Fritz Biegi

Fritz Biegi
Born	18 January 1918 Bechtheim, Germany
Died	16 March 1945 (1945-03-17) (aged 27) Leobschütz, Poland
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen SS
Years of service	1939–45
Rank	Standartenoberjunker
Unit	5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class Close Combat Clasp in Bronze Infantry Assault Badge Eastern Front Medal 1941/42

Fritz Biegi (18 January 1918 – 16 March 1945) was a Standartenoberjunker in the Waffen SS during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, an award for extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.

Early life

Fritz Biegi was born on 8 January 1918, in Bechtheim in Hesse-Nassau. After he finished school he joined the Reich Labour Service until March 1938. He then volunteered to join the SS-VT in April 1938 and was posted to the 7th Company, SS Standarte Germania.

World War II

In 1939 Biegi took part in the Polish Campaign and the Battle of France and was promoted to Unterscharführer in July 1941.

He also took part in Operation Barbarossa the invasion of the Soviet Union and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class in July 1941, the Infantry Assault Badge in February 1942, the Iron Cross 1st class in October 1942.

In April 1943 he was awarded the Close Combat Clasp in Bronze which was awarded for 15 days of hand to hand fighting at close quarters.

In October 1943 when the Division was restructured he was now in the 5th Company, 9th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment Germania.

Knight's Cross

Biegi was awarded the Knight's Cross for his actions in February 1944, Germania were given the task of defending the town of Orlewez to the west of Smela.

Intelligence had suggested a Soviet attack was expected on the night of 2 February; the attack came at 20:00 hours during a severe storm, and succeeded in breaking the German line on the right. Biegi, seeing that the front was liable to collapse, collected a machine gun from a dead Grenadier and engaged the advancing Soviet forces at a distance of 20 meters, firing the machine gun from the hip. He advanced alone along the captured front line, throwing hand grenades which destroyed three Soviet machine guns and cleared the line.

In the following twelve hours Biegi and his platoon successfully defended the line from Soviet attacks against their front and rear. The next morning, when the German reserves managed to link up with them, they found more than 100 Soviet dead and 3 guns destroyed, 10 machine guns and 6 grenade launchers captured, and forty prisoners of war.

In March 1945 he was promoted to Standartenoberjunker and posted to the staff of the 18th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division "Horst Wessel". He was killed in action on 16 March 1945.

Further reading

• Hamilton Charles Leaders and Personalities of the Third Reich, R James Bender Pub 1997, ISBN 0-912138-27-0
• Kurowski Franz Panzer Aces II Stackpole Books, 2004, ISBN 0-8117-3175-8