Johann Thaler

Johann Thaler
Born	6 February 1920 Württemberg
Died	7 April 1945(1945-04-07) (aged 25) Vienna, Austria
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen SS
Years of service	1938–1945
Rank	Oberscharführer
Unit	2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class Wound Badge in Gold Panzer Badge in Silver

Johann Thaler (6 February 1920 – 7 April 1945) was an Oberscharführer, in the Waffen SS during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. This was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.^[1]

Johann Thaler participated in the Battle of Moscow, the capturing of Sevastopol, Rostov-on-Don, Case Blue, the Kharkov Counteroffensives, The Battle of Kursk near Prokhorovka, The Battle of Normandy, The Battle of the Bulge, and the Defense of Vienna. During his years of service he was credited with 22 tank kills and seventeen anti-tank gun kills. His company accompanied Guderian's leading tanks to within fifteen kilometers of Moscow. He was awarded the Iron Cross First Class when he destroyed ten enemy tanks and four anti-tank guns in two days at the Battle of Kursk. In 1944, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross when he pulled two of his crew members out of his burning tank, while he suffered moderate burn injuries, earning him the Wound Badge in Gold. In the Battle of the Bulge he led one of the leading formations in Kampfgruppen Peiper. Johann Thaler was killed in Vienna whilst battling Russian units as a tank commander on 7 April 1945.

Personal life

He married in 1940 to Amalia Brumme in the Catholic faith, and had one daughter, Nancy, born 1941, who immigrated to America in 1948.

Notes

↑ "frontkjemper".

References

Mattson, Gregory Louis (2002). SS—Das Reich: The History of the Second SS division, 1939–45. Spellmount. ISBN 1-86227-144-5.

Book: "Dying for Saint-Lo" ISBN 978-2-35250-035-3

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich

Stab	Otto Baum¹ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Paul Hausser² (Oak Leaves & Swords) Matthias Kleinheisterkamp³ (Oak Leaves?) Walter Krüger⁴ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Werner Ostendorff (Oak Leaves?) Herbert-Ernst Vahl

Panzer-Kampfgruppe "Das Reich"	Heinz Lammerding

Panzergrenadier-Regiment 3 "Deutschland" SS-Standarte "Deutschland"	Heinrich Bastian? Wilhelm Bittrich⁵ (Oak Leaves & Swords?) Hans Eckert Franz Grohmann Heinz Harmel⁶ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Alfred Koch? Heinz Macher (Oak Leaves) Walter Mattusch? Adolf Rüd Helmuth Schreiber Felix Steiner⁷ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Alois Weber Günther-Eberhardt Wisliceny (Oak Leaves & Swords?) Fritz Witt⁸ (Oak Leaves)

Panzergrenadier-Regiment 4 "Der Führer" SS-Standarte "Der Führer"	Simon Grascher Wilhelm Grieme Hans Hauser? Helmut Kämpfe Vinzenz Kaiser Georg Keppler Ludwig Kepplinger Joachim Krüger Otto Kumm⁹ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Josef Lainer Günther Lange? Alfred Lex Adolf Peichl Herbert Schulze Sylvester Stadler¹⁰ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Otto Weidinger¹¹ (Oak Leaves & Swords?) Heinz Werner (Oak Leaves)

Panzer-Regiment 2 "Das Reich"	Ernst Barkmann Karl-Heinz Boska Rudolf Enseling Franz Frauscher Horst Gresiak Friedrich Holzer Dieter Kesten Karl Kloskowski (Oak Leaves) Fritz Langanke Karl Mühleck Adolf Reeb Albin Freiherr von Reitzenstein Emil Seibold? Willy Simke Johann Thaler Christian Tychsen (Oak Leaves) Johann Veith Karl-Heinz Worthmann

Panzerartillerie-Regiment 2 "Das Reich"	Wolfgang Gast Karl Kreutz (Oak Leaves?) Hans Schabschneider

Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 2 "Das Reich"	Walter Kniep Wolfgang Röhder

Panzerjäger-Abteilung 2 "Das Reich"	Erich Rossner

Kradschützen-Bataillon "Reich"	Fritz Klingenberg

Aufklärungs-Abteilung SS-Verfügungs-Division	Fritz Vogt¹² (Oak Leaves)

SS-Schützen-Regiment "Langemarck"	Jakob Fick

Panzeraufklärungs-Abteilung 2 "Das Reich"	Ernst Krag (Oak Leaves) Alfred Siegling Otto Weidinger¹¹ (Oak Leaves & Swords?) Hans Weiß

Panzerpionier-Bataillon 2 "Das Reich"	Siegfried Brosow Gebhard? Fritz Rieflin? Heinrich Schmelzer (Oak Leaves)

Flak-Abteilung 2 "Das Reich"	Franz-Joseph Dreike? Fritz Rentrop

¹Knight's Cross and Oak Leaves with SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Totenkopf" (3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf). ²Oak Leaves with the II SS Panzer Corps, Swords with the 7th Army. ³Oak Leaves with the XI SS Panzer Corps. ⁴Knight's Cross with the 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division, Swords with the VI. Waffen-Armeekorps der SS. ⁵Oak Leaves with the II SS Panzer Corps, Swords with the 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer. ⁶Swords with the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg. ⁷Oak Leaves with the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking, Swords with the III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps. ⁸Oak Leaves with SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 1 "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" (1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler). ⁹Oak Leaves with the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. ¹⁰Swords with the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen. ¹¹ Knight's Cross with SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 2 "Das Reich", Oak Leaves and Swords with SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 4 "Der Führer". ¹²Oak Leaves with SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 23 "Norge" (11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland). This along with the ? (question mark) indicates doubt regarding the veracity and formal correctness of the listing.

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