Johann Mickl

Johann Mickl (18 April 1893 – 10 April 1945) was an Austrian-born Generalleutnant (lieutenant general) and division commander in the German Army during World War II. He served with Austro-Hungarian forces on the Eastern and Italian Fronts in World War I, and with the Austrian Army until the Anchluss in 1938, when it was absorbed by the Wehrmacht. He fought in the invasion of Poland and Battle of France, then commanded divisions during the German campaigns in North Africa, on the Eastern Front and against the Yugoslav Partisans in the Balkans before dying of wounds inflicted in the last month of the war. He was one of only 882 recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Early life and career
Mickl was born Johann Mikl in Zelting, Radkersburg, which was part of the Duchy of Styria within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father Mathias was a German farmer from Terbegofzen, and his mother Maria (née Dervarič), was from Zelting, and of at least partially Slovene heritage.. Mikl had a twin brother, Alois, who was killed in action in 1915 in Galicia near Lemberg, present-day Lviv in the Ukraine. As a child, Mikl spoke German, Slovene and Hungarian, and remained fluent in all three throughout his life. After entering a cadet school in Vienna in the Imperial-Royal Landwehr in 1908, he was accepted at the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt in 1911. Described as slim and tall, Leutnant Mikl graduated on 1 August 1914 and was posted to the recently mobilised 4th Imperial-Royal Landwehr Infantry Regiment (LIR 4), which formed part of the Imperial-Royal Mountain Troops. LIR 4 was a purely Carinthian regiment, and wore the mountain cap (Bergmütze) and the Edelweiss badge. By the time Mickl joined the regiment it had already been mobilised. As part of the 22nd Rifle Division, Mickl's regiment entrained for the Eastern Front, were offloaded in Stryj in Galicia and marched into the area of Złoczów to take up a position on the Złota Lipa River. During 1914–15, Mikl's regiment fought the Russians in Galicia, during which he was wounded several times.

He was promoted to Oberleutnant in May 1915. After being wounded again while fighting the Italians on the Southern Front in 1916–17, he was awarded the Silver Medal for Bravery and bar. This was followed by a posting to the regimental replacement battalion as an instructor. In August 1917, Mikl was appointed to command a machine gun company, and served in the Battle of Caporetto and the subsequent advance to the Piave river. In early 1918, Mikl attended a preparatory course for future attendance at the War College (Kriegsschule) in Vienna, and when the war ended he was posted to the 54th Rifle Division.

After the war ended, the Duchy of Styria was divided between the new states of German-Austria and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, but the exact line of the new border was unclear. In 1919, Mikl served in the Volkswehr militia, and using arms provided by the provincial government of Carinthia, unsuccessfully attempted to recapture the town of Radkersburg from forces of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes to ensure it remained part of German-Austria. The provincial government of Styria, which had not supported Mikl's actions, subsequently issued a warrant ordering Mikl's arrest for treason. Despite his failure, his actions were very important in demonstrating to those negotiating the final border that towns along the northern bank of the Mura river were German. When the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye was signed later in 1919, the town of Radkersburg was retained within what became the First Austrian Republic.

In 1920, Mikl was accepted by the new Austrian Army (Bundesheer), and during 1920–21 was rapidly promoted to Hauptmann (captain) and posted to a cyclist battalion. In 1922, he changed his name to the more Germanised Mickl and married Helene Zischka in Klagenfurt; their only child, Manfred, was born in 1923. In 1928 he was promoted to the rank of Major, and on 26 July 1930, he was appointed an honorary citizen (Ehrenbürger) of the town of Radkersburg. He was placed on the general staff officer list in 1935, followed by a posting to the headquarters of the 3rd Division at St. Pölten, and was promoted to Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) the following year. After the Anschluss of 1938, he was absorbed at that rank into the German Army. He attended several months training at the Panzertruppenschule II (Armoured Troops School No. 2) in Wünsdorf south of Berlin, before being given command of the 42nd Panzerjäger (anti-tank) Battalion of the 2nd Light Division.

Poland and France
Mickl commanded the 42nd Panzerjäger Battalion of Generalmajor (brigadier) Georg Stumme's 2nd Light Division during the invasion of Poland, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class. He remained in charge of the battalion during the Battle of France when the division, renamed the 7th Panzer Division, was commanded by Generalmajor Erwin Rommel. Mickl got along well with Rommel, and his battalion fought well but suffered serious casualties during the Battle of Arras while trying to stop the heavily armoured tanks of the British 1st Army Tank Brigade with its 37 mm anti-tank guns. Mickl was promoted to Oberst (colonel) and was also awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class in June 1940. After the French surrender, Mickl was attached to the division's 25th Panzer Regiment to gain more knowledge about armoured tactics, and in December 1940 was appointed to command the 7th Rifle Regiment of the division. He remained in this role during occupation duties in southwestern France, redeployment to Germany, and during the division's preparation for the invasion of the Soviet Union.

