GENERALLEUTNANT ERNST-GÜNTER BAADE

 

Short Biographie:
Born: 20.08.1897 in Falkenhagen / Brandenburg
Died: 08.05.1945 in Field Hospital in Bad Segeberg / Schleswig-Holstein (DoW)


Entered Army (Cavalry branch) in 1914, fought in WW1
Entered WW2 as Major

Assignments in WW2:

• 26.08.1939 Commander Aufklärungsabteilung 17
• 14.12.1939 Commander I./Reiterregiment 22
• 01.03.1940 promoted to Oberstleutnant
• 15.08.1941 wounded / Hospital
• 15.10.1941 Commander Radfahrabteilung 1
• 01.12.1941 Commander Kradschützenbataillon 4
• 06.03.1942 placed in reserve
• 01.04.1942 sent to Africa, promoted to Oberst
• 15.04.1942 Commander Schützenregiment 115
• 27.06.1942 decorated with Ritterkreuz
• 28.07.1942 wounded at El Alamein
• 01.08.1942 placed in reserve
• 01.12.1942 Liaison officer to Italian Commando Supremo
• 23.04.1943 Commander Wehrmacht-Einsatzstab Italy
• 14.07.1943 Commander Strait of Messina
• 19.08.1943 placed in reserve
• 10.09.1943 Acting Commander 15.Panzerdivision
• 28.10.1943 placed in reserve
• 20.12.1943 Commander 90.Panzergrenadierdivision
• 22.02.1944 decorated with Eichenlaub
• 20.03.1944 promoted to Generalmajor with rank from 01.02.1944
• 01.08.1944 promoted to Generalleutnant
• 16.11.1944 decorated with Schwerter
• 10.12.1944 placed in reserve
• 01.03.1945 Commander LXXXI.Army Corps
• 13.03.1945 placed in reserve, ill
• 24.04.1945 while travelling in car attacked by british fighter bomber, mortally wounded
• 08.05.1945 died

 

• Awards:
• 1914 Iron Cross 2nd class (25.11.1916)
• 1914 Iron Cross 1st class (24.12.1917)
• 1939 Bar to 1914 Iron Cross 2nd class (18.9.1939)
• 1939 Bar to 1914 Iron Cross 1st class (5.6.1940)
• German Cross in Gold (2.11.1941)
• Tank Battle Badge
• Knight´s Cross of the Iron Cross: 27.6.1942 as Oberst and commander of Schützen-Regiment 115/15 Panzer-Division/Panzer-Armee Afrika
• Knight´s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oakleaves: 22.2.1944 as Oberst and führer 90 Panzer-Grenadier Division/XIV Panzer-Korps/10 Armee/Heeresgruppe C/Italy
• Knight´s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oakleaves and Swords: 16.11.1944 as Generalleutnant and commander of 90 Panzer-Grenadier Division/Adriatisches Küstenland/Heeresgruppe C/Italy

Notes:

• Wehrmachtbericht on 8.2.1944 and 27.5.1944
• He was one of the few general officers who earned the wearing of a Tank Destruction Badge (1) on his upper right sleeve for the singlehanded destruction of an enemy tank with an infantry weapon.
• Baade was wounded in the neck and lower leg by a phosphorus projectile on 24 April 1945 when his Kübelwagen was strafed by a British fighter aircraft near Neverstaven in Holstein. Baade was taken to a hospital at Bad Segeberg, where he succumbed to gangrene on 8 May 1945, the last day of the war.

(1) The tank destruction badge was awarded to soldiers who destroyed an enemy tank single handedly by a hand held weapon. Anti-tank units were not eligible for this award.

As refered by Mr. Mitcham in this book - Rommel's Desert Commanders: The Men Who Served the Desert Fox, North Africa, 1941-42) is favorite German officer is Ernst Gunter Baade, a gentleman form the old school, believing in chivalry. "An idiosyncratic maverick, Ernst Baade definitely marched to his own drummer and soon became a legend in the Africa Korps by going into battle dressed in a Scottish kilt...In the field, he habitually wore a black beret with a tartan plaid ribbon and carried a huge claymore instead of a luger."

Baade's unpredictable actions caused anger and irritation at the High Command of the Armed Forces, but it did not ruffle Rommel, who shielded him," explains Mr. Mitcham. He was credited with the masterly evacuation of the XIV Panzer Corps from Sicily.

Rommel's Desert Commanders: The Men Who Served the Desert Fox, North Africa, 1941-42 (Stackpole Military History Series) contains 17 maps and a gallery of 43 photographs, Mr. Mitcham's book is a quick and enjoyable read, his narrative is full of interest for students of the Africa Korps.

Thanks to Stefan Schlemmer and Francisco de Asís Romero y Medina