Years of service 1940–45 Name Ludwig Bauer Service/branch German Army | Unit Panzer-Regiment 33 Role Officer | |
Born 16 February 1923 (age 101) Kunzelsau ( 1923-02-16 ) Allegiance Nazi Germany (to 1945) West Germany Rank Leutnant (Wehrmacht)Oberstleutnant of the Reserves (Bundeswehr) Battles/wars World War IIOperation BarbarossaBattle of UmanBattle of Kiev (1941)Battle of MoscowBattle of Voronezh (1942)Operation OverlordBattle of the BulgeWestern Allied invasion of Germany Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Battles and wars Operation Barbarossa, Battle of Uman | ||
Ludwig Bauer (born 16 February 1923) was a Leutnant in the Wehrmacht during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (the Knight's Cross), the highest award made by Nazi Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or outstanding military leadership. Bauer was a tank crewman/commander who participated in numerous significant tank battles during World War II.
Contents
- The Unbelievable Survival Story Of Panzer Ace Ludwig Bauer Greatest Tank Battles War Stories
- World War II action
- Awards and decorations
- References
Tank Leutnant Bauer was not related to infantry Feldwebel Ludwig Bauer, who also was awarded a Knight's Cross.
The Unbelievable Survival Story Of Panzer Ace Ludwig Bauer | Greatest Tank Battles | War Stories
World War II action
Bauer was featured in the television series Greatest Tank Battles season 2, Episode 7. In the program Bauer describes his experiences as a Panzer crewman from training to his baptism of fire with the 9th Panzer Division in the Battle of Moscow. Wounded in that battle, Bauer returned to his unit for the German offensive in the Caucasus. When the 9th Panzer Division was transferred to the Western Front, Bauer was again in the thick of the action during the Ardennes Offensive, commanding a StuG tank destroyer in the 9th's drive to help out the stranded 2nd Panzer Division on the east bank of the river Meuse. Bauer ended the war commanding a Panther tank, his tank was positioned as recon front recon, however when Bauer went to sleep he found himself in a tank, with U.S. soldiers on top thinking his Panther was abandoned, after nearly running the soldiers over he returned to the German side after being hit by three bazookas. However he was mistaken for a U.S. tank and fired on by one Hetzer, surviving his burning Panther to end his war, the ninth time he'd managed to bail out of a burning tank.