Ernst von Oven
(03.02.1859 - 21.05.1945)
place of birth:  Kreis Hamm, Westfalen  (Westphalia)
Königreich Preußen:  Generalleutnant


Imperial German general Ernst von Oven commanded 21st Infantry Division at mobilization. His divisional troops were subordinate to General von Schenck's XVIII. Army Corps, which was part of Herzog Albrecht's Fourth Army as they marched through Luxembourg and into France. Von Oven's division saw their first action on 20 August near Longlier and were subsequently victorious during the two-day battle for Neuchateau. They continued fighting on the Western Front near the towns of Reims, Roye, and Le Quesnoy, and in 1915, von Oven was promoted to Generalleutnant on the occasion of Kaiser Wilhelm's birthday.

General von Oven's infantry division moved to the Verdun area in early 1916 and then joined battle in late February. They were then transferred to the River Somme in September 1916 in order to help prevent attempts at breakthrough by the British troops. At the start of 1917, Generalleutnant von Oven was sent to the Eastern Front to replace Oskar von Hutier as commander of the XXI. Army Corps, engaged in the area of Russia's Narocz-See (Lake Narach). In November 1917, XXI. Army Corps was moved to the Western Front where they initially fought in support of General von Mudra's Armeeabteilung A, and then moved to support of General von Gündell's Armeeabteilung B in France's Vosges Mountains. The Spring of 1918 found von Oven once again in the Verdun area, this time in charge of the detachment Meuse-West defending between the Argonne and the River Meuse. Although wounded during the fighting their, von Oven maintained command of his corps troops and was soon thereafter awarded the Pour le Merite for his exemplary leadership. 

Immediately following the Armistice, General von Oven lead his corps back to the German homeland for demobilization. He remained on active duty himself, leading Freikorps soldiers in fighting post-War rebel activity in Munich and in training Germany's 200,000 man transitional military forces. His first cousin Georg also served as an Imperial German general officer during the War, while von Oven's uncle Wilfred served as Reichsminister Goebbel's right-hand man during World War Two. General von Oven passed away in 1945 in Goslar.

	Generalleutnant ...............	27.01.1915
	Pour le Mérite ....................	25.10.1918