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Paul Puhallo von Brlog |
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Paul Puhallo was born in Brlog, Croatia, on 21 February 1856. Following is a summary of his career prior to the war: 1873 Attended a military technical school 1877 Graduated from the Military Academy in Vienna 1877 Promoted to Leutnant 1882 Promoted to Oberleutnant 1886 Promoted to Hauptmann 1. Klasse May 1893 Promoted to Major November 1895 Promoted to Oberstleutnant November 1898 Promoted to Oberst May 1903 Chief of the Operations Bureau until April 1905 April 1905 Commander of 5. infantry brigade until October 1906 May 1905 Promoted to Generalmajor October 1906 Head of War School until September 1910 May 1909 Promoted to Feldmarschalleutnant September 1910 Commands 46. Landwehr Div. until October 1912 October 1912 Commands V. Armee Korps until May 1915 November 1913 Promoted to Feldzeugmeister May 1915 Commands 3.Armee until June 1915 June 1915 Commands 1.Armee until July 1916 May 1916 Promoted to Generaloberst FML Paul Puhallo von Brlog succeeded to command the V. Corps in December 1912, replacing GdI Artur Sprecher von Bernegg. Puhallo started the war with a rank of FZM. He remained in command of the V. Corps until 25 May 1915, when he ascended to command the III. Army. He replaced General Boroevic who organised a defense on the Isonzo River against the Italian invasion. Puhallo held sway over the III. Army until he was transferred to the command of the I. Army on June 10, 1915, replacing General Karl von Kirchbach there. (General Tersztyanszky later replaced Puhallo as commander of the III. Army after it had been moved to the Vojvodina for the impending invasion of Serbia.) In May 1916, Puhallo was given the rank of Generaloberst along with many other fellow officers. He lost his command over the I. Army on 26 July 1916, probably because most of it had been destroyed by the Lutsk Offensive executed by General Alexei Brussilov. The I. Army was reorganised for the invasion of Roumania a month later, and commanded by General Arz von Straussenberg. Puhallo died in Vienna on 12 October 1926. GWS, 7/01 |
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Attention: Visit FEEFHS map room for a Map of Galicia including some of the placenames mentioned here. Also, see the Map of Volhynia including Lutsk and Kowel (on the far left). Be sure to open in a separate window to toggle between this page and FEEFHS. Orders of Battle: Polish Front, August 1914 Immediately preceding the invasion of Poland I. Armee, General der Kavallerie Viktor Dankl V. Korps, Feldzeugmeister Puhallo von Brlog XIV. inf. div., Feldmarschalleutnant Hugo Martiny XXXIII. inf. div., Feldmlt. von Rebracha XXXVII. Honved inf. div., Feldmlt. Weber Orders of Battle: Galician Front, January 1915 Immediately preceding the Battles for the Carpathians III. Armee, Gen. d. Inf. Boroevic von Bojna Puhallo Group: XVIII. Korps, Feldmarschalleutnant Tschurtschenthaler von Helmheim XLIV. Schützen inf. div., Feldmarschalleutnant Tschurtschenthaler V. Korps, Feldzeugmeister Puhallo XXXIII. inf. div., Feldmlt. Goglia XXXVII. Honved inf. div., Feldmlt. Weber XIX. Korps, Feldmlt. Trollmann XXIX. inf. div., Feldmlt. Zanantoni Szurmay Group, Feldmlt. Szurmay VII. inf. div., Feldmlt. von Lütgendorf XL. Honved inf. div., Feldmlt. Plank VIII. kav. div., Feldmlt. von Lehmann CXXVIII. k. Ung. Landsturm brigade, Oberstleutnant von Artner I. k. Ung. Hussar brigade, Oberst von Bothmer Orders of Battle: Eastern Front, May 1915 Immediately preceding the Dunajec offensive II. Armee, Gen. d. Kav. Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli V. Korps., Feldzeugsmeister v. Puhallo Chief of Staff, Oberst Sallagar 37. Honvéd inf. div., Genmj. Tabajdi 73. Honvéd inf. brig., Oberst v. Pogany 74. Honvéd inf. brig., Genmj. Hunke 37. field art. brig., Oberst Wondre 33. inf. div., Feldmlt. Goglia 65. inf. brig., Genmj. Frh. v. Dürfeld 66. inf. brig., Genmj. Lieb 33. field art. brig., Oberst Kaufmann 27. inf. div., Feldmlt. Kosak (troops dispersed amongst IV. and XVIII. Korps) Orders of Battle: Eastern Front, August 1915 Immediately following the counteroffensive against the Russians I. Armee, Feldz. von Puhallo XIII. Schützen div., Genmj. von Szekely Szurmay Korps, Feldmlt. Szurmay VII. inf. div., Genmj. von Dani XL. Honved inf. div., Feldmlt. Plank I. Korps, Gen. d. Kav. von Kirchbach IX. inf. div., Feldmlt. von Schenk XLVI. Schützen div., Genmj. von Czapp II. Korps, Gen. d. Inf. J. von Kirchbach XXV. inf. div., Genmj. Poleschensky Army reserve: Smekal Group XLV. Schützen div., Feldmlt. Smekal IV. inf. div., Feldmlt. Schmidt After the fall of Lemberg on June 22, General Mackensen reorganised the armies on the Eastern Front. He directed the II. Army to cover his flank and join the newly formed Army Group Böhm-Ermolli, which also included the German Süd Armee and the VII. Army. Meanwhile, Army Group Mackensen was formed from the Austrian IV. Army, the German XI. Army, and a newly formed German Army of the Bug. Puhallo's I. Army was stationed between these two army groups, and was to cover the right flank of the Army of the Bug. Puhallo was ordered to advance on Vladimir Volynski as Mackensen drove into eastern Poland. After some initially swift successes in early and mid-July, Army Group Mackensen slowed to a crawl, failing to encircle the Russian armies retreating from Poland. By the beginning of August, the Russians were pouring out of Poland and Puhallo was ordered to march behind Brest-Litovsk to block the retreat. In mid-August, Puhallo took Kowel and by late August was involved in the battles for the Volhynian fortress of Lutsk, which fell in September. GWS, 11/00 |
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Puhallo and his staff near Brest-Litovsk, 1915. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Orders of Battle: Eastern Front, June 1916 Immediately preceding the Brussilov offensive Böhm-Ermolli Group, Generaloberst von Böhm-Ermolli I. Armee, Generaloberst von Puhallo XVIII. Korps, Feldmlt. Czibulka I. Landsturm brigade, Feldmarschal Bandian VII. kav. div., Feldmlt. von Micewski XLVI. Schützen div., Genmj. von Urbanski XXV. res. inf. div., Genmj. von Boog Orders of Battle: Eastern Front, July 1916 Immediately following the Russian breakthrough at Lutsk and later at Czernowitz Army Group Linsingen, Gen. d. Inf. von Linsingen I. Armee, Generaloberst von Puhallo XVIII. Korps, Feldmlt. Czibulka VII. kav. div., Feldmlt. von Micewski XLVI. Schützen div., Genmj. von Urbanski XXV. res. inf. div., Genmj. von Boog Marwitz Army Group, Gen. d. Kav. von der Marwitz VII. K.u.K. inf. div., Genmj. Baumgartner XXII. Deutsch inf. div., Genlt. Dieffenbach CVIII. Deutsch inf. div., Genlt. Beckman XLVIII. K.u.K. inf. div., Feldmlt. Gabriel Falkenhayn Army Group, Gen. d. Kav. von Falkenhayn LXI. K.u.K. inf. div., Feldmlt. Winckler VII. K.u.K. kav. div., Feldmlt. Miczewski IV. K.u.K. kav. div., Feldmlt. von Leonhardi XLIII. Deutsch res. inf. div., Genmj. von Runckel IX. Deutsch kav. div., Genmj. von Heuduck Czibulka's northern sector was handed over to the Corps of German General der Kavallerie von der Marwitz, who suffered from an offensive by the Russian XXXV. Corps. Czibulka was not spared by General Sakharov, commander of the Russian XI. Army. The Russian XVII. and XXXII. Corps attacked between von der Marwitz and Czibulka to the north and between Czibulka and Kosak's Corps to the south, respectively. This treacherous predicament caused a break between the latter two, and the result was that Kosak lost Brody and more than 10,000 prisoners, while Czibulka lost a few thousand and found himseld engulfed on his right. Both he and Kosak were ordered to cross the Styr and prevent the Russians from securing bridgeheads. Kosak managed to keep bridgeheads of his own on the left side of the river, and this position was held through the rest of the summer. GWS, 10/01 |
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Oskar Bruch's lithograph of General Puhallo, 1915 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||