Major Joachim-Wilhelm Freiherr von Maltzahn

[Piet Duits]

Hi there,

I am a bit confused about all the Major von Maltzahn's that seemed to be around in 1944.
I know that a Major Berndt-Joachim Freiherr Von Maltzahn was the commanding officer of the Panzer-Brigade 107, which fought in southeastern holland in september 1944, but there was also a Major i.G. Joachim-Wilhelm Freiherr zu Wartenburg und Fenzlin von Maltzahn, acting as the Ia of the XXXXVIII. Panzerkorps, as of 1.6.1944.
Were these guys related?

This particular Major i.G. was the Ia of a Panzerkorps, but according to a Dienstalterliste sämtlicher Generalstabsoffiziere Stand 15.1.1945, the Major was transfered as the Ia of a Panzer-Division. Is that odd, first to be a Ia of a Panzerkorps, and then for a Panzer-Division?

[Jan-Hendrik]

Yes, you mean the Ia of 1.Pz.Div.

Normally after attending a Generalstabslehrgang they would have beeen used in Ib and Ic positions to get practical experiences. It is possible that they were not fully convinced about his abilities so they ordered him to take a time as divisional Ia after being alsready Korps-Ia.

If his Beurteilung would have been "Nicht geeignet" he would been transfered to a frontline Regiment

By the way: thank you, I already seeked the first name of Balck's Ia



Jan-Hendrik

[jjmcgr]

The comments in this thread about the use of new General Staff officiers are inaccurate. While Ib (Supply) in a division was the usual novice posting, by 1944-5, there were not enough GSOs to fill all the positions so GS trainees were used instead in many cases. Corps or div Ia became the new starter position. Div Ia was considered the most important position so they were filled forist. However, Corps Ia was considered a lesser position than division Ia because a corps Ia served under a GS chief of staff while a division Ia was the senior GSO in the division. Accordingly, a shift from Corps Ia to Div Ia was no demotion. Quite contrary it was an increase in responsibility. All GSOs had to serve as a div Ia before they could become of chief of staff at a higher unit in any event.

By 1944-5 Ic positions at division and corps were almost exclusively filled by reserve officers as there were too few GSOs to occupy the positions.