 October 1888 – 18 February 1944) was a general of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was killed in the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket in 1944.
Biography[]
Stemmermann was born in Rastatt in the Grand Duchy of Baden (present-day Germany) in 1888, and he joined the army in 1908; he served in World War I. He gained the Iron Cross, Wound Badge, Knights Second Class of the Order of the Zahringer Lion, and the Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 during this war. During the interwar years he enlisted in the army of Nazi Germany and took part in the 1938 Anschluss with Austria and the 1939 conquest of the Sudetenland, awarded both times. During the Second World War he fought in France, Poland, and on the Eastern Front, taking part in Operation Barbarossa and the Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive in 1941 and 1943-1944, respectively.
During the fighting in the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket in early 1944, Stemmermann attempted a breakout but was killed in action. He was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross (which he earned eleven days before his death).