Acts of Bravery

[Victor]

On 8 July, the 11th Regiment entered in the first line south of Tiganca. It was however powerfully assaulted. At about 1000, col. Bardan, the regiment’s CO, reported that he was in a desperate situation together with the 1st Battalion. They were almost out of ammo. At noon, it was again attacked. Two companies pulled back, but col. Bardan remained on the position together with 68 men. He ordered the regiment’s flag to be raised and the trumpet sounded the attack. Meanwhile, gen. Dascalescu took over the rest of the 11th Regiment and counterattacked, saving the situation.

Col. Stefan Bardan was awarded the Mihai Viteazul Order, 3rd class on 17 October 1941.

[Victor]

Col. Andrei Mihail Nasta – deputy CO of the 21st Infantry Division, awarded Mihai Viteazul Order, 3rd class post-mortem, on 17 October 1941:

For the courage he displayed during the battles east of the Dniester, especially at Odessa, when, on 31 August, he was sent to see the progress made by the front line troops, he took personal command of the assault, led a battalion to the objective and secured it; but he was hit by enemy fire and died.

Cpt. Stefan Tebeica – from the 8th Cavalry Brigade, awarded Mihai Viteazul Order, 3rd class post-mortem, on 17 October 1941:

For the courage he displayed on the battlefield, where, on his own initiative, he took command of a squadron, which had remained without a CO, after he had been wounded; he led the unit into an assault, which took out several pillboxes, he himself blowing them up with dynamite. He was killed leading his men.

[Csaba Becze]

Nice stories about the brave Rumanian soldiers.
How many officers got the Mihai Viteazul Order, 3rd class during the war? It war really the highest Rumanian order?

Csaba

[Victor]

QUOTE

Nice stories about the brave Rumanian soldiers.   How many officers got the Mihai Viteazul Order, 3rd class during the war? It war really the highest Rumanian order? Csaba

Yes, it was and it is the highest Romanian military Order.
In total, during WWII, 1252 orders were awarded to Romanian officers, 131 were awarded to Romanian units and the rest up to 1720 to foreign officers.

[Victor]

Cpt. Carol Andras Koenig – from the 54th Artillery Regiment, awarded the Mihai Viteazul Order 3rd class post-mortem on 12 February 1942.

For the bravery he displayed at Bol Molokish and for the action on 11 September 1941, when he supported the battalion of maj. Pretorian, which was encircled; he continued to fire while the enemy was closing in on his observation point, until he was killed by the enemy's bullets.

Cpt. Alexandru Borcescu – from the 63rd Artillery Regiment, awarded the Mihai Viteazul Order 3rd class post-mortem on 12 February 1942.

For the heroism he displayed in the battles for the Bucovat Valley (8 July 1941), where although his battery was encircled, he continued to fight; after his positions were overran he managed tosneak out together with some of his men, found a howitzer of another battery and started to fire it at the enemy tanks, until he was killed by a mortar shell.

Cpt. Valerie Negut – from the 54th Artillery Regiment, awarded the Mihai Viteazul Order 3rd class post-mortem on 12 February 1942.

For the patriotism and bravery he displayed in the battles west of Miclauseni (8 July 1941), when, although surrounded, he continued to fight, firing his pistol at the attackers, until he was severely wounded and captured. Taken to Vorniceni for interrogation, he refused to give away any information and was shot.

Cpt. Eugen Petit – from the 4th Rosiori Regiment Regina Maria, awarded the Mihai Viteazul Order 3rd class post-mortem on 12 February 1942.

For the exceptional bravery he displayed on 29 September 1941, when his regiment took the Polegrad and Kosos villages and he succeeded, with his squadron, in stopping the assault of a superior enemy force, which he held at bay until 17:30; seeing his sector threatened, he led the reserve platoon into a counterattack which repulsed the enemy battalions. He died like a hero in front of his men.

[Csaba Becze]

1252 for the Rumanan officers? Hmm
Just approx two dozen officers got the highest Hungarian officers medal. Approx. 35 Hungarian soldiers got the highest medal for soldiers and warrant officers.
Was not an inflation with this medal (means got this at the first stage of war for bigger feat, than later)?

