Chiang Kai-shek's son served in Wehrmacht

Chiang Wei-kuo, the adopted son of Chinese President Chiang Kai-shek was sent to Germany for a military education. He was the Lieutenant inf a Panzer unit preparing to invade Poland, but was recalled to China prior to the invasion. After his recall he visited the US where he gave lectures on German army organization and tactics.

 

nice spy action!

 

He also served in Gebirgsjäger Regiment 98.


http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=28810


Chiang sent Wei-kuo to Germany for a military education at the Kriegsschule in Munich. Here, he would learn the most up to date German military tactical doctrines, organization, and use of weaponry on the modern battlefield such as the German-inspired theory of the Maschinengewehr (Medium machine gun, at this time, the MG-34) led squad, incorporation of Air and Armored branches into infantry attack, etc. After completing this training, Wei-kuo completed specialized Alpine warfare training, thus earning him the covetedGebirgsjäger (The elite Wehrmacht Mountain Troop) Edelweiss sleeve insignia. This was not an easy accomplishment, as part of the training selection included carrying 30 kilos of ruck sack through the Bavarian Alps. Wei-kuo was promoted to Fahnenjunker, or Officer Candidate, and was evidently a fine marksman, as his pictures depict him wearing the Schützenschnurlanyard.
Wei-kuo commanded a Panzer unit during the 1938 Austrian Anschluss as a Fähnrich, or sergeant officer-candidate,[7] leading a tank into that country; subsequently, he was promoted toLieutenant of a Panzer unit awaiting to be sent into Poland. Before he was given the mobilization order, he was recalled to China.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Wei-kuo

 

Here, he would learn the most up to date German military tactical doctrines


Well, seems the Chinese republic didn't gain much of it in their fight against the Japanese.

 

I really love learning new information like this!

 

Nice little story. Thanks for the background Skipper.

 

You're welcome. In fact it did serve the Chinese nationalists, at least in Taiwan : The gentleman ended witht a General rank there. Of course his name helped a lot too , but I'm sure his German experience was good poitn on his "resume"

 

The nationalist had a lot more serious problems than an education by one individual in German military doctrine could cure no matter how powerful that individual.

 

it was second degree IWD, Shek's own son never had to send a resume to get a job. This is why I put it in between brackets.
This being said, he was one of the few officers left in Taiwan with a pre-war experience. Many Nationalists had been killed by the Japanese or the Communist Chinese, not to mention Taiwan had been occupied by the Japanese.

 

What I ment was he could have been a military genius but the lack of unity and corruption in the nationalist government before, during, and after the war would still likely have frustrated attempts to make vast improvements in their army. Once they fell back to Taiwan a lot of those problems kind of evaporated. I don't know how much impact he had at that point but I suspect it would have been easier.

If I had quoted this:

It would perhaps have been clearer what I was refering to.

 

Especially with Chiang Kai-shek's 'partnership' with Germany who supplied Chiang with military advisors, I wouldn't be all that surprised that Chiang's son was sent to Germany to be trained with the Germany army.

 

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek sent his other son Chiang Ching-Kuo to the Soviet Union as a political observer during the 30s, who later inherited his position as the president of ROC in Taiwan. Chiang became an ardent anti-communist after he was allegedly forced to participate in Stalinist self-critique when Chiang the Elder broke the Nationalist-Bolshevik alliance.

CKS was aware that his nation needed rapid modernization in all areas and often sent liaison officers and officials to nations that were considered cutting edge or simply available for assistance. So he sent one son to Nazi Germany, another to Soviet Union, and many more of his inner circle and political advisors to military academies and universities world-wide. It had recently come to light that he gathered WWII Japanese veteran commanders, including one accused of war crimes he saved from the noose, to train his army in Formosa. The Generalissimo himself received his basic military education in Japan before WWI in Imperial Japanese Army Academy Preparatory School.

This was quite an eclectic mix of military doctrines and philosophies and perhaps representative of post-colonial states.

Trivia: The few military formations that Chiang had at the onset of Japanese invasion that could give the Imperial Japanese Army serious resistance were German-trained, for example the 88th Division that fought to the death in Shanghai and held up the invaders for months. The loss of Chiang's elite corps so early on during the invasion is considered by many to be a grave strategic error.