North Africa
In late May 1941, Mickl was suddenly transferred to North Africa at Rommel's request, and was appointed to command the 155th Rifle Regiment of the composite Afrika (Special Purpose) Division. During the North African campaign Mickl and his regiment fought in the Siege of Tobruk and the Battle of Sidi Rezegh, but Mickl was captured by elements of the New Zealand Division on 26 November 1941. Under guard at a temporary collection point, Mickl quickly organised the 800 prisoners of war who overwhelmed the camp guard. The group then escaped across the desert to the west, eventually reaching the German lines. Rommel recommended Mickl for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded in December 1941. When his division commander, Generalmajor Max Sümmermann, was killed on 10 December 1941, Mickl was appointed to temporarily command the division for the rest of the month. The harsh conditions of desert warfare had begun to affect Mickl's health, so at the end of December he was sent back to Europe for several weeks' rest.

Eastern Front
In March 1942, Mickl was appointed to command the 12th Rifle Brigade of Generalmajor Erpo Freiherr von Bodenhausen's 12th Panzer Division, which was deployed in Reichskommissariat Ostland (today's Estonia), resting and rebuilding after the Red Army Winter Campaign of 1941–42. The division was the main reserve formation of Army Group North, and was soon committed to fighting south of Leningrad, managing to stop Red Army attempts to relieve the city at significant cost. By January 1943, the division was so depleted by losses that it did not need a brigade headquarters to command its infantry regiments, and Mickl's staff was disbanded. He was transferred to the Army Headquarters officers' reserve pool (Oberkommando des Heeres Führerreserve), and was promoted to Generalmajor and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves by Adolf Hitler in March.

In May 1943, Mickl was appointed as commander of the 11th Panzer Division, which had not yet finished rebuilding after suffering serious losses during the attempted relief of Stalingrad in December 1942 and during the Third Battle of Kharkov in February and March 1943. In July and August 1943, the division was committed to the Battle of Kursk as part of Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) Erich von Manstein's Army Group South, and suffered more heavy losses. The severely mauled division was redeployed north, and participated in the Battle of Belgorod in late July and early August. On 8 August, Mickl was relieved of command, and after three weeks leave, he was sent to Austria to train and command the 392nd (Croatian) Infantry Division.

Balkans
Commencing on 17 August 1943, the 392nd (Croatian) Infantry Division was assembled and trained in Austria as the third and last Croatian division raised for service in the Wehrmacht, following its sister divisions the 369th (Croatian) Infantry Division and 373rd (Croatian) Infantry Division. One infantry regiment and the divisional artillery regiment formed in Döllersheim, the other infantry regiment in Zwettl, the signals battalion in Stockerau and the pioneer battalion in Krems. It was built around 3,500 German cadre troops, and 8,500 soldiers of the Croatian Home Guard, the regular army of the Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH). The division was commanded by Germans down to battalion and even company level in nearly all cases, and was commonly referred to as a "legionnaire division". Although originally intended for use on the Eastern Front, the division was never utilised outside the NDH, and returned there in January 1944 to combat the Partisans in the western parts of the puppet state.

Mickl's task was to secure the Adriatic coastline along the Croatian Littoral between Rijeka and Karlobag (including all islands except Krk) and about 60 km inland. This task included securing the crucial supply route between Karlovac and Senj. These areas, and in particular the port of Senj, had been largely dominated by the Partisans since the Italian capitulation in autumn 1943. Mickl and his division were placed under the command of the XV Mountain Corps as part of the 2nd Panzer Army, and he established his headquarters in Karlovac. He also took over responsibility for the security of the Zagreb–Karlovac railway line from the 1st Cossack Division. In April 1944, Mickl was promoted to Generalleutnant. After an inauspicious start, during which some of his Croatian soldiers panicked and their German leaders were quickly wounded, the division was able to relieve some isolated garrisons. The division was subject to constant ambushes and interdiction of supply lines by the Partisans, and a lack of mountain artillery made fighting in the rugged terrain even harder.

Death and legacy
During the last few months of the war, the division was engaged in the defence of the northern Adriatic coast and Lika. Mickl was shot in the head by Partisans near Senj on 9 April 1945, and died in hospital in Rijeka the following day. In 1967, the Austrian Armed Forces barracks (Mickl-Kaserne) in Bad Radkersburg were named after him, and they were used continuously by the Austrian Armed Forces for 44 years until 30 September 2008.

Promotions

 * Leutnant - 1 August 1914
 * Oberleutnant - 1 May 1915
 * Hauptmann - 1921
 * Major - 1928
 * Oberstleutnant - 16 January 1936
 * Oberst - 1 June 1940
 * Generalmajor - 1 March 1943
 * Generalleutnant - 1 April 1944

Austria-Hungary

 * Military Merit Cross 3rd Class (16 October 1915)
 * Order of the Iron Crown 3rd Class (22 March 1916)
 * Military Merit Medal for Bravery
 * in Bronze (26 August 1916)
 * 1st in Silver (20 January 1917)
 * 2nd in Silver (24 January 1918)
 * Karl Troop Cross (8 September 1917)
 * Wound Medal with 5 Stripes (10 March 1918)

Carinthia

 * Special Carinthian Cross for Bravery (3 April 1920)

Third Reich

 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (1 October 1939)
 * 1st Class (15 June 1940)
 * Panzer Badge in Bronze (24 September 1940)
 * Wound Badge in Black (25 December 1941)
 * Infantry Assault Badge (22 July 1942)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
 * Knight's Cross on 13 December 1941 as Oberst and commander of Schützen-Regiment 155
 * 205th Oak Leaves on 6 March 1943 as Oberst and commander of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25