Johannes von Busse was born in Neisse (now Nysa) in Prussian Silesia on April 20, 1862. The Busse family became part of the Prussian nobility three years before young Johannes was born. He was the son of the Prussian district judge Rudolf von Busse (1823-1862) and his wife Magarethe (born von dem Borne in 1834).
RISE THROUGH THE RANKS
Busse began his military career after being educated in the cadet corps. On April 12, 1879, he was made an ensign in the Second (First Pomeranian) Grenadier Regiment of the Prussian Army in Stettin (now Szczecin). Seven months later, Busse was promoted to second lieutenant. Then on January 28, 1886, Busse became an adjutant of its Second Battalion.
On September 19, 1888, Busse was again promoted, this time to first lieutenant. From October 1, 1888 to July 21, 1891, he received further training at the Prussian Staff College. Immediately thereafter, Busse again performed troop service in his old regiment.
From April 1, 1892 to September 13, 1893, Busse was assigned to the Great General Staff. In addition, he was simultaneously named captain and company commander. Busse held the later position for almost four years before being transferred back to Stettin to serve for a year in the 148th (Fifth West Prussian) Infantry Regiment.
On the last day of April 1898, Busse came to the Hauptkadettenanstalt as a teacher. When he became a major on January 27, 1903, Busse was attached to the 84th (Schleswig) Infantry Regiment. From November 15, 1904 to November 18, 1908, he was in Königsberg as acting commander of the Second Battalion of the Third (Second East Prussian) Grenadier Regiment. He was soon appointed commander of the Neisse Military School.
On January 27, 1910, Busse was further promoted to lieutenant colonel. He eventually became a full colonel on September 13, 1912. Two months later, Busse took command of the 89th (Grand Ducal Mecklenburger) Grenadier Regiment. In this capacity, he was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of the White Elephant in January 1914.
FIGHTER ON MANY FRONTS
With the outbreak of the First World War, Busse was appointed commander of the 34th Reserve Infantry Brigade, part of the 18th Reserve Division. As such, he participated in the opening march through neutral Belgium into northern France. In September 1914, Busse fought in the First Battle of the Aisne and was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross. After the conclusion of the so-called “Race to the Sea”, Busse gave up command of the 34th Reserve Infantry Brigade and took over the 102nd, which was then on the Yser Front east of Ypres.
On March 22, 1915, Busse was promoted to major general. Eight months later, he was given command of the newly established 210th Infantry Brigade situated in the Balkans. With this unit, Busse promptly crossed the Danube River at Semendria (now Smederevo) and formed the vanguard of IV Reserve Corps on its advance through Serbia to the Greek border. In the period that followed, he stayed at Dojran Lake (on the Greek-Macedonian border) where fighting broke out.
By the summer of 1916, Johannes von Busse was serving on the Eastern Front. During the Brusilov Offensive (launched in early June), he was successful in stopping the Russian advance in his sector. On September 22, 1916, Busse became the leader of the 301st Division. Less than a week later, Busse and his unit were sent to Transylvania… as yet another of the neutral Balkan nations entered the fight… but for the Allied cause!
THIRD BATTLE OF PETROZSENY
Rumania declared war on the Central Powers on August 27, 1916 and proceeded to invade the region of Transylvania. Two days later, the Rumanian I Corps of the First Army (General Ioan Culcer) defeated Hungarian coal miner battalions defending the vital Transylvanian coal mining center at Petrozsény (Petroșani), inflicting heavy losses and occupying the town.
Given that this was a valuable coal mining region vital for the Hungarian railways, the Central Powers promptly launched a counterattack against the Rumanian invaders. Thus, the first military engagement during the Battle of Transylvania to involve German forces began on September 8th, only three days after the first German units arrived and unloaded in Transylvania at Marosillye (Ilia). But despite German support, the Austro-Hungarian commander of the 144th Infantry Brigade (Colonel Ludwig Berger) “inexplicably” ordered a retreat. Thus, the Rumanians had little difficulty repulsing the initial counterattack against their invasion of Transylvania.
German General Hermann von Staabs (commander of XXXIX Corps which had assumed responsibility on September 8th for operations in the southern region of Transylvania) reacted quickly to the Austrian withdrawal. Aside from the Austro-Hungarian 144th Infantry Brigade and the 187th Regiment of the German 187th Infantry Division (the first German unit to enter Transylvania), von Staabs also sent the 189th Regiment (with artillery from the 187th Division) as well as the Bavarian light infantry regiment of the Alpenkorps (the first unit of the Alpenkorps to arrive in Transylvania) to Puj. This force, commanded by Major General Edwin Sunkel (also the commander of the German 187th Infantry Division), began its advance on September 14th.
Meantime, the Rumanian forces in the area were severely reduced. At the beginning of September, units in the area comprised the bulk of General Culcer’s Rumanian First Army: the Second, Eleventh and Twelfth Divisions. However, following the Rumanian defeat in the Dobruja, the Second and Twelfth Divisions were transferred to the south prior of the ninth of September. On that day, Major Radu R. Rosetti from Rumanian HQ stated to General Andrei Zayonchkovski (the Russian commander in Dobruja) that the Second and Twelfth Divisions “were coming from Transylvania”. The remaining Eleventh Division in the Petrozsény sector was commanded by General Ioan Muică.
Culcer also involved himself more directly in local operations by sending the command of I Corps (the group of Rumanian First Army divisions operating in Transylvania) to Nagytalmács (Tălmaciu/Talmesch). Initially, I Corps directed operations in both the area around Petrozsény (Jiu Valley) and the area around Nagytalmács (Olt Valley). General Ioan Popovici (I Corps commander) arrived in Nagytalmács along with his staff on September 16th.
