Johann Baichl (birthname: Johann Bäuchl)
Date of Birth: 28.08.1918 - Gundersdorf, Steiermark (Austria)
Date of Death: 03.05.1994 Voitsberg, Steiermark (Austria)
Battles and Campaigns: Unternehmen Barbarossa (1941), Battle of Kursk (1943), Battle of Kovel (1944)
Promotions:
31.01.1941 Gefreiter
00.00.194_ Obergefreiter
01.09.1942 Unteroffizier der Reserve
20.02.1944 Feldwebel der Reserve
21.10.1944 Oberfeldwebel der Reserve
Career:
04.03.1940 - 27.05.1940 member of 11.Kompanie / Gebirgsjäger-Ersatz-Regiment 138
27.05.1940 - 01.09.1942 member of 1.Kompanie / Radfahr-Bataillon 403
01.09.1942 - 05.01.1943 advance training in 2.Panzergrenadier-Lehr-Kompanie / Lehr-Abteilung 2 / Kompanieführer-Schule für Schnelle Truppen
05.01.1943 - 24.10.1944 member of 5.Kompanie / II.Bataillon / Panzergrenadier-Regiment 33 / 4.Panzer-Division
24.10.1944 - 00.05.1945 Zugführer- und Stosstruppführer-Ausbildung in 5.Kompanie / Armee-Waffenschule der 3.Panzerarmee
Awards and Decorations:
31.07.1941 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse (for his action in Unternehmen Barbarossa)
00.00.1941 Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz
00.00.194_ Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen in Silber
00.00.1942 Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42 (Ostmedaille)
28.03.1943.1943 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse (for his action in the Battle of Kursk)
00.00.194_ Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber
14.12.1943 Nahkampfspange in Bronze
23.05.1944 Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (for his action as Zugführer in the Siege of Kovel)
19.06.1944 Nahkampfspange in Silber
23.10.1944 Nahkampfspange in Gold (one of 19 member of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 33)
23.10.1944 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as Oberfeldwebel and Zugführer in 5.Kompanie / II.Bataillon / Panzergrenadier-Regiment 33 / 4.Panzer-Division, for his contributions and successive achievements in October in the battles for a bridgehead at Venta and Moscheiken and leading successful raids into the Gaidziai and Klates-Pulki regions
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The mechanized infantry—Panzergrenadiere—did not have it easy. Most of the time, their orders were to escort friendly tanks, exploit the paths through the enemy lines created by the tanks, eliminate enemy positions and bunkers, defend against the enemy’s mechanized infantry and engage enemy antiarmor defenses. It was not easy to remain on the heels of a 30ton tank in the attack. When it came to defending, it was imperative to separate the enemy tanks from their escorting infantry. That was no easy task, either…
Born the son of a carpenter as Johann Bäuchl in a small community near Graz on 28 August 1918, the future Knight’s Cross recipient started his military career by being conscripted in March 1940. Decades later—for reasons that still remain unknown—the man from Styria changed his family name to Baichl.
Although trained as an alpine soldier in Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 138, he was assigned to the 1./Radfahr-Bataillon 403 (bicycle battalion), an infantry division reconnaissance battalion, two months later. Baichl was not employed in the campaign against France. On 31 January 1941, he was promoted to Gefreiter. A little more than two months later, he experienced his baptism of fire in the Soviet Union.
His battalion participated in the campaign as a separate reconnaissance element. It reported directly to a corps, where it conducted reconnaissance, security and infantry missions. After a few weeks of fighting, Baichl had already earned the Iron Cross, Second Class and, in the vicious fighting associated with the winter of 1941/1942, he was slightly wounded. Already an Unteroffizier, the experienced squad leader received orders in September 1942 to report to the instructional battalion of the Company Commander School for Mechanized Forces in Berlin, where he was assigned as an assistant to an officer in the 2nd School Company. The veteran of the Russian Front helped in training future Company Commanders for five months, where he assisted in tactical instruction and during combat exercises.
Baichl returned to the front in January 1943 and took over the headquarters section of the 5./Panzergrenadier-Regiment 33 of the 4. Panzer-Division. Many fellow Austrians served in this combat-proven division; after all, many elements from the former Austrian Army had been absorbed into it.
Baichl quickly demonstrated that he was an asset to his new company. In the next few weeks he earned the Iron Cross, First Class during the operations at Kursk and Tim— Korowino—Obojan. Leading his fellow soldiers in all aspects of mounted warfare, Baichl started to collect close-combat days during operations at Sumy, Nowgorod and Sewsk. During the summer offensive at Kursk, he also earned the unvarnished respect of his Company Commander. Although the men of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 33, as part of the 9. Armee, knocked holes in the Soviet defenses over and over again at Teploje, Nikolskoje and Stepnaja, their attacks bogged down in the counterattacks of the T 34’s, as well as in the numerous minefields and antitank-gun belts.
