General der Kavallerie Hans Feige

 

Hans Feige (10 November 1880 – 17 September 1953) joined the German Army in 1900. During World War I he served mainly in General Staff positions of various formations. He was wounded twice in the war and received several awards like both classes of the Iron Cross. After the war he joined the Freikorps until he was accepted into the Reichswehr. Here again he mostly served in staff positions and was promoted to Generalmajor on 1 October 1931 and to Generalleutnant 2 years later. On 1 October 1933 he took command of the 1st Cavalry Division, which was disbanded in 1935. He successively entered retirement in 1935, as General of the Infantry.

At the onset of World War II he was recalled into active service and took over command of the XXXVI Corps on May 1940. His unit subsequently participated in the Fall of France in the Lorraine region. The corps was then transferred to Norway. In preparation for Operation Barbarossa the corps moved into central Finland. When the German offensive was launched on 22 June 1941, his unit was together with the Finnish III Corps tasked to recapture Salla and cut Murmansk off from the rest of Russia by advancing eastwards during Operation Arctic Fox. Although Salla was recaptured, the advance of his ill-equipped forces stalled soon. Feige was pressured by von Falkenhorst, commander of Army Norway, to continue the offensive, which met with little results. The offensive was finally called off on 17 September 1941. In November he was withdrawn from his command and replaced by Karl Weisenberger as commander of XXXVI Corps. He subsequently was placed into the Führerreserve and never took over an active command again. As result of this inactivity he finally retired on 30 June 1942.

Awards and decorations:
- Deutsches Kreuz in Gold: am 19.12.1941 als General der Kavallerie z.V. und Kommandierender General des Höheres-Kommando z.b.V. XXXVI
- Ritterkreuz des Kgl. Preuss. Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern
- 1914 EK I
- 1914 EK II
- Kgl. Bayer. Militär-Verdienstorden IV. Klasse mit Schwertern
- Ritterkreuz I. Klasse des Kgl. Sächs. Albrechts-Ordens mit Schwertern
- Grossherzoglich Mecklenburg-Schwerinsches Militär-Verdienstkreuz II. Klasse
- Grossherzoglich Oldenburgisches Friedrich August-Kreuz II. Klasse
- Grossherzoglich Oldenburgisches Friedrich August-Kreuz I. Klasse
- Ritterkreuz I. Klasse des Grossherzoglich Sachsen-Weimarischer Hausordens der Wachsamkeit oder vom weissen Falken mit Schwertern
- Ritterkreuz I. Klasse des Herzogl. Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausordens mit Schwertern
- Fürstl. Reussisches Ehrenkreuz III. Klasse mit Schwertern
- Lübeckisches Hanseatenkreuz
- k.u.k. Österr. Militär-Verdienstkreuz III. Klasse mit der Kriegsdekoration
- Türkischer Eiserner Halbmond
- Kommandeurkreuz des Kgl. Bulgar. Militär-Verdienstordens
- Verwundetenabzeichen, 1918 in Schwarz
- Kgl. Preuss. Dienstauszeichnungskreuz
- Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
- Spange zum EK I: 22.06.1940
- Spange zum EK II: 16.06.1940
- Grosskreuz des Finn. Ordens der Weissen Rose mit Schwertern und Bruststern

Source :
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=2306427#p2306427
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Feige
http://www.geocities.ws/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/HEER/General/FEIGE_HANS.html