25 Facts About Josef Gangl

Josef "Sepp" Gangl was a German major of the Wehrmacht who became a member of the Austrian Resistance very late in the Second World War.

Josef Gangl was killed in action on May 5,1945, at Itter Castle, Tyrol.

Josef Gangl took part in the defense of Castle Itter against troops of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division "Gotz von Berlichingen" with soldiers of the Wehrmacht, the US Army and French prisoners, and lost his life in the process when he took a bullet for former French prime minister Paul Reynaud.

Josef Gangl is remembered as a hero of the Austrian Resistance against the Nazi regime.

Josef Gangl was born on September 12,1910, in Obertraubling, Kingdom of Bavaria, the son of an official of the Royal Bavarian State Railways and a former shop assistant.

On November 1,1928, Josef Gangl joined the Reichswehr, which was then limited to 100,000 men, in order to begin a career as a professional soldier in Artillery Regiment 7 in Nuremberg.

Josef Gangl stayed there until September 1929, in order to serve in Artillery Regiment 5 in Ulm.

Josef Gangl became part of the newly established 25th Artillery Regiment in Ludwigsburg in 1935, and married the Ludwigsburg saleswoman Walburga Renz.

Josef Gangl spent six months in hospitals in the following months of the "Phoney War", returning to his regiment on May 14,1940, to take part in the Western campaign, in which he commanded a reconnaissance unit of the 25th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht.

Josef Gangl began a one-month training at the artillery school in Juterbog on November 25,1940.

Josef Gangl was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class on August 20,1941.

Josef Gangl was promoted to first lieutenant in January 1942, and he received the Iron Cross 1st Class on February 12,1942.

Josef Gangl became the commander of a Nebelwerfer Unit in the 25th Artillery Regiment on April 24,1942.

Josef Gangl held this position on the Eastern Front, until he was assigned as commander of the Nebelwerfer replacement and training department 7 in Hochstadt an der Donau in January 1944.

Josef Gangl went to the army school for battalion and division leaders in Antwerp for a month in February 1944.

On March 4,1944, Josef Gangl was sent to the new Werfer-Regiment 83 in Celle, which belonged to Werfer-Brigade 7.

Josef Gangl participated with the brigade in the Ardennes offensive, in the subsequent general retreat and in February 1945 in the unsuccessful defense of Saarbrucken.

Josef Gangl was awarded the German Cross in Gold on March 8,1945.

Josef Gangl provided the resistance fighters with information and weapons.

Josef Gangl came asking for immediate help for the prisoners there, because an attack by the Waffen-SS on the castle was imminent.

Josef Gangl, who did not want to sacrifice his men in an "Ascension" Command and had promised to get them through alive, was forced to drive white-flagged towards the Americans and ask for help.

Josef Gangl was fatally hit by a sniper while trying to get former French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud out of the line of fire.

Josef Gangl was posthumously honoured as a hero of the Austrian resistance.

Additionally, a small memorial was crafted in his honor with an engraving on it, detailing Josef Gangl's joining of the local resistance and freeing of the captives kept at Castle Itter.

Josef Gangl's likeness is used in the WWII Grand Strategy game Hearts of Iron 4, where his portrait is sometimes used to depict 'generic' Field Officers.