[Der Maresal]

Major Gheorghe Rasconescu


Rasconescu was a battalion commander in the 15th Dorobanti [infantry] Regiment of the 6th Infantry Division. His was the only Romanian formation of Lascar's embattled group to escape Soviet encirclement during the Battle of Stalingrad. From 26th November until 3rd December 1942 Rasconescu's battalion prevented the Soviet 8th Cavalry Corps from capturing the vital German airfield at Oblivkavia, a heroic stand against overwhelming odds which earned this very junior officer a Ritterkreuz.

Anyone know more?

[Der Maresal]

These two are from the Romanian Knights Cross Holders of WWII artice on Feldgrau, but I hear it is full of mistakes and unreliable information therefore how much of this is true?

http://www.feldgrau.com/romkc.html

[Der Maresal]

Colonel Ion Hristea

Hristea commanded the famed 2nd Calarasi Cavalry Regiment, which during the Battle of Stalingrad defended an eighty-kilometer stretch of front for the embattled Romanian 4th Army. Incredibly, Hristea held this sector against Soviet attacks for nearly a month before being forced to withdraw. Hristea himself suffering grievous maiming wounds while leading his troops against heavy Soviet armor, in one instance firing his pistol at a KV-1!


Anyone know more?
this sounds almost like a landscape from the apocalypse... did this truly take place?.. :shock:

[dragos]

QUOTE

1252 for the Rumanan officers? Hmm Just approx two dozen officers got the highest Hungarian officers medal. Approx. 35 Hungarian soldiers got the highest medal for soldiers and warrant officers. Was not an inflation with this medal (means got this at the first stage of war for bigger feat, than later)?

The order "Mihai Viteazul" had three classes: III, II and I. To get cl. II one has to already have cl. III.

Romanian officers awarded with cl. II:

General Gheorghe Avramescu - commander of Mountain Corps
Lieutenant-colonel Dumitru Carlan - commander of 9th Mountain Battalion (cl. III in WW1)
General Corneliu Dragalina - commander of 6th Army Corps (cl. III in WW1)
General Ioan Dumitrache - commander of 2nd Mountain Division
General Petre Dumitrescu - commander of 3rd Army
General Mihail Lascar - commander of 6th Infantry Division
General Leonard G. Mociulschi - commander of 3rd Mountain Division
Lieutenant-colonel Ioan M. Palaghita - commander of 94th Infantry Regiment (post-mortem)
Lieutenant-colonel Florin M. Radulescu - commander of 7th Mountain Group (cl. III in WW1)
General Corneliu Teodorini - commander of 6th Cavalry Division


Awarded with cl. I:

Marshal Ion Antonescu - commander of Romanian Army
Marshal Mihai I - King of Romania


Foreign officers awarded with cl. II:

General Vittorio Ambrosio - chief of Italian General Staff
Marshal Etture Bastico - commander of Italian Army in septentrional Africa
Marshal Ugo Cavallero - chief of Italian General Staff
Grand-admiral Karl Donitz - commander of Kriegsmarine
General Serghei Kondratievici Goriunov - commander of 5th Airforce
General Franz Halder - chief of staff OKH
General Erik Hansen - commander of 54th Army Corps
General Erwin Jaenecke - commander of 17th Army
General Hans Jeschonnek - chief of staff Luftwaffe
General Filip Fedoseevici Jmacenko - commander of 40th Army
General Alfred Jodl - chief of staff OKW
General Andrei Grigorievici Kravcenko - commander of 6th Guard Tank Army
Field marshal Siegmund Wilhelm von List - commander of Army Group "A"
General Alexander Lohr - commander of IV Air Fleet
General Ivan Mefodievici Managarov - commander of 53rd Army
Field marshal Erich Fritz Georg Eduard und von Levinski von Manstein - commander of 11th Army
General dr. ing. baron Friedrich Wolfram Wolfgang von Richthofen - commader of IV Air Fleet
Field marshal Erwin Rommel - commader of Army Group "B"
General inspector cavalier Eugen Franz von Schobert - commander of 11th Army (post-mortem)
General Mihail Stepanovici Sumilov - commander of 7th Guard Army
General Vladimir Ivanovici Vostruhov - commander of Steppe Front
General Otto Wohler - commader of 8th Army and Army Group "Wohler"
General Matvei Vasilievici Zaharov - chief of staff 2nd Ukraina Front
General Kurt Zeitzler - chief of OKH


