Germany
Oskar von Hutier
1857–1934 Commander, Eighth Army, 1917; Eighteenth Army, 1918
Born in Erfurt in 1857 into a family with a long military tradition, Hutier served on the General Staff. In 1914 he commanded the 1st Guards Infantry Division in France; transferred east in April 1915, he took command of the Eighth Army in April 1917. On 3 September 1917 he captured Riga after a bombardment prepared by Georg Bruchmüller and a surprise crossing of the Dvina, and received the Pour le Mérite. In March 1918 his Eighteenth Army made the greatest advance of the three armies in Operation Michael. French writers credited him with creating the infiltration tactics that became known as Hutier tactics, but he had played little part in developing them. He retired in 1919, presided over the German Officers' League and died in Berlin in 1934.