Short Biographies One
Emil Holz
Born 28th February 1900
Born to the family of a Tradesman (Book Binder) in Jena who frequently took on commissions from the nearby University. Emil grew up in a household that that had a stable though somewhat boring existence. At the age of fifteen, thinking that the First World War would end before he was old enough to be involved Emil ran away from home and joined the Heer. After being sent to the Western Front as a replacement, he found himself fighting cold and lice in the staging area for the Battle of Verdun over the winter of 1915-16. On his sixteenth birthday, Emil was wounded by the French rearguard while clearing a trench. The following July he would be present during the incident where he and Augustus Lang (See Augustus Lang, Chancellor of Germany and Chairman of the League of Nations) were clearing wire and accidentally alerted the French sentries to their presence. For saving the life of his comrade and in recognition of his bravery on prior occasions Emil Holz was made an Acting Lieutenant. The next day he led a Platoon in the assault of Fort Souville that led to the Fort being neutralized. Decorated for bravery and gallant conduct, he would be assigned to the Staff of the 2nd Army and would not return to the field until late 1917.
Following the war Emil Holz left the Heer and attended University in Jena where he is noted to have participated in the student uprising that became the Spring Revolution. It is believed that that it was Holz who approached the Hohenzollern Palace and opened dialog with Emperor Wilhelm the Second. This played a substantial role in the bloodless conclusion of the Revolution. A chance encounter with Manfred von Richthofen resulted in Holz being one of the first Company Commanders of the newly formed 1st Fallschirmjäger Regiment going on to fight the Russians in the brief Russo-Polish War.
Emil Holz would serve with distinction in Spain, earning induction into the Order of the Pour le Mérite for his leadership during the Battle of the Arganda Bridge. When the Second World War begin, he was serving as an advisor to the Australian Government in an effort to modernize the Australian Army. Returning to Germany, he assumed command of the 2nd Fallschirmjäger Division under the command of General Wolfram von Richthofen. He was then involved with the airborne assault on Western Belarus, this would mark the first Soviet territory captured during the war. Taking over command from Wolfram von Richthofen, Emil was involved with holding Western Belarus until in the Spring-Summer of 1944 he would lead the airborne operation that would trap the bulk of the Russian Army south of Moscow and setting the stage for the capture of the city.
Reassigned to the Far East, Emil Holz was tasked with overseeing Luftwaffe operations in Vladivostok. Being on leave, Emil missed the attack that resulted in Günther von Kluge being stricken with the Plague. Upon returning to the Far East, Holz oversaw Operation Quartum and what became the Night of Whispers.
Returning to Germany, Emil Holz assumed the role of Deputy Chief of the Luftwaffe High Command until the retirement of Manfred von Richthofen when he took over overall command of the Luftwaffe. Later he would move on to the role of Commander in Chief of the Military High Command.
Walter Horst
Born 14th August 1894
Originally from Alsace- Lorraine, he had a German father and French mother. He would move with his family to Berlin in 1904. His formal education would end in 1907 with the death of his father and at the age of 13 he worked a series of odd jobs until 1911 when he joined the Heer. He would work in logistics in Posen until 1915 when he volunteered to fight in Verdun.
Following, the Battle of Verdun Horst would remain with the 140th Regiment as they fought in the Battle of the East Road, also known as Second Marne. It was here that he witnessed the changing nature of warfare as a senior Noncom under the command of Oberst Manfred Wolvogle. On the 19th of August 1917 Horst participated in the Battle of Ussy believed by many to have been the catalyst for the talks that led to the cease fire in December of that year.
After the war, Walter Horst remained with the 140th Regiment as the 4th Division was restructured to incorporate to lessons of the conflict. When the Spring Revolution occurred, he was sent with the Division to quell the student uprising. Now Generallieutenant von Wolvogle resorted to a creative interpterion of his orders that resulted in the Walter Holst taking an equally creative effort to end the Revolution peacefully.
