Hans von Funck joined the German army in August 1914 and during
World War I he was awarded the Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd Class. Funck was retained in the
Reichswehr after the war. In July 1933 he was appointed to the General Staff. In 1936 he served in the
Spanish Civil War as a leader of the German National Army in
Spain. In 1940 he was appointed as the commander of the 3rd Panzer Brigade. In 1941, Funck was given command of the
7th Panzer Division as the successor to
Erwin Rommel. Originally he was to have commanded the
Afrika Corps, but Hitler loathed von Funck, as he had been a personal staff officer of
Werner von Fritsch until von Fritsch was dismissed in 1938. He held this command on the central and southern sections of the
Eastern Front. On 15 July 1941 he received the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. On 1 February 1944 Funck was promoted to
General der Panzertruppe and appointed as the commanding general of the XXXXVII Panzer Corps, initially on the eastern and later the western fronts. During the
Battle for Normandy he (who was
thoroughly disliked) accused
Gerhard von Schwerin of
passive resistance, cowardice and incompetence over the Vire counterattack on 28 July. Less than four hours before the start of
Operation Luttich,
Gunther von Kluge received an order from Hitler that
Heinrich Eberbach rather than Funck was to lead it, although Kluge managed to persuade OKW to postpone the transfer of command. On 4 September 1944 he was moved into the reserve of the
OKH. Funck was interned as a
war criminal in the Soviet Union from August 1945 until his release in 1955. ==Awards==