Nikolaus von Vormann started as a cadet in the Royal Prussian Army in 1914. He rose through the ranks during the 1920s and 30s, and was a Colonel by 1940. He spent most of the war serving on the Eastern Front and briefly commanded the Ninth Army. He survived the war and wrote two books; The Campaign in Poland 1939, and The Battle of Cherkassy. He died in 1959.