Erich von Brückner

Erich von Brückner (1896–1949) was a German officer of the Brandenburgers during World War II. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 11 March 1945.

Biography
Erich Wilhelm Ludwig Josef von Brückner was born in Metz, Alsace-Lorraine, on 2 September 1896. Von Brückner joined the German Army straight from school. He enlisted on 7 August 1914 in the 14th Infantry Regiment of Nuremberg. After a basic military training, Brückner has been trained to become an officer (Fahnenjunker) at the Doeberitz Academy. On 21 January 1915, he was sent to the front with his company. Von Brückner has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant (Leutnant) on June 1915. He held that rank until the end of hostilities. Von Brückner fought in the battles of Münster in Alsace, before being wounded in the leg by a mine, on August 1915. On 19 October, he joined his company and fought at the battles on the Somme. Commissioned in the third battalion, he was again wounded in the jaw. Also in the same regiment, he took command of various companies from August 1918 to December 1918.

After the war, in May 1919, he became Ordonnanz-Offizier in the 48th Infantry Regiment of the Reichswehr, then in the 46th regiment. Erich von Brückner was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 1922. Engaged in a motor company in Nuremberg, he was appointed captain the 13 September 1934. He was appointed Chief of company in 1935, in a regiment of anti-tank. Appointed commander in July 1937, Von Brückner specialized in command of the armored troops, after several formations in Koblenz, Wünsdorf. On 25 January 1939, Brückner commanded the 34th Anti-tank Division.

At the beginning of the war on September 1939, von Brückner was sent to the front in Rhineland-Palatinate. Erich von Brückner did not take part in the campaign against France. On 31 July 1940, he took the command of the 12th Panzerjäger-Abteilung (anti-tank Battalion). Brückner was theen sent soon after to the Eastern Front, with his battalion. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel on February 1942. On July 1942, Von Brückner commanded an armored column of the 7th Panzer-Division. Von Brückner commanded the 7th Schützen-Regiment, before being sent to the command center of Bordeaux.

On August 1942, Brückner assumed the command of the 126th Panzergrenadier-Regiment. He stayed in the 23rd Panzer Division until 1943. On March 1943, he was appointed commandant of the 963rd Afrika-Schützen-Regiment. On June, von Brückner took command of the 966th Fortress Infantry Regiment until October 1943. Von Brückner took command of the armored troops in the operational area X (Wehrkreis X). On September 1944, he was appointed commander of the 1st Jäger-Regiments "Brandenburg". On 11 March 1945, after having fought at Kalisch, Colonel Erich von Brückner received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, as commander of the regiment. His regiment, however, retreated back to the west in the fighting of Kutno, Konin, Schrimm and Lissa. Although the fighting group of Colonel von Brückner had withdrawn from Fraustadt and Glogau, he had significantly contributed to stabilize the situation on the Oder. On 17 March 1945, Erich von Brückner has been captured by the allies. He stayed a prisoner until 1948. Erich von Bruckner died on April 1949.

Decorations

 * Iron Cross (1914)
 * 2nd Class (25 June 1915)
 * 1st Class (23 June 1918)
 * Military Merit Cross with swords (26 June 1915)
 * Military Merit with swords, 4th class (14 February 1917)
 * Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 3rd class (4 April 1917)
 * Wound Badge (1914)
 * in Black (16 June 1918)
 * Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (22 February 1935)
 * Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th to 1st Class (2 October 1936)
 * Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (14 January 1940)
 * 1st Class (1 July 1941)
 * Eastern Front Medal (25 July 1942)
 * Panzer Badge (3 October 1943)
 * Wound Badge (1939)
 * in Silver (4 July 1942)
 * German Cross in Gold (25 March 1942)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 11 March 1945 as Oberst and commander of Jäger-Regiment 1 "Brandenburg"