After withdrawals conducted near Orel, the division was committed to a cycle of defensive fighting, where it proved its mettle and served as the lifesaver for the XXXV. Armeekorps, which was commanded by the Oakleaves recipient, Generalleutnant Lothar Rendulic. In the process, it knocked out hundreds of enemy armored vehicles.
Covering the withdrawal of the infantry along the Desna River, Johann Baichl and his men experienced the fighting in the Pripjet Marshes and conducted countless raids and combat patrols. In the meantime, he had been given a platoon and promoted to Feldwebel (20 February 1944). The Austrian was able to distinguish himself during the operations to relieve the Kowel Pocket, so much so that he received the German Cross in Gold on 23 May 1944. By then, the brave noncommissioned officer had also been awarded the Close Combat Clasp in Silver for his numerous combat operations against enemy mechanized infantry, tanks and antitank-gun positions.
The division was reconstituted, receiving new men and materiel, and was committed into the hell of the Soviet summer offensive in June 1944. The division’s armor regiment and mechanized infantry regiments suffered heavy losses, but they were also able to pull off impressive defensive successes. The 4. Panzer-Division showed its style and abilities at Baranovici, in the Schara Bridgehead, in relieving the encircled Armeekorps “von Vormann” at Slonim and during the forced relief of the beleaguered 28. Jäger-Division. It was able to report a high number of “kills” of enemy armored vehicles. The division then fought in Poland along the Narew River, in the armored engagements that took place around Warsaw and in the Vistula bend, before being allocated to Heeresgruppe Nord, where it fought in Lithuania and in Kurland (Courland).
the award of his Knight’s Cross two days after his promotion of Oberfeldwebel. He was also completely surprised by his nomination for the Close Combat Clasp in Gold. The primary reason for his receipt of the Knight’s Cross was his initiative during the storming of an important bridge in the Venta sector and the ensuing assault on Gaidziai.
Upon receipt of his awards, he was immediately pulled out of frontline service. His talent in training and his store of firsthand knowledge were used in the combat-arms school run by the 3. Panzerarmee, where Oberfeldwebel Baichl was especially employed in the training of platoon leaders and assault-detachment leaders.
It is most likely that he was later transferred to the mechanized infantry school, but this cannot be verified. Baichl was one of 19 members of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 33 who received the highest level of the Close Combat Clasp.
After the war, Johann Baichl returned to his beloved Styria, where he later changed his name, as mentioned at the beginning of the section. He died on 3 May 1994 and his final resting place is located in a small, peaceful mountain cemetery.
Oberfeldwebel Johann Baichl shortly after he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 23 October 1944 as a Zugführer (Platoon leader) in 5.Kompanie / II.Bataillon / Panzergrenadier-Regiment 33 / 4.Panzer-Division / XXXIX.Panzerkorps / 18.Armee / Heeresgruppe Nord, for contributions and his successive feats in October fighting for a bridgehead at Venta and Moscheiken and leading successful raids into the Gaidziai and Klates-Pulki areas. This photo was taken at the same time as the first photo above.
From this photo it is clear that Oberfeldwebel Johann baichl is not a non-commissioned officer "only for fun", and the bravery medals on his uniform proves that! Awards and decorations that he had won: Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse (31 July 1941); Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse (28 March 1943); Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen in Silber; Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz (1941); Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42 (1942); Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber; Nahkampfspange in Bronze (14 December 1943); Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (23 May 1944); Nahkampfspange in Silber (19 June 1944); Nahkampfspange in Gold (23 October 1944); and Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (23 October 1944). Note that the signature in this photo is still using his old name (before it was changed): Bäuchl!
Source :
"The Face of Courage: The 98 Men Who Received the Knight's Cross and the Close-Combat Clasp in Gold" by Florian Berger
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2014/10/oberfeldwebel-johann-baichl-1918-1994.html
https://de.metapedia.org/wiki/Baichl,_Johann
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiVzc36yfyAAxVbzjgGHblfC_44ChAWegQIBRAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ritterkreuztraeger.info%2Frk%2Fb%2FB038B%25E4uchl.pdf&usg=AOvVaw14aS_aAIGzJibnox8XBlSN&opi=89978449
http://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=show&id=28594
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/1715/B%C3%A4uchl-Johann-Geb-Baichl.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20111228112504fw_/http://www.ritterkreuztraeger-1939-45.de/Infanterie/B/Ba/Baichl-Johann.htm
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