FRANZ BAEKE. NAZI TANK ACE, WW II
Franz Bäke (28 February 1898 – 12 December 1978) was a German officer and tank commander during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany.
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 and 34 Tiger I 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 Badges.[3] Next, the regiment was part of a relief effort in support of Group Stemmermann, encircled in the Cherkassy Pocket. 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.In the post-war popular culture, Bäke is one of the "panzer aces", that is, a highly decorated German tank commanders popularised in the English-language translations of the German author Franz Kurowski's Panzer Aces series.During World War II, Bäke participated in over 400 tank combat missions, 13 of which resulted in the destruction of his tank. He was wounded seven times in combat.
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