Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin (27 November 1851 – 30 September 1936) was a Prussian and German general who participated in the Franco-Prussian War and was a senior commander in the First World War. In the latter he participated in many battles on the Western Front, including the Battles of Passchendaele and the Lys. He was the recipient of many decorations for his leadership, including the Order Pour le Mérite with Oakleaves, Prussia's highest military honor.

Family

Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin was born on 27 November 1851 in Wetzlar, an exclave of the Rhine Province, Kingdom of Prussia, as the son of Heinrich Joseph Jacob Sixt von Armin (†1872), a career officer, and Amöne, née Hiepe (†1901).Offizier-Stammliste des Königin Elisabeth Garde-Grenadier-Regiments Nr. 3, E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1910, p. 153 He was married on 11 June 1882 to Klara Pauline Auguste Henriette Karoline von Voigts-Rhetz (1 October 1859 - 28 November 1937), the daughter of General der Artillerie (1822-1904)Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Adeligen Häuser, Justus Perthes, 1942, p. 550Kurt von Priesdorff: Soldatisches Führertum. Band 8. Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg. o.J. S. 323. The couple had two daughters and three sons. One son, Friedrich-Wilhelm (1889-1914), was killed in action in France as a Leutnant in Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 4. Another, Hans-Heinrich, was also career officer, reaching the rank of Generalleutnant (lieutenant general); he was taken a prisoner of war in 1942 and died in the Soviet Union in 1952.

Military career Sixt von Armin entered service as an Avantageur on 16 July 1870 in 4. Garde-Grenadier-Regiment „Königin“ (later renamed Königin Augusta Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 4).Braumüller 1901, p. 48* He was wounded by rifle rounds in both legs in the fighting near Saint-Privat-la-Montagne on 18 August 1870 while serving with the regiment's 11th Company.Braumüller 1901, p. 124* He was commissioned a Secondelieutenant on 9 March 1872 with a Patent of 12 January 1871.Militär-Wochenblatt, 1872 No. 24, 16 March 1872, p. 212 He served as regimental adjutant from 18 April 1876 to 21 March 1881 and was promoted to Premierlieutenant on 17 February 1880.Braumüller 1901, p. 48*

From 1 April 1881 to 15 April 1884, Sixt von Armin served as adjutant of the 3rd Guards Infantry Brigade.Mansberg 1910, pp. 54-55 This was followed by a one-year assignment to the Great General Staff on 1 May 1884, which was then extended for a second year.Mansberg 1910, pp. 54-55 On 17 April 1886, he was promoted to Hauptmann and transferred to the auxiliary establishment (Nebenetat) of the Great General Staff.Braumüller 1901, p. 48* On 7 February 1888, he was transferred to the Great General Staff and on 26 May 1888 to the general staff of the 22nd Division.Braumüller 1901, p. 48* On 12 January 1889 he was assigned to the Ministry of War in Berlin.Braumüller 1901, p. 48* He was transferred to Grenadier-Regiment König Friedrich Wilhelm IV. (1. Pommersches) Nr. 2 as a company commander on 15 July 1890.Braumüller 1901, p. 48*

On 22 March 1891, Sixt von Armin was promoted to Major, transferred back to the General Staff of the Army, and assigned to the general staff of the VII Army Corps.Mansberg 1910, pp. 54-55 On 15 July 1893, he was transferred to the Great General StaffBraumüller 1901, p. 48* and on 18 August 1896, he was named a battalion commander in Magdeburgisches Füsilier-Regiment Nr. 36.Braumüller 1901, p. 48* On 22 March 1897, he was promoted to Oberstlieutenant and on 20 July 1897 he became Chief of the General Staff of the XIII (Württemberg) Army Corps in Stuttgart.Braumüller 1901, p. 48*

On 27 January 1900, Sixt von Armin was promoted to OberstBraumüller 1901, p. 48* From 18 October 1900 to 14 November 1901, he commanded Infanterie-Regiment Graf Bülow von Dennewitz (6. Westfälisches) Nr. 55.Mansberg 1910, pp. 54-55 He was then named Chief of the General Staff of the Guards Corps.Mansberg 1910, pp. 54-55

On 18 April 1903, Sixt von Armin was promoted to Generalmajor.Militär-Wochenblatt, 1903 No. 36, 19 April 1903, p. 932 He returned to the Ministry of War on 2 June 1903 and on 18 August was named director of the General War Department (Allgemeines Kriegsdepartment).Militär-Wochenblatt, 1903 No. 55, 4 June 1903, p. 1873; 1903 No. 90, 20 August 1903, p. 2157 In this capacity he also served as deputy plenipotentiary to the Bundesrat of the German Empire, chairman of the Reichs-Rayon-Kommission,The Reichs-Rayon-Kommission handled disputes regarding the laws governing the use of property which adjoined military fortresses. and member of the Imperial Disciplinary Court (Reichsdisziplinarhof).Mansberg 1910, pp. 54-55

