Franz Bäke (28 February 1898 – 12 December 1978) was a German officer and tank commander during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. He was a recipient of the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.
The Knight' ...
of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. In post-war popular culture, Bäke was memorialised in the historical fiction series ''
Panzer Aces
''Panzer Aces'' is an English-language book series by the German author Franz Kurowski. Originally released in 1992 by J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing, a Canadian publisher of militaria literature, it was licensed in 2002 by the firm to American pub ...
'' by German author
Franz Kurowski
Franz Kurowski (November 17, 1923 − May 28, 2011) was a German author of fiction and non-fiction who specialised in World War II topics. He is best known for producing apologist, revisionist and semi-fictional works on the history of the war, i ...
.
Early career and World War I
Born in 1898, Bäke volunteered for the
German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
in May 1915 and was posted to an infantry regiment. Fighting on the Western Front, Bäke earned the
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...
2nd Class in 1916. Bäke was discharged from military service in January 1919. From 1919 to 1921, Bäke served in the ''
Freikorps
(, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, regar ...
'' Epp, a right-wing
paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
unit named after
Franz Ritter von Epp
Franz Ritter von Epp (born Franz Epp; from 1918 as Ritter von Epp; 16 October 1868 – 31 January 1947)Lilla, Joachim: Epp, Franz Ritter v.'. In: Staatsminister, leitende Verwaltungsbeamte und (NS-)Funktionsträger in Bayern 1918 bis 19 ...
. In parallel, he studied medicine and dentistry and attained degree of
Doctor of Medical Dentistry in 1923.
On 1 March 1933, Bäke joined the ''
SA''; his final rank within the SA was SA-
Standartenführer
__NOTOC__
''Standartenführer'' (short: ''Staf'', , ) was a Nazi Party (NSDAP) paramilitary rank that was used in several NSDAP organizations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. First founded as a title in 1925, in 1928 it became one of ...
as of August 1944. Bäke established his own dentistry practice in Hagen. In 1937 he was accepted into the reserves and was posted to a reconnaissance unit. In 1938, he was mobilized for full-time service as an officer and took part in the
occupation of Czechoslovakia
Occupation commonly refers to:
*Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment
*Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces
*Military occupation, th ...
.
World War II
Bäke's unit took part in the
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
as part of the
1st Light Division, which was redesignated 6th Panzer Division in October 1939. With this unit, Bäke took part in the
Battle of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...
and
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
. Following the encirclement of the
German 6th Army at Stalingrad, the division took part in the abortive attempt to relieve the 6th Army in
Operation Winter Storm
Operation Winter Storm (german: Unternehmen Wintergewitter), a German offensive in December 1942 during World War II, involved the German 4th Panzer Army failing to break the Soviet encirclement of the German 6th Army during the Battle of Sta ...
in December 1942 and then retreated to
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.
The Knight' ...]
. During the
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history. ...
(Operation Citadel) in July 1943, Bäke's unit fought near
Belgorod
Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics
The population of Be ...
, retreating to the
Dniepr
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
afterwards. For his actions during Operation Citadel, Bäke was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross.

On 1 November 1943, Bäke was appointed as a regimental commander. In December 1943, he was ordered to form an ad hoc reinforced tank regiment named Heavy Panzer Regiment Bäke. The regiment consisted of 46
Panther
Panther may refer to:
Large cats
*Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis''
**''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards.
***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...
and 34
Tiger I
The Tiger I () was a German heavy tank of World War II that operated beginning in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted ...
tanks, supported by self-propelled artillery and a mechanized engineer battalion. In January 1944, Bäke commanded his regiment during the battles for the Balabonovka pocket. Bäke single-handedly destroyed three Soviet tanks during the battle with infantry weapons at close range, for which he received three
Tank Destruction Badge
The Tank Destruction Badge () was a World War II German military decoration awarded to individuals of the Wehrmacht who had single-handedly destroyed an enemy tank or an armored combat vehicle using a hand-held weapon. Anti-tank units were ineligi ...
s. Next, the regiment was part of a relief effort in support of Group
Stemmermann, encircled in the
Cherkassy Pocket
Cherkasy ( uk, Черка́си, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy is the Capital city, capital of Cherkasy Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of Cherkasky Raion (Raion, district) within the oblast. The c ...
