Alfred Gause Military person

Alfred Gause (14 February 1896 – 30 September 1967) was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht. He was wounded in the First World War, and was awarded both the Iron Cross, Second Class and the Iron Cross, First Class. In the interwar years he was among the 4,000 officers selected to remain in the Reichwehr, the restricted sized German army. He served primarily on the staff of the First Prussian Engineer battalion.During the Second World War he was a highly valued staff officer. Gause was initially sent to Africa with a large staff by Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH), the German Army High Command, to act as a liaison officer with the Italian High Command, Comando Supremo. Gause had specific instructions not to place himself under the command of Erwin Rommel, but did so when Rommel told him categorically that the command of all troops in Africa were vested in him. This was not correct, but Gause acceded to Rommel's authority, and served as his Chief of Staff. He proved invaluable to the famous desert commander, who was well known to direct his forces from the front and who frequently would lose touch with his command staff during operations. Gause spent two and a half years serving Rommel in the Afrika Korps. Though initially sent by OKH to keep an eye on the independent commander, they soon developed an excellent working relationship. In December, 1941 Gause was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. In early May 1943 he was rotated into the officer reserve force, and thus was off the continent when the Axis forces in Africa surrendered. Gause rejoined Rommel in his postings in Italy and Northern France. In September 1944 he became Chief of Staff of the 6th Panzer Army, which he held through the end of November. In April he was assigned to Generalkommando II Armeekorps in Kurland (General staff of Army Corps, Kurland). Alfred Gause was captured by Soviet troops in the Courland Pocket in 1945 and was a prisoner of the Soviets until his release in 1955.

Personal facts

Birth date	February 14, 1896
Birth place	East Prussia , Königsberg
Date of death	September 30, 1967
Place of death	Bonn , Germany

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Military person

allegiance	(to 1918) (to 1933)
award	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
military operations	German occupation of Czechoslovakia Italian Campaign (World War II) North African Campaign Western Desert Campaign World War II Operation Torch Battle of France World War I Courland Pocket Anschluss Tunisia Campaign
military branch	German Army (1935–45)
military command	II. Armeekorps LXVII. Armeekorps
service start	1914
service end	1945