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Alfred von Larisch
(20.10.1856 - 20.03.1952)
place of birth: Danzig (Gdansk, Pol)
Königreich
Preußen: General der Infanterie
Imperial German general
officer Alfred von Larisch commanded Generalkommando 54 during the Great War.
Alfred was born into an aristocratic West Prussian family with its roots
in Upper Silesian, and his father Karl served in the Prussian military
at the rank of General der Kavallerie. Young Alfred launched his
soldiering career in 1874 as he was commissioned and joined Infantry
Regiment Nr.93 in Dessau. He also saw duty with elite Guards, ultimately
commanding 4th Foot Guards Regiment in Berlin. After a four-year stint
as Inspector General of Prussia's Jäger und Schützen troops,
von Larisch briefly commanded 1st Guards Infantry Division before
retiring from active duty in 1912.
Two months after Germany mobilized for the Great War,
Generalleutnant von Larisch was recalled to command 10th Division, which
was engaged on the Western Front in support of Armee-Abteilung
Strantz. He was then transferred to the Pripyat Marshes area
on the Eastern Front as the leader of 81st Reserve Division. General von Larisch returned
to the Western Front in April 1916
as commander of Guard-Ersatz Division, again under the overall command of
General von Strantz. Larisch's troops were engaged at Verdun in 1916,
then in Champagne and the Aisne River area. July 1917 had
General von Larisch returning to the Eastern Theater with his soldiers
to fight in the Riga area under 8th Army commander General von Hutier.
After taking Riga, the division was sent back to Verdun before year's
end.
In early 1918, von Larisch was chosen to head up Generalkommando
Nr. 54 located at Amiens. Having been promoted to General der
Infanterie, he lead his soldiers in defending the region north of the River
Somme during the large-scale Allied Offensive. His exemplary
leadership that summer was cause for being awarded the Pour le Merite.
From that point, his divisions remained on the defensive until the
Armistice on 11 November, at which point von Larisch lead the troops
back to Germany for demobilization. The general continued living until
1952, when he passed away in Obernkirchen at the age of 95.
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General
der Infanterie .... |
25.06.1918 |
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Pour
le Mérite .................... |
25.08.1918 |
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