Ernst-Günther Baade

Generalleutnant Ernst-Günther Baade (20 August 1897 – 8 May 1945) was a German general serving during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves and Swords was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. He was wounded in action and died from his injuries on the last day of World War II in Europe.

World War I
Ernst-Günther Baade volunteered for military service in 1914 at the age of seventeen and joined the 9th Ulanenregiment (light cavalry). Baade distinguished himself in the fighting on the Eastern Front and was chosen for officer candidate training. He was commissioned as Leutnant in August 1916. In 1918 he transferred to the Western front where he was wounded during a poison gas attack.

World War II
On 6 March 1942 Baade was assigned to officers active reserve (Führerreserve). He subsequently transferred to the 15th Panzer Division in North Africa and took command of 115th Rifle Regiment on 15 April 1942, at that time committed to action in Libya and Cyrenaica.

Baade was a legend in the Afrika Korps and was known to go into battle dressed in a Scottish kilt and carried a claymore, a double-edged broadsword.

Colonel Baade distinguished himself on 27 May 1942 by his leadership and decision making, checking an armored attack into the rear of the 15th Panzer Division. A battalion of the regiment under his command managed to infiltrate into Bir Hacheim on the next day, defeating the British opponents after 24 hours of bitter fighting. Col. Baade was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for these actions. He was again wounded on 28 July 1942 at El-Alamein when his position was hit by artillery fire, then evacuated to Rome and Germany for a period of convalescence.

Colonel Baade was placed in charge of the defence of the Straits of Messina during the successful evacuation of German forces from Sicily to the Italian mainland in early August 1943.

Promoted to Generalmajor, Baade assumed command of 90th Infantry Division at Monte Cassino. He was known for his occasionally eccentric behavior, his very small staff, his frequent front line inspection visits – all which made him popular with his troops. He was one of the few general officers who earned the wearing of a Tank Destruction Badge on his upper right sleeve for the single-handed destruction of an enemy tank with an infantry weapon. After the retreats into northern Italy, Baade shot and killed a lower ranking SS officer who tried to give him an order, then went briefly into hiding.

Baade was wounded in the neck and lower leg by a phosphorus projectile on 24 April 1945 when his Kübelwagen was strafed by a British fighter aircraft near Neverstaven in Holstein. Baade was taken to a hospital at Bad Segeberg, where he succumbed to gangrene on 8 May 1945, the last day of the war in Europe.

Awards

 * Wound Badge
 * in Black (1 July 1918)
 * in Silver
 * Wehrmacht Long Service Award 2nd Class (2 October 1936)
 * Infantry Assault Badge
 * Tank Destruction Badge for Individual Combatants
 * Cuffband "Afrika"
 * German Cross in Gold on 2 November 1941 as Oberstleutnant in the I./Reiter-Regiment 22
 * Iron Cross (1914)
 * 2nd Class (25 November 1916)
 * 1st Class (24 December 1917)
 * Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939
 * 2nd Class (18 September 1939)
 * 1st Class (5 June 1940)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
 * Knight's Cross on 27 June 1942 as Oberst and commander of Schützen-Regiment 115
 * 402nd Oak Leaves on 22 February 1944 as Oberst and leader of the 90. Panzergrenadier-Division
 * 111th Swords on 16 November 1944 as Generalleutnant and commander of the 90. Panzergrenadier-Division "Adiatisches Küstenland"
 * Mentioned twice in the Wehrmachtbericht (8 February 1944, 27 May 1944)

Footnotes and references

 * Citations


 * Bibliography


 * Atkinson, Rick (2007) The Day of Battle – The War in Sicily and Italy 1943–1944, ISBN 978-0-316-72560-6.
 * Hapgood, David & Richardson, David (1984) Monte Cassino, New York: Congdon & Weed, Inc. ISBN 0-86553-105-6.
 * Mitcham, Samuel W. (2007) Rommel's Desert Commanders – The Men Who Served the Desert Fox, North Africa, 1941–42. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-3510-9.
 * Plehwe, Friedrich-Karl von (1998) Das eigenständige Leben des Generals Ernst-Günther Baade. Schäuble, Rheinfelden. ISBN 3-87718-249-6.
 * von Senger und Etterlin F. (1960) Krieg in Europa, translated by George Malcolm as Neither Fear nor Hope, Macdonald & Co. Ltd., London, 1963
 * Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 3, 1. Januar 1944 bis 9. Mai 1945 (in German), München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1985. ISBN 3-423-05944-3.
 * Plehwe, Friedrich-Karl von (1998) Das eigenständige Leben des Generals Ernst-Günther Baade. Schäuble, Rheinfelden. ISBN 3-87718-249-6.
 * von Senger und Etterlin F. (1960) Krieg in Europa, translated by George Malcolm as Neither Fear nor Hope, Macdonald & Co. Ltd., London, 1963
 * Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 3, 1. Januar 1944 bis 9. Mai 1945 (in German), München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1985. ISBN 3-423-05944-3.
 * von Senger und Etterlin F. (1960) Krieg in Europa, translated by George Malcolm as Neither Fear nor Hope, Macdonald & Co. Ltd., London, 1963
 * Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 3, 1. Januar 1944 bis 9. Mai 1945 (in German), München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1985. ISBN 3-423-05944-3.
 * Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 3, 1. Januar 1944 bis 9. Mai 1945 (in German), München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1985. ISBN 3-423-05944-3.
 * Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 3, 1. Januar 1944 bis 9. Mai 1945 (in German), München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1985. ISBN 3-423-05944-3.