Emil Leeb Emil Leeb ( 17 June 1881 – 8 September 1969 ) was a German general who served during World War II . His older brother was Field Marshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb ; W . Ritter was a “ von Leeb ” , he was not “ noble born ” but W . Ritter ’ s title of “ von ” derived from the patent of knighthood carried by the Bavarian Military Order of Max Joseph , which had been conferred upon him . Hence , the younger Emil had no “ von ” in his name . Military career . Leeb entered Army service on 7 July 1901 . After being promoted to Leutnant ( junior lieutenant ) on 9 March 1903 he served in the ‘ 4th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment König ’ ( 7 July 1901 – 2 June 1914 ) . During this period he attended the War School in Munich , the Bavarian Artillery & Engineer School , and then studied at the Bavarian War Academy . He was promoted to Oberleutnant ( senior lieutenant ) on 26 October 1911 and then to Hauptmann ( captain ) on 1 June 1915 . World War I . Several months prior to the start of World War I , he became an adjutant of the ‘ 1st Bavarian Reserve Field Artillery Regiment ’ ( 2 June 1914 – 4 March 1915 ) , then served as an adjutant for several months at the ‘ 10th Bavarian Infantry Division ’ ( 4 March 1915 – 11 May 1915 ) , before becoming its 2nd General Staff Officer ( 11 May 1915 – 1 June 1917 ) . He was promoted to Hauptmann ( captain ) on 1 June 1915 . He then transferred to the General staff in ‘ XV . Reserve Korps ’ ( 13 August 1917 – 24 December 1917 ) . After staffing very briefly at the ‘ Artillery Survey School Wahn ’ ( 12 November 1917 – 17 November 1917 ) , he was assigned to the ‘ Army Artillery Firing School Bitsch ’ ( 24 December 1917 – 1 March 1918 ) , before transferring back to the General Staff of ‘ XV . Reserve Corps ’ ( 1 March 1918 – 19 May 1918 ) . Once again he was briefly detached to the staff of ‘ Army Artillery Firing School Bitsch ’ ( 19 May 1918 – 22 August 1918 ) before transferring back into the General Staff of ‘ XV . Reserve Corps ’ ( 22 August 1918 – 5 October 1918 ) . For the last month of the war he became the 1st General Staff Officer of the ‘ 2nd Bavarian Infantry Division ’ ( 5 October 1918 – 1 January 1919 ) and participated in battles around Lorraine , Northern France , Galicia , the Carpathian Mountains , Flanders and the withdrawal from Northern France . Between Wars . During 1919 Leeb served as a staff officer with the ‘ 4th Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment ’ , the Detachment Hierl ( Freikorps ) , the ‘ 24th Reichswehr Brigade ’ , ‘ Niederwerfung des Spartacus Aufstandes ’ in Bayern , before landing at the Reichs War Ministry ( 1 October 1919 – 1 October 1921 ) . He stabilized for a while at the ‘ 7th Artillery Regiment ’ ( 1 October 1921 – 1 October 1924 ) , before becoming a Tactics instructor at the War Academy ( 7th Division ) in Munchen ( 1924 - 1 October 1928 ) . A decade after his last promotion , he became a Major on 1 February 1925 . He rotated back to the ‘ 7th Artillery Regiment ’ ( 1 October 1928 – 1 February 1929 ) before serving with the ‘ II . Battalion of the 7th Artillery Regiment ’ ( 1 February 1929 – 1 October 1929 ) . He then became commander of the ‘ Gebirgsart . Abt and Beobachtungs Abt . ’ [ Mountain Transport Squadron ] in Landsberg ( 1 October 1929 – 1 April 1933 ) . He was promoted to Oberstleutnant ( Lieutenant Colonel ) on 1 December 1929 . Just a few years later he was promoted to Oberst ( Colonel ) on 1 October 1932 . He became a supply officer [ Provision Matters ] in the War Ministry ( 1 April 1933 – 1 April 1936 ) , before promotion to Generalmajor ( similar to a one - star Brigadier General in the U . S . Army ) on 1 July 1935 , and later commander of the ‘ XV Div zuerst Warzburg ’ [ 15th Infantry Div . ] ( 1 April 1936 – 1 April 1939 ) in Frankfurt - am - Main . After promotion to Generalleutnant in early 1937 , he became Commanding General of ‘ XI Armeeskorps und Befehlshaber des Wehrkreises ’ [ XI . Army Corps ] ( 1 April 1939 – 16 April 1940 ) in Hanover , where he was responsible for recruiting , training , and mobilization . During this period he was promoted to General der Artillerie ( 1 April 1939 ) and also became commander of ‘ Military District XI ’ ( 1 April 1939 – 31 August 1939 ) . World War II . 1 September 1939 : Emil Leeb was the 30th most - senior general at the start of the war . He participated in the invasion of Poland with his XI Corps attacking towards Warsaw . He initially reported to Gen . W . von Reichenau ( Tenth Army ) , before his unit formed the left wing of von Reichenau ' s drive towards Lodz . Later , his unit was transferred to Gen . Blaskowitz ( Eighth Army ) in his drive from the central - east region of Germany into central - west Poland , before sweeping towards Warsaw . On 15 April 1940 Leeb became ‘ Chief des Heereswaffenamt ’ ( HWA : Army Ordnance Weapons Depot ) at the War Ministry in Berlin ( 15 April 1940 – 1 January 1945 ) . His predecessor had committed suicide because he was unable to properly supply the field units with ammunition . During this period Leeb also served as an advisor to the ‘ Reichs Works AG for Weapons and Mechanical Engineering ’ that was directed by Herman Goering in Berlin ( 17 January 1941 – 29 December 1942 ) , and then served as a member of the Armaments Advisory ( 1942 - 1 May 1945 ) . On 23 November 1943 Leeb escaped injury when his office in Berlin was bombed during an air raid . In late 1944 his section became part of Himmler ' s Replacement Army . The day following Adolf Hitler ’ s death , Leeb retired on 1 May 1945 . The war lasted barely a week longer until Hitler ’ s successor , GrossAdmiral Doenitz , surrendered Germany to the Allies on 7 May .