Gnaden, Erhard Franz

Date of birth:: February 13th, 1905 (Unterneuhausen/Bavaria, Germany)
Date of death:: November 16th, 1967 (Landshut/Bavaria, Germany)
Nationality:: German

Biography

Fnally reached the rank of Oberstleutnant.

Do you have more information about this person? Inform us!

Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Major
Unit:: Kommandeur I. / Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 85
Awarded on:: August 8th, 1941

The following wartime excerpt provides an overview of Gnaden’s Knight’s Cross action…

“During the Cretan Operation Major Gnaden and his Bataillon landed on the island while under enemy artillery fire. As the first offensive group of the Heer to arrive, he launched a bold and determined attack into the rear of the English. With this action Major Gnaden contributed significantly to eliminating the ground-based enemy threat to the only German airfield on the entire island of Crete. The success of this Bataillon helped to secure the Maleme airfield and thereby enable additional forces to arrive from the air.”