Walther Buhle

General Walther Buhle (26 October 1894 – 28 December 1959) was an infantry General in the German army who was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht from 1942 and chief of armaments for the army in 1945.[1] Walther was disowned by his brother and his family for his following of Hitler.

Walther Buhle
General Walther Buhle in 1944
Born(1894-10-26)26 October 1894
Heilbronn, Grand Duchy of Baden
Died28 December 1959(1959-12-28) (aged 65)
Stuttgart
Allegiance German Empire (to 1918)
 Weimar Republic (to 1933)
 Nazi Germany
Service/branchArmy
RankGeneral der Infanterie
UnitV Army Corps
Commands heldChief of Organizations Section Oberkommando des Heeres
Chief of Armaments for the Army
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II

Career

He was born in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg and joined the army as a Cadet in July 1913. During World War I he was an officer in the infantry. 1915 he was seriously wounded. Between the wars he served on the General Staff of the Reichswehr and the infantry and cavalry and by the outbreak of World War II he had reached the rank of Oberst in the Wehrmacht and was appointed chief of the organizations section of the Oberkommando des Heeres as senior officer to Claus von Stauffenberg.

He was injured in 1944 by the 20 July plot bomb planted by von Stauffenberg at the Wolf's Lair headquarters in Rastenburg, East Prussia. He entered the conference room with von Stauffenberg and when a point was raised that von Stauffenberg might have been expected to answer, Buhle was perplexed that he was no longer present and looked for him in the corridor. A telephonist said he had left the building so he returned to the conference.

Buhle recovered from his injuries and in the last days of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler appointed him chief of armaments for the army. After the war he was imprisoned for two years (May 1945–June 1947), he then lived in Stuttgart where he died aged 65.

Decorations and awards

References
  1. Dermot Bradley: The Generals of the Army 1921–1945. Band 2. Biblio, Bissendorf 1993, ISBN 3-7648-2424-7 (German language)


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