The three divisions of the German Ninth Army concentrating at Szászsebes (Sebeș/Mühlbach) were in danger of envelopment by the Rumanians from the two mountain passes. According to planning, this threat was dealt with first. The German-led coalition utilized an exceedingly strong concentration of howitzers and mountain guns, amounting to an overwhelming superiority in artillery. The task of throwing back the Rumanian forces in the area over the frontier was accomplished between September 14th and 22nd (Battle of Nagybár and First Battle of Petrozsény).
On September 21st, a Berlin dispatch announced that the Vulcan Pass had been taken. However, on the following day, the Rumanians refused to give up. So the two remaining German battalions in the area stormed the Vulcan Pass. The other German forces were soon shifted to another sector of the Transylvanian Front with the feeling that they had finished off their opponents. A coalition force (mostly Austro-Hungarian, consisting of the 144th Brigade reinforced by two German battalions and two batteries) was left behind to mask the Vulcan and Szurdok passes.
However, sympathetic ethnic Rumanians living in the region immediately made General Culcer’s HQ aware that the bulk of the Germans had pulled out of the area. The Rumanian general promptly took advantage of the development, launching his counterattack on September 25th. Culcer personally directed operations, and the coalition forces were driven back to Merisor.
German General Erich von Falkenhayn sent the newly-formed 301st Division (led by Johannes von Busse) to take charge at Petrozsény. This division had no units other than a headquarters staff, its function being to provide an additional control element.
Busse arrived in the Petrozsény Basin on September 28th and managed to assemble the five battalions of the Austro-Hungarian Second Mountain Brigade much faster than anyone thought possible. Both the Second Mountain Brigade and the 144th Infantry Brigade were placed under the command of the German 301st Division.
The Rumanian command was likewise altered. On September 19th, Brigadier-General Ioan Muică’s Eleventh Division abandoned the Szurdok Pass, retreating back across the frontier to Bumbești. Apparently, this action was not part of the plan of Muică’s superior, General Ioan Culcer. This is evidenced by the fact that during the Eleventh Division’s successful counterattack (launched on September 25th), it was Culcer himself who directed operations. Muică was ultimately sacked and replaced by General Dumitru Cocorăscu.
Much to Falkenhayn’s relief, Busse’s forces attacked west of Petrozsény on the last day of September. As October dawned, the Rumanian forces held a line extending from west of Mount Tulișa to Mount Oboroca… running north of Hobicaurikány (Uricani) and Kimpulunyág (Câmpu lui Neag), Lupény (Lupeni) and Zsilyvajdejvulkán (Vulcan)… then continuing northeast through Petrozsény and Petrilla (Petrila). The Austro-Hungarian 144th Brigade fought at Petrilla as the Germans reached Petrozsény.
The fighting for Petrozsény itself took place from October 1st to the 3rd. The official Austro-Hungarian communique of October 2nd announced the seizure of Mount Oboroca by the Second Mountain Brigade. However, it was only on October 3rd that a Rumanian communique acknowledged the loss of Mount Oboroca to Austro-Hungarian troops. This communique appears to be the correct one, given that post-war Austrian sources state that the fighting for Oboroca took place on October 3rd. Another Romanian communique from October 4th announced the withdrawal from the region, but not before destroying Petrozsény’s coal mines. The battle ended on October 5th, with both Petrozsény and the Szurdok Pass being recaptured by the Central Powers.
Before it fell into the hands of the Austro-Hungarian forces, Petrozsény was reduced to rubble. The Rumanians succeeded in destroying the town’s vital coal mines before retreating. But for his role, Johannes von Busse was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle, Second Class with Oak Leaves and Swords in December 1916.
WAR IN THE WEST
As the year of 1917 got underway, Busse was withdrawn from the Eastern Front and sent to the West. He was then given command of the upper Rhine fortifications in Baden. On April 21, 1917, Busse was appointed commander of the 111th Infantry Division, which fought the BEF in the Battle of Arras. During the subsequent fighting in Flanders, his division suffered heavy losses and was withdrawn from the front in the summer of 1917. After being refitted and refreshed, it was used again from October 17th to November 6th in the subsequent Third Battle of Ypres. After fighting along the Siegfriedstellung (also known as the Hindenburg Line), Busse prepared his division for the Kaiserschlacht (the German spring offensive of 1918).
As an attack division, the 111th played a major role in the initial breakthrough battles of the Kaiserschlacht. For his achievements, Johannes von Busse received the highest Prussian award for valor, the Pour le Mérite, on April 16, 1918.
However, the great offensive was doomed to failure after Second Marne and Amiens in the summer of 1918. Soon, Busse’s 111th Division returned to the bloody struggle of trench warfare. His men fought at Monchy-Bapaume in early September and Valenciennes in late October. From the latter, the 111th retreated to a position along a line running from Antwerp to Maas.
POSTWAR
After the armistice in November 1918, Busse led his division back to Germany where it was demobilized and disbanded. On January 20, 1919, he was appointed commander of the 17th Division. In the course of the dissolution of the Prussian Army, Busse was put up for disposal on September 30, 1919. He retired with the rank of lieutenant general.
In 1921, Busse was elected chairman of the German War Graves Commission, state association in Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He was also a Knight of the Order of St. John and Commander of the Second Class of the Order of Dannebrog.
Johannes von Busse died in Erfurt on October 31, 1936 at the age of seventy-four.
FAMILY
Johannes von Busse married Maria von Holtzendorff (1872–1908) in Berlin on October 12, 1892. The couple had three children: Eva Maria, Gisela, and Hans.
A distant relative was the architect Hans-Busso von Busse.