Leutnant August Ségur-Cabanac (June 1, 1922, Mödling near Vienna - March 4, 2011, Vienna) with his wife in 1944
August Ségur-Cabanac was born on June 1, 1922 in Mödling near Vienna.
His great-great-grandfather August Franz Graf Ségur-Cabanac (1771–1847), who came from an old French family with a long military tradition, found refuge in Austria during the French Revolution and became the progenitor of the Austrian branch of the family. He started his career as a second lieutenant, distinguished himself as a major at Wagram in 1809, and in 1844 he achieved the rank of major general. His great-grandson August Ségur-Cabanac (1881-1931), lawyer and financial specialist, was Minister of Finance of the Republic of Austria from May to November 1922.
August Ségur-Cabanac graduated from Vienna in 1941 and was called up to the German Armed Forces immediately afterwards.
After his front assignment in spring and summer 1942, he graduated from the Dresden War School in the fall of that year.
This was followed - after being promoted to lieutenant in December 1942 - in the first months of 1943 by a company leadership course at the Döberitz infantry school. From April 15 he was deployed as a platoon leader and soon also as a company leader in the 156th Infantry Regiment in the southern section of the Eastern Front. On July 21, 1943, he was seriously wounded at Stalino. Reasonably restored after almost a year in hospital, he took part in the retreat in northern France and Belgium as far as Aachen as a company commander in the 116th Panzer Division in autumn 1944. Wounded again in the battle in the Hürtgenwald, he experienced the end of the war as a first lieutenant in a hospital.
As early as October 11, 1944, he had married Christine Bennier during a short front vacation.
In 1946 he got a job with the American occupation forces, but already in 1954 he registered for the B-gendarmerie. On October 1 of this year he was assigned to the Gendarmerie Oberleutnant at the Gendarmerie School Upper Austria III. From May 1955 he worked at the Gendarmerieabteilung K, which would later become the Military Academy, in Enns. As class officer, he took over class B until it was retired in January 1957, then class 13, which was retired in December of that year. Finally, he led the 3rd company of the Academic Battalion until its retirement in March 1959, which already took place in the old home of the Military Academy, in the castle in Wiener Neustadt. In these years he had already earned an army-wide reputation as a demanding but nevertheless popular instructor for his officer candidates as a first lieutenant. After he had taken over another year in 1959, he was called up for the 3rd general staff course in December of that year. He completed this course with rank 1.
Already during his practical use in the training department of the Federal Ministry of Defense in 1962, he was commissioned to publish a specialist magazine. He founded the "Troop Service" working group to publish the magazine with their support. He thus became the founder of the training magazine "Troop Service", which soon became one of the most renowned publications in the field of military training.
After he was taken on as a major of the general staff in the higher service on December 15, 1962, he was assigned as a tactics teacher at the Theresian military academy. Relocated to the operations department on May 15, 1965, he worked on seven possible operations there. That happened for the first time in the second army and decisively determined the deployment planning of the army for the following years. On December 12, 1967 he was transferred to Group Command I as G 3. Under the chief of the Colonel, Colonel Karl Wohlgemuth, he was involved in the planning of the security measures during the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968, as well as in the preparation and execution of the largest military maneuver to date known as "Bärentatze" in the autumn 1969.
As early as 1968 he was promoted to colonel of the general staff. From March 22, 1971 to March 19, 1973, he was chief of staff of the Vienna Military Command and then deputy head of the organization department of the ministry. On March 19, 1973, he became head of the training department, during which he took numerous initiatives in all areas of military training and further education over the following eight years. In 1980 he became a brigadier. As his last assignment in active service, he assumed command of the 1st Panzer Grenadier Division in Baden, now as a divisional. He led this association from November 1, 1982 until his retirement on November 1, 1987. Shortly before, he was promoted to general in recognition of his services to the army.
August Ségur-Cabanac died on March 4, 2011 and rests in the family grave in Mödling.
His sons Christian Ségur-Cabanac and René Segur-Cabanac also opted for a military career, as did his grandson Philipp.
Source :
https://austria-forum.org/af/Biographien/S%C3%A9gur-Cabanac%2C_August
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