In the years that followed, Walter Horst would marry Nina Sjostedt, attempted unsuccessfully to reconcile with his estranged family and was heavily involved with development of the Schützenpanzer. Just ahead of the Spanish War, he unexpectedly found himself promoted to Lieutenant.
When the Second World War started, Walter Horst had advanced to the role of Executive Officer of the 140th Regiment. He would assume command of the Regiment when the regular commander vanished during the retreat from Ukraine. Eventually, promoted yet again, he was made the Executive Officer of the 4th Panzer Division until he was assigned to command the 6th Panzer Division, leading the charge into Moscow.
After the Soviet War, Horst was sent to the Far East at the request of Emil Holz, where he commanded ground forces against the Japanese Imperial Army in the closing days of the conflict.
Returning to Wunsdorf-Zossen, Horst was named Special Inspector of the Panzer Corps and he entered semi-retirement. He would go on to command the Planning and Operations section of the OKH.
Johannes (Hans) Mischner
Born 7th June 1919
Growing up in the Pankow-Heinersdorf neighborhood of Berlin, Hans’ earliest memories are of his father bleeding after getting into a fight with police and crying over the loss of his mother in the basement of his Aunt’s house. Living with his Aunt and Uncle, he would develop a lifelong love of the Hertha Football Club, unfortunately he lacked talent in game that he loved and was a poor student. As soon as he old enough Hans would join the Heer encouraged by family and educators alike, the alternative being going to work for the German Imperial Railroad like his father before him. (See article titled German Organized Crime in the Mid Twentieth Century for further reading) After time spent in the Training Depot in Stettin, Hans was sent to an Infantry Company on the Austro-German Frontier where he was involved in a shootout with members of an Albanian crime syndicate in the Ingolstadt Railyard. That incident brought him and the rest of his Squad to the attention of Walter Horst which resulted in Hans enduring the rigorous training required to enter the elite Panzer Corps Dragoon Regiments.
After serving in Spain and being decorated for bravery, Hans returned to garrison in Wunsdorf-Zossen and was in one of the first units to arrive on the scene of Reichstag following the building’s destruction. Later, he would be deployed to Silesia during the Spring-Summer Crisis that followed the Reichstag Bombing.
Starting the Second World War on the Ukrainian-Polish Frontier, Hans was present for the rapid advance into Ukraine. He was also present for the rapid retreat once the advance met with heavy resistance and was in danger of getting cut off. Later, he would be involved in the Battle of Breslau during the retreat through Silesia. He would spend the following months retaking lost territory in Silesia and Poland before ending up on the Ukrainian-Polish border not far from where he had been at the start of the war. He was then involved in the famine relief effort as the scope of what was happening in Ukraine became known and was a part of the general advance into Ukraine that Summer. The following winter he was in the Battle of Stalingrad in the forces that were dug in outside the city in the preparations for the anticipated Soviet counter-offensive. Already an Acting Platoon commander Hans excepted a Field Commission from Walter Horst following the battle. It was then that he volunteered to take part in the strange train-borne assault. In the following weeks his would be among the units that would complete the great circle that Army Group South did to consolidate gains during the winter offensive. In the weeks that follower he would go home to Berlin on leave, on the return journey he would be on the same railcar as Helene von Richthofen.
Eventually becoming a Company Commander, Hans was in the vanguard of the 2nd Army Corps as they advanced on Moscow, coming in second to the 3rd Army in the final hours of the conflict. He would be with the 4th Division when they were tasked with securing sections of the Trans-Siberian Railroad.
Following the Soviet War his plans were put on hold by his getting sent to the Russian Far East where he was involved with the invasion of the Korean Peninsula. Upon returning to Wunsdorf he was promoted and assigned to be the Training and Education Officer of the 140th Regiment. A position he held until after his deployment to South Africa when he became the Intelligence Officer. Promoted again, he became the Regimental Executive Officer, a role that he would play in Mexico. He would command the 140th until he was promoted of Generalmajor and took over the 8th Panzer Dragoon Brigade.