. For his actions during these battles, Bäke received the Swords to the Knight's Cross on 21 February 1944. In March, the regiment fought in the
Kamenets-Podolsky pocket
Kamianets-Podilskyi ( uk, Ка́м'яне́ць-Поді́льський, russian: Каменец-Подольский, Kamenets-Podolskiy, pl, Kamieniec Podolski, ro, Camenița, yi, קאַמענעץ־פּאָדאָלסק / קאַמעניץ, ...
.
In May 1944, Bäke was promoted to
Oberst
''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...
and later appointed commander of Panzer Brigade ''Feldherrnhalle''. Bäke's unit attacked the
U.S. 90th Infantry Division near
Aumetz on the night of 7–8 September 1944. Bäke's command found itself poorly deployed and under sustained counter-attack from American infantry. By the evening of 8 September, Bäke had lost thirty tanks, sixty half-tracks, and nearly a hundred other vehicles in the lopsided battle. His infantry losses were also heavy, with the unit reporting to
OB West ''Oberbefehlshaber West'' (German: initials OB West), German for "high commander in the West") was the overall commander of the ''Westheer'', the German armed forces on the Western Front during World War II. It was directly subordinate to the Obe ...
that it had only nine armored vehicles and that unit strength was down to 25 per cent of the authorized establishment.
On 28 February 1945, Bäke transferred from reserve to active duty. On 10 March he was appointed commander of
Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 2
Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 2 was a late World War II German Wehrmacht panzer division. Commanded by Franz Bäke, it was formed in March 1945 of the remnants of other divisions and stationed with a home base at Wehrkreis XX. It was moved to S ...
, formally the
13th Panzer Division
The 13th Panzer Division ( en, 13th Armoured Division) was a unit of the German Army during World War II, established in 1940.
The division was organized under the code name Infantry Command IV (''Infanterieführer IV'') in October 1934. On O ...
, and sent to Hungary. Bäke's division fought as part of the Panzer Corps ''Feldherrnhalle'' during the retreat through Hungary and Czechoslovakia. On 20 April, Bäke was promoted to ''
Generalmajor
is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries.
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...
'' and officially given command of the division. On 8 May 1945 he surrendered to American forces. Bäke was interned for two years; he was released in 1947. He returned to Hagen and resumed his dental practice. He died in 1978.
In popular culture
Bäke is one of many highly decorated tank commanders popularised by the German author
Franz Kurowski
Franz Kurowski (November 17, 1923 − May 28, 2011) was a German author of fiction and non-fiction who specialised in World War II topics. He is best known for producing apologist, revisionist and semi-fictional works on the history of the war, i ...
in his historical fiction book series ''
Panzer Aces
''Panzer Aces'' is an English-language book series by the German author Franz Kurowski. Originally released in 1992 by J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing, a Canadian publisher of militaria literature, it was licensed in 2002 by the firm to American pub ...
'', along with
Kurt Knispel
Kurt Knispel (20 September 1921 – 28 April 1945) was a German tank commander during World War II. Knispel was profiled extensively in the second installment of the popular historical fiction series ''Panzer Aces'', which included an unfounded c ...
and
Michael Wittmann
Michael Wittmann (22 April 19148 August 1944) was a German Waffen-SS tank commander during the Second World War. He is known for his ambush of elements of the British 7th Armored Division during the Battle of Villers-Bocage on 13 June 1944. Whil ...
. According to historians
Ronald Smelser
Ronald Smelser (born 1942) is an American historian, author, and former professor of history at the University of Utah. He specializes in modern European history, including the history of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, and has written several ...
and Edward Davies, Kurowski is a "guru" among those who romanticise the German war effort on the Eastern Front. Smelser and Davies define gurus as "authors,
hohave picked up and disseminated the myths of the Wehrmacht in a wide variety of popular publications that romanticize the German struggle in Russia".
In Kurowski's retelling of the operation to relieve the
Cherkassy Pocket
Cherkasy ( uk, Черка́си, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy is the Capital city, capital of Cherkasy Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of Cherkasky Raion (Raion, district) within the oblast. The c ...
