Wilhelm Falley


Wilhelm Falley was the first German general to be killed during the Normandy Landings in France. He was commander of the 91st Infantry Division.
Promoted to Major General in December 1943, and Lieutenant General in May 1944, he held various commands before being appointed Commander of the 91st Infantry Division in April 1944. Falley was the first German general to fall in action during the Normandy landings. On D-Day, Falley was returning from Rennes, where a war game had been organized by the German High Command, to his Division headquarters, in Picauville. Falley was killed in an ambush carried out by paratroopers of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, on the country road outside the rear wall of the German 91st Infantry Division's headquarters, Chateau de Bernaville, in Picauville, southwest of Sainte-Mère-Église, Normandy.

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