Balck, Hermann
(December 7, 1893–1982)
German General
BALCK, HERMANN
L
eading from the
front, Balck be-
came one of the
Wehrmacht’s consummate
tactical wizards of World
War II. He enjoyed strik-
ing success along the
Eastern Front but failed
to stop U.S. Gen. George
S. Patton from occupying
Lorraine and was sacked.
Hermann Balck was
born in Danzig-Langfuhr
on December 7, 1893, the
son of Wilhelm Balck, a
distinguished German
general. He enrolled at
Hannover Military Col-
lege in February 1914 and
four years later served as
a junior officer in the
final year of World War I.
Brave and accomplished,
he was wounded no less
than seven times and re-
ceived the Iron Cross for
bravery. Balck was re-
tained in the postwar
Reichswehr, where he befriended the brilliant
panzer theorist Heinz Guderian. For many
years thereafter, their careers intertwined.
Balck served briefly as a staff officer in the
1930s but, thereafter, declined further ap-
pointments in that capacity. His stated prefer-
ence was to be a combat officer.
Shortly after the outbreak of World War II,
Balck assumed command of a motorized in-
fantry regiment in Guderian’s army during the
Battle of France. He singularly distinguished
himself under fire by seizing a bridgehead
across the Meuse River, whose possession al-
lowed German tanks to sweep across and
crush the enemy at Sedan. Afterward, he orig-
inated a combined arms
concept that came to be
known as the kampf-
gruppe (battle group) for-
mation. Here, tanks and
infantry worked and
moved in close coordina-
tion, instead of deploying
separately. This became a
standard German tactic
and gave Nazi forces a
considerable edge over
more rigidly controlled
adversaries. The dashing
47-year-old lieutenant co-
lonel consequently re-
ceived the prestigiousRit-
terkreuz(Knight’s Cross)
for his fine performance.
In subsequent fighting
around Rethel, Balck fur-
ther distinguished him-
self by personally seizing
a set of French regimen-
tal colors. He was then
promoted colonel of the
Third Panzer Regiment,
Second Panzer Division,
and accompanied the successful German oc-
cupation of Greece. On April 9, 1941, Balck’s
battle group outflanked New Zealand forces
near Mount Olympus and turned their entire
line. By July, he was back at army headquar-
ters as inspector of panzer troops, but he
yearned for more combat. Balck had nonethe-
less gained a reputation for daring leadership
and innovative tactics.
In the summer of 1942, Balck advanced to
major general and assumed command of the
11th Panzer Division in Russia. Balck was a
master of fluid, mobile warfare, and his unit
was credited with the destruction of more
than 500 Soviet tanks in only two months ofHermann Balck
Imperial War Museum