Origin Johannes comes from the Busse family who was raised to the hereditary Prussian nobility on April 21, 1859. He was a son of the Prussian district judge Rudolf von Busse (1823-1862) and his wife Magarethe, born von dem Borne (Born in 1834).
Military career Busse served in the military after his education in the cadet corps. On 12 April 1879 he was made an ensign in the
2nd (1st Pomeranian) Grenadier Regiment of the
Prussian Army in
Szczecin; and was promoted to second lieutenant on November 13, 1879. As such he was, from January 28, 1886, adjutant of its II. Battalion. Busse became a Prime Lieutenant on September 19, 1888, and from October 1, 1888, to July 21, 1891, received further training at the
Prussian Staff College. Following this, Busse performed troop service again in his old regiment. From April 1, 1892, to September 13, 1893, he was assigned to the
Great General Staff and simultaneous named captain and company commander. Busse held the later position for almost four years. Then he was transferred back to
Stettin to serve for a year in the
148th (5th West Prussian) Infantry Regiment and on April 30, 1898, came to the
Hauptkadettenanstalt as a teacher. When he was promoted to major on January 27, 1903, he was attached to the
84th (Schleswig) Infantry Regiment. From November 15, 1904, to November 18, 1908, Busse was in
Königsberg, acting as the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the
3rd (2nd East Prussian) Grenadier Regiment. He was then appointed commander of the Neisse Military School and promoted, on January 27, 1910, to Lieutenant Colonel; eveintually being promoted to Colonel on 13 September 1912. He took command of the
89th (Grand Ducal Mecklenburgian) Grenadier Regiment on November 19, 1912. In this position he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the
Order of the White Elephant in January 1914. With the outbreak of
World War I, Busse was appointed commander of the 34th Reserve Infantry Brigade, part of the
18th Reserve Division. As such he participated in the march through neutral
Belgium for the
Invasion of France and fought at the
First Battle of the Aisne. In this capacity he was awarded both classes of the
Iron Cross. He gave up command at the end of October 1914 and took over the 102nd Reserve Infantry Brigade, which at that time was on the
Yser Front. After Busse was, on March 22, 1915, promoted to Major General he was given command of the newly established 210th Infantry Brigade on November 20, 1915. With this he crossed the
Danube at
Semendria and formed the vanguard of the
IV Reserve Corps on its advance through
Serbia to the
Greek border. In the period that followed, he stayed at
Lake Dojran, where border fighting broke out. During the
Brusilov Offensive in the summer of 1916, Busse then commanded the infantry of Wilhelmi's division and was able to stop the advance of the Russian armed forces in his sector. Thereupon he became, on September 22, 1916, the leader of the 301st Division. This unit also included
Austro-Hungarian troops and was led by von Busse during the
campaign against Romania. For his work he was awarded the
Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd Class with Oak Leaves and Swords, in December 1916. In mid-January 1917, Busse was withdrawn from the
Eastern Front and appointed in command of the Upper Rhine fortifications in
Baden. On April 21, 1917, he was appointed commander of the
111th Infantry Division fighting against British units near
Arras. During the subsequent fighting in Flanders his division suffered heavy losses and was withdrawn from the front on August 1. After being refreshed it was used again from October 17 to November 6. After fighting in the
Siegfried Line, he prepared his division for the
German spring offensive. As an attack division, it played a major role in the breakthrough battles, and on April 16, 1918, Busse received the highest Prussian valor award, the order
Pour le Mérite, for his achievements. After the failure of the German offensive, the division returned to trench warfare, fighting
at Monchy-Bapaume at the beginning of September and
at Valenciennes at the end of October. Then he retreated to the
Antwerp-Maas position. After the armistice Busse led his division back home where it was demobilized and disbanded by January 191. On January 20, 1919, he was appointed commander of the
17th Division. In the course of the dissolution of the Prussian Army, Busse was put up for disposal on September 30, 1919, and
given the character of lieutenant general and retired. In 1921 Busse was elected chairman of the
German War Graves Commission, state association in
Mecklenburg-Schwerin in
Schwerin. He was a legal knight of the
Order of St. John and Commander of the Second Class of the
Order of Dannebrog.
Family Busse married Maria von Holtzendorff (1872–1908) in
Berlin on October 12, 1892. Their children, Evamaria (* 1897), Gisela (1899–1987) and Hans (* 1903) emerged from the marriage. A distant relative was the architect
Hans-Busso von Busse. ==References==