PEEBLES PROFILES
EPISODE 186
Alfred von Böckmann
EARLY YEARS
Alfred Hans Emil Friedrich von Böckmann was born in Potsdam on September 22, 1859. He joined the First Hanseatic Infantry Regiment Number 75 (based in Bremen) with the rank of second lieutenant in 1880.
Over the next twenty-five years, Böckmann rose through the ranks:
– first lieutenant in 1889
– captain in 1893
– major, then lieutenant colonel in 1906
In April 1907, Böckmann became Max von Bock und Pollach’s Chief of Staff with XIV Corps in Karlsruhe. He became a full colonel two years later.
Then in March 1911, Böckmann was given command of the First Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Grenadier Regiment Number 89 in Schwerin. He soon replaced Otto von Etzel as commander of the 75th Infantry Brigade in East Prussian Allenstein on November 19, 1912. On the 54th birthday of Kaiser Wilhelm II (January 27, 1913), Böckmann was promoted to major general.
THE GREAT WAR
At the beginning of the Great War in August 1914, Böckmann’s brigade was part of the 37th Division of the German Eighth Army in East Prussia. Commanding the 75th Infantry, Böckmann participated in the decisive victory over the Russians at Tannenberg later that month. After East Prussia was liberated from the Russian “steamroller” in mid-September 1914, Böckmann was given a new command with the 41st Division, a post he would hold for two months.
When Otto von Below replaced Hermann von Francois as commander of the German Eighth Army in November 1914, Böckmann was named Below’s Chief of Staff. He participated in the snowy Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes in February 1915.
In May 1915, the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive was launched against Tsarist Russia. Later that month, units of the German Eighth Army were used in the formation of a new unit, the Army of the Niemen. Again, Böckmann was named Chief of Staff to Otto von Below.
In mid 1916, Böckmann was promoted yet again, this time to lieutenant general. Later that October, he became Chief of Staff in Max von Fabeck’s German Twelfth Army… a post he would hold for eight days! During that brief period, Böckmann was decorated with Imperial Germany’s highest military honor, the Pour le Mérite.
On October 11, 1916, Alfred von Böckmann was reunited with Otto von Below on the Macedonian Front. He once again became Chief of Staff in the new Army Group Below. But in late April 1917, Below was sent to command the German Sixth Army on the Western Front. He was replaced by Friedrich von Scholtz, and the unit in Macedonia was renamed Army Group Scholtz. Böckmann stayed on as Chief of Staff.
FINAL YEARS
The next couple years saw Böckmann holding a number of commands. As June 1917 began, he was given the oak leaves for his Blue Max awarded eight months earlier. In August, he replaced Adolph von Carlowitz as head of III Reserve Corps. But Böckmann was leader for almost a month. On September 5th, he took over XIV Corps from Martin Chales de Beaulieu. Barely two months later, Böckmann became the commander of the prestigious Guards Corps, replacing Graf zu Dohna-Schlobitten.
By mid-August 1918, the war had turned against Imperial Germany. After the defeat at Amiens, Alfred von Böckmann took command of III Corps from Walther von Lüttwitz. He would hold the post until the fighting stopped later that November.
In the fall of 1919, Böckamnn retired from military life. He died in Bad Wildungen on November 18, 1921 at the age of sixty-two.
AWARDS
– Order of the Red Eagle, Third Class (with bow and crown)
– Order of the Crown, Second Class
– Service Award
– Order of Albert the Bear, Second Class (Commander)
– Order of the Zähringer Lion, Second Class (Commander)
– Military Merit Order, Officer
– Order of Philip the Magnanimous, Second Class (Commander)
– Order of the Griffon, Commander
– Princely Reuss Honor Cross, Second Class
– Albert Order, Officer’s Cross
– Cross of Honor of Schwarzburg, Third Class
– Iron Cross of 1914, Second and First Class
– House Order of Hohenzollern, Commander (with swords, March 1915)
– Pour le Mérite (October 8, 1916) with oak leaves (June 1, 1917)