List of Commandants of Berlin Sectors

For a similar list concerning Vienna, see List of Commandants of Vienna Sectors.

The following is a list of military commanders of divided and war torn Berlin between 1945 and 1994. Due to the allied division of post-World War II Berlin into distinct, occupied sectors, each had its own military governor, often referred to as commandant. This practice ended officially with the reunification of Germany in 1990, but the several military commanders were in place until as late as 1994, when the respective occupying/protective forces were withdrawn.

The occupied sectors of Berlin

American

American commanders were:

• MG Floyd L. Parks: (4 July 1945 – 2 September 1945)
• MG James M. Gavin: (3 September 1945 – 10 October 1945)
• MG Ray W. Barker: (11 October 1945 – 1 May 1946)
• MG Frank A. Keating: (1 May 1946 – 13 May 1947)
• MG Cornelius E. Ryan: (14 May 1947 – 23 September 1947)
• MG William Hesketh: (24 September 1947 – 30 November 1947)
• BG Frank L. Howley: (1 December 1947 – 31 August 1949)
• MG Maxwell D. Taylor: (31 August 1949 – 31 January 1951)
• MG Lemuel Mathewson: (1 February 1951 – 2 January 1953)
• MG Thomas S. Timberman: (3 January 1953 – 4 August 1954)
• MG George B. Honnen: (5 August 1954 – 9 September 1955)
• MG Charles L. Dasher: (10 September 1955 – 3 June 1957)
• MG Barksdale Hamlett: (4 June 1957 – 15 December 1959)
• MG Ralph M. Osborne: (20 December 1959 – 3 May 1961)
• MG Albert Watson II: (4 May 1961 – 2 January 1963)
• MG James H. Polk: (2 January 1963 – 31 August 1964)
• MG John F. Franklin, Jr.: (1 September 1964 – 3 June 1967)
• MG Robert G. Fergusson: (3 June 1967 – 28 February 1970)
• MG George M. Seignious: (28 February 1970 – 12 May 1971)
• MG William W. Cobb: (12 May 1971 – 10 June 1974)
• MG Sam S. Walker: (10 June 1974 – 11 August 1975)
• MG Joseph C. McDonough: (11 August 1975 – 7 June 1978)
• MG Calvert P. Benedict: (7 June 1978 – 5 July 1981)
• MG James G. Boatner: (5 July 1981 – 27 June 1984)
• MG John H. Mitchell: (27 June 1984 – 1 June 1988)
• MG Raymond E. Haddock: (1 June 1988 – 2 October 1990)

British

Road sign delimiting the British sector of Berlin, 1984.

British commanders were:

• Lewis Lyne: (5 July 1945 – 30 August 1945)
• Eric Nares: (30 August 1945 – 13 June 1947)
• Otway Herbert: (13 June 1947 – 23 January 1949)
• Geoffrey Bourne: (23 January 1949 – 24 October 1951)
• Charles Coleman: (24 October 1951 – 13 March 1954)
• William Oliver: (13 March 1954 – 30 April 1955)
• Robert Cottrell-Hill: (1 May 1955 – 6 February 1956)
• Francis Rome: (26 March 1956 – 20 March 1959)
• Rohan Delacombe: (23 March 1959 – 3 May 1962)
• Claude Dunbar: (May 1962 – December 1962)
• David Peel Yates: (December 1962 – January 1966)
• John Nelson: (February 1966 – February 1968)
• James Bowes-Lyon: (March 1968 – November 1970)
• Lord Cathcart: (November 1970 – July 1973)
• David Scott-Barrett: (August 1973 – November 1975)
• Roy Redgrave: (November 1975 – January 1978)
• Robert Richardson: (January 1978 – September 1980)
• David Mostyn: (September 1980 – October 1983)
• Bernard Gordon-Lennox: (October 1983 – December 1985)
• Patrick Brooking: (December 1985 – January 1989)
• Robert Corbett: (1989 – 1990)

French

French commanders were:

• Geoffroi du Bois de Beauchesne: (11 July 1945 – 12 March 1946)
• Charles Lançon: (12 March 1946 – 4 October 1946)
• Jean Ganeval: (4 October 1946 – 5 October 1950)
• Pierre Carolet: (1 October 1950 – 31 December 1952)
• Pierre Manceaux-Démiau: (1 January 1953 – 31 December 1954)
• Amédée J.B. Gèze: (1 January 1955 – 30 September 1958)
• Jean Lacomme: (1 October 1958 – 25 February 1962)
• Edouard K. Toulouse: (1962 – 1964)
• François Binoche: (1964 – 1967)
• Bertrand Huchet de Quénetain: (1967 – 1970)
• Maurice Routier: (1970 – 1973)
• Camille Metzler: (1973 – 1975)
• Jacques Mangin: (1975 – 1977)
• Bernard d'Astorg: (1977 – 1980)
• Jean P. Liron: (1980 – 1984)
• Olivier Le Taillendier de Gabory: (1984 – 1985)
• Paul Cavarrot: (1985 – 1987)
• François Cann: (1987 – 1990)

Soviet

Soviet commanders were:

• Nikolay Erastovich Berzarin: (2 May 1945 – 16 June 1945)
• Aleksandr Vasilyevich Gorbatov: (17 June 1945 – 19 November 1945)
• Dmitry Sergeyevich Smirnov: (19 November 1945 – 1 April 1946)
• Aleksandr Georgiyevich Kotikov: (1 April 1946 – 7 June 1950)
• Sergey Alekseyevich Dengin: (7 June 1950 – 28 May 1953)
• Pyotr Akimovich Dibrova: (28 May 1953 – 23 June 1956)
• Andrey Chamov: (28 June 1956 – 26 February 1958)
• Matvey Vasilyevich Zakharov: (26 February 1958 – 9 May 1961)
• Andrey Soloviev: (9 May 1961 – 22 August 1962)
• Helmut Poppe: (22 August 1962 – 31 May 1971)
• Artur Kunath: (1 June 1971 – 31 August 1978)
• Karl-Heinz Drews: (1 September 1978 – 31 December 1989)
• Wolfgang Dombrowski: (1 January 1990 – 30 September 1990)
• Detlef Wendorf: (30 September 1990 – 2 October 1990)

See also

• Cold War
• Berlin Wall
• West Berlin
• East Berlin
• Berlin Brigade (for the American and the British forces in the city)
• French Forces in Berlin

Further reading

• British Garrison Berlin 1945 -1994, "No where to go", W. Durie ISBN 978-3-86408-068-5