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Hermann Bix

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Years of service
  
1935–45 1956–70

Service/branch
  
German Army

Name
  
Hermann Bix

Unit
  
4th Panzer Division

Hermann Bix wwwlexikonderwehrmachtdePersonenregisterBild
Born
  
10 October 1914 Strehlitz (
1914-10-10
)

Allegiance
  
Nazi Germany (to 1945)  West Germany

Battles/wars
  
World War II Invasion of Poland Battle of France Operation Barbarossa Battle of Bialystok–Minsk Battle of Kiev (1941) Battle of Moscow Battle of Radzymin (1944) Courland Pocket

Died
  
July 31, 1986, Wiesbaden, Germany

Awards
  
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Battles and wars
  
Invasion of Poland, Battle of France

Rank
  
Oberfeldwebel (Wehrmacht), Feldwebel (Bundeswehr)

Hermann Bix (10 October 1914 – 31 July 1986) was a highly decorated panzer ace in the Wehrmacht. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Contents

Biography

Hermann Bix was born on 10 October 1914 in Strehlitz in the region of Silesia. He attended vocational school for mechanical engineering and later joined the Wehrmacht in 1935. He served in the Invasion of Poland and Battle of France. In June 1941 he took part in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. On 20 October 1941 he was awarded the Iron Cross I and II. Class. On 22 August 1942 he stepped on a mine and was wounded. Evacuated to Germany he was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 5 November 1942. He spent eighteen months training cadets.

Bix returned to the Eastern Front and joined the Panzer-Regiment 35 attached to the 4th Panzer Division. He fought with the Division under the command of Army Group Centre until August 1944 in command of a Panther tank. Transferred to Army Group North he fought defensive battles against the Soviet offensive Operation Bagration. In August he was wounded in action and received the wound badge in Silver and Panzer Assault Medal Second Class.

In October 1944 the Division was engaged in the fighting around Danzig in East Prussia. His unit was re-equipped with the Jagdpanther tank destroyer. From January to May 1945, his unit was caught in the Courland pocket. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 22 March 1945 and before the end of the war he was named an officer cadet.

In 1956 he joined the Bundeswehr and served until 1970, retiring as an Oberstabsfeldwebel (Sergeant Major).

Medals and Decorations

  • Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (30 May 1940)
  • 1st Class (20 October 1941)
  • Wound Badge (1939)
  • in Black
  • in Silver (18 August 1944)
  • Eastern Front Medal
  • Panzer Badge
  • II Class (18 August 1944)
  • IV (100) (22 March 1945)
  • German Cross in Gold on 5 November 1942 as Feldwebel in the 8./Panzer-Regiment 15
  • Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 22 March 1945 as Oberfeldwebel and Zugfuhrer (platoon leader) in 3./Panzer-Regiment 35
  • References

    Hermann Bix Wikipedia