I'm compiling a list of the highest ranking casualty(-ies) due to hostile action in each Allied (in the wider sense) country in WWII. I had been searching for something like this to no avail, as all I could find are forum discussions, US only, including accidents, or conflating real and posthumous ranks.
My criteria are:
- Killed by or succumbed to wound inflicted by hostile forces. (i.e. not accidents, friendly fire, or diseases)
- All braches of the services count.
- Both permanent and acting ranks count, but posthumus rank doesn't.
- Changes in the level of the ranks are taken into account. (Though AFAIK only the Red Army was restructured during the war)
Here's what I have put together so far:
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USSR:
Both ranks were respectively the 4-star rank at the time of their death.
Colonel General Mikhail Kirponos (d. 1941.9.20)
Encircled during the Battle of Kiev and was killed when his pocket was wiped out.
General of the Army Nikolai Vatutin (d. 1944.4.15)
Fatally wounded by Ukrainan insurgents.
General of the Army Ivan Chernyakhovsk (d. 1945.2.18)
Fatally wounded by German artillery in East Prussia.
----------
China:
Lieutenant General, Acting General Zhang Zizhong (d. 1940.5.16)
Killed by the Japanese when his command post was overrun.
----------
UK:
Highest ranking overall:
Admiral Tom Phillips (d. 1941.12.10)
Went down with HMS Prince of Wales which was sunk by Japanese aircrafts.
(According to Wikipedia, he was an acting admiral when he set sail for Singapore. Was he officially promoted before his death?)
Army only:
Lieutenant-General William Gott (d. 1942.8.7)
Killed when his plane was shot down by the Luftwaffe.
(Was he an acting or permanent lieutenant general? I could only find when he was made an acting lieutenant general but not when he was officially promoted.)
----------
USA:
Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Jr. (d. 1945.6.18)
Killed by Japanese artillery in Okinawa.
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Corrections and expansions are appreciated.
My criteria are:
- Killed by or succumbed to wound inflicted by hostile forces. (i.e. not accidents, friendly fire, or diseases)
- All braches of the services count.
- Both permanent and acting ranks count, but posthumus rank doesn't.
- Changes in the level of the ranks are taken into account. (Though AFAIK only the Red Army was restructured during the war)
Here's what I have put together so far:
----------
USSR:
Both ranks were respectively the 4-star rank at the time of their death.
Colonel General Mikhail Kirponos (d. 1941.9.20)
Encircled during the Battle of Kiev and was killed when his pocket was wiped out.
General of the Army Nikolai Vatutin (d. 1944.4.15)
Fatally wounded by Ukrainan insurgents.
General of the Army Ivan Chernyakhovsk (d. 1945.2.18)
Fatally wounded by German artillery in East Prussia.
----------
China:
Lieutenant General, Acting General Zhang Zizhong (d. 1940.5.16)
Killed by the Japanese when his command post was overrun.
----------
UK:
Highest ranking overall:
Admiral Tom Phillips (d. 1941.12.10)
Went down with HMS Prince of Wales which was sunk by Japanese aircrafts.
(According to Wikipedia, he was an acting admiral when he set sail for Singapore. Was he officially promoted before his death?)
Army only:
Lieutenant-General William Gott (d. 1942.8.7)
Killed when his plane was shot down by the Luftwaffe.
(Was he an acting or permanent lieutenant general? I could only find when he was made an acting lieutenant general but not when he was officially promoted.)
----------
USA:
Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Jr. (d. 1945.6.18)
Killed by Japanese artillery in Okinawa.
----------
Corrections and expansions are appreciated.
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