Alexius Battyan

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Alexius Battyan (born February 8, 1921 in Kirchfidisch / Burgenland ; † October 19, 2011 Graz ) was an Austrian general and from 1980 to 1985 commander of the 1st Corps of the Austrian Armed Forces .

Life

Alexius Battyan was drafted into the German armed forces on November 15, 1940 after graduating from the Oberschützen teacher training college . After basic training, he completed his officer training in the FlAK artillery, interrupted by a six-month front-line deployment in the Russian campaign . Promoted to lieutenant in April 1942, he served as platoon commander in Flak Regiment 288 in the Bremen area and then as a battery commander in Flak Regiment 222 in the northern section of the Russian front. After being wounded in the summer of 1943, after his recovery in November 1943, he was transferred to Flak Regiment 155, which was equipped with the V1 rocket. The regiment was in Normandy from April 1944 and participated in the retreat through France after the invasion . In October 1944 he became a first lieutenant. The last deployment of the regiment, which was converted to a 2 cm quadruple flak, took place in early 1945 on the Lower Rhine . At the end of the war he was captured by the British as a prisoner of war, he returned home in October 1945, completed his teacher training and worked as a teacher in Trieben and finally as director of the secondary school and vocational school in Rottenmann .

On October 20, 1955, he was taken over as first lieutenant in the new armed forces and at the end of November he was sent to Bregenz to the provisional border guard department No. 9, renamed to the 23rd Jägerbataillon from April 1956. In July of this year he was transferred to Graz to reorganize the 4th Panzer Battalion and was appointed commander of the staff company and - especially important in this phase - driver officer and head of the driving school. From December 1959 to December 1962 he completed the 3rd general staff course. Promoted to Major of the General Staff, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Styrian Military Command on January 1, 1963 . In 1965 he became Lieutenant Colonel of the General Staff and in 1968 Colonel of the General Staff.

After a brief assignment to the management department in the Federal Ministry of Defense , he was appointed to head of the Styrian military command in autumn 1971 and was appointed military commander on November 15th of this year. In this position, which he held for eight years, but also before that as Chief of Staff, he was significantly involved in the establishment and expansion of the Styrian military command and the Styrian militia units. He also made a contribution to the good cooperation with the civil authorities and organizations in the country. On April 1, 1980 he was appointed commander of the I. Corps , which was responsible for commanding all troops in the eastern half of Austria. In this position he played a key role in the implementation of the space defense concept in practice. After he had been promoted to major general when he assumed command , he was promoted to general on July 15, 1981 . He retired on March 31, 1985.

Honors

literature

Stefan Bader: At the highest point, The Generals of the Federal Army of the Second Republic. Vienna 2004, pp. 40–43.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c obituary in: Kleine Zeitung of October 22, 2011, p. 55.
  2. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB).
  3. ^ General-Battyan March (accessed on October 27, 2011).
  4. ^ Citizens of the provincial capital Graz ( Memento from October 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (queried on October 28, 2011).
  5. ↑ OKB (queried on October 27, 2011).
personal data
SURNAME Battyan, Alexius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian military, most recently general
DATE OF BIRTH February 8, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Kirchfidisch , Burgenland
DATE OF DEATH October 19, 2011
Place of death Graz