Firstly I want to wish all followers and friends a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope 2015 is a good year to find photos, documents and information relating to Sturmgeschütz Brigade 280. I thought I would post a topic about the commanders of Sturmgeschütz Brigade 280.
From all the research to date on both the internet and printed reference material, there have only been three commanders of Sturmgeschütz Brigade from August 1943 through to May 1945. They are as follows:
- Hauptmann Hubert Heinzle
- Major Kurt Kühme
- Hauptmann Wilhelm Lechens
- Hauptmann Fritz Sebald (some publications have mention that this officer was in command around Oct-Nov 44 but looking for hard evidence to prove this)
Heinzle took temporary command of the unit when forming in Tours, France until Kühme arrived. Kühme was commander from October 1943 through to February 1945 and in all reference books it states that Lechens took over in February and held command of the unit until the end of the war.
However there was a fourth commander in the last weeks of the war. Without revealing too much, he was a member of the unit from the beginning. So this is quite new information regarding the commanders of Sturmgeschütz Brigade 280. I am looking for photos of both Hauptmann Wilhelm Lechens and Hauptmann Fritz Sebald if anyone has them.
Full acknowledgement will be forthcoming in the book when published.
Furthermore if you have any information regarding the personnel or the unit itself then I would love to hear from you.