Karl-Heinz Euling

Karl-Heinz Euling
Heinz Harmel with Euling (on right) and Otto Paetsch in February 1945.
Born	16 August 1919 Dorndorf, Germany
Died	14 April 2014 (aged 94) Munich, Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen SS
Years of service	1938–45
Rank	Hauptsturmführer
Unit	SS-VT SS Division Totenkopf 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Iron Cross I Class Iron Cross II Class War Merit Cross I class with swords War Merit Cross II class with swords Close Combat Clasp in Bronze Infantry Assault Badge in Silver Eastern Front Medal Wound Badge

Karl Heinz Euling (16 August 1919 – 14 April 2014)^[1] was a Hauptsturmführer (Captain) in the Waffen SS during World War II. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.

Early life

Euling was born on 16 August 1919 in Dorndorf, in the region of Eisenach. On 22 March 1932 he joined the Hitler Youth, where he earned the Hitler Youth Proficiency Badge and the Golden Hitler Youth Badge. On 1 September 1937 he joined the NSDAP. After the Volksschule, Euling attended a reform high school and passed his matriculation examination in February 1938. He volunteered to join the SS-VT on 1 April 1938, assigned to the 2 Company, SS Totenkopf and participated in the Polish Campaign with them.

World War II

Euling was then selected to become an officer and posted to the SS-Junkerschule at Braunschweig between February and May 1940. After graduation he was promoted to Untersturmführer (Second Lieutenant) in August 1940. After being wounded he was transferred to the SS Infantry Training nas Reserve Battalion Ost and from there to the 1st SS Infantry Brigade, where he served as a platoon commander and Adjutant earning the War Merit Cross I & II class with Swords and the Iron Cross I & II class. He was promoted to Hauptsturmführer (Captain) in November 1943 and transferred to the western front on the staff of the II SS Panzer Corps.

In June 1944 Euling was transferred to the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg and given command of the I.Battalion, 21 SS Panzergrenadier Regiment, during the Battle of Normandy. Having been withdrawn to the Arnhem area to reform they were well placed to respond to Operation Market Garden, the Allied parachute landings in the Netherlands. On 19 September 1944 Euling and his battalion (I./22) broke off from the house-to-house fighting and the position they had held at the bridge at Nijmegen that blocked the road leading to Arnhem. Euling was awarded the Knight's Cross for his leadership and command of the Battalion during the Normandy landings and the Battle of Arnhem.

References

1. Karl-Heinz Euling (obituary)

Further reading

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [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] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Mitcham, Samuel W (2007). Retreat to the Reich : the German defeat in France, 1944. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3384-7.
• Fey, Will; Henschler, Henri (2003). Armor Battles of the Waffen-SS. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-2905-5.
• Mitcham, Samuel W (2007). The German Defeat in the East, 1944–45. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3371-7.
• The Combat History of the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg. available on line