Wilhelm Falley

Wilhelm Falley (25 September 1897 – 6 June 1944) was the first German general to be killed during the Normandy Landings in France. He was commander of the 91st Infantry Division.

Wilhelm Falley
Born25 September 1897
Metz, Alsace-Lorraine
Died6 June 1944 (1944-06-07) (aged 46)
Picauville, Normandy
Buried
Orglandes German war cemetery
Allegiance German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 Nazi Germany
Service/branchArmy
Years of service1914–44
RankGeneralleutnant
Commands held91st Infantry Division
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross
RelationsLeopold Wilhelm Adolf Falley (brother)
Claus Falley (son)

Promoted to Major General (Generalmajor) in December 1943, and Lieutenant General (Generalleutnant) in May 1944, he held various commands before being appointed Commander of the 91st Infantry Division in April 1944. Falley was the first German general to fall in action during the Normandy landings. On D-Day, Falley was returning from Rennes, where a war game had been organized by the German High Command, to his Division headquarters, in Picauville. Falley was killed in an ambush carried out by paratroopers of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, on the country road outside the rear wall of the German 91st Infantry Division's headquarters, Chateau de Bernaville, in Picauville, southwest of Sainte-Mère-Église, Normandy.

Awards

References

Citations
  1. Scherzer 2007, p. 302.

Bibliography
  • D-Day 1944 - Voices from Normandy, Robert Neillands and Roderick de Normann, Cold Spring Press, New York, 2004 ISBN 1-59360-012-7.
  • Scherzers, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
Military offices
Preceded by
Generalmajor Heinz Fiebig		 Commander of 246. Infanterie-Division
5 October 1943 – 20 April 1944		 Succeeded by
Generalmajor Claus Müller-Bülow
Preceded by
Generalleutnant Bruno Ortner		 Commander of 91. Luftlande-Infanterie-Division
25 April 1944 – 6 June 1944		 Succeeded by
Generalmajor Bernhard Klosterkemper
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