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Konrad Krafft von Delmensingen

Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen was born in 1862.   As a Lieutenant General, Krafft was sent to the Tirol to command the Alpenkorps, Germany's elite mountain unit.  His command was part of a ramshackle effort to stave off the Italian invasion beginning in May 1915.  Luckily for him, the Italians took their time, and this allowed the Alpenkorps to dig into the forbidding Dolomites and present an unmovable obstacle to Italian expansion.   Following this success, Krafft saw action in Serbia in autumn 1915, the Western Front in summer 1916, and took a prominent role in the defeat of Roumania in autumn 1916. Following this latest triumph, General Krafft was awarded the Pour le Merite, Germany's highest military honour.  He was appointed the Chief of Staff for Army Group Albrecht on the Western Front in mid-1917, and then he was appointed Chief of Staff for the XIV. Army in autumn 1917.  At that time, the XIV. Army was assembled for the task of launching a limited offensive to forestall the threatened collapse of the Austrian war effort.  Krafft planned a minour action at Caporetto, which had such a stunning effect on the Italians, that the entire front caved in and began to retreat.   Krafft's reputation for brilliance was more than supported by this result, unforeseen as it may have been. Krafft remained as General Otto von Below's Chief of Staff when the latter transferred to the XVII. Army on the Western Front.  This army played a critical role in Ludendorff's much-anticipated spring offensive.  Following the end of the German offensives in early summer 1918, Krafft was given a corps command on the Western Front and his role was that of a defensive leader until the war's end.  Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen died in 1953 at Laufen in Bavaria. GWS, 5/01 [rev. 3/05]

Orders of Battle:  Roumanian and Eastern Front, November 1916 Immediately preceding the collapse of Roumania Army Front Erzherzog Karl, Generaloberst Karl Franz Josef IX. Deutsch Armee, Gen. d. Inf. von Falkenhayn       Krafft Group, Genlt. Krafft von Dellmensingen            LXXIII. K.u.K. inf. div., Feldmlt. H. Goiginger            Alpine Korps div., Genmj. von Tutschek            CCXVI. Deutsch inf. div., Genmj. Vett