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Petre Dumitrescu (February 18, 1882 - January 15,
1950) was a Romanian general during World War II,
who led the Romanian Third Army on its campaign
against the Soviet Union in the southwest.

Dumitrescu was born in Dobridor, Dolj. He began
his military training at the Artillery and
Engineers Officers' School in 1901, graduating in
1903 with the rank of second lieutenant.
Dumitrescu was promoted to lieutenant in 1906 and,
five years later, to captain. That year, he was
admitted into the Military Academy at Bucharest,
graduating in 1913.

==Early military career==
When World War I started, Dumitrescu was a major.
Following the war, he climbed higher and higher in
the military hierarchy, become a lieutenant
colonel in 1920, a brigadier in 1930 and a major
general in 1937. Between 1937 and the beginning of
World War II, Dumitrescu served as a military
attaché in both Paris and Brussels. After
returning to Romania from these postings, he was
given command of the Romanian First Army|First
Army.

==Initial successes==
However, on March 25, 1941, he was made commander
of the Third Army, a post which he would hold for
the duration of the war. Dumitrescu quickly
attacked northern Bukovina, reclaiming territory
occupied by Soviet troops since June 1940. He then
crossed the Dniestr to occupy Bessarabia. The
Romanian Eleventh Army|Eleventh Army covered
Dumitrescu's left flank while he advanced towards
the Western Bug|Bug River.

In September of that year, Dumitrescu repulsed a
Soviet attempt to cross the Dniestr in the east,
behind the Eleventh Army. Dumitrescu then led the
Third Army to the Crimea, taking part in the
Battle of the Sea of Azov. By October 10, the
Third Army had marched 1,700 kilometres from
Romania, fought four major battles and 42 minor
engagements.

By this time, Dumitrescu had captured 15,565
prisoner of war|prisoners of war, 149 tanks, 128
artillery pieces, and more than 700 machine guns,
while suffering 10,541 casualty|casualties, 2,555
dead, 6,201 wounded and 1,785 MIA|missing.

For his effort in this campaign, Dumitrescu was
awarded the Knight's Cross, the second Romanian to
receive the award, after Ion Antonescu. In
October, he was given the Order of Michael the
Brave, 3rd class. 

On July 18, 1942 he was made a general, thus
becoming Antonescu's second in command. Shortly
after his promotion, Dumitrescu advanced towards
down the Taman Peninsula between the Sea of Azov
and the Black Sea, creating a vital bridge between
Axis Powers|Axis forces in Europe and those deeper
inside the Soviet Union.

==The beginning of the end==
By this time, the Nazi Germany|German forces
entrapped within Stalingrad were in dire need of
assistance, and German High Command transferred
many of Dumitrescu's troops to the besieged city,
meaning that the Third Army now had fewer troops
to defend an increasingly large frontier with.
This was ameliorated, to a certain degree, by High
Command's decision to incorporate all Romanian
forces in the southwest of the Soviet Union into
the Third Army. High Command, however,  chose to
ignore Dumitrescu's reports about Soviet buildup
in the southwest, as they did with his repeated
suggestions to attack the Soviet bridgehead at
Kletskaya.

In November 1942 the Red Army launched a
devastating attack in the southwest, breaking
through the Romanian line and forcing Dumitrescu
into retreat. In an attempt to reinforce
Dumitrescu, the German Sixth Army was put at his
disposal, though in the end this did little to
stop the inevitable defeat of Dumitrescu's troops.

For a brief period, the Third Army dug in near the
Chir, but Soviet troops pushed them back to the
Dniestr. In December, 1943, the decision was made
to strategically retreat westwards. Dumitrescu's
plan was to reach Bucharest and avoid any
engagements with the Red Army along the way.
However, Red Army troops ambushed Dumitrescu. When
what remained of the Third Army arrived in
Bucharest, the Soviets had captured more than
130,000 Romanian soldiers.

By this time, however, as with the rest of
Romania, Dumitrescu had turned against Nazi
Germany and had captured more than 6,000 German
prisoners of war.

==After the war==
Dumitrescu was put on trial for war crimes by the
new communist government, but was eventually
Acquittal|acquitted because of a lack of evidence.
He died of natural causes at his Bucharest home in
1950.

==External link==
*http://www.worldwar2.ro/portrete/?article=3&langu
age=en WorldWar2.ro - General Petre Dumitrescu