Karl Eibl (military)

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Karl Franz Eibl (born July 23, 1891 in Goisern ; † January 21, 1943 near Stalingrad ) was an Austro-German officer , most recently a general of the infantry and commander of several units in the First and Second World Wars .

Life

Training and First World War

Eibl was born in the Steg station building (today: Steeg-Gosau) in the village of Au in the Goisern community as the son of a railway official, decided to become an officer before the start of the First World War and attended the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt . During the First World War Eibl was deployed as a lieutenant in the 21st Landwehr Regiment and was promoted to first lieutenant in 1915 . He was used as a company commander on the Eastern Front and on the Southern Front.

Austrian Armed Forces

After the war and the collapse of the German Empire, he was transferred to the new Austrian army and transferred as a captain to the 6th Infantry Regiment. Here he was promoted to major on September 25, 1928 .

Second World War

attack on Poland

When Austria was annexed, he was taken over as a major in the German armed forces in 1938 . Here he was employed as a trainer at the Bruckneudorf Infantry School . At the beginning of 1939, Karl Eibl , who was promoted to lieutenant colonel , became the commander of a battalion in Infantry Regiment 131, which was subordinate to the 44th Infantry Division , which was composed only of Austrians and was used in the attack on Poland near Krakow and Lemberg . For the service he received both classes of the Iron Cross .

Western front deployment

At the beginning of 1940 the 44th Infantry Division was transferred to the Western Front, was successfully active in northern France and then headed for Anneau south of Paris .

In the western campaign , Eibl was transferred to Infantry Regiment 132, sister regiment of Infantry Regiment 131 in the same 44th Infantry Division, of which he became commander in June 1940. With his regiment, while a French brigade was pushed back, he succeeded in conquering the strategically important town of Chuignolles in the Somme department , for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on August 15, 1940, as one of the first regimental commanders . On February 1, 1941, he was promoted to colonel .

Eastern front operation

After a short stay in occupied France, his unit was transferred to Slovakia to take part in the Russian campaign in the course of Operation Barbarossa . On December 31, 1941, he was awarded the Knight's Cross with the Oak Leaves for his achievements with Shitomir and Uman .

On January 8, 1942, Eibl took command of the newly formed, still inexperienced 385th Infantry Division . On February 1, 1942, he was promoted to major general. With his association Eibl took part in the battles on the Don and near Voronezh . The division was deployed as part of the 6th Army under General Friedrich Paulus at the Battle of Stalingrad northwest of the city, where his unit suffered heavy losses in the defensive battles. For his achievements, Eibl received the oak leaves swords on December 19, 1942 as the 21st Wehrmacht soldier . After Field Marshal Erwin Rommel , he was the second soldier in the army to receive this award. At the same time he was appointed lieutenant general.

On January 20, 1943, Eibl was entrusted with the leadership of the XXIV Panzer Corps northwest of Stalingrad. His advances took his corps up to about 50 km to the outskirts of Stalingrad. The Voronezh Front's Operation Ostrogoschsk-Rossosh offensive had been running since January 13 . Soviet troops outflanked Eibl's entire corps at Nikolajewka as well as some Italian mountain troops of the Alpini Corps. Eibl was only just able to prevent the destruction of his corps and he succeeded in clearing a corridor to the west.

Death before Stalingrad

On January 21, 1943, one day after taking over his corps, Eibl made a reconnaissance trip. On the way to the front, in a heavy snowstorm, he met an Italian unit that was actually allied and believed that he and his column were Russian troops. In the brief firefight, Eibl was seriously wounded in the left leg by a hand grenade explosion. Due to the severe splinter injuries, the emergency amputation of the torn thigh became necessary, which Eibl only survived by a few hours due to the high blood loss.

Eibl was posthumously promoted to General of the Infantry on March 1, 1943 with effect from January 1, 1943 .

There is a monument to Karl Eibl in the Krems city ​​park.

Awards (excerpt)

literature

  • Gordon Williamson: Knight's Cross, Oak-Leaves and Swords Recipients 1941–45 , Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012, p. 16 + p. 17
  • Marcel Stein: Austria's Generals in the German Army: 1938-1945 , Biblio, 2002, p. 327 + p. 328

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Baptisms of Pf. Goisern (duplicates), 1891, No. 17 ( facsimile )
  2. ^ Bavaria (Germany) War Ministry: Ordinance sheet of the Royal Bavarian War Ministry . Printed in the K. Bavarian War Ministry, 1916 ( google.de [accessed on January 28, 2018]).
  3. ↑ a b c Florian Berger: The Face of Courage: The 98 Men Who Received the Knight's Cross and the Close-Combat Clasp in Gold . Stackpole Books, 2011, ISBN 978-0-8117-4490-4 ( google.de [accessed January 28, 2018]).
  4. ↑ a b c d Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 290.
  5. ^ Samuel W. Mitcham Jr: German Order of Battle: 291st-999th Infantry Divisions, Named Infantry Divisions, and Special Divisions in WWII . Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-4844-5 ( google.de [accessed January 28, 2018]).
  6. ^ Samuel W. Mitcham: The Panzer Legions: A Guide to the German Army Tank Divisions of World War II and Their Commanders . Stackpole Books, 2006, ISBN 978-0-8117-3353-3 ( google.de [accessed January 28, 2018]).
  7. ^ Samuel Mitcham (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 . P. 89.
  8. ^ Bavaria (Germany) War Ministry: Ordinance sheet of the Royal Bavarian War Ministry . Printed in the K. Bavarian War Ministry, 1916 ( google.de [accessed on January 28, 2018]).
  9. ↑ a b c d David A. Miller: Die Schwertertraeger Der Wehrmacht: Recipients of the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves and Swords . Merriam Press, 1997, ISBN 978-1-57638-073-4 ( google.de [accessed January 28, 2018]).
personal data
SURNAME Eibl, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Eibl, Karl Franz (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austro-German officer, most recently general of the infantry and commander of several units in the First and Second World Wars
DATE OF BIRTH July 23, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Goisern
DATE OF DEATH January 21, 1943
Place of death at Stalingrad