, Bäke is able to establish a corridor to the trapped German forces, after fighting unit after unit of the Red Army. Kurowski writes: "when the Soviets launched their expected attack, they were wiped out by the exhausted Panzer soldiers". In another of Kurowski's accounts, while attempting to relieve the 6th Army encircled in Stalingrad, Bäke destroys 32 enemy tanks in a single engagement.
The historian
Sönke Neitzel
Sönke Neitzel (born 26 June 1968) is a German historian who has written extensively about the Second World War. He is editor of the journal ''German History in the 20th Century'' and has written several books such as ''Soldaten: On Fighting, Ki ...
questions the number of "tank kills" attributed to various tank commanders. According to Neitzel, number of successes by highly decorated soldiers should be read with caution as it is rarely possible to determine reliably in the heat of the battle how many tanks were destroyed and by whom. Military historian
Steven Zaloga
Steven J. Zaloga (born February 1, 1952) is an American author and defense consultant. He received a bachelor's degree '' cum laude'' at Union College and a master's degree at Columbia University, both in history.
He has published many books ...
uses the term "
tank ace" in quotation marks in his 2015 work ''Armored Champion: The Top Tanks of World War II''. Zaloga points out that most of the supposed panzer aces operated the
Tiger I
The Tiger I () was a German heavy tank of World War II that operated beginning in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted ...
heavy tank on the Eastern Front; having advantages both in firepower and in armor, Tiger I was "nearly invulnerable in a frontal engagement" against any of the Soviet tanks of that time. A crew operating a Tiger could thus engage its opponents from a safe distance.
Zaloga also discusses the "romantic nonsense" of the popular perception of a tank versus tank engagement as an "armoured joust" – two opponents facing each other, – with the "more valiant or better-armed
nethe eventual victor". Most of the successful tank commanders were indeed "bushwahackers", having a battlefield advantage rather than a technical one. Zaloga concludes: "Most of the 'tank aces' of World War II were simply lucky enough to have an invulnerable tank with a powerful gun". (quotations marks in the original).
Awards
*
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...
(1914) 2nd Class (15 July 1916)
*
Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (german: Das Ehrenkreuz des Weltkrieges 1914/1918), commonly, but incorrectly, known as the Hindenburg Cross or the German WWI Service Cross was established by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, Presiden ...
*
Clasp to the Iron Cross
The Clasp to the Iron Cross (Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz) was a white metal medal clasp displayed on the uniforms of German Wehrmacht personnel who had been awarded the Iron Cross in World War I, and who again qualified for the decoration in World W ...
(1939) 2nd Class (26 September 1939)
* Iron Cross (1939) 1st Class (1 June 1940)
*
Panzer Badge
The Panzer Badge () was a World War II military decoration of Nazi Germany awarded to troops in armoured divisions. Before 1 June 1940 it was known as the ''Panzerkampfwagenabzeichen''.
Creation and eligibility
Introduced on 20 December 1939, t ...
in Silver: four awards up to 4th Grade; in Special Grade (100)
* 3
Tank Destruction Badges for Individual Combatants (17 July 1943)
*
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.
The Knight' ...
** Knight's Cross on 11 January 1943 as ''
Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
'' of the Reserves and commander of the II./Panzer-Regiment 11
** Oak Leaves on 1 August 1943 as ''Major'' of the Reserves and commander of the II./Panzer-Regiment 11
** Swords on 21 February 1944 as ''
Oberstleutnant
() is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Lieutenant colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedis ...
'' of the Reserves and commander of Panzer-Regiment 11
The
1st Army First Army may refer to:
China
* New 1st Army, Republic of China
* First Field Army, a Communist Party of China unit in the Chinese Civil War
* 1st Group Army, People's Republic of China
Germany
* 1st Army (German Empire), a World War I field Army ...
and
19th Army nominated Bäke for the
for his leadership of 106. Panzer-Brigade. The nomination was rejected by
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
in his role as commander-in-chief
Army Group Oberrhein.
References
Citations
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bake, Franz
1898 births
1978 deaths
People from Main-Kinzig-Kreis
Military personnel from Hesse-Nassau
German Army personnel of World War I
Major generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht)
Road incident deaths in West Germany
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 2nd class
German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States
German dentists
Prussian Army personnel
German Army personnel of World War II
20th-century dentists
Military personnel from Hesse
Panzer commanders