Heinrich Kreipe

Infobox Military Person
name=Heinrich Kreipe
lived=5 June 1895 - 14 June 1976
placeofbirth=Niederspier, Thuringia
placeofdeath=Northeim


caption=
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|German Empire German Empire (to 1918)
flagicon|Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=Heer
serviceyears=
rank=General
commands=22nd infantry division
unit=
battles=World War I
World War II
awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
laterwork=

Karl Heinrich Georg Ferdinand Kreipe (5 June 1895 - 14 June 1976) was a German general, who served in World War II. He is most famous for his spectacular abduction by British and Cretan resistance fighters from occupied Crete in April 1944.

Early life and career

Kreipe was born in Niederspier, Thuringia. Upon the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered for the army, and rose through the ranks, being appointed lieutenant in December 1915. After the war's end, Kreipe enlisted in the Hessen-Thüringen-Waldeck Freikorps, and joined the new Reichswehr in October 1919. He was retained in the much-reduced German armed forces permitted after the Treaty of Versailles, a testament to his ability as a soldier. By 1939, he had risen to the rank of Colonel.

World War II

As commander of Infantry Regiment 209 of the 58th Infantry Division, Kreipe participated in the Battle of France and the drive towards Leningrad during Operation Barbarossa. For these actions he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 13 October 1941. He remained in the Leningrad front until May 1942, when he was transferred back to Germany, where he took up administrative and teaching positions. In June-October 1943, he was transferred back to the Eastern Front, where he led the 79th Infantry Division. On 1 March 1944, Kreipe was appointed Commander of the German 22nd Bremen-Sebastopol Division operating on Crete, replacing General Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller, who had been made the German commander of Crete in Hania.

Abduction by Greek and British agents

In the spring of 1944, a plan was laid out by the Allies to kidnap General Müller, whose harsh repressive measures had earned him the nickname "the Butcher of Crete". The operation was led by Major Patrick Leigh Fermor, together with Captain W. Stanley Moss, Greek SOE agents and Cretan resistance fighters. However, Müller left the island before the plan could be carried out. Undeterred, Fermor decided to abduct Kreipe instead.

In the night of April 26, General Kreipe left his headquarters in Archanes and headed without escort to his well-guarded residence, "Villa Ariadni", approximately 25 km outside Heraklion. Major Fermor and Captain Moss, dressed as German military policemen, waited for him 1 km before his residence. They asked the driver to stop and asked for their papers. As soon as the car stopped, Fermor quickly opened Kreipe's door, rushed in and threatened him with his gun while Moss took the driver's seat. After driving some distance the British left the car, with suitable decoy material being planted that suggesting an escape off the island had been made by submarine, and with the General began a cross-country march. Hunted by German patrols, the group moved across the mountains to reach the southern side of the island, where a British Motor Launch (ML 842 commanded by Brian Coleman) was to pick them up. Eventually, on 14 May 1944 they were picked up (from Peristeres beach near Rhodakino) and transferred to Egypt.

Kreipe was interrogated, and then transferred to a POW camp in Canada. He was released from British captivity in 1947. General Kreipe met his kidnappers one more time in 1970 in a Greek TV show. He died at Northeim on 14 June 1976.

Sources

W. Stanley Moss, "Ill Met By Moonlight: The Classic Story of Wartime Daring", (London, George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd, 1950) ISBN 0-304-35259-4

External links

* [http://www.specialcamp11.fsnet.co.uk/Generalmajor%20Heinrich%20Kreipe.htm War Prison Profile]
* [http://www.historic.de/Militar/Personen/Kreipe/Kreipe.htm Historic.de - Biography and Pictures]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049357/ Ill Met by Moonlight (1957) IMDB entry]