Foreign officers awarded with cl. I:

Field marshal Fedor von Bock - commander of Army Group "South"
Field marshal Heinrich Alfred Walther von Brauchitsch - commander of OKH
Marshal of the Reich Hermann Goring - commander of Luftwaffe
Field marshal Wilhelm Keitel - commander of OKW
General Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist - commander of 1st Tank Army
Marshal Rodion Iakovlevici Malinovski - commander of 2nd Ukraina Front
Marshal baron Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim - commander of Finnish Army
General Friedrich Paulus - commander of 6th Army
Grand-admiral dr. Erich Raeder - commander of OKM
Field marshal Karl Gerd von Runstedt - commander of Army Group "West"
Marshal Umberto de Savoia - commader of Italian Army Group South

[Csaba Becze]

Nice to read the Soviet and German names 8)

Actually I wanted to ask this medals (cl. II and I) as highest decorations.

This is very strange for me, that this meadals had more foreigner recipients, than Rumanian. In Hungary, the situation was very different. Only 3 German officers got the highest Hungarian officer award, but just under Szálasi, not under Horthy; and none foreigner got the highest award for soldiers and warrant officers.

Maybe it had a propogandistic role?

BTW, the two "greatest freiherr all the time", Hitler and Stalin didn't got it? :wink:

[Geto-Dacul]

Csaba Becze wrote :

QUOTE

BTW, the two \"greatest freiherr all the time\", Hitler and Stalin didn't got it?

Hitler and Stalin were not recipients of this medal. In exchange, I know that Stalin received the Order of the Star of Romania in the grade of "Great Cross" in 1947, and was also made "citizen of honour of Romania", or something like this...

[Csaba Becze]

Hmm, thanks.

[Florin]

[quote]I knew this would generate discussion. *The "Panzerfaust" story is not really an act of bravery, more like a terrible coincidence, with a great deal of luck. It must be very hard to down a moving fighterplane with a rocket propelled weapon, designed to fight tanks. Did this take place, sure?? Probably not :?

There are stories from Stalingrad of Romanian soldiers climbing on Russian tancs with Axes, that's right , an Axe because that is all they had to fight the armored beast. And that, in minus -35o celsius, on the frozen steppe. That requires more courage than pointing a panzerfaust and firing it!

What about that Romanian unit who defended the German airfield from Soviet attacks and beat them back? And the Royal Navy Commander who evacuated tousands of Axis troops from the Crimea...
What about the 2nd Battle for Odessa? Yes, when Odessa fell to the Russians again late in the war? I heard Romanian troops suffered 20 000 casualties in that battle? There must have been some acts of bravery there.[/quote]
There are 3 paragraphs in your message. So each of my 3 paragraphs will be regarding one of yours.

Sometimes even the German soldiers knocked-out an airplane with a Panzerfaust. Technically it is possible only when the airplane flies at a very low level, and straight toward you. It is like a stationary target, increasing in size.

An old man told me how he climbed on a T-34 tank, opened the hatch, then thrown a grenade inside. Later he became POW, and accepted to enter in Tudor Vladimirescu division. While in Hungary, his battalion felt into a German trap (with Tigers painted in the same shade with the surrounding corn plantation). Only 2 men survived: he and another one.

I know that during the defense of Odessa and Southern Bessarabia, the Romanian soldiers used for their defense the Soroca Fortress, built in the 15th century during the reign of Steven the Great.
Regards,
Florin [/quote] :?

[Florin]

Hi,

I think the coolest thing a small group of Romanians ever did was the joint action with a group of Germans in the rear of the Soviet lines, in Crimea in 1942.

The Russians started the abandoning of Crimea, but their only way toward Kerci and the awaiting Russian fleet was a road blocked by this mixed German-Romanian group. The Axis group was several days and nights under attack. Then the Russians gave up. About 30 Russian divisions remained entrapped because of that.

The mixed group was in the beginning under the command of a German. Because he died, at the end of the action the group was under the comand of a Romanian. Once somebody from Australia gave me their names, but I don't have them on hand now.
Regards,
Florin