On 25 October 1906, Sixt von Armin was promoted to Generalleutnant.Mansberg 1910, pp. 54-55 He was named commander of the 13th Division on 30 July 1908.Militär-Wochenblatt, 1908 No. 95, 4 August 1903, p. 2214 On 20 March 1911, he took provisional command of the IV Army Corps in Magdeburg and on 7 April 1911, he was promoted to General der Infanterie and formally named commanding general of the corps.Militär-Wochenblatt, 1911 No. 38, 22 March 1911, p. 833; 1911 No. 47, 11 April 1911, p. 1063

World War I

Sixt von Armin led the IV Army Corps into Brussels on 20 August 1914, and then engaged with the enemy in the Battle of Mons on 23 and 24 August 1914.Möller-Witten, p. 340 On 26 August, the corps engaged the British at Le Cateau.Möller-Witten, p. 340

His corps then participated in the First Battle of the Marne.Möller-Witten, p. 341 At the end of September 1914, as part of the Race to the Sea, the corps was transferred to the 6th Army in the Artois region, where it remained in trench warfare until mid-1916.Möller-Witten, p. 341 Among the major battles were the Battle of Arras in early October 1914 and in the fighting by La Bassée and Arras, including at the Loretto Heights (Lorettoschlacht), followed by the Battle of Loos in the autumn of 1915, and the Battle of the Somme from 12 to 25 July 1916 and from mid-September to early October 1916.Möller-Witten, p. 341 He was awarded the Order Pour le Mérite on 10 August 1916 for his leadership in the Battle of the Somme.Möller-Witten, p. 341

From 1 March 1917 to 29 November 1918, he was supreme commander of the 4th Army in Flanders.Puttkamer 1931, p. 18 He led the army in the defensive battles in Flanders in 1917, especially from May to July 1917 in the Battle of Messines and at Wytschaete, and from July to early December 1917 in the Third Battle of Ypres or the Battle of Passchendaele.Möller-Witten, p. 341 These battles included the Battle of Pilckem Ridge (31 July – 2 August), the Battle of Langemarck (16–18 August), the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge (20–25 September), the Battle of Polygon Wood (26 September – 3 October), the Battle of Poelcappelle (9 October), the First Battle of Passchendaele (12 October) and the Second Battle of Passchendaele (26 October – 10 November).Möller-Witten, p. 341 For his leadership in the heavy fighting, he would be decorated with the Oakleaves to the Pour le Mérite on 3 August 1917.Möller-Witten, p. 341

From 10 to 25 April 1918, during the Battle of the Lys (Fourth Battle of Ypres), the army captured Messines, Wytschaete and the Ypres bend and stormed the Kemmel.Möller-Witten, p. 342 However, the German offensive then lost momentum, and the Germans went back on the defensive. The 4th Army was forced to give more ground in the Fifth Battle of Ypres, including losing control of the Flanders coast and the key submarine bases there.Möller-Witten, p. 342 After the Allies defeated his forces on the Lys on 25 October, Sixt von Armin was forced to pull the 4th Army back to the Antwerp–Maas defensive position, where it remained until the Armistice.Möller-Witten, p. 342

On 29 November 1918, Sixt von Armin took command of Army Group Crown Prince Rupprecht from its namesake, Field Marshal Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, and led the formation, redesignated Army Group A, in the withdrawal from Allied territory back to Paderborn, where Sixt von Armin's command was demobilized.Möller-Witten, p. 342Puttkamer 1931, p. 18 He retired from the army on 2 January 1919.Militär-Wochenblatt, 1919 Nr. 84, 14 January 1919, p. 1477

Later life

After the war, Sixt von Armin lived in Magdeburg, Province of Saxony, where he was a popular speaker and made frequent appearances at public events. When he died in 1936, he was buried with full military honors.

Decorations and awards

Additional honours The honorary title "Lion of Flanders" (Der Löwe von Flandern) was given to Sixt von Armin, his Chief of the General Staff Fritz von Loßberg, and Admiral Ludwig von Schröder, the commander of the Marinekorps Flandern.Möller-Witten 1935, p. 342 A Kaserne (barracks) (1928) and Sixt-von-Armin-Weg (1933), both in Magdeburg, were named after him, although both were subsequently renamed. A Bundeswehr barracks in Wetzlar was renamed the in 1964. It was closed in 1993 and converted to commercial and residential properties.

Notes

References Braumüller, Maximilian von: Geschichte des Königin Augusta Garde-Grenadier-Regiments Nr. 4, E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1901 Mansberg, Ernst-Adolf von: Offizier-Stammliste des Königlich Preußischen Infanterie-Regiments Graf Bülow von Dennewitz (6. Westfälischen) Nr. 55 vormals 6. Westfälischen Infanterie-Regiments Nr. 55, 1. Nachtrag, E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1910 Möller-Witten, Hanns: Geschichte der Ritter des "Ordens pour le mérite" im Weltkrieg, Band II: M-Z, Verlag Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1935 Puttkamer, Feodor von: Offizier-Stammliste des Grenadier-Regiments König Friedrich Wilhelm IV. (1. Pommerschen) Nr. 2, Band II, von 1906 bis 1919 Stettin 1931 Winkelvoß, Jörn: Magdeburger Biographisches Lexikon, Magdeburg 2002,

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