Ernst Busch (field marshal)
German field marshal (1885-1945)
Ernst Bernhard Wilhelm Busch (6 July 1885 – 17 July 1945) was a German Generalfeldmarschall (field marshal) during World War II who commanded the 16th Army (as a Generaloberst) and Army Group Centre.
During World War I, Busch served as an infantry officer and was retained in the postwar army of the Weimar Republic. He steadily rose in seniority and by 1936 was a general and commander of the 23rd Infantry Division. During the invasion of Poland, he commanded VIII Army Corps. In 1940, he was appointed commander of the 16th Army; he led it during the 1940 Battle of France and Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union.
By October 1943, Busch was the commander of Army Group Centre but he was dismissed in June 1944 after the collapse of his command during the Red Army's Operation Bagration. He was later the commander of Army Group Northwest in the final months of the war and died as a prisoner of war in England.
Early life
Busch was born on 6 July 1885 at Essen in the Ruhr district of Germany. In 1904, having graduated from the Gross Lichterfelde Cadet Academy, he joined the Imperial Army as a Fahnenjunker (officer cadet). He was initially posted to the Westphalian 13th Infantry Regiment but was later assigned to the 57th Infantry Regiment, in which he was commissioned a Leutnant (second lieutenant).
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