Generalmajor der Reserve Dr. (med.dentist) Franz Bäke (28 February 1898 - 12 December 1978) was a German Army officer and panzer ace. In May 1915, Bäke volunteered for the German Army. He was posted to Infanterie-Regiment Nr.3, based in Köln. After basic training, Bäke was transferred to Infanterie-Regiment Nr.11, which was in action on the Western Front. During his service with IR11, he was promoted to gefreiter. He was also awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class for bravery in combat in the battles near Verdun for the towns of Fleury and Thiaumont. In early 1916, Bäke was again promoted, this time to vizefeldwebel. Mid 1916, Bäke accepted an offer to become an officer candidate, and was briefly transferred to Infanterie-Regiment Nr.10. In November 1916 Bäke was transferred to the artillery arm and served with Artillerie-Regiment zu Fuß Nr.7. In early 1918 he was wounded twice and was only returned to the front in September. After the armistice, Bäke remained in the army until his demobilisation in January 1919. Bäke rose to fame for his command of heavy Panzer forces in World War II. At the battle of Kursk - Panzer-Regiment BÃke of the Panzer-Armee was to form the southern pincer of the attack on the Kursk salient, Operation Citadel. BÃke led his Tigers through fierce fighting against the entrenched Soviet forces near Belgorod. On 13 July 1943, he was wounded, but remained with the unit. On 14 July, the commander of Panzer-Regiment 11 was severely wounded, and command of the regiment was temporarily delegated to BÃke. During the ferocious armour battles, BÃke led the regiment bravely and proved himself a more than capable regimental commander. The offensive was cancelled on 13 August 1943, and the BÃke's regiment saw heavy combat during the withdrawal to the Dniepr. For his actions during Citadel, BÃke was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross. In Febuary 1944 BÃke was involved in savage fighting on the Western side of the Dniepr at the Korsun Pocket. Greatly outnumbered German forces brokeout of the Korsun pocket to rendevous with Kommander Dr. BÃke at Lysyanka, Ukraine. BÃke held the door open under furious counter attacks by Red Army Guard shock troops for these soldats which included the SS Viking and Waffen SS Wallonie Belgian troops. |
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