Hans Eberback

Tysk officer, armé-kommandør. Blev taget til fange af britiske tropper 31. august 1944 ved Amiens.

• Frankrig, nord, 1944

Eberbach participated in the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 by leading his Panzer-Regiment 35 into battles near Łódź and into Warsaw.

During the 1940 German invasion of eastern France, Oberst Eberbach supported General Manteuffel's offensive across the Meuse River in Flanders, then on into Lyons.

In June 1941, as commander of the 5.Panzer-Brigade in Generaloberst Guderian's XXIV.Panzer-Korps, he participated in the German invasion of the Soviet Union. By March 1942 he had been promoted to Major General, and made commander of the 4.Panzer-Division in Tula, Russia. Later he became commander of the XLVIII.Panzer-Korps operating near Kiev.

In late November 1942 he was wounded near Stalingrad and hospitalized until February. Shortly thereafter he became Inspector of the Armored Troops in the Home Army, awarded the Knight's Cross, and promoted to Lieutenant General.

In November 1943 he became commander of the Army Group Nikopol, and fought in battles around Zhitomir in the Soviet Union. In December he incurred a kidney illness, and later made Inspector of Panzer Troops.

In early 1945 he was promoted to the rank of General der Panzertruppen. During the Normandy invasion, he fought against the British landings along the 'Juno' and 'Sword' beaches. In July he took command of "Panzer Group West" in the Cain area, and after a reorganization his unit was redesignated as the Fifth Panzer Army. In August he formed Panzergruppe Eberbach in 7.Armee during his failed attempt to recapture Avranches, and later became commander of 7.Armee itself.

In late August 1944 he was urging the immediate retreat of the German forces to escape eastward through the Falaise Gap before Allied forces could entrap them. However, German Gen. Walter Warlimont rejected his withdrawal. On August 31, while out on a reconnaissance patrol, Eberbach was captured by the British at Amiens.