Can anyone tell me if Guderian's promotion to 'General of Armored Troops' in October 1938 placed him somewhere between a Lieutenant-General and Colonel-General? Or was he still technically a Lieutenant-General with an adjacent position/title? He had been promoted to Lieutenant-General in early 1938, and received his last promotion to Colonel-General in July 1940. Thanks
Can anyone tell me if Guderian's promotion to 'General of Armored Troops' in October 1938 placed him somewhere between a Lieutenant-General and Colonel-General? Was he still technically a Lieutenant-General with an adjacent position/title? He had been promoted to Lieutenant-General in early 1938, and was promoted to Colonel-General in July 1940. (Originally posted in the 1943-1945 section by accident - apologies for doubling up)
Was he not a Generaloberst? The second highest general officer rank? Only below Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal)? Why would he be anything less, with his new responsibilities. He was the Generalinspecteur der Panzertuppen Generaloberst Guderian "Inspector General of Armoured Troops, 4-star General Guderian". An inspector general is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. After his appointment, as inspector general of armoured troops on 1 March 1943, he reported directly to Adolf Hitler. Wehrmacht General Officer Ranks Generalfeldmarschall Generaloberst General der Waffengattung Generalleutnant
The German ranks were : major-general lieutenant -general general of the Panzertruppen,of the infantry,artillery,etc colonel-general (which was -there were some exceptions- the highest rank in peace time)
Correct me if I am wrong but I believe Guderian was a Generaloberst at the time he was assigned the title of Inspector-General of Armored Troops. Another example, Werner Molders age 28 was Inspector General of fighters yet he was only a Colonel.
As, later, was Adolph Galland. Actually, the title was usually written General der Jagdtflieger even though a general may or may not have held the position. However, the same title for panzer troops was as above because they couldn't have General der panzertruppen as both a rank and as a separate title. Too confusing.
It was a job he had and as was common in Nazi Germany, titles meant nothing, authority was dependent on Hitlers whim at the moment
Correct me if I am wrong but General de Jagdflieger, General de artellerie, General de panzertruppen are all actual ranks. The hierarchical general ranks are as follows: Generalmajor Generalleutnant General ... — der Infanterie — der Artillerie — der Kavallerie — der Panzertruppe (from 1935) — der Pioniere (from 1938) — der Gebirgstruppe (from 1940) — der Nachrichtentruppe (from 1940) Generaloberst Generalfeldmarshall Whereas inspector general der panzertruppen is an actual title.
In most of the English-language books I have, it's put down as General der Jagdtflieger. However, the authors usually point out that it should be interpreted as "Inspector of..."
What I'm trying to ascertain is Guderian's rank during the Battle of France. He appears to have been promoted twice in 1938, to Lieutenant-General and later in the year to General of the Panzertruppen. I think you've answered my question - General of the Panzertruppen was a rank above Lieutenant-General? I'm not interested in his titles (Chief of Motorised Troops, Inspector-General, etc), just his rank.
That's correct - General der Panzertruppe ("three stars") is a rank between Generalleutnant ("two stars") and Generaloberst ("four stars").
If this helps, here are the British-American equivalents: Generalmajor - Brigadier/Brigadier General Generalleutnant - Major General - usual rank of commander of a division General der ____ - Lieutenant General Generaloberst - General Generalfeldmarschall - Field Marshal/General of the Army
