Johannsen, Hein Maximilian Wengler. Ein deutscher Offizier in zwei Weltkriegen

Maximilian Wengler was born in 1890 as the son of a medical officer in Roßwein, Saxony. He joined the Zwickau Infantry Regiment No. 133 and was appointed lieutenant on 15 August 1910. He experiences the First World War with the march through Belgium and the battles in Eastern France. For his exemplary bravery, the young platoon leader was awarded the Military Order of St. Heinrich in 1914.

In September 1939, Wengler - now a captain - secured a section of the Luxembourg-French border with his reconnaissance section in the 227th Infantry Division. Already appointed major, on 10 May 1940 he leads a marching group of Infantry Regiment 366 together with grenadiers of the SS Division "Leibstandarte" across the Dutch border towards Arnhem. Awarded the EK I and II for his leadership, he transferred with the 227th Infantry Division to Army Group North in autumn 1941 and stood with his men east of Leningrad at Lake Ladoga. The brave Rhinelanders held their base for around 900 days until they had to give in to Soviet superiority in the spring of 1944. By this time, Colonel Wengler was already wearing the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. With the reconnaissance section of the SS division "Nordland", a platoon of Panzer VI "Tiger" of Lieutenant Otto Carius and other Wehrmacht and Waffen SS units, Wengler's infantry regiment 366 covers the retreat of the 18th Army from Leningrad via Narva to Lake Peipus. With a combat group led by Major Hans Busch, he fights against a massive superior force at Liepna in early August 1944 and is again mentioned in the Wehrmacht report. Wengler continues to secure the retreat across the Düna in Riga. This is followed by his appointment as Major General and at the same time commander of the 227th Infantry Division by Generaloberst Schörner. In January 1945, he is transferred with his 227th Infantry Division from the Kurland Cauldron to West Prussia. There he fights near Thorn, in the Tuchelner Heide and in the southern area of Danzig. Subsequently, the remnants of his division are united with the torso of the 83rd Infantry Division, Wengler is awarded the Knight's Cross by the commander of Army Group Vistula and appointed commander of the newly formed division.... At the front, he learns that the bombing raid of 13 and 14 February 1945 on his hometown of Dresden not only wiped out his home, but also the life of his wife. In the last days of the war, he and his grenadiers secure the Pillau fortress, thus enabling the evacuation of thousands of refugees. As he too was about to cross the channel of Pillau harbour, his boat was hit by an aerial bomb. Major General Maximilian Wengler was killed in the line of duty on 26 April 1945 near Pillau in the Bay of Gdansk.