Alfred Gause

Alfred Gause
Born	14 February 1896 (1896-02-14) Königsberg, Prussia
Died	30 September 1967(1967-09-30) (aged 71) Bonn, Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany (to 1945)
Service/branch	Army (Wehrmacht)
Years of service	1914–45
Rank	Generalleutnant
Commands	LXVII. Armeekorps II. Armeekorps
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Annexation of Austria Annexation of the Sudetenland Battle of France North African Campaign Western Desert Campaign Operation Torch Tunisia Campaign Italian Campaign Courland Pocket
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Alfred Gause (14 February 1896 – 30 September 1967) was a German general during World War II.

Gause took part in World War I, and was awarded both the Iron Cross, both Second and First Class. In the interwar years, he was among the 4,000 officers selected to remain in the Reichswehr, the restricted-sized German army. He served primarily on the staff of the First Prussian Engineer battalion.

During the Second World War he was a highly valued staff officer. Gause was initially sent to Africa with a large staff by Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH), the German Army High Command, to act as a liaison officer with the Italian high command, Comando Supremo. Gause had specific instructions not to place himself under the command of Erwin Rommel, but did so when Rommel told him categorically that the command of all troops in Africa was vested in him. This was not correct, but Gause acceded to Rommel's authority and served as his chief of staff. He proved invaluable to the famous desert commander, who was well known to direct his forces from the front and who frequently would lose touch with his command staff during operations. Gause spent two and a half years serving Rommel in the Afrika Korps. Though initially sent by OKH to keep an eye on the independent commander, they soon developed an excellent working relationship. In December 1941, Gause was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. In early May 1943, he was rotated into the officer reserve force, and thus was off the continent when the Axis forces in Africa surrendered.

Alfred Gause (right), with Erwin Rommel (left), Gerd von Rundstedt and Bodo Zimmermann (rear) (Hotel George V, Paris; 19 Dec 1943)

Gause rejoined Rommel in his postings in Italy and Northern France. In September 1944 he became Chief of Staff of the 6th Panzer Army, which he held through the end of November. In April he was assigned to Generalkommando II Armeekorps in Kurland (General staff of Army Corps, Kurland). Alfred Gause was captured by Soviet troops in the Courland Pocket in 1945 and was a prisoner of the Soviets until his release in 1955.

Awards and decorations

• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 13 December 1941 as Generalmajor and Chef der Generalstab Panzer Gruppe "Afrika"

References

Bibliography

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Lewin, Ronald (1968). Rommel As Military Commander. New York: B&N Books. ISBN 978-0-7607-0861-3.