Good afternoon,
I picked this up from Greg Domian back in March and as today is the 77th anniversary of the awarding of the Ritterkreuz to Oberfeldwebel Alfred Tykiel I thought it appropriate to honor his memory.
Alfred Tykiel was born on 6 July 1911 in Rosengrund, Upper Silesia (prior to 1936 Rosengrund was called Sakrau, and after WW2 it was renamed Zakrzów and became part of Poland).
He entered the German Army on 1 April 1930 as a Reiter in 2/Reiter Regiment 11. Before the start of Operation BARBAROSSA he would distinguish himself in the Polish, West, and Balkan campaigns.
On 22 July 1941, Oberfeldwebel Tykiel became the first NCO of the German Army to be named in the newly created Honor Roll for his bravery and leadership during an action at Olejow, Ukraine just 20 days earlier. This action would lead to him being awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross.
His awards and decorations include:
• DRL Sports Badge (Bronze): 1 Okt 36
• Heer Long Service Medal IV Class: 2 Okt 36
• EKII: 14 Okt 39
• Czech Medal (w/Spange): 20 Nov 39
• Panzer Assault badge (Bronze): 18 Okt 40
• EKI: 15 Nov 40
• Knight’s Cross: 6 Aug 41
• Kgl. Bulgarischer Soldatenkreuz für Tapferkeitsorden: 1 Apr 42
Interestingly, it is not stated on any documents in his Personalakten that he ever received a Wound Badge. However, in the feature story on him in issue 1712 of Der Landser it states he was wounded several times. This makes sense for a soldier that saw the amount of action that he did, and is supported by the fact that his record indicates he was hospitalized from 1 September 1941 until 1 February 1942 in Breslau. After that he spent 4 ½ months in the convalescent company of Schutzen-Regiment 10. Upon the completion of his convalescence, he attended an officer’s training course and was commissioned as a Leutnant on 1 December 1942.
Leutnant Tykiel would go on to become an instructor at the panzer grenadier and panzer troop schools in Versailles from January 1943 through June 1944, and then would rejoin Panzer Grenadier Regiment 10 as the Commander of 6th Kompanie.
The last document in his record states he was conducting “Terrorististen einsatz (Frankreich)” from 27 Jun – 17 Jul 44 and that on 17 Jul 44 he received severe burns to both hands as the result of an incident involving a Molotov cocktail. It states he was hospitalized and his condition is unknown.
RKT Tykiel survived the war, finishing in the rank of Oberleutnant. He would go on to own and operate a driving school and passed away on 31 March 1981 in Dülmen/Nordrhein-Westfalen.
I picked this up from Greg Domian back in March and as today is the 77th anniversary of the awarding of the Ritterkreuz to Oberfeldwebel Alfred Tykiel I thought it appropriate to honor his memory.
Alfred Tykiel was born on 6 July 1911 in Rosengrund, Upper Silesia (prior to 1936 Rosengrund was called Sakrau, and after WW2 it was renamed Zakrzów and became part of Poland).
He entered the German Army on 1 April 1930 as a Reiter in 2/Reiter Regiment 11. Before the start of Operation BARBAROSSA he would distinguish himself in the Polish, West, and Balkan campaigns.
On 22 July 1941, Oberfeldwebel Tykiel became the first NCO of the German Army to be named in the newly created Honor Roll for his bravery and leadership during an action at Olejow, Ukraine just 20 days earlier. This action would lead to him being awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross.
His awards and decorations include:
• DRL Sports Badge (Bronze): 1 Okt 36
• Heer Long Service Medal IV Class: 2 Okt 36
• EKII: 14 Okt 39
• Czech Medal (w/Spange): 20 Nov 39
• Panzer Assault badge (Bronze): 18 Okt 40
• EKI: 15 Nov 40
• Knight’s Cross: 6 Aug 41
• Kgl. Bulgarischer Soldatenkreuz für Tapferkeitsorden: 1 Apr 42
Interestingly, it is not stated on any documents in his Personalakten that he ever received a Wound Badge. However, in the feature story on him in issue 1712 of Der Landser it states he was wounded several times. This makes sense for a soldier that saw the amount of action that he did, and is supported by the fact that his record indicates he was hospitalized from 1 September 1941 until 1 February 1942 in Breslau. After that he spent 4 ½ months in the convalescent company of Schutzen-Regiment 10. Upon the completion of his convalescence, he attended an officer’s training course and was commissioned as a Leutnant on 1 December 1942.
Leutnant Tykiel would go on to become an instructor at the panzer grenadier and panzer troop schools in Versailles from January 1943 through June 1944, and then would rejoin Panzer Grenadier Regiment 10 as the Commander of 6th Kompanie.
The last document in his record states he was conducting “Terrorististen einsatz (Frankreich)” from 27 Jun – 17 Jul 44 and that on 17 Jul 44 he received severe burns to both hands as the result of an incident involving a Molotov cocktail. It states he was hospitalized and his condition is unknown.
RKT Tykiel survived the war, finishing in the rank of Oberleutnant. He would go on to own and operate a driving school and passed away on 31 March 1981 in Dülmen/Nordrhein-Westfalen.
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