Josef Brandner

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Josef Brandner
Josef Brandner I.jpg
Birth date 1 September 1915(1915-09-01)
Place of birth Hohenberg, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary
Death date 6 June 1996 (aged 80)
Place of death Vienna, Republic of Austria
Allegiance Austria First Austrian Republic
 National Socialist Germany
Service/branch Roundel of the Austrian Armed Forces.png Austrian Bundesheer
Balkenkreuz.jpg Heer
Years of service 1936–1938
1938–1945
Rank Vormeister
Major
Unit Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 912
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Sudetenland Medal
Iron Cross
Eastern Front Medal
German Cross in Gold
Honour Roll Clasp of the Army
Close Combat Clasp
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
Relations ∞ Emilie Brandner (b. 30 September 1921)
Other work Electromechanic

Josef "Sepp" Wilhelm Brandner (1915–1996) was a German officer from Austria, Major of the Wehrmacht and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves during WWII. Post-war, a POW from 9 May 1945 to 1948, he was a member of the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients (AKCR). One source states, he was also an officer of the new Bundesheer (founded 1955),[1] but this cannot be documented. It is possible, he belonged to the reserves of the Austrian Army.

Life

Josef Brandner, a trained electromechanic (Elektromechaniker), was drafted into the Austrian Armed Forces on 1 October 1936 and served with the light artillery. Incorporated into the Wehrmacht in 1938 after the "Anschluss", Brandner enlisted for four years and served with the new Artillerie-Regiment 102 in Vienna. After the Poland Campaign, he was commanded to the Officer Candidate School in Jüterbog. After the Western Campaign, he was transferred to the storm artillery in early 1941.

As battery commander and deputy battalion commander of the 202nd Assault Gun Battalion, he was severely wounded by a sniper on 17 January 1942 (a bullet through the throat between the esophagus and larynx). This was followed by a long period in hospitals and convalescent homes. It wasn't until February 1943 that he was declared fit for service again. But first, he went to a commander's course in Magdeburg. In the summer of 1943, he returned to Russia, fought subordinated to the Army Group South and was wounded again. In September 1943, he received the German Cross in Gold.

On 14 February 1944, the Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 202 was renamed to Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 202. On 27 February 1944, Captain Brandner was recommended for the Knight's Cross for an act of bravery on 26 January 1944 near Winograd. This was refused on 12 May 1944, but in September 1944, he received the Honour Roll Clasp of the Army. In December 1944, he was appointed commander of the 912th Army Assault Gun Brigade with the Army Group North, as of February 1945 with the Army Group Courland. From 23 March 1945, the brigade was surrounded in the Courland Pocket.His Army Assault Gun Brigade 192 destroyed 600 Soviet tanks in Courland with only 38 own casualties.

Promotions

  • 24 October 1937: Vormeister (Private E-2/Lance Corporal) of the Bundesheer
  • 1 October 1938: Obergefreiter (Private First Class E-3/Senior Lance Corporal) of the Wehrmacht
  • 1 December 1938: Unteroffizier (NCO/Corporal/Junior Sergeant)
  • 1 April 1940: Wachtmeister (Staff Sergeant)
  • 4 May 1940: Offizieranwärter (Officer Candidate)
  • 1 June 1940: Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
  • 1 July 1942: Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
  • 1 June 1943: Hauptmann (Captain)
  • April 1945: Major (another source states February 1945[2])

Awards and decorations

  • Sudetenland Medal with the Prague Castle Bar
  • Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
    • 2nd Class on 14 October 1941
    • 1st Class on 16/26 January 1942
  • Wound Badge (1939) in Black and Silver
    • Black on 23 March 1942
    • Silver on 21 August 1943
  • General Assault Badge on 4 April 1942
  • Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal on 1 August 1942
  • German Cross in Gold on 14/16 September 1943
  • Honour Roll Clasp of the Army (Ehrenblattspange des Heeres) on 7 September 1944 as Captain and Commander of the 2nd Battery/Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 202/34. Infanterie-Division/VII. Armeekorps/8. Armee (Wöhler)/Army Group South Ukraine
  • General Assault Badge (Allgemeines Sturmabzeichen), I. to IV. Grade in Silver
    • IV. Grade with the deployment number "75"
    • IV. Grade with the deployment number "100" on 20 October 1944
  • Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
    • Knight's Cross on 17 March 1945 as Captain and Commander of Heeres-Sturmartillerie-Brigade 912/205. Infanterie-Division/XXXVIII. Armeekoprs/16. Armee/Army Group Courland
    • 846th Oak Leaves on 26[3] or 30 April 1945 as Major and Commander of Heeres-Sturmartillerie-Brigade 912
  • Close Combat Clasp in Bronze on 11 April 1945
  • Courland Cuff Title / Cuff Band "Kurland" (Ärmelband „Kurland“) on 4 May 1945
  • Croix du combattant de l’Europe (“European Cross”) on 1 May 1975
  • Austrian Decoration of Merit in Silver on 7 July 1994

Gallery

  • Josef Brandner (1915–1996) (1).png
  • Josef Brandner (1915–1996) (2).png
  • Josef Brandner (1915–1996) (3).png
  • Josef Brandner (1915–1996) (4).png
  • Josef Brandner III.jpg
  • Josef Brandner II.jpg
  • Josef Brandner (1915–1996).jpg
  • Zwei Ritterkreuzträger des Eisernen Kreuzes, W.-P. Fellgiebel und Josef Brandner.jpg

References

  1. ↑ Brandner, Josef Wilhelm "Sepp" (Archive)
  2. ↑ Brandner, Josef
  3. ↑ Walther-Peer Fellgiebel: Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile (in German), Podzun-Pallas, Wölfersheim 2000, ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6; English: The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches, expanded edition, 2000
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