Oskar Emil von Hutier 
(27.08.1857 - 04.12.1934)
place of birth:  Erfurt, Sachsen  (Thuringian Saxony)
Königreich Preußen:  OBH,  General der Infanterie


Prussian general Oskar von Hutier served during the Great War as a field army commander. Hutier received his commission as an infantry lieutenant in 1875 and was assigned to Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 88 in Mainz. Upon graduating from Prussian War College in 1888, he spent the bulk of his pre-War career as a general staff officer in Berlin, Straßburg, and Königsberg. Hutier was promoted to Generalleutnant in 1912 and soon took command of 1. Garde-Infanterie-Division in Berlin.

It was this division that Hutier lead into battle in August 1914, attached to Karl von Bülow's 2. Armee as the Germans pushed into France to take part in the Marne Campaign. Later, during the late winter/early spring of 1915, Hutier's 1st Guards again engaged in heavy fighting against the French during the First Battle of Champagne. He was then sent to the Eastern Front to take charge of XXI. Armee-Korps under Eichhorn's 10. Armee-Oberkommando which took Vilna and Kovno. In 1917, he served in the Riga area as commander of Armee-Abteilung D. In April of that year he was promoted to command 8. Armee which captured Riga and earned him the Pour le Merite.  His forces took the Baltic Islands during the only successful amphibious operation of the War (Sept 1917). In January 1918, he returnge to the Western Front to take command of the 18. Armee-Oberkommando which in March lead the Spring Offensive, capturing 50,000 prisoners and advancing over 35 miles.

General von Hutier was best known for his namesake Hutier Tactics, the introduction of infiltration or storm trooper operations. Although in fact he did not devise these tactics, he did apply them with great effect during the September 1917 capture of Riga and during the 1918 Spring Offensive on the Western Front. General der Infanterie Oskar von Hutier was the grandson of a French officer who served with Napoleon but later immigrated to Germany. Hutier's father commanded a Prussian Army regiment during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Oskar was also the first cousin of Erich Ludendorff. After the war, he was chose to preside over the German Officers League (1919-34.) Von Hutier died in Berlin in December 1934 at the age of 77.

	General der Infanterie	27.01.1917
	Pour le Mérite	06.09.1917  (Eichenlaub:  23.03.1918)
	Militär-St-Heinrich	16.11.1917  Ritter/Kommandeur II  (07.05.1918:  